1. Gangs of New York
2. Far From Heaven
3. Minority Report
4. 25th Hour
5. Punch-Drunk Love
6. The Hours
7. Signs
8. Chicago
9. Insomnia
10.Narc
1) GANGS OF NEW YORK-Martin Scorseses newest masterpiece GANGS OF NEW YORK is a sprawling, epic look at the city of New York as it was in the mid-1800s. Scorsese who should have three Oscars (at least) already, seems almost like a shoe-in this year for Best Director, and Best Picture. Speaking of Shoe-ins Daniel Day-Lewis should start clearing a spot on his mantle for the Best Actor award that is sure to come his way for his work as the notorious Bill the Butcher. Scorseses pacing is masterful, telling a compelling and amazing story for 2 hours, and then in the final thirty minutes going into a place he never has before, heading full-throttle into a mesmerizing bloodbath that culminates everything that is going on, from the infamous draft riots, to the battle between the Irish and Italian gangs to the race riots that took over the New York streets. Several critics and moviegoers have referred to the movie as being flawed, but for my money Gangs is not only the years best film, but is damn near flawless. If Scorsese doesnt take home at least one Oscar, then there truly is no justice in the world.
2) FAR FROM HEAVEN-Wow! What an ultimately amazing film, one that works on so many different levels. On one level its a staggering satire of the films of 50s, on another its a beautiful and touching movie about race, love, and abseptence, on a another level its a perfect persision execution of melodrama at its finest, on anther level its an amazing character study of one of the most interesting movie characters in recent history, on yet another level its a harsh look at not only the 50s time period, but isnt far from problems still occurring in our time today, and on one more level is a remarkable execution in style and set design, making a 2002 film look, sound, and feel just like a movie made in the 50s. With everything this film does it never once fells bloated, or stuffed with ideas or thoughts. Based on the films of Douglas Sirk (namely ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS and IMITATION OF LIFE) Todd Haynes perfectly recreates a film made in the 50s, the huge difference is that Haynes attacks subjects that while fluent in our society during the 50s would have never been approached in film. No one in the 2002, actor, actress, supporting, lead, comedy or drama gave a finer performance than Julianne Moore, her performance had to be moving, strong, stereotypical but still grounded, and above all must have remained close to the style of the time, and in every way she does that. Dennis Haysbert gives one of the years very best (if not THE BEST) supporting performances and Dennis Quaid gives a very strong supporting turn himself. With every nuance firmly secure and every performance ranging from amazing to flawless, FAR FROM HEAVEN is a masterpiece.
3) MINORITY REPORT- A fun summertime action flick that dares to be innovative and thought provoking. Steven Spielberg creates a world that always feels real, and never once feels like special effects run a-muk. The story is intricate and the special effects dazzling, but give credit to Speilberg for both his pacing (I was told that this movie is 2 and a half hours, I swear that it was an hour less), and the way he holds our interest, I'm not a huge fan of "action" movies, so I know when a movie with numerous 'action' scenes or chase sequences can hold my interest, than it must be good. Also, I saw it on DVD, and surprisingly it holds up incredibly well, I think I liked it even more after the second viewing. Tom Cruise gives what seems to be a thankless performance, with no one even mentioning Cruises astounding work, it is Cruise that makes this whole great movie work, no actor I can think of was more perfect for this role, and unlike Cruises MISSION IMPOSSIBLE movies, Cruise isnt playing an action hero as much as he is a man forced into situations that call for action.
4) 25TH HOUR- Spike Lee's best film since MALCOLM X, 25TH HOUR is a harsh and sometimes very brutal look at one mans life set against the backdrop of a changed and disfigured New York City. Give all the credit in the world to Lee for setting a movie in Post 9/11 New York, but never having a sappy reflection on just how much the city changed. 25TH HOUR contains 2002s best scene, a scene in which the Edward Norton character looks at himself in a mirror and begins to cuss out every division of every walk of life one could find in New York City, the scene is not brilliant so much for what is said, but what is implied, this is a terrified man who is looking at seven years in jail, coming out seven years later and who knows how different this already changed world will be, one thing is for sure, things will never be the same for him for he will forever be labeled a criminal, the Norton characters frustration pushes him to a point were he wants to lash out, and that is how he does it, by getting a racial and emotional burden off of his chest through words and not actions. Edward Norton gives one of 2002s very best performances that will unfortunately go over-looked. Norton who is one of the finest actors working gives his best performance since his masterful work in 1998s AMERICAN HISTORY X. The supporting cast to solid to the Nth Degree, Brian Cox, Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, Anna Paquin, and Phillip Seymorur Hoffman are all simply amazing.
5) PUNCH DRUNK LOVE-Paul Thomas Andersons third great film PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE is a quirky, unconventional romantic comedy that uses a harsh character study as the foundation. Anderson completely deconstructs all of the previous characters played by Adam Sandler, and creates a new character, that while virtually the same, has a level weve never seen from Sandler before, something much more humanistic. Anderson uses a brilliant clanking score, and bright flashing colors to coincide with the movies overall feel. The movie is in many ways dream-like or fairytale-esc but never concedes into the realm of anything formulaic or predictable. In typical Paul Thomas Anderson fashion his direction is smooth and defined, his pacing is excellent, and his screenplay is full of wonderful, true to life dialogue. PTA has a way of creating REAL characters, and feeding them with something intelligent to say, I love not knowing just what someone is going to say or do, I love being able to watch a movie and feel completely clueless as to what is going to happen next. Aside from giving the best performance of his career, Adam Sandler gives one of 2002s very best performances, in many ways it resembles the Sandler role in HAPPY GILMORE or BILLY MADISON, but digs much deeper and looks at whats at the root of all of this anger, pain, and sadness. Emily Watson is also fantastic in a role that requires her to do a lot more than some people would assume, her performance is also among 2002s best. And Anderson regulars Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Luiz Guzman give great supporting turns themselves.
6) THE HOURS-Based on Michael Cunninghams 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, The Hours is an amazing emotional film that tells the story of three womens parallel lives as they all correlate between the book Mrs. Dallowayby written by Virginia Woolf. There is an odd relationship between these seemingly disconnected three women that only makes itself known towards the end, but ties the film up in a wonderful way. While yes, The Hours, is sad and somewhat depressing, it is also an amazing look at three women who are battling their own personal demons, they all have fears and regrets, but also strive to live a life that is normal, and virtuous. The Hours also boast three of the years best performances, Julianne Moore gives the years second best performance, the years best performance also came from Moore in FAR FROM HEAVEN, Nicole Kidman gives the best performance of her career, and completely disappears in her part, and Meryl Streep brings her usual craft and skill to her part as well.
7) SIGNS-The third film from director M. Night Shamalan, proves to be his best film. My biggest problem with Nights first two films was his pacing, both THE SIXTH SENCE and UNBREAKABLE moved at very slow, very lethargic paces, but here Nights pacing is masterful. Night plays his audience like a fiddle, we listen when there is nothing to listen to, and we look intensively when there is nothing to look at. The ending has come under some scrutiny from some critics and moviegoers, but it fully worked for me, the ending was more about chance, irony, and God, then it was meant to really scare us, even the B-movie alien worked for me. Both Mel Gibson and Juaquin Phoenix give two of the years most under-rated performances, and the supporting cast is rock solid. I also really like that Night forewent the big surprise ending which has been a part of his last two films, he shows us that the atmosphere and the mood of a movie far outweigh a surprise ending, and he could not be anymore right.
8) CHICAGO- All that jazz made it to the big screen in an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. Not a big fan of musicals myself, I never really expected much out of this, but was shocked, by the experience I had. My biggest problem with most of the musicals I've seen is that the music brings the story to a dead halt, here however the music acts to push the story ahead. To sound a bit cliched for a moment, "Chicago" was the most fun I had at the movies all year. CHICAGO features one of 2002s best cast, Renee Zellweger gives her third great performance in three years (the other two would be her work in NURSE BETTY and BRIDGET JONES DIARY), Catherine Zeta Jones is surprisingly brilliant, Richard Gere is great, Queen Liathfa is stunning and John C. Reilly, one of the great character actors of the 90s is remarkable here.
9) INSOMNIA-Instead of simply remaking Erik Skjoldbj�rg's 1997 film of the same name, director Christopher Nolan reevaluates the settings, circumstances and moods in an amazing psychological thriller. Nolan who directed last years best film (IMO) MEMENTO returns with something that while not as imaginative as his masterpiece last year and more run-of-the-mill is still a major accomplishment, and further proof that Nolan is on his way to having a very impressive career. Al Pacino delivers one the years very best and most under-rated performances as the sleep-weary detective battling his own personal demons. The supporting cast is terrific with the standouts being Robin Williams, Hilary Swank and Maura Tierney.
10) NARC- The grittiest, meanest movies in years, NARC is a throw back to the great cop movies of the 70s. With tons of style and a wonderful (even though formulaic) screenplay, Joe Carnahan turns a once dead genre piece into something special. Ray Liotta who will forever be remembered as Henry Hill in GOODFELLAS, gives one of the years very best supporting performances. NARC was not a movie that jumped out at me when I first saw it, while yes I thought it was very good, I didnt think it was great. But days on in this movie stayed with me, and I just kept thinking about it, so I decided to see it for a second time and guess what, the movie holds up extremely well.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
-About a Boy
-Adaptation
-Antwone Fisher
-Barbershop
-Bowling For Columbine
-Changing Lanes
-The Good Girl
-Igby Goes Down
-Kissing Jessica Stein
-Panic Room
-Red Dragon
-Spirited Away
BOTTOM FIVE OF 2002
1. 24 Hour Party People
2. Swept Away
3. The Sweetest Thing
4. The Rules of Attraction
5. Friday After Next
