From around
Nov 06 '06 (Updated Nov 22 '07)
The Bottom Line Many interesting, mostly offbeat 2002 movies
2002 movies that appeared on some 10-best lists that I have not (yet?) seen are
Devdas
The Gangs of New York
8-Mile
Laurel Canyon
Lilja Forever
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Zuz & Zo
Here are my picks in descending order (for those about which I have not posted reviews, reviews approximating my take are listed; my own (3) are linked via the movie's title in English):
(1) "Cidade de Deus" (City of God, directed by Kátia Lund and Fernando Meirelles) is as violent as a John Woo movie, but with frighteningly young armed and dangerous gangsters in the title slum on a hill above Rio de Janeiro (the only way in which it is closer to heaven; Augustine's civitas dei it decidedly is not!). Its narrator want to lose his virginity, but the poster/DVD box cover suggests that there is more romance than there in fact is. The violence is less operatic (grittier, more realistic) than in John Woo movies, and most of the characters are scary. They are doomed, but devoid of the courtliness and style of gangsters in many a Hong Kong and Hollywood movie. (Benny, played by Phelipe Haagensen with dyed hair seems a cool dude and is positively genial in contrast to his lifelong friend, the raving homicidal maniac Li'l Dice/Lil Zé (Douglas Silva then Leandro Firmino da Hora). What is stylish about the movie is the daringly digressive (serpentine?) narrative structure. Budding photographer Rocket (Luis Otávio then Alexandre Rodrigues) tells it, with frequent backtracking, but without losing the thread or confusing the viewer. César Charlone's hand-held camera work was brilliantly edited by Daniel Rezende. (See the review by void99.)
(2) The Hours, directed by Stephen Daldry with David Hare having adapted Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel) has an even more complicated structure than "City of God," with stories from three different time periods (or, arguably, four) intercut, all anchored by Virginia Wolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway. The protagonists if the stories (in chronological order) are played by Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep, each of whom is superb. I don't much like the Philip Glass soundtrack. Dan C. Reilly was the standout of the male performers; I was dubious about the performances of Jeff Daniels and Ed Harris (two very fine actors generally).
(3) The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski (who is a holocaust survivor) is based on the memoir of Polish Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman (adapted by Ronald Harwood [The Dresser]) played affectingly by Adrian Body. As a music-loving German officer who aids him Thomas Kretschmann is also excellent, as is the cinematography of Pawel Edelman. (See the review by Cripper.)
(4) Chicago, directed by Rob Marshall, nabbed the best picture Oscar and is quite a lot of fun. Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta Jones, Taye Diggs, and Queen Latifah had and generate fun, and Bob Fosse's choreography seems to have been preserved from the Broadway revival. As a plainer Roxie Hart than Ginger Rogers was (indeed, a mousy one), Renée Zellwegger was IMO the weakest link. I realize that she is supposed to be a dreamer of limited talents, but I guess that I was spoiled by Liza Minneli's Sally Bowles. (See the review by Ifif1938.)
(5) The Quiet American directed by Phillip Noyce As the jaded Brit with a Vietnamese mistress and no desire to go home, William Fowler, Michael Caine is almost as good as Michael Redgrave was in Joseph L. Mankeiwicz's 1958 adaptation of the all-too prescient Graham Greene novel about the harm done by earnest but profoundly ethnocentric Americans--in this instance in Viet Nam. (This adaptation was done by Christopher Hampton.) Brendan Fraser is even better than Audie Murphy as the covert CIA agent Alden Pyle, though Claude Dauphin's remains the stand-out Inspector Vigot. Christopher Doyle's color photography is excellent, but so was Robert Krasker's black-and-white cinematography in the 1958 version. The 2002 version is truer to Greene's novel, but the 1958 one had the advantage of not having to recreate the period. (So both versions are indispensable!) (See the review by Macresarf1
(6) Xiao cai feng (Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, directed and adapted from his own autobiographical novel by Sijie Dai) has gorgeous cinematography of mountainous rural China by Jean-Marie Dreujou. The two young men from the city sent to the countryside when Mao sent Red Guards to learn from the people, played by Chen Kun and Liu Ye enchant a local girl (Zhou Zun) with western literature and music (including some that they claim that Mozart wrote in honor of Chairman Mao).
(7) Y tu mamá también, directed by Alfonso Cuarôn (released in Mexico in 2001): I feel that the ending is a major cheat, but the journey is entertaining with horny adolescents Gale García Bernal and his more affluent buddy Diego Luna driving from Mexico City to the Oaxaca coast (the pristine beaches north of Huatulco) with the approximately 30-year-old Ana Lopez Mercado (playing the disaffected wife of Luna's cousin). The three leads are excellent, and the movie propelled me to Huatulco.
(8) Spider Man (like "Batman Begins" last year), directed by Sam Raimi, combines dazzling special effects (those spider bands!) with some psychological depth through Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker/Spiderman. I was underwhelmed by Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane, but enjoyed Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin. (See the review by DavidK93.
(9) Ying Xiong (Hero, directed by Zhang Yimou, not released in the US until 2004) is the epic on this list of mostly character-driven movies. Its flashback structure is fairly complicated, and the "message" I read from it differs from the propaganda message others have gotten (the latter is that subordination to the central Chinese state is inevitable and right; mine is that you can resist or accede, but will be killed either way). Jet Li is oustanding as the assassin (as usual, Jet Li's character has no sex life). Chen Daoming is also exceedingly good as the first emperor, founder of the Qin Dynasty. Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung are fellow assassins of the unnamed Jet Li character. Christopher Doyle's cinematography is, as always, striking and fitting. I found the CGI arrows silly. The CGI work of Zhang's next film, Shi mian mai fu (House of Flying Daggers) is much better, the images more beautiful, the fighting as good, and the romance more interesting. (See the review by Metalluk.)
(10) Dirty Pretty Things, directed by Stephen Frears, is a very quirky drama involving the trade in body parts and a difficult-to-understand Nigerian immigrant to Britain played by Chiwetel Ejiofor (a physician). I was glad that I watched the movie on DVD and could turn on subtitles. The cast is very international, including Audrey Tautou (Amelie) and Sergi Lôpez (who played Harry in With a Friend Like Harry). (See the review by Carl Lazarevic.)
Runner-ups (in order) that had some very good aspects
In America
Nicholas Nickelby
Adaptation
Bend It Like Beckham
Catch Me if You Can
Soldier's Girl
Hable con ella (Talk to Her)
The Cockettes
Somewhere in Africa
About a Boy
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Sunshine State
White Oleander
Frida
About Schmidt
The Food of Love
Minority Report
Road to Perdition
Bowling for Columbine
Unfaithful
Whale Rider
Ararat
El Crimen de Padre Amaro
Far from Heaven
---
© 2006, Stephen O. Murray
I've also posted lists of the
ten greatest movies of all time,
my favorite movies
best non-English-language movies by country,
best noirs,
best French organized crime movies,
best westerns not set in the American west,
best romantic movies with happy endings,
best romantic movies in which the lovers do not end up together for reasons other than the death of one or both of them,
best romantic movies including the death of a lover,
best religious movies celebrating a religious figure,
best movies portraying the dark side of religion,
best holidaze (Christmas and Thanksgiving) movies,
best rock-n-roll movies,
best musicals,
best gay feature film,
best gay documentary film,
best cult movies,
best black comedies,
best World War II movies,
best post-WWII German films,
best epics,
and best anti-epics,
best movies of the 1940s, the 1980s,
1939, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005.
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