2000 Year-End Round-up
The mantra around Hollywood is that 2000 was a terrible year for movies. I suppose that's true in the context that there were many more bad movies than there were a year ago; on the other hand, there were a lot of highlights as well. The #1 film in 2000 was stronger than anything I saw in '99. The rest of the top ten list is similarly strong, with no A-minuses being forced to make an appearance. Unfortunately, I also had to make a bottom ten instead of my usual bottom five to accomodate all the D's. But perhaps the best thing about the year that was is the lack of any distinct front-runners in the Oscar race, which should make for an exciting February and March. Well, without further ado, I humbly present the film highlights and lowlights of the last year of the last millenium.
I'd like to call attention to these outstanding films that didn't quite make my top ten. Most of the year's Oscar contenders inevitably wound up here, making for an unusual Top Ten. Here they are, in no particular order (actually, they're in alphabetical order. I just like saying "in no particular order.")
Best in Show
Chicken Run
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Frequency
Gladiator
The House of Mirth
Mission to Mars
My Dog Skip
Nurse Betty
State and Main
X-Men
You Can Count on Me
Underrated
The films I would push for a second chance on video. These were either unjustly ignored or bashed by critics or both; I would like to hug some of these directors and tell them that it will be ok. Note: this list is restricted to films not on my honorable mention or top ten lists.
Coyote Ugly
Disney's The Kid
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Miss Congeniality
The Ninth Gate
The Watcher
What Planet Are You From?
The Whole Nine Yards
Overrated
Cast Away
East-West
Erin Brockovich
Final Destination
Finding Forrester
Keeping the Faith
The Perfect Storm
Thirteen Days
Bottom of the Barrel
I had to make a bottom ten this year to make room for all the monstrosities released. Some of these films are worth checking out for camp value; others should simply be burned.
10. What Lies Beneath: A terrific set-up ruined by an overwrought, obvious denoument. Zemeckis seems intent on ruining every one of his films by giving away the ending; it hurts this one especially since it's a murder mystery almost completely dependent on its ability to surprise us. When that's taken away, we're left with one of the worst films of the year.
9. Snow Day: There's not much to say about this one, except that it's boring, formulaic and has Chevy Chase making a fool out of himself again. Nickelodeon, which produced this film, has some great kids' entertainment up its sleeve; why it chose to associate itself with this pile o' dung is beyond me. 8. Charlie's Angels: Gives "mindless action" a new name. A bad one. One of the year's highest-profile films, this hopeless James Bond wannabe has boring heroes, boring villains and boring explosions. The sight of Diaz, Barrymore and Liu in skimpy clothing isn't enough to make-up for the fact that the story generates zero interest.
7. Dungeons and Dragons: It had Jeremy Irons, dungeons and dragons. And that's not enough.
6. Third World Cop: I suppose there's an audience for this kind of movie and I guess the nation of Jamaica should be commended for taking this tentative step into the movie business but, come on, is this the best they could do? Shot on video and on a minimal budget, this little cop drama fails to transcend its medium.
5. Gun Shy: Unfunny, incoherent and incredibly boring, this Sandra Bullock-produced travesty garnered the most walk-outs I've ever seen in a commercial theater. And all things considered, they were deserved; the movie wastes the talents of Sandra Bullock, Liam Neeson and Oliver Platt, the latter of whom at least managed to have one good scene.
4. Get Carter: If Sylverster Stallone didn't throw his credibility out the window years ago, he does it here. It was so inept, I didn't even subject myself to reviewing it. Badly shot and plotless, it can't even properly take advantage of aging Stallone's physical prowess.
3. Battlefield Earth: There's not much to say about John Travolta's vanity project that hasn't been said already. Travolta is awful, every damn action scene is shot in slow motion and the story is disrespectful to the audience, when it even exists. Insufferable.
2. The Replacements: Good Lord, what a waste of celluloid. Haven't we had enough underdog-team-makes-good sports comedies already? And why must we be treated to yet another group rendition of "I will survive?" These are all questions that may never be answered; I wouldn't mind leaving it at that so that I never have to be reminded of this Keanu Reeves vehicle again.
1. The Skulls: The year's most mind-numbingly stupid movie. One detail says it all: it ends with a climactic duel under open skies in broad daylight. A duel! That's right, like the one in which Burr shot Hamilton. Oy.
So here, finally, are my picks for the best movies of the year. I'm sure many will disagree with more than half of these choices. Have fun disagreeing.
10. Boiler Room: Ben Younger's directorial debut, this is really quite an accomplishment. It's a fictitious look inside a company that sells people stocks for companies that don't exist. There are heartbreaking moments as we see the main character send a man's life down the drain and the film is as exciting as any actioner full of explosions.
9. The Virgin Suicides: Sophia Coppola's directorial debut, this film chronicles the effect that four teenage sisters had on a group of neighborhood boys and, finally, their tragic suicides. Tremendously affecting and profound.
8. The Cell: Tarsem Singh's directorial debut (there seems to be a kind of pattern developing here), The Cell brings together many genre elements to create a blindsidingly brilliant confection. The sets and costumes are stunning and the climax is one of the year's most powerful scenes.
7. Pay It Forward: The year's most tragically underrated film, this gem from Mimi Leder got bashed by cynical pundits for unabashedly embracing the sentimentality of its subject. Yes, it's a movie about doing good deeds for the world's benefit and it must have been obvious from the get-go that a film like that was going to be labeled treacly and preachy. It's not any of those things, but it is well-made, touching and beautifully acted.
6. The Color of Paradise: The year's best foreign film, The Color of Paradise was ignored by both critics and audiences. Their loss. Wrenchingly sad and devoutly religious, Majid Majidi's Iranian drama rewards the audience's patience but never garners its disrespect.
5. Traffic: Down with Erin Brockovich! This is the film Steven Soderbergh should be getting hosannahs for. Complex, sharply critical and extremely smart, the film doesn't attack the drug war as much as it proposes a better solution.
4. The Emperor's New Groove: After giving Toy Story 2 the #4 spot on my list last year, I wrote the arrogantly threatening comment: "I'm giving the next person who calls this a kiddie movie a black eye." I would like to reiterate here. The Emperor's New Groove is a masterpiece, nothing less, the year's funniest comedy as well as a family film that speaks to kids without condescending. Those who praise its comedy while ignoring the effectiveness of its simple message do it a disservice.
3. Dancer in the Dark: The most controversial film of the year, this musical divided audiences more sharply. I'm of the opinion that most of the gripes against it are misguided. Yes, it's melodramatic and unrealistic; that's the point and it's not fair to attack it on those grounds. I was utterly mesmerized by it and the ending took my breath away.
2. Requiem for a Dream: Drugs have never looked less appealing than they do here. Darren Aronofsky's characters spiral into oblivion but retain their humanity through it all. The film is painful to watch but it is important for anyone who claims to love cinema.
1. Unbreakable: No film this year has inspired within me such a feeling of wonderstruck awe as this masterpiece from M. Night Shyamalan. The Sixth Sense was a wonderful crowd-pleaser; with Unbreakable, Shyamalan shows that he wants to do more and is willing to take risks for it. The film has become a victim of backlash and its box-office, while solid, was nothing compared to The Sixth Sense... one can only hope it becomes a cult hit on DVD. I know I will be buying a copy.
©2000 Eugene Novikov