12 July 2000

THE REAL JOHN writes: "I'm typing this to let you know my arbitrary, utterly meaningless top 5 of 2000 (so far). Let me first say that this has been a pretty terrible year in film so far. I haven't given any film better than a B+. Last year at this time we had very good pics like The Matrix, Sayle's Limbo, Altman's Cookie's Fortune, Three Seasons, Rohmer's Autumn Tale, Election, South Park, Run Lola Run and some better-than-average summer fare like Tarzan and Notting Hill. We were also a week away from seeing the best film of 1999: Stanley Kubrick's masterful, Eyes Wide Shut. This year it's been mostly dreck. Anyway, here's my list. It's a top 5 because I've only seen 25 theatrical releases this year. A top ten is not even worth doing at this time.

5. American Psycho: A flawed film to say the least, but it's one of the very few films of 2000 that actually takes a few chances. Christian Bale manages to find a wounded heart beating underneath the soulless facade of Bateman. From his sterilized apartment, to his business card, to his love for prefabricated 80's pop, Bateman is the poster child of the plastic-coated, 'shiny, happy people.' A man so fake that even death does not seem real.

4. Gladiator: Another flawed film. Gladiator is chock full of cliches, but despite this, the film manages to succeed. Crowe's superstar-making performance is the main reason why. Even when spouting out garbage like 'I am Gladiator,' Crowe somehow makes it believable. Maximus' every word and movement is performed with the rock-solid conviction of a battle-hardened General. Crowe's Maximus gives George C. Scott's Patton a run for his money. Directing the action (and at times misdirecting the action) is visual stalwart, Ridley Scott. Despite some poor editing during some battle scenes (Slow down!), Scott and his team do a nice job recreating both the brutality and excess of Ancient Rome.

3. Frequency: I saw this film with my mom on Mothers Day and was really touched by it. Say what you will about this film, because I've heard it all before: hokey, overly sentimental, ludicrous plot. It doesn't really matter, because--as Roger Ebert alluded to--the film is about the deep emotional bond between a father and his son, not plot points. The relationship between these people is movingly conveyed by Caviezal and Quaid. Caviezal in particular is an actor to watch for. After stealing scenes from Sean Penn (not an easy thing to do) in The Thin Red Line (great film), and now this film, I'm convinced that Jim Caviezel is one of the best actors of his generation.

2. The Virgin Suicides: Sofia Coppola's audacious directorial debut is many things: heady meditation on teen angst, moral examination on parental control, the bond of siblings and a sexual coming-of-age story. Coppola deftly weaves all these elements into a haunting whole. The acutely observed details are what raise this film to near-greatness: the awkwardness of prom night, the strained emotions of the parent-teenager relationship and the ultimately devastating heart-break of first love.

1. Erin Brockovich: We're in full agreement here. Steven Soderbergh takes what could have been a mawkish melodrama and turns it into an exciting, fast-paced character study, full of both genuine pathos and guffaws. By giving equal weight to Erin's homelife and her crusade, we come know her as a real person instead the symbol of martyrdom that so many legal dramas force upon us. As Erin, Roberts is both cocky and vulnerable--often at the same time.

About me: I'm a 19-year-old male born, raised and currently living in the cinematic wasteland of Montana. I consider myself a true cineaste and hope to make films someday. I believe in filmmaking as an artform. Besides films, I like to listen to music (from Beethoven to The Doors to rap) and read (Nietzsche, Freud, Sagan).

My favorite film of all-time is Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. Kubrick is my favorite filmmaker of all-time. Other favorite directors include: Fellini, Tarkovsky, Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Scorsese, David Lynch, David Fincher, Malick and Billy Wilder.

Top Ten of 1999: 1. Eyes Wide Shut 2. Fight Club 3. Being John Malkovich 4. American Beauty 5. Three Kings 6. The Talented Mr. Ripley 7. Run Lola Run 8. American Movie 9. The Insider 10. The Matrix

DEADBOY writes: "Am I the only one that noticed that The Patriot is almost the exact movie as Gladiator? Example: Man was once a great fighter. Man becomes tired of fighting and quits. Tries to raise family. Family gets killed by really evil guy. (Evil guy ranks high up on 'bad guy' chain of command) Man goes back to fighting after someone in family gets killed, hunts down evil guy.

The only great difference is that Maximus dies and Benjamin Martin lives. Then again Rome fell apart about a thousand years later and America became a great nation (until we fall apart)

The only thing that bothers me more than 'copycat' movies and countless remakes (Shaft, Gone in 60 Seconds) are movies that play it safe by rehashing formulas that already worked. Disney's Dinosaur is basically playing off the success of Jurassic Park. We need more originality!"

The GREAT DC writes: "This afternoon, my wife and I went to see The Perfect Storm. It's a very well made movie, but I certainly didn't like it. For me, it was like visiting a theme park personally designed by Richard Wagner with armed guards stationed at every exit to make sure no one left without having made the entire tour. And I thought the final scene was shamelessly exploitative. Even Ford or Capra or Borzage at his most maudlin would have had Hemingway's built-in b.s. detector and held back at that moment instead of milking it for everything it was worth."

JEFF writes ...in about a film that he loved and not too many people have had a chance to see: "The Wind Will Carry Us is the latest from Abbas Kiarostami. I saw it at the San Fransisco Int'l Film Festival, but I've heard it's getting a theatrical release in September. I don't know if you're familiar with Kiarostami (up until the Festival, I was not), but his films are exquisitely shot, leisurely paced tone poems with a decidedly humanist bent (he employs most non-professional actors, and shoot entirely on location). In The Wind Will Carry Us, a man who is called an 'engineer' but is actually a documentary filmmaker arrives with his crew in the small Iranian village of Siah Derah. The locals think the men are looking for buried treasure--they spend a lot of time digging around the cemetery that overlooks the village. In reality, the man (Behzad) is there to record some ancient funeral ceremony for his documentary. There is a woman in the village who is critically ill, and Behzad is essentially waiting for her to die so he can get the film in the can and go home. All the while, he has to field calls from his producer in Tehran, but his cell phone only works when he scampers out of town and up to the cemetery on the hill.

It's an ambiguous and befuddling film, but not frustratingly so. I can't wait to see it again. If I had to lay a finger on a theme, it would be the words an old man says to Behzad near the end of the film, 'I prefer life.' "

E ME: Everybody else has.