Lifetime Movies : 2002

One of my favorite things about this site is lifetime movies...and I have been so very neglectful. Thankfully Frank wrote in and of course I agree. Adaptation is amazing. I saw it for the first time on dvd, probably a year or two after it came out...I was not hooked on Charlie Kaufman as I was with Being John Malkovich and so never got to see it in the theater. The first time I saw it I was stunned as to how much was going on with the story. Then after repeated watches it gets clearer...and at the same time more complicated when you start to think of all the levels of reality and film and book this movie reacts on. Once then you have me going to the everglades and getting lost looking for the ghost orchid...your whole universe starts to collapse with reality folding into reality...the key here is that just like Synechdoche...the film is about life and creation...both the creation of man and the creation of a work of art that imitates man.

Best Film 2002: Adaptation

I remember being sad that Charlie did not win for the screenplay...I really had wanted to see it in theaters.

Others:

The Two Towers:

At this point I was hooked...One a year was perfect release times and this film had the most awsome fight scene of Helms Deep (at least till Return of the King)

Gangs of New York:
When I revisit this film its for Daniel Day Lewis...I could not even rememebr the rest of the film...its about revenge or something...

25th Hour:
I just saw this one I think last year...its awsome...and Spike Lee I think unknowingly made a masterpeice about more then just a guy going to jail..its about America Post 9-11

Lifetime Movies: 2002

As if in a rallying cry response to the horrors of the previous September, 2002 gave America a lot to take its mind off the real world at-large. A strong year with a little bit of everything film-wise. I couldn't tell you anything else that happened that year. Like one of those big fat guys, the last decade doesn't have much definition for me.

Winner: Adaptation

I rewatched this recently just to see if I remembered it correctly. Turns out I didn't. Not that I didn't like it the first go around, but like I mentioned above, its uniqueness seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle. I don't understand how something this smart and original got made in the first place. Charlie Kaufman is the screenwriter of the decade.

Films of Note:


Punch-Drunk Love: I just rewatched this, too, because I take this seriously. And it somehow had slipped even further than Adaptation in my recollection. Part of the problem was that at the time this was neither another Magnolia nor another Adam Sandler comedy. It was what it, of course, still is: a P.T. Anderson cinematic short story that's surprisingly deep and touching. The peek of Sandler's career.

About a Boy: Take about a rare double-double: one of my favorite books (by one of my favorite authors, Nick Hornby) adapted into one of my favorite movies. Maybe the perfect role for Hugh Grant and just pitch-perfect charming on every level.

The Bourne Identity: Turned out to be the template for the decade's action movies. Not a bad thing at all, other than that Hollywood is so depressingly unoriginal. But don't hate the original. Who knew Will Hunting was such a badass?

Secretary: How long did it take them to cast James Spader in this sexy S&M pic? Spader! But the big score here was Maggie Gyllenhaal in a career-making role (hey, she was in Adaptation, too!). Oddly, director Steven Shainberg never did much else.

8 Mile: The classic music biopic but with the added edge of actually starring the biggest musician at the time. Slim Shady was up for the challenge with an undeniably good performance as basically himself. But it's the music that gives this so much life and, believe it or not, gave Eminem an Oscar. He now has as many as Pacino and Scorsese.

28 Days Later: I've written about this before, but it's worth mentioning again how amazing the first half of this film is. Danny Boyle creates one of the most haunting dystopian worlds to date and proves what an eclectic and

Spider-Man: If I needed proof that I have lost all track of time, they are already rebooting this franchise. Regardless of how the new one turns out, let's not forget how much fun Sam Raimi's first Spidey film was. Still one of the best superhero movies.

Chicago: Finally, here's your Oscar winner. And, you know what? It's not a bad choice in the context of how the Academy votes. A musical with good music and some creative and exciting choreography.

Playlist: Antychryst

Why? Another short film I caught on IFC

Yes, I was drawn to the title of this 2002 Polish short. Serves me right. A group of young boys romp around like wild things while one of them keeps calling himself the Antichrist. It does build to a climactic stunt, but we're dragged to that point by the usual foreign arty pacing and editing. Felt a lot longer than 27 minutes.

Playlist: 25th Hour or Fuck You FX

OK...so I have spring break this week and I have seen a lot of new stuff, hence all the posts. These posts have now controlled me, I usually watch a trilogy, like Lord of the Rings, the Matrix or Star Wars for the spring break, you know revisit something I like (except all of the Matrix sequels...parts were good but....)

So thanks a lot to FX for screwing up a great film. 25th Hour was on a lot of lists as one of the best of this 2000 decade. I generally don't care for Spike Lee, but sign me up for Ed Norton, Barry Pepper, and the great PSH (that's Phillip Seymour Hoffman).

FX ran about 100 minutes of this 148 minute movie...do I need to say more?..yes...it was poorly edited and no curse words...why watch a film on regular TV anymore?...Why did I bother?...I wanted to clear up a space on my Netflix Queue so Fuck You...no Fuck You FX for leaving out the Fuck You scene...fuck you FX for leaving out the Ed Norton walking...and walking and walking..Fuck You for leaving out the restaurant scene with Pepper and PSH...fuck you for leaving out key scenes where we find out how Ed Norton meets up with Rosario Dawson...anyway its a pretty great film...spike lee does his best to Mimic Brian DePalma mimicking Martin Scorsese

The worst casting had to be, let's see...Tony Siragusa as a stupid fat Russian gangster...at least they got the stupid and fat right.

Post 9-11 New York was done great here...no other film has even touched on it, and Spike Lee marries the city with the Ed Norton character brilliantly.

Playlist: "Whistle"

I've always found most DVD extras just filler for filler's sake. Really, there are just so many gag reels and green screens someone can reasonably be expected to pretend to be interested in. (And I'm not talking about director commentaries, Vin.) However, one of my new favorite things is getting a director's earlier short film as a bonus feature.

"Whistle" was a particularly fun find on Duncan Jones' Moon because it's his only other work to date (2002 to be exact). And it's not just an experimental novelty, but an actual short film. It's the high-concept story of a really long range assassin who specializes in precise computer-guided laser killshots (yes, that is extremely freakin cool). But, of course, something happens--damn you, something! Since it's only 28 minutes, I won't say anything more, other than it's definitely worth watching if you get the chance.

As for Moon, Vin covered it in one of our first posts, but I'll chime in with a couple of things. If you don't know, Sam Rockwell plays multiple characters who are quite often filmed together in the same scene. The combo of his acting and Jones' directing actually made me forget at times that I wasn't watching two separate actors interacting with one another and that's a helluva feat. Also, I've heard this mentioned, along with Danny Boyle's Sunshine, as some sort of start to a smart sci-fi renaissance. God forbid. I'd rather get these gems every so often then have it become a "trend" to be co-opted and Hostelesque tortured into mediocrity by some studio hack.

City of God

The end of any period of time brings with it lists reviewing, ranking, commemorating the opinions of whomever is making the list. Sometimes these people actually know what they are talking about and like to refer to themselves as "critics" or "people with jobs as professional writers." Truth be told, I'm grateful they exist because there's just so much stuff out there.

For example, reading Paste Magazine's Best of the Decade list I was surprised to discover that I had not seen their #1 pick: Fernando Meirelles' 2002 Brazilian film, City of God (or Cidade de Deus, for you elitists). I'd heard of it, of course, had picked up on the buzz from time to time since its release, but like I said, there's a lot of stuff to see. So, I saw it. And it was good.

The titular locale is the hardcorest of the hardcore Rio slums and the story--which is based on real events--is about the devastating drug trade of the 70s and 80s. There are obvious parallels to John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood, but it's all in the timing, I suppose, because what struck me more were the similarities to The Wire, the amazing HBO series that I am 4 episodes from completing as of this writing. Both feature kiddie criminals--City of God's Runts and The Wire's Baltimore corner boys--as the backbone of all-encompassing drug empires. Yeah, I get that one takes place decades ago in a third-world country and the other is in a modern-day major American City. They don't call it Bodymore, Murdaland for nothing. PLUS