My Top 10 Movies of 2000
I have ranked them according to my personal taste, depending on how they played on my senses. However, I have rated them with a degree of professionalism and with a critical view. Hence, the conflicts, i.e. some of my personally top-ranking movies have fewer stars while some of the bottom-ranking movies have more stars. To view my arguments (and reviews), click on the movie name.
4) Gladiator
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Russell Crowe, Connie Nielsen, Joaquin Phoenix
My Review: This is one of those few movies where every ingredient matches and combines to form the right mix. The end product is one of those few "perfect" movies where everything is flowing, toned and streamlined. Ridley Scott has demonstrated that he can tell a good story by combining all the factors that make an epic: tragic story, timeless landscapes, big events, sweeping tale, haunting music, great cast, talented acting, visual imagery, photographic cinematography and slick film editing. What emerges is a smooth film of epic proportions that is also a movie event guaranteed to deliver the cinematic experience.
5) Titan AE
Directors: Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Voices of : Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore, Bill Pullman
My Review: In the likes of Titanic, Gladiator and U-571, this is one of those few movies that truly deliver the cinematic experience. It was a magical feeling while watching Titan AE at the cinema. A whole new world of experience. The scenes, especially those showing the colliding ice planets of Tigris, the "space ghosts" flying while Cale flies a spaceship for the first time, is real cinematic magic. In other words, visually and sound effects-wise, this film is really an out-of-this-world experience. But I feel that more could have done to make the movie smooth and develop the characters. Although a movie like this does not need a deep story, I feel that if there was a really deep story to Titan AE, this widescreen animated film could have truly joined the ranks of Titanic and Gladiator and given creeps and warnings to George Lucas. I still miss the magic of the cinematic ride I had when I watched Titan AE first at the enormous THX cinema at Megamall and then at the equally big THX cinema at KLCC in Kuala Lumpur.
6) U-571
Cast : Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keital, Jon Bon Jovi
My Review: Excellent photography and wonderful sound effects editing made this another cinematic event. It was like spending two hours in a tension-filled sub myself. However, the only setback is the story. Maybe a film like this may not need a big story, but I feel that the writers could have made this movie something more than a cat-and-mouse game between a submarine and a destroyer ship. Anyway, the flow of the movie was OK and it really was something to look out for at the cinema.
7) Final Destination
Cast : Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith
Director: James Wong
My Review: The only setback to this otherwise scary movie was when the water runs back into the tap! after killing Devon Sawa's best friend and thereby momentarily throwing us into confusion as to what concept of death the director was trying to show us. However, after a few minutes, we can figure out what the director wanted this movie to be about and I am willing to forgive the director for this mistake--and even overlook it--because the suspense really delivered. I couldn't help but get jerked out of my seat everytime the movie threw shocks at us. Even the sound effects build up was deafening. Girls were screaming throughout the movie and a few even walked out of the cinema 'cos they couldn't take the suspense any more. Even I was thinking of getting out because even before the film approached halfway, I was overwhelmed and was really questioning my self whether I can take any further the suspense. This is a movie that really delivers! Whatever criticisms critics have of this movie, here is one movie that really delivered chills and shocks to me, and kept me in full suspense mode throughout the duration of the movie.
8) Coyote Ugly
Cast : Piper Perabo, Adam Garcia, John Goodman
Directors: Bruce Miller and David McNally
My Review: There's so much chemistry between Piper Perabo and Adam Garcia they almost sizzle out of the screen. Adam Garcia's character is so cool and likeable. Although not really fresh material, it's so enjoyable to watch the story of the naive Jersey girl, who aspires to be a songwriter, ending up in a bar in New York. A feel good movie that gives you immense satisfaction for having watched it. Another cleverly done movie. Clever indeed because the directors very cunningly dodged the censor's scissors altogether by their shrewd dealing with such an adult subject matter.
9) Here on Earth
Cast : Lee Lee Sobieski, Chris Klein, Josh Hartnet
Director: Piznarski
My Review: Remake of Love Story. No fresh material but the cute actors, who are talented in my view, deliver the chemistry and romanticism that we expect from a tragic love story. Plus, the photography, accompanied by Andrea Morricone's haunting score, make this a hugely sweet romantic movie whose title Here on Earth all the more reflects the tragedy of the familiar story. A feel-good bittersweet movie that is another winner.
10) My Dog Skip
Cast : Frankie Muniz, Diane Lane, Luke Wilson Kevin Bacon
My Review: Touching, sad movie about the great impact a little dog has on the growing up of a little boy. Another masterpiece of movie-making. Based on the classic true story by Willie Morris, the film touched a deep chord in my heart and left me feeling sad for days after having watched it. Wish there were more movies like this. Kids will love this movie but it is not really for kids. It is for those of us who have made the transition into adulthood and now look back on what was valuable to us then and what made the transition into adulthood a worthwhile journey.
1) Almost Famous
Director: Cameron Crowe
Cast: Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Anna Paquin, Fairuza Balk, Philip Seymour Hoffman
My Review: It may be a small movie but Almost Famous is one movie that is big at heart. Almost Famous is one of those few movies that comes once in a blue moon where all elements fall in the right place, and if there ever are such things as "perfect" movies, then Almost Famous is one of them. Although denied a best picture Oscar nomination at the 2001 Academy Awards, writer director Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical movie about a 15-year journalist (Cameron Crowe?) of Rolling Stone magazine touring with an almost famous band called Stillwater (Led Zeppelin?) doing a story on the group will, in years to come, receive cult status and be recognised as one of the greatest films ever made, and is sure to feature among the all-time top movie lists of serious movie buffs all over the world.
2) Traffic
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dennis Quaid, Albert Finney, Benjamin Bratt, Erika Christensen
My Review: Soderbergh has achieved a movie unique in filmmaking style. Contrary to film critics' belief that "it is easier to respect than love Traffic" here is a movie that I immediately fell in love with. Soderbergh's hand-held camera shots transported me there and it felt like I was witnessing actual events, live and up close. At the end I was left with a chill and haunted by the desperate-ness and utter helplessness of the situation; shedding a tear or two for Del Toro as he sits in a stadium watching a game, alone in the world, is more than justified.
3) Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi
My Review: Finally a martial arts movie and a fantasy with heart. Strong characters, especially by scene-stealing rebellious spirit Zhang Ziyi, breathtaking cinematography, haunting score and that amazing fighting scene at the top of bamboo plants (that almost made me want to be Peter Pan again) make this epic one of the most enduring cinematic experiences of 2000.
