Decade pt. iii ( Top Five 00’s Movies – 2002 )

In the previous two posts of this series, I mentioned my disappointment for the films that came in the early years of the decade. Well moviemakers got their act together in a hurry, because whittling down 2002 to a mere five choices was actually a whole lot harder than the previous two posts.

It was the year that a certain web-slingin’ superhero swung into our hearts, the year we discovered we could die seven days after watching a twisted videotape, and the year we learned that George Lucas can’t write a love scene to save his life.

It was the year of the very first American Idol (seems like much longer than seven years back, don’t it?). After the jump, please find…

#5. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN… I count myself as a fan of Steven Spielberg, and I could argue that this is his best film of the decade. He doesn’t try to turn the story into an allegory for a deeper social statement. He allows the film to be playful, while still giving the audience something of substance. And he manages to sidestep his biggest problem this decade – he figures out how to end the film without taking it down some ill-advised road. Watch it to see some of the best performances Leo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, and Christopher Walken turned in during the last ten years.

#4. LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS… The first film was pretty, the third film seemed endless. For me, Peter Jackson’s landmark series begins and ends with this amazing middle chapter. With the fellowship splintered, the movie gets to take full advantage by giving us three parallell narratives, each of which could have made for a stellar movie all their own. From the mind-blowing use of CGI to create Gollum, to the intense action scenes in the Battle of Helm’s Deep…this was the chapter that best exemplified the darkness of Tolkien’s stories and cemented Jackson’s legacy.

#3. THE PIANIST… While it feels like we’re still waiting for Adrian Brody to follow up this Oscar-winning performance with something equally profound, it is nontheless deserved for how long he has to carry this film on his own. What begins feeling like a holocaust story we’ve already seen, takes a turn and becomes a deeply engaging story of survival. Perhaps it’s deepest lasting legacy for me, is the fact that I can still remember the tension I felt while watching the scene where Brodey’s Szpilman plays piano for the SS Soldier who has discovered his hiding place. Results of Oscar voting are never revealed, but if they were the 2002 Best Picture Race is the tally I’d most like to see. Something tells me that this flick came pretty darned close to winning that year’s top prize.

#2. ADAPTATION…
I coulda ranked this movie on the list merely for the way Nicholas Cage gives the twin Kauffman brothers such wonderfully distinct personalities without cheating. The writer in me absolutely adores this film, because…well…I’ve found myself stumped on more than one occasion. I can only hope that one day I have the guts to go in such a maverick direction like Charlie Kauffman did while trying to interpret Susan Orleans’ nonfiction book about orchids. I do wonder – what Hollywood exec thought botany would make a good screenplay? And who was the brilliant used car salesman-cum-talent agent who talked Kauffman into adapting it?? Putting the cherry on this sundae of absurdity is the way Spike Jonze and Charlie Kauffman heed Robert McKee’s advice, and decide to wow the audience in the final act by running the story right off the rails.

#1. TALK TO HER… Possibly my favorite foreign film of all time. Upsetting, sad, and moving all at the same time, it’s one of the few times that Pedro Almodovar has given the men in his movie centre stage. And fittingly so, the men are brought forward to show how much they love and care for the women in their lives. What truly makes this movie stand out for me, is the fact that when everything comes to light, it becomes a truly shocking story. However, it’s told in such a loving manner, that the audience almost wants to forgive the sinner’s sin for how innocently misguided they seem. (Almost). Peppered with some wicked humour, and one truly odd retelling of a movie in a movie, TALK TO HER was a truly original film that stuck with me the most in a year of great cinema.

Others on my shortlist for 2002 include CHICAGO, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE, MINORITY REPORT, THE QUIET AMERICAN, 28 DAYS LATER, ABOUT A BOY, and CITY OF GOD, . Check in on June 23rd for the next installment, my top five films of 2003.

Did I miss one? Feel free to leave comments with your own favorite movies from 2002, along with suggestions for the next top five.