BEST OF 2000
FINAL
LIST: TOP TEN FILMS OF 2000
(Australian Release Dates)
After a careful revision from the initial list, which was done off the cuff, I remembered I failed to include some of the better releases, so here is the final list.
1. CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
Ang Lee is one of the most talented directors
working in Hollywood. He has made two seminal films in the 1990s,
Sense and Sensibility, and THe Ice Storm (which was referenced in
two seconds of the Grinch). His other famous films are the light
weight comedy, Eat Drink Man Woman and last year's American civil
war picture. But with this film, he has produced the most poetic
martial arts film I've ever seen.
Many of us haven't seen this style of fighting. Characters have
mystical abilities learned from warrior manuals. It's a bit like
having "the force" - except here we see some of the
most aastounding and outstanding fight sequences put to film.
When I watched this movie the first time, I felt like cheering
after the first action sequence. After the initial laughter of
seeing characters flying (beautiful wire work) across rooftops,
the almost balletic action is really something worth paying for.
In the second screening at no less than an Oxford Street cinema,
the audience did in fact cheer after the first sequence. But the
first sequence is only the set up to more elaborate sequences
that build in intensity and significance. Matching this intensity
is an equally opposite sense of meditation and peacefulness. This
is in fact part of the philosophy of the film - looking at the
opposites of emotions (i.e. desire vs restraint). Ang Lee isn't
also interested in traversing opposites, as with Sense and
Sensibility, he enjoys blurring the barriers between these
opposites. You see strong female leads in this film - one of them
runs a successful security company, and the other is a girl on
the brink of marriage, who must choose again between two
competing paths (family vs the heart, good vs evil). Chow Yun Fat
and the younger male character play lesser roles, and are both
feminised through their emotions even though we know they were
warriors.
All in all, this is the best picture of the year because of the
amazing poetry of action, the overall brilliance of the script
which admittedly travels over familiar terrain (but does so
subtly) yet managers to have a good sense of humour as well as
winking to other martial arts films with corny philosophy put in
to measure. While many may not agree it is worthy of best film,
very little will argue that this film is not good on even an
objective standard. I think films like these are why we have
cinemas, why we go to the movies, and that it's a highly
intelligent action film that can be received on many levels is a
tribute to Ang Lee. ALso, the 'Cello solos by Yo Yo Ma add that
extra touch (in fact, the music throughout is appropriate -
definitely a nomination for best score). 90/100
2. THE GRINCH
Most critics hated this. The movie going public have proven them wrong yet again with a film that contains a virtuosic performance from Jim Carrey as The Grinch that stole Christmas. His Grinch winks at pop culture, is cynical and lovable. Perhaps I related too much to the Grinch's relationship to CHristmas, but I was literally on the floor bent over in laughter at his reaction to hearing the carols from "who". Another brilliant sequence is when The Grinch finds that he has to be put in the "chair of cheers". It's just an exaggeration of most family christmasses (well at least Lebanese ones). Carrey's performance is an amalgum of all these other characters, a truly Zelig like Grinch or a Common Law of film Grinch - there's a bit of TOny CLifton there, but mostly icons of a generation gone which links the Grinch to the history of cinematic comedy. The set of course is very good, but you don't really need much direction when you have Jim Carrey at the peak of performance. 89/100
3. ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
Pedro Almodovar uses bright colours in his films. Early on at uni, "women on the verge of a nervous breakdown" was on the screening list - and I missed that one - so I also missed all the talk about hoow he uses mise en scene to also talk about politics or something like that. But he is in a way modern in that primary colours are used a lot in advertising now. This film deals with a number of issues - it is still old fashioned in some ways, even though the subject matter deals with cross dressing and gender issues. But Almodovar is looking at women here and especially the drama of women and women as actors. It sort of works - perhaps it is that drama that makes some men want to BE women. Not sure - but this movie is really top notch and should be watched if you want to see a quality film - should be ahead of the Grinch, but I llaughed more in that one. Again some really strong performances by women in this film. Popular film seems to have caught onto feminism thirty years after its hey-day.
4. FANTASIA 2000
I've seen this film three times. The third time in IMAX. The original fantasia was supposed to show off the peak of animation set to music. Some of it would be obscure. As a kid, I remember switching off halfway through Bach's Toccatta and Fugue in D played by an orchestra. Now I'm older, I like the cartoons more! Seriously though, Fantasia contains some truly poetic pieces of animation set to classical music. On an IMAX scene, with the orchestra in digital surround sound, the effect is amplified. If you get into it, you will probably get goosebumps in some of the sequences. My favourites are the ones with the Whales in it, and the Tin Soldier story set to a Shostokovic piano concerto. Part of the amazement is how they conceived of the music matching the animation. SOme of the choices were truly inspirational and things you wouldn't think of as matching that mucic. But once you listen to those pieces with the animation, they will forever be bound up with the images of the cartoons. 88/100
5. CHOPPER
Chopper is a film that is brilliantly shot, acted and directed. Hardly a dull moment in the film, it captures the personality that is Chopper Reid - a personality that is still hard to get at. It is as humorous as it is brutal. This movie could annoy people because they think they're supporting a criminal if they watch the movie or buy his books. Well, we still eat Nestle chocolates don't we? We still support multinationals that exploit third world countries and engage in covert political action that kills many citizens. So, just shut up and watch a good film. In the end, you might disagree with the portrayal of Chopper, you may think he is portrayed kindly - but then again, many criminals have great personalities. Eric Bana is outstanding - his delivery, the way he manages to beecome Chopper and convey the contradictions of his character is why I've put this so high up the list of top ten films. 85/100
6. GLADIATOR
Ridley Scott, another great director of the last decade or so, brings us this film that looks at long gone Rome but still gives us a morality tale. A great set, with casts of thousands, we see a return to traditional epic (only Crouching did epic so much better without such expansive sets) with its over-acting and really truly evil villains who we love to see fall. Revenge on film is liberating and exhilirating (no wonder Americans love the death penalty so much when their films are so conservative in some respects). And the villain in this film is consumate - Joquin Phoenix plays a man who loves his sister so much he wants to have "pure blood" kids with her, and seems almost too caring towards her son. Russel Crowe ofcourse is a very strong presence in this film. THe rage he can build up explodes on the screen (as we've seen in Romper Stomper and his silent rage in The Insider). This film will figure well in the Oscars in a year in which the best film of the year so far is Chinese. Unless the films released in the next two weeks in the USA are standouts, Dreamworks will run a strong campaign for this film. 83/100
7. ERIN BROKOVICH
A pretty standard story, but the female lead in this film was awesome. It's about a girl from a violent family background, decides to become a boxer and has to face up to the challenges that entails. This could well be a year where the female performances in film are better than male ones. 80/100
8. AMERICAN PSYCHO
If you watch Christian Bale in his brilliant role as Jim in Empire of the Sun (one of the best films of all time), you could see the potential of a future great adult actor. Well, in this film, he shows that potential as a young man living in the eighties who is fighting the facade his life entails in the most dramatic of ways. I don't want to wreck the story, but it is a film of our times obsessed with the question of reality and identity and point of view. 79/100
9. WONDER BOYS
A film that passed Australia by as it did the USA. It stars Michael Douglas as a Uni professor who has lost it. A student (Tobey Maguire) with a seeming dark existence (but really another 'no clear identity' character) helps him find himself again. This is slyly funny and entertaining. I think people should give it a fair go. 79/100
10. FINAL DESTINATION
This was released earlier in the year, and most people thought it was just another teen type horror picture. But well, this movie caught my attention from the beginning because of its blatant horror rip offs and obviously non-serious attitude which was confirmed as the movie progressed with the lead character (played by Devon Sawa) becoming more and more loony. Early clues to this overexaggeration include a poster of the movie "PECKER" in his bedroom, which perhaps suggests the director is a John Waters fan (Serial Mom, Pecker). Then there was the John Denver recurring joke throughout the movie which begins in the airport toilet. It was laugh out loud funny when the teacher played it just before her death. Then there was the recurring fan motif - overexaggerated for effect. The high point of the movie comes when the main character, gradually becoming more and more agitated as he discovers the plan that death takes, sees his mate decapitated and instead of reacting with horror at what he saw, exclaims that he's finally figured out death's plan. This movie had me laughing much more than most people - which means I'm probably crazy - but this was smart, well made and a highlight B grade teen film, which was not obviously better than Bring it On or Road Trip, but subtle enough to leave it (most of the way through the movie) to the audience to make of it what they wanted in terms of its drama/comedy. 78/100
SPECIAL MENTION: GIRL FIGHT
A pretty standard story (as if most movies
aren't), but the female lead in this film was awesome. It's about
a girl from a violent family background, decides to become a
boxer and has to face up to the challenges that entails. This
could well be a year where the female performances in film are
better than male ones. Julia Roberts' Erin Brokovich, the two
chinese leads in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and some of the
teenage performances in Show Me Love (Fu**ing AMAL) 76/100
BEST ANIMATION: CHICKEN RUN
Dreamworks scored big this year with some of the best films of the year. Chicken Run will definitely feature higher on many critics picks, but I didn't think it was as brilliant as most would say it is. The story is by no means original, but the execution is fantastic, and the story is entertaining. The opening sequence is outstanding, with extensive references to The Great Escape (or to be fair, many prison movies). Older people will definitely laugh at this claymation picture more than the kids will. I wonder whether chicken sales went down in the USA after all these little kiddies watched the film. 78/100
BEST TEEN FILMS
FINAL DESTINATION (see # 10), BRING IT ON and ROAD TRIP
Bring It On (75/100) is the first film about cheerleaders that's been released in recent years that I can remember. It's clever and unexpected in the ways it plays on what one would normally expect from a film like this. It might be a bit condescending in parts but it is clever. Not only for male teenagers - dirty ol' men will enjoy this - just kidding - most young people see through the marketing of this film. This was a huge success in America, costing only 15 million to make and reaping 60 million. So too did Road Trip (74/100), which is another Dreamworks stand out. The usual gross out humour, this road trip movie cleverly avoids allegations of sexism by telling stories from a point of view - thus the gratuitous nudity shots are not done in a sexist way but from the perspective of a subjective telling from a whacked out person. Tom Green is the stand out in this pic - his warped existence also followed by a stint in Charlie's Angels... can I add that picture to my top ten list? I was not familiar to Greene's antics, but apparently he's a big star on MTV in America.
DOCUMENTARY
AMERICAN MOVIE: THE MAKING OF NORTHWESTERN
An outstanding documentary, where the real life characters are more entertaining than even a mock documentary with fictional characters could pull off. Mark Borchardt is an aspiring film maker who is fleecing everyone's time and trying to secure funding for a film he believes to be gods gift to man, Northwestern. THe bits we see from his previous film "Coven" had me making a fool of myself in the cinema i laughed so loud. While the characters are out there and ridiculous, there is something we can relate to... perhaps we see a bit of ourselves? 89/100
MR. DEATH: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.
Errol Morris pulls off another outstanding documentary on Fred A Leuchter, a seriously misguided individual who pleased thousands of neo nazis and holocaust denying academics with his "evidence" that the Holocaust as claimed could not possibly have happened. Errol Morris is always obssessed with how humans create stories and can change history. In A Thin Blue Line, you had the police concocting a version of events that they were absolutely convinced was the truth. Leuchter is simply so sure of himself that he plays into hands of truly despicable people. But with Leuchter he's hardly an innocent - there is something truly wrong with someone who devises Death machines for people on death row, so that their deaths can be more "humane". That he says this with a straight face is evidence of a truly disturbed individual with problems. It sickens me that to this day we can have holocaust deniers when there are still people alive who lived through this horrid period of human history - that really showed how easy we could stoop to depravity and contempt towards human life. It's disturbing because we still have not learned. 76/100
The Brown Award: Worst film of 2000:
HERE ON EARTH
COuld there be a worse film ever. I mean, this puts Welcome to Woop WOop to shame! An odious plot is matched with equally odious photography in a beautiful setting. That so many talented young actors could have taken part in this film says something about their judgement and that their film careers may not go anywhere should they continue along a path of choosing movies like this. Appalling film that I would have walked out of had me and my sister not decided to laugh at it after the first 15 minutes. To see slow motion of a scene already so slow is one of the highlights of cinematic history. LOWEST AV score on Record: 2/100
BEST POPULAR SINGLE RELEASE
Eminem, The Real Slim Shady. The harpsichord sound intro, the dialogue, the syncopation and intricate secure delivery of the rhyme and the totally subjective obsession makes this the standout song of the year, even though there is not one note sung. The best album of the year was also from Eminem (Marshall Mathers LP) for some of the most offensive lyrics and insults put so brilliantly - with inventiveness with slyness. I mean, Eminem is still an enigma, and the album is almost as schizophrenic as the song Stan is.
Fat Boy Slim, Sunset. An incredibly inventive sampling of "Bird of Prey" from the Doors (i think) sets up what is a poetic experience that will have anyone who has heard it humming the chorus.