Best Films of 2002

**Chris Knipp** · 02-22-2003, 07:29 PM

I got this some time ago and did see Frailty, a powerful film which disturbed me very much but ultimately didn't win me over as a fan.

**oscar jubis** · 03-11-2003, 09:50 PM

The films listed below amount to approx. one film per week, a reasonable diet for film buffs. These are my must-see films, divided into english language and foreign language regardless of provenance. As pointed out by Johann, 2002 was the year of the political film. I watched most of the top films twice. If you don't like subtitles,I think you missed out in 2002. If I was to come up with a combined list my top 4-6 would be foreign. I cannot remember this happening before. The runners-up and honorable mentions are listed alphabetically.

1. BLOODY SUNDAY (Greengrass, Ire/Uk)
2. ARARAT (Egoyan,Canada)
THE PIANIST (Polanski,UK/Pol/Fra/Ger)
4. ALL OR NOTHING (Leigh,UK)
FAR FROM HEAVEN (Haynes,US)
6. ADAPTATION (Jonze,US)
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE (Moore,US)
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Scorsese,US/Ita)
LOTR:THE TWO TOWERS (Jackson,US/NZe/Ger)
THE 25TH HOUR (Lee,US)
THE QUIET AMERICAN (Noyce,UK/Aus)

RUNNERS UP: Minority Report, 13 Conversations About One Thing, The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein, Kwik Stop, Femme Fatale, The Hours, Rabbit Proof Fence, Sleepy-Time Gal, Sunshine State, The Trials of Henry Kissinger.

HONORABLE MENTION: The Good Girl, About Schmidt, 8 Mile, Catch me if you Can, The Cat's Meow, Changing Lanes, Chicago, Frida,Insomnia,Road to Perdition
BEST REVIVAL: The Restored METROPOLIS by Fritz Lang.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE TOP 10

1. LIFELINES (Erice/Spain)
TIME OUT (Cantet,Fra)
3. ATANARJUAT, The Fast Runner (Kunuk,Can)
IN PRAISE OF LOVE (Godard, Fra/Swi)
SPIRITED AWAY (Miyazaki,Jap)
Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (Cuaron,Mex/US)
7. TALK TO HER (Almodovar,Spa)
I'M GOING HOME (De Oliveira,Port/Fra)
9. BLACKBOARDS (Makhmalbaf, Iran)
MARI IYAGI (Seong-Kang, S.Kor)
MILLENIUM MAMBO (Hou-Hsien,Taiwan)
THE SON'S ROOM (Moretti,Ita/Fra)
WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? (Ming-liang,Tai/Chi)

RUNNERS UP:
Bunuel and King Solomon's Table (Spa), How I killed My Father (Fra), Kandahar (Iran), Lady and The Duke (Fra), Late Marriage (Isr), Piano Teacher (Fra), Read My Lips (Fra), Tell Me Something (S.Kor), Devils in the Doorstep (China).

HONORABLE MENTION:
8 Women, Heaven, I'm Taraneh 15, Intacto, The Isle, Lan Yu, Monsoon Wedding, Secret Ballot, To Be and To Have, Warm Water Under the Red Bridge.

FAVORITE PERFORMANCES
MALE: Aurelien Recoing(Time Out), Samuel L. Jackson(Changing Lanes), Michel Piccoli(I'm Going Home), Daniel Day Lewis(GoNY), Jack Nicholson,Schmidt), Benjamin Pratt(Pinero)
SUPPORTING: Chris Cooper(Adaptation), Paul Newman(Road), John Malkovich(I'm Going Home), Brad Dourif(LOTR), Dennis Quaid(Adaptation)

FEMALE: Julianne Moore(F.F.Heaven), Meryl Streep(Adaptation), Isabelle Huppert(Piano Teacher), Jacqueline Bisset(Sleepy Time Gal), Maribel Verdu(Y tu Mama)
SUPPORTING: Samantha Morton(Minority), Queen Latifah and C.Zeta-Jones(Chicago), the entire cast of 8 Women.

**Chris Knipp** · 03-12-2003, 02:12 AM

Thanks for reviving this long-lived thread.

Our tastes are very similar, yours and mine, as I had already noticed.

I like just about everything you have chosen to list that I have seen. I haven't seen 25th Hour, Sleepy-Time Girl (never even heard of it), Femme Fatale, or Trials of Henry Kissinger. I would have listed Catch Me If You Can and Chicago, and not put Minority Report in the top ten. In your foreign list I haven't seen Mari Iyagi or Millenium Mambo (or heard of them) or I'm Going Home. I'm not so keen on Spirited Away (but I should have seen the Japanese version), and I wouldn't rate Gangs of New York and Minority Report in the top category. There are some in your foreign runners-up that I haven't seen. I'd consider Va Savoir as being 2001.

I can't find anything at all to argue with you about, though: you've included many of my favorites.

This thread is too long now for me to keep complete track of, but I see that there are some interesting variations.

tabuno, who says she can't see a lot of the stuff we're talking about, has a very feminine list. Those who get to film festivals, like PMW, tend to include more exotica. Those who strive for hipness like a lot of the Village Voice critics like to throw in outrageous pop items like Jackass: The Movie. (But I haven't seen it; maybe it's amazing.) I like to work within the mainstream but throw in the exotica that I really believe in, such as What Time Is It Now? I'm surprised at the guy --Ricardo-- who said Talk to Her, Punch-Drunk Love, Bowling for Columbine, The Hours, and The Pianist were all overrated, but he shows signs of liking to shock. There's a chance of offending somebody with that list, though I've come to his way of thinking about The Hours. (Just as it ain't over till it's over, a movie ain't overrated till it's overrated.)

I also agree with the person (replying to tabuno ) who said this list-making is for single people without pets who've got lots of free time. I plead guilty on all counts. Even tabuno must plead guilty to squandering many happy hours contributing to these forums.

But as I've been saying, no matter how much time you have, you can't see everything other people see when they see it. For instance the San Francisco Bay Area where I live is a pretty good movie-going area but The Son is only now about to open here. And Spider just opened in Berkeley last week. I'd certainly have put it in my 2002 lists somewhere but it's too late now; the balcony is closed. So it goes in the chaos of movie-distribution-land.

**miseenscene** · 03-12-2003, 09:52 AM

I'd have thought San Fran would be ahead of the game. Here in Pittsburgh, we get most foreign films for a few days at least, but the matter of keeping track of them and making time in a busy week to see something that won't be around next week results in my missing a lot of great films. Talk to Her has been here for a couple weeks already and I still haven't had a chance to check it out... Thank God for the video rental store in the trendy college section of town that stocks a decent selection of indie and foreign DVDs...

And I think you can also add a subclassification of posters to this forum: People Who Aren't Single But Have a Lot of Free Time at Work.

By the way, having seen less than half the films on Oscar's list, I still wouldn't put Minority Report in my top 10 if I could help it. In fact, I hate to say it but, scanning through the list, 2002 looks pretty thin from a "lasting classics" sort of POV...

**Chris Knipp** · 03-12-2003, 03:07 PM

I know. But the only towns that really get most of the openings are NYC and LA, not San Francisco. The Son is running only one week I find, and if I want to see it I have to go today or tomorrow. It may come back, though. Over a month later, and City of God has not come over from SF to Berkeley as I'd assumed. We're dealing with an ephemeral art in more ways than one.

As for "lasting classics," that's not really something you can be clear about till later. But The Pianist and Catch Me If You Can will stick around a while in my opinion, and Y Tu Mama Tambien is a classic.

**oscar jubis** · 03-13-2003, 01:44 AM

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Our tastes are very similar, yours and mine, as I had already noticed.

Maybe even more so: I think Igby, Confessions, Padre Amaro, and One hr Photo are solid.

Sleepy-Time Girl (never even heard of it)

Jacqueline Bisset plays a Fla DJ once known as sleepy-time gal, now a Bay Area resident, who may not have enough time to tidy up the loose ends and Martha Plimpton, as the girl she gave up for adoption who longs to meet her (and a whole lot more in 94 mins). Chris Munch, the director, is best known for The Hours and The Times, the brilliant 70 min riff on the John Lennon-Brian Epstein relationship. It's out on video.

I would have listed Catch Me If You Can and Chicago, and not put Minority Report in the top ten.

Allow me a few comments about MR, the one film to significantly improve in my estimation after a second viewing . The film does require a suspension of disbelief ("3 oracles deliver their auguries in the form of coloured wooden balls"The Guardian). Its narrative thrust prevents deep analysis at times, some ideas are underdeveloped. This is an ambitious film with recognizable flaws. The second viewing is recommended because Spielberg gives us more to look at than we can possibly absorb. I suddenly noticed the riches it offers. Samantha Morton evoking both Falconetti's Joan of Arc and 2001's Star-child. The prescience and import of addressing the issue of pre-emptive justice. The way it makes you realize the intrusive, assaultive nature of advertisement and how we become increasingly tolerant of it. The way-cool vertical freeway chase scene. That astonishing spiderobot search for Mr. inside a dwelling. Spielberg having a " Cronenberg moment"? Our hero trying to retrieve his eyeballs before these roll down into the sewer. There's more, and remember MR would be close to #20 if I combine lists. It is not a masterpiece.

In your foreign list I haven't seen Mari Iyagi or Millenium Mambo (or heard of them) or I'm Going Home. I'm not so keen on Spirited Away (but I should have seen the Japanese version)

The Japanese language Spirited Away is not significantly different. Actually the dubbed version allows more time for your eyes to marvel at the animation It may be where we part company, Chris. Mari aka My Beautiful Girl is also an animated fantasy/romance/coming-of-age, but more melancholy and spare. I imported the dvd from Asia with thoughts of reselling and couldn't part with it.

Millenium Mambo is like a sedate version of Kar-Wai's Chungking Express. I waste no opportunity to hail director Hou-Hsien from Taiwan although I fear ridicule. Many don't know what to do with the time and freedom he gives us to decide what to look at and where the story is. Hou is the least manipulative narrative filmmaker alive. The Puppetmaster is his most accessible. Flowers of Shanghai is an absolute must for Barry Lyndon fans.

I'd consider Va Savoir as being 2001.

Maybe I should edit my 2001 list to include it.

I also agree with the person who said this list-making is for single people without pets who've got lots of free time. I plead guilty on all counts.

Long time ago, I decided to sacrifice an hour+ of sleep daily to the cinema gods.

**tabuno** · 03-13-2003, 02:01 AM

I hope that nobody tells my parents that I'm a girl.

**oscar jubis** · 03-13-2003, 02:29 AM

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
the only towns that really get most of the openings are NYC and LA, not San Francisco.

Absolutely, but I think that larger cities like SFA that attract new immigrants provide more opportunities to sample foreign fare than smaller cities with less fluid migration patterns, like Pitt. For instance, I've attended screenings here in which I am practically the only non-jew, or non portuguese-speaker in the room, or part of a hetero minority. I'll tell you another advantage, you can walk into a store and buy any Chinese film released in the past 5 years, maybe Miseenscene cannot.

As for "lasting classics," that's not really something you can be clear about till later. But The Pianist and Catch Me If You Can will stick around a while in my opinion, and Y Tu Mama Tambien is a classic.

I concluded the 2002 classics have subtitles. Otherwise, Bloody Sunday and The Pianist have the best chance in my opinion. I kinda feel bad that the best known holocaust film to date has an Aryan for a hero. Maybe I prefer the film with a Jew for a survivor.
Y Tu Mama Tambien is so graceful, seemingly effortless, light yet rich, both a sex farce and a neo-realist road flick. Like a horny Jules et Jim con chile.

**oscar jubis** · 03-13-2003, 02:52 AM

Originally posted by tabuno
I hope that nobody tells my parents that I'm a girl.

haha Chris probably figured ending the user name with an o to make it sound masculine was part of a ploy to deceive us. But You do have a feminine side, don't you Tab? Maybe we all do I mean...y'all do.

**Johann** · 03-13-2003, 11:23 AM

Flowers of Shanghai- a must see for Barry Lyndon fans? Now I'm curious. Please explain oscar.

I'm upset that George Butler's documentary "The Endurance" was not nominated for best doc. feature this year. I was completely absorbed in this tragic/triumphant story about Shackleton's failed antarctic expedition narrated by Liam Neeson. The photography was absolutely breathtaking. Glorious shots of ice floes coinciding with archive footage of the disasterous trip. It re-affirmed my lust for life when the survivors reached that outpost... Anyone see it?

**miseenscene** · 03-13-2003, 11:58 AM

Pittsburgh's not exactly a hotbed of immigration, no. I'd be shocked to see a Chinese film on sale anywhere, period, unless it was a PVT copy of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon... We do have a pretty good repertory conduit, though, with three different theaters showing classic films on a regular basis. Just passed up a chance to see Kubrick's The Killing on the big screen yesterday...

Incidentally, I passed it up to watch No Such Thing on DVD. I'm a Hal Hartley fan, and thought this was typically brilliant. His style is not always subtle, but definitely rich in small touches. Heavy-handed morality fables juxtaposed with extended dialogue-free shots, big on sarcasm and irony without losing touch of humanity -- in fact, arguing angrily for it in the face of heartlessness -- leads me to believe Hartley is greatly underseen and underappreciated, and far more important than he's given credit for.

**Chris Knipp** · 03-14-2003, 12:17 AM

You may like this piece about the decline in Big Apple moviegoing experiences from Molly Haskell, Andrew Sarris's wife, from the March 14, 2003 New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/14/movies/14MOLL.html

It is certainly true that projection has declined. The people up there don't know what they're doing half the time and hardly care.

**Johann** · 03-14-2003, 10:19 AM

On more than one occasion I've talked to theatre managers about the quality of the picture being projected-and usually get looks of "who the hell are you?" in return.

Nobody seems to complain if prints are scratched or spliced horribly, or if the sound levels are shit or don't match the image.
This happens FAR too often (at least in Canada) and I blame the guy in the projection booth. He inspects prints, splices them, and threads them through the projector. Why do they hire people who don't care? The vibe I get is "it's just a movie, relax" from these uppity managers. It pisses me off.

During the previews of 8 Mile the film MELTED on screen. While I loved the Brakhage-ness of it, I got pretty annoyed after 15 minutes of no restart. I was just about to ask for my money back when it began again-with the first few minutes missing!
For the majority of "Ronin", reel changes had about 3-5 seconds of dialogue cut off. These things SHOULD NOT happen.

I understand why Kubrick made sure his films were projected as he wanted. Wouldn't you?

**Chris Knipp** · 03-14-2003, 11:32 AM

Isn't this part of the process initiated by the spread of cineplexes? More auditoriums mean more work for less trained worse paid people who aren't important any more the way the operator of a sole projection booth was, and they can't even be on hand in any one booth. Besides which, the whole way projectors work and are loaded is different (there was once a New Yorker article about this) and causes more wear on the film. I don't agree with all the NYT article's nostalgia, though. I think more movies are available more often than in the past and I like that.

**miseenscene** · 03-14-2003, 12:07 PM

I agree with the poor projectionist arguments -- there's a theater here in Pittsburgh where I've seen damaged prints more often than not, including a green line running through every reel of The Green Mile and sound that amounted to static throughout most of Any Given Sunday (yes, I know, I wasn't missing much).

Another downside to the multiplex issue is the waste of more screens on fewer films. If a Loew's has 20 screens, it should have 20 films showing, shouldn't it? Instead, we get two or three theaters each showing Daredevil, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and The Hunted. No wonder box office performance is so inflated. It's already an arbitrary figure to begin with due to swollen ticket prices, as opposed to counting actual tickets sold. But now meager films stand to gain from overexposure simply because theater chains are reluctant to fill their five or six extra theaters with foreign, repertory or independent films and instead pander to the bored teenage populace who won't wait around an extra half hour to see Old School.

Films are sold as mass-produced product rather than individual flavors carefully marketed to receptive audiences. No wonder theater employees have the "it's just a movie" attitude.