| MATT'S TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2000! |
Almost Famous
In a year that was practically devoid of charm, this was indeed charming. That I loved the music is lagniappe.
Croupier
This was an excellent movie about learning who you are and coming to terms with it.
East-West
This was also a very good movie about recognizing who you really are. It's about a doctor and his family who repatriate
from France to Russia after World War II. The Worker's Paradise is not all that it's cracked up to be, and the family spends
the next fifteen years plotting their escape. Check it out on video if you get the chance.
Godzilla 2000
I told you it was a slow year.
The House of Mirth
As much as I like her in The X Files, it's time for Gillian Anderson to move on to real movies like this one.
Me, Myself I
Every year, there seem to be five or six films about the same thing. A couple of years ago, it was asteroids colliding with
Earth. This year, it's "what if I'd made different choices in my life?" The best of that bunch is this Australian production
starring Rachel Griffiths.
My Dog Skip
Because I won't have a chance to see George Clooney in the Coen Brothers' O Brother Where Art Thou before the end
of the year, this will have to be this year's winner of the Cookie's Fortune Award for movies about Mississippi.
Titus
This came out last year, but I didn't see it until earlier this year. It's certainly the most visually arresting film of the year.
Since I'm pretty sure I won't be praising Anthony Hopkins for his work in Hannibal, I think I should recognize him now while I
can.
Unbreakable
Some Internet poll asked what actress and actor you'd pay to see in anything. Before Erin Brockovich and Hanging Up,
I would have said that the actress is Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan. (Now I'm leaning toward Cate Blanchette.) The actor
was and is Bruce Willis. Right now, he's doing the best work of his career. Here and in The Sixth Sense, he has been
brilliant. Even the throw-away comedies he did this year (The Whole Nine Yards and The Kid), he was excellent. (And
did I mention that he's a Republican?) Unbreakable is no The Sixth Sense, but it may well be the best of this bad lot.
So that's only nine. I have to stop here because the best new movie I saw in 2000 was:
The Exorcist
Sorry. I know it's cop-out, but I've got to go with it. The film is just as engrossing as it was in 1974, and even though its
effects seem tame by current standards, they are more affecting to the audience because the level of story-telling is so
high that there seems to be more at stake--so to speak.
THE WORST? Gosh, that's hard to say as well. In 2000, I finally wised up and decided to stop being a sucker for movie
hype. There were lots of films that in years past and would have succumbed to pressure and gone to see--and hated.
Happily, I saved a lot of that heartache in 2000 and just stayed away from The Next Best Thing, Little Nicky, Coyote
Ugly, Blair Witch 2 and others.
Here's ten that I wish I had avoided...
Dancer in the Dark
If I can't find a "best" film of the year for you, I can certainly provide a "worst". Don't ask me how this film ended, I can't tell
you. I left about three-fourths of the way through. If necessary, I would have gnawed off my leg to escape. I was stunned
to hear that they've got the nerve to try to actually sell the soundtrack of this film. I can only surmise that the potential
purchasers are as brain-dead as the characters in the film were.
American Psycho
Christian Bale was such a cute little kid in Empire of the Sun. You could tell that he was starting to go bad when he got
mixed up with Ewan MacGregor in Glitter. He is now officially beyond reclamation. This film purports to be a satire of the
mores of the '80's. It's much too ham-handed in that respect, and by its end, it's discovered The Land of No Redeeming
Social Value.
Erin Brockovich
"Wasn't Julia brave to wear such unfashionable clothes!" Well no, but more importantly, she was just boring.
Fantasia 2000
Even though I enjoyed the segment with the flamingos and the yo-yos inordinately, that segment lasted about a
minute-and-a-half. The movie was about 70 minutes long.
Hanging Up
So what was I expecting here, right? Well, I put this film here because I think it marked the beginning of the end of my
infatuation with Meg Ryan. (I think that her subsequent film, "Proof of Life" would mark the beginning of the end of Dennis
Quaid's infatuation with her.)
Isn't She Great
No.
Legend of Bagger Vance
And this is the film that made me start wondering what people see in Matt Damon.
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Quelle tragedy. To me, this was the saddest disappointment of the year.
Topsy Turvy
I think I fell asleep three different times during this film.
What Planet Are You From?
Garry Shandling and Annette Bening. In a comedy. What the hell was I thinking?
In a year that was practically devoid of charm, this was indeed charming. That I loved the music is lagniappe.
Croupier
This was an excellent movie about learning who you are and coming to terms with it.
East-West
This was also a very good movie about recognizing who you really are. It's about a doctor and his family who repatriate
from France to Russia after World War II. The Worker's Paradise is not all that it's cracked up to be, and the family spends
the next fifteen years plotting their escape. Check it out on video if you get the chance.
Godzilla 2000
I told you it was a slow year.
The House of Mirth
As much as I like her in The X Files, it's time for Gillian Anderson to move on to real movies like this one.
Me, Myself I
Every year, there seem to be five or six films about the same thing. A couple of years ago, it was asteroids colliding with
Earth. This year, it's "what if I'd made different choices in my life?" The best of that bunch is this Australian production
starring Rachel Griffiths.
My Dog Skip
Because I won't have a chance to see George Clooney in the Coen Brothers' O Brother Where Art Thou before the end
of the year, this will have to be this year's winner of the Cookie's Fortune Award for movies about Mississippi.
Titus
This came out last year, but I didn't see it until earlier this year. It's certainly the most visually arresting film of the year.
Since I'm pretty sure I won't be praising Anthony Hopkins for his work in Hannibal, I think I should recognize him now while I
can.
Unbreakable
Some Internet poll asked what actress and actor you'd pay to see in anything. Before Erin Brockovich and Hanging Up,
I would have said that the actress is Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan. (Now I'm leaning toward Cate Blanchette.) The actor
was and is Bruce Willis. Right now, he's doing the best work of his career. Here and in The Sixth Sense, he has been
brilliant. Even the throw-away comedies he did this year (The Whole Nine Yards and The Kid), he was excellent. (And
did I mention that he's a Republican?) Unbreakable is no The Sixth Sense, but it may well be the best of this bad lot.
So that's only nine. I have to stop here because the best new movie I saw in 2000 was:
The Exorcist
Sorry. I know it's cop-out, but I've got to go with it. The film is just as engrossing as it was in 1974, and even though its
effects seem tame by current standards, they are more affecting to the audience because the level of story-telling is so
high that there seems to be more at stake--so to speak.
THE WORST? Gosh, that's hard to say as well. In 2000, I finally wised up and decided to stop being a sucker for movie
hype. There were lots of films that in years past and would have succumbed to pressure and gone to see--and hated.
Happily, I saved a lot of that heartache in 2000 and just stayed away from The Next Best Thing, Little Nicky, Coyote
Ugly, Blair Witch 2 and others.
Here's ten that I wish I had avoided...
Dancer in the Dark
If I can't find a "best" film of the year for you, I can certainly provide a "worst". Don't ask me how this film ended, I can't tell
you. I left about three-fourths of the way through. If necessary, I would have gnawed off my leg to escape. I was stunned
to hear that they've got the nerve to try to actually sell the soundtrack of this film. I can only surmise that the potential
purchasers are as brain-dead as the characters in the film were.
American Psycho
Christian Bale was such a cute little kid in Empire of the Sun. You could tell that he was starting to go bad when he got
mixed up with Ewan MacGregor in Glitter. He is now officially beyond reclamation. This film purports to be a satire of the
mores of the '80's. It's much too ham-handed in that respect, and by its end, it's discovered The Land of No Redeeming
Social Value.
Erin Brockovich
"Wasn't Julia brave to wear such unfashionable clothes!" Well no, but more importantly, she was just boring.
Fantasia 2000
Even though I enjoyed the segment with the flamingos and the yo-yos inordinately, that segment lasted about a
minute-and-a-half. The movie was about 70 minutes long.
Hanging Up
So what was I expecting here, right? Well, I put this film here because I think it marked the beginning of the end of my
infatuation with Meg Ryan. (I think that her subsequent film, "Proof of Life" would mark the beginning of the end of Dennis
Quaid's infatuation with her.)
Isn't She Great
No.
Legend of Bagger Vance
And this is the film that made me start wondering what people see in Matt Damon.
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Quelle tragedy. To me, this was the saddest disappointment of the year.
Topsy Turvy
I think I fell asleep three different times during this film.
What Planet Are You From?
Garry Shandling and Annette Bening. In a comedy. What the hell was I thinking?
Is it me, or were the movies of 2000 maybe the WORST EVER? Naturally, I'm inclined to go with the latter supposition.
I gave serious consideration to not even doing this listing this year because I couldn't think of ten films that I would have put
on a "ten best" list in any other year. Indeed, when I look back at 1999's list, I would say that not one of the films on this
year's list would have made the cut in 1999!
I gave serious consideration to not even doing this listing this year because I couldn't think of ten films that I would have put
on a "ten best" list in any other year. Indeed, when I look back at 1999's list, I would say that not one of the films on this
year's list would have made the cut in 1999!
Hmm. Maybe it is me...
Anyway, if you're still interested, here they are.
Anyway, if you're still interested, here they are.
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