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Top 10 Movies Some 188 of the 242 films released in the U.S. during 2000 were shown in local theaters in calendar 2000 or 2001. They are eligible for Academy Awards. A first cut of 85 eligible films I saw yielded 30 to 40 pretty good movies quickly winnowed down to about 20. I looked for excellence in directing, writing, acting and technical credits (editing, cinematography, sound, music, production design, art direction, costumes). Then I looked for the subtleties that mark a film as outstanding: Is it sophisticated, literate, intelligent? Character-driven rather than plot-heavy? Do the writer, director and actors respect all the characters? Is the music integral to the picture? Does the film evoke a strong sense of place and time? Does it show the story through image? Does the picture add to an understanding of the human heart? Ever-finer sifting for principles, presentation and resonance resulted in a first listing that could be ordered by ranking. The last important question is also the most subjective: Can I make a credible argument for including this film? To be worth arguing for, the film as a whole must work. Interestingly, it's here that some films slip in rank, are eliminated or improve their placement. It happens every year, and this was no exception. This year a great number of the same people appear twice within the top 10 and the second tier -- famously Crouching Tiger's nomination for best picture and best foreign language film, and Steven Soderbergh, director for both Traffic and Erin Brockovich. Less well-known is Philip Messina, Soderbergh's production designer in both films. Actors appearing in two films: Michael Douglas (Traffic, Wonder Boys); Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, The Yards); Billy Crudup (Almost Famous, Jesus' Son); Frances McDormand (Almost Famous, Wonder Boys); Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream, The Yards); Jack Black (Jesus' Son, High Fidelity); and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Traffic, High Fidelity). While performance rates highly, direction is even more important. I think the big awards given out on Oscar Sunday (March 25) will turn on the choice between two most capable directors: Steven Soderbergh and Ang Lee. My best 10 films are helmed by creative, innovative directors: Soderbergh, Lee, Joel Coen, Curtis Hanson, Cameron Crowe, Ridley Scott, Stephen Frears and French director Patrice Leconte. James Gray shows great promise in his second film, and Canadian Alison Maclean makes a truly memorable debut. Granted, there were a lot of bad films this year -- uninspired,
formulaic movies that infantalize the audience or deaden it with graphic brutality.
The majority of films released in any year pander to commercialism while ignoring
the artful expression of emotion and meaning that film is uniquely capable of showing
us. But the following films aimed higher, and a few achieved the level of art. Note: Films and individuals nominated for Academy Awards 2000 are noted by an asterisk. Alan Siporin hosts Nancy LaVelle and Lois Wadsworth on KLCC's "Critical Mass" on Oscar Sunday (March 25) at noon to talk about movies.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh*. Written by Stephen Gaghan*, based on "Traffik," created by Simon Moore for Channel 4 Television, U. K. Produced by Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Laura Bickford.* Executive producers: Richard Solomon, Mike Newell, Cameron Jones, Graham King and Andreas Klein. Cinematographer, Peter Andrews (Soderbergh). Production design, Philip Messina. Art direction, Keith P. Cunningham. Set decorator, Kristen Toscano Messina. Editor, Stephen Mirrione*. Costumes, Louise Frogley. Music, Cliff Martinez. Starring Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro*, Luis Guzman, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Steven Bauer and Erika Christensen. With Clifton Collins Jr., Miguel Ferrer, Topher Grace, Amy Irving, Tomas Millian and Jacob Vargas. USA Films Release, 2000. R. 147 minutes. Steven Soderbergh's brilliant ensemble endeavor to put a human face on the drug issue is the best American film of the year. Although he's also nominated for the Julia Roberts' star vehicle, Erin Brockovich, Traffic is the superior picture because Soderbergh takes real risks. He elicits revelatory performances from his outstanding actors, particularly Del Toro in an incandescent, career-making turn; but Douglas, Cheadle, Guzman, Christensen, Grace and Ferrer also excel. As the film's cinematographer, Soderbergh worked in the moment. A small crew would swoop into a location, light and shoot the scene, then move on. Some scenes were improvised on the spot. His decisions had a powerful emotional impact on the film's relevance, and its palpable immediacy sets it apart. Soderbergh, writer Steven Gaghan and the producers chose to tell several intertwining stories and to color code the stories so the audience always knows which story it's watching. Scenes in Mexico are in yellow to brown tones, while a distancing, icy blue suffuses the new U.S. drug czar's official scenes. The interlocked stories of the wealthy drug importer, his wife and the federal agents who want to nail him are shot in warmer, California colors. Gaghan's personal experiences with drugs led to his making the heart of the story human decisions that carry hope. An addicted teenager gets the support she needs through a recovery program. A compromised cop chooses to tell the truth at great risk. A father finds strength within his family. A dedicated lawman exacts meaningful revenge for two murders. With its central humanitarian principles, this fearless film points toward a public drug policy that would stop wasting resources on failing interdiction programs and start supporting programs to treat addiction as the public health problem it is. (Click here for full review.)
Directed by Ang Lee.* Written by James Schamus, Wang Hui Ling and Tsai Kuo Jung,* based on the novel by Wang Du Lu. Produced by Bill Kong, Hsu Li Kong and Ang Lee.* Executive producers, James Schamus, David Linde. Cinematography, Peter Pau.* Choreography, Yuen Wo-Ping. Editor, Tim Squyres.* Production design and costumes*, Tim Yip. Art directors, Wang Jian Quo and Zhao Bin.* Music, Tan Dun**. Starring Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen. With Cheng Pei Pei and Lung Sihung. A Zoom Hunt International Production, Taiwan.* Sony Pictures Classics, 2000. PG-13. 119 minutes. Ang Lee's delightful, mysterious tale set in ancient China exceeds our expectations in several interesting ways. We expect traditional martial arts to be practiced by men, but Lee's tale sparkles with the specific grace and strong feminism of accomplished women fighters. Likewise, we anticipate martial arts movies will use fighting skills either to embellish a thin story or to be the main event in basically plotless movies. But this film incorporates them into its narrative in a more meaningful manner. Redolent with unspoken passion and intrigue that whispers around every corner, the plot's compelling themes of honor and dishonor invite an open interpretation. The fight sequences stand in their own right as examples of spirituality or corruption, but despite appearances, they do not take place in mundane reality. A native of Taiwan and graduate of N.Y.U. film school in the 1980s, Lee's best known films are historic: Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Ice Storm (1996). Period films demand accurate representation of the era, but to work on all levels, they also must shed light on how the era portrayed mirrors contemporary concerns. Lee brings these skills to the tale of a China that never existed by tapping into his childhood imagination, his love of Chinese opera's drama and romance and the magical realism of martial arts films. The result is an enchanted world of lush Chinese landscapes -- secret mountain fortresses and hidden desert oases -- that lie beneath the facade of a polite society hedged about with protocol, duty and ritual. In the mythical world, the constant interplay of opposites reveals how power may be used for good or for evil. It's a cautionary tale for would-be leaders and perhaps for those who would degrade the martial arts into self-serving expressions of violent physical strength. Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) and Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) long ago sublimated their mutual desire to social duty and a higher spiritual calling. They're role models to the young, passionate Jen (Zhang Ziyi) and Lo (Chang Chen) and an antidote to Jade Fox (Cheng Pei Pei), who stole a sacred book to learn its secrets for personal gain. The film's enigmatic ending encourages wider and deeper interpretations and enhances our appreciation of the small miracle Lee has accomplished here. (Click here for full review.)
Directed by Joel Coen. Written by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen,* based upon Homer's The Odyssey. Produced by Ethan Coen. Executive producers, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner. Cinematography, Roger Deakins.* Production design, Dennis Gassner. Costumes, Mary Zophres. Music, T Bone Burnett. Editors, Roderick Jaynes, Tricia Cooke. Sound, Skip Lievsay. Starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, Chris Thomas King, Michael Badalucco, Daniel Von Bargen and Charles Durning. Touchstone Pictures, Universal Studios, 2000. PG-13. 103 minutes. Joel and Ethan Coen don't so much reinvent the South of the 1930s in this joyful musical culture trip through the Bible Belt as they reinvigorate their fantasy of it with a shot of comic irony and a flash of literary impudence. Feel-good banjo pickings and gospel sounds true to the period course through the film. Roger Deakins' deliriously exotic, dream-like cinematography evokes the sultry summer beauty of river country and rich bottom land, while the Wizard-of-Oz strangeness of a Ku Klux Klan gathering is the most operatic in film history. This shaggy dog story's heroes are a trio of jailbirds with a penchant for petty larceny, an obsession with hair pomade and a gullibility that borders suckerdom. George Clooney takes his effusive character at face value to brilliant effect. John Turturro delivers his graceless stoicism with a whiney charm. Tim Blake Nelson's comic blankness speaks to us all. Pity the poor critics snookered by their own hidebound elitism into believing that laughing at these buffoons is to act at their expense, a fundamental misunderstanding of this hayseeds' joyride. These three yokels alone have the moral authority to stand up to the film's villains. If you don't get it that the Coens love these guys, you probably should stay home and do something edifying. The rest of us will just wallow in the wildness and get down in the groove with these mischievous merrymakers. Great soundtrack! (Click here for full review.)
Directed by Curtis Hanson. Produced by Scott Rudin and Hanson. Screenplay by Steve Kloves,* based on the novel by Michael Chabon. Cinematography, Dante Spinotti. Production design, Jeannine Oppewall. Editor, Dede Allen.* Costumes, Beatrix Aruna Pasztor. Music, Christopher Young. Song, "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan.* Starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire and Frances McDormand. With Katie Holmes, Rip Torn and Robert Downey Jr. Paramount Pictures, 2000. R. This splendid, character-driven, ensemble film disingenuously disguises itself as a campus comedy where both teachers and students have problems. Writing prof Grady Trip, played to hilarious perfection by Michael Douglas, has some pot-dependency issues to work out, and his best student (Tobey Maguire) is a disturbing kid. In just one day, Grady's wife leaves him, his lover (Frances McDormand) tells him she's pregnant, his student shoots her husband's blind dog, his car is stolen, his literary agent (Robert Downey Jr.) arrives in town with a transvestite in tow, and Grady still can't finish the book he's been working on for seven years. Consummate director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) and gifted screenwriter Steve Kloves (The Fabulous Baker Boys) set such an unrelenting pace for this screwball comedy there's no time for self-pity. As events transpire to jolt Grady out of his rut and into the real world, we're regaled with Dante Spinotti's classic cinematography of Carnegie Melon campus and Pittsburg neighborhoods as well as a smashing soundtrack that starts with Bob Dylan's "Things Have Changed." A juicy, real film about people worth caring about, Wonder Boys' Hanson cherishes every quirk of each of these characters, and in his generosity creates a film 100 times better than some of this year's pedestrian Oscar nominees whose names will be obvious by their omission from this list.
Written* and directed by Cameron Crowe. Produced by Cameron Crowe, Ian Bryce. Cinematography, John Toll. Art directors, Clay A. Griffith, Clayton R. Hartley. Editors, Joe Hutshing, Saar Klein.* Costumes, Betsy Heimann. Score, Nancy Wilson. Music supervision, Danny Bramson. Technical consultant, Peter Frampton. Starring Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson,* Jason Lee and Philip Seymour Hoffman. With Zooey Deschanel, Michael Angarano, Noah Taylor, John Fedevich, Mark Kozelek, Fairuza Balk and Anna Paquin. DreamWorks, 2000. R. 120 minutes. Early in his career, 15-year-old rock critic, William Miller (Patrick Fugit as adolescent Cameron Crowe), receives sage advice from his mentor, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Bangs says real rock music is dead and that the record companies are going to "ruin rock 'n' roll and strangle everything we love about it." He also warns William not to make friends with the band and to accept that he won't ever be cool. These sentiments create an ethical core for writer/director Crowe's brilliantly imagined lovesong to rock music. William joins the Almost Famous 1973 tour with Stillwater -- "a mid-level band struggling with its own success" -- for Rolling Stone magazine. He begins to understand Bangs when the record company sends in a replacement manager halfway through the tour and when he realizes even his "friend," the guitarist Russell (the excellent Billy Crudup), is using him. But William's fine because he has a particularly strong connection to his outspoken, eccentric mother (Frances McDormand in an indelible performance). One scene -- onscreen for less than 30 seconds -- shows us the tender heart of this complex portrait of the '70s rock scene. The concert is over. Alone among the litter of discarded streamers and balloons, Penny Lane (a radiant Kate Hudson) slides and twirls gently across the floor. It's an ecstatic grace note that reflects the best of what Crowe (and we) feel about rock music. Awesome soundtrack! (Click here for full review.)
Directed by Ridley Scott.* Written by David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson.* Story by Franzoni. Produced by Douglas Wick, Franzoni and Branko Lustig.* Cinematography, John Mathieson.* Production design, art direction*, Arthur Max. Editor, Pietro Scalia. Costumes, Janty Yates. Sound, Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, Ken Weston.* Visual Effects, John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke, Rob Harvey.* Music, Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard. Starring Russell Crowe* and Joaquin Phoenix,* with Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi and Djimon Hounsou. DreamWorks Pictures/Universal, 2000. R. 147 minutes. Ridley Scott's vast, sprawling epic begins in dark woods on the war-ravaged edge of the Roman world as General Maximus (Russell Crowe) speaks of strength and honor to his troops just before bidding them, "Unleash hell." Both a fighter and a man of honor who believes in the idea of Rome and will give his life to restore the right to govern back to the people, Maximus longs for his home and family. His nemesis is the jealous, wicked Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), who murders his own father to assume the role of emperor, then builds an enormous Colosseum in Rome and reinstates the violent games to distract the people from an empire rapidly degenerating into chaos and power struggles. Maximus, now enslaved as a gladiator, becomes a popular fighter in the arena who challenges Commodus' hold on power. Scott's glorious, textured empire gleams with period detail -- costumes, architecture, jewelry, weapons of terror and palatial interiors -- all beautifully captured by cinematographer John Mathieson and enhanced by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard's musical score. Crowe -- who performed 95 percent of his stunts -- is outstanding as this principled hero of unblinking courage, commanding strength and the resilience to live through daunting physical and emotional trials. Likewise, Phoenix expresses the conflicted human side of the unprincipled Commodus while vividly evoking the dark heart of Roman rule. Great stirring drama. (Click here for full review.)
Directed by Stephen Frears. Written by D.V. Devincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack and Scott Rosenberg. Based on the book by Nick Hornby. Cinematography, Seamus McGarvey. Production design, David Chapman, Therese DePrez. Editor, Mick Audsley. Costumes, Laura Cunningham Bauer. Music composer, Howard Shore. Starring John Cusack, with Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso, Jack Black, Joan Cusack and Lisa Bonet. Also, Bruce Springsteen, Tim Robbins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lili Taylor, Joelle Carter, Natasha Gregson Wagner and Sara Gilbert. Buena Vista Release, Touchstone Pictures, 2000. R. 106 minutes. With this sweet, hip romantic comedy ably directed by Stephen Frears, we encounter the first film not nominated for any awards Sunday night. Too bad, because High Fidelity ranks very high on my all-time list of great John Cusack movies. Cusack plays Rob, a man so obsessed with useless information about recorded music that he's successfully avoided growing up. Still playing the same lame non-commitment game with his sweetie (Iben Hjejle) of many years, Rob hardly notices that she's so fed up she's about to leave him. Frears has fashioned a fresh take on the reluctant male's phobic response to marriage, and every bit of it is good-natured, funny and quietly subversive. Based on a novel by Nick Hornsby set in London, the film moves the action to Chicago, where Rob's Championship Vinyl record store's two music-minutiae geeks, Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black), insult all the customers. Rob's depressed after his lover moves out, and things get testy at the store. Only after he looks up women who dumped him in the past does Rob realize that he hates being single. But can he give up his eternal-boy persona for a real relationship? Complicated family ties play an important role in the answer. This great date movie has a swinging soundtrack.
Directed by Alison Maclean. Written by Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia and Oren Moverman, based on Denis Johnson's short stories. Produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher, Cuthrell and Urrutia. Cinematography, Adam Kimmel. Editors, Geraldine Peroni and Stuart Levy. Production design, David Doernberg. Costumes, Kasia Walicka Maimone. Music, Randall Poster. Starring Billy Crudup and Samantha Morton, with Denis Leary, Jack Black, Will Patton, Greg Germann, Dennis Hopper and Holly Hunter. Lions Gate Films, 2000. R. 108 minutes. Director Alison Maclean and the film's three writers have strung together episodes from Denis Johnson's somewhat autobiographical short stories to create a rambling portrait of a beatific, misfit junkie known as Fuck Head to his friends (Billy Crudup). FH, an aimless guy who wants to help others, doesn't notice he's the one who needs help. He gets all his ideas about what to do with his life from those around him. So he starts shooting heroin after he falls in love with Michelle (Samantha Morton in another sensational performance), a sweet, sexy addict. Their relationship is doomed, but Crudup and Morton are a very touching couple. The nonlinear, fractured narrative form the film takes makes sense when you recall that most of FH's memories are warped by his chronic drug use. So relax and take a look at what the world looks like from FH's goofy, somewhat mystical perspective. You'll meet his quirky, addled buddies like Wayne (Denis Leary) and Georgie (Jack Black), and that's a trip, man. FH eventually gets help for his addictions and actually finds a community where he belongs, which he experiences as unexpected, unearned grace. This is an unforgettable movie about one man's most unlikely redemption. (Click here for full review.)
Directed by James Gray. Written by Gray and Matt Reeves. Produced by Nick Wechsler,Paul Webster and Kerry Orent. Executive produced by Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein and Jonathan Gordon. Cinematographer, Harris Savides. Editor, Jeffrey Ford. Production design, Kevin Thompson. Costumes, Michael Clancy. Music, Howard Shore. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron and James Caan, with Ellen Burstyn, Faye Dunaway and Steve Lawrence. Miramax, 2000. R. 115 minutes. This ensemble melodrama directed byJames Gray (Little Odessa) exposes the grittier side of doing public business in a company that repairs New York subway cars. It also focuses on family ties that lead to tragedy. Frank (James Caan) runs the company and deals with corrupt politicians, labor organizers and police. When he marries Kitty (Faye Dunaway), Frank also marries her family -- her daughter, Erica (Charlize Theron); Erica's boyfriend, Willie (Joaquin Phoenix); Kitty's sister, Val (Ellen Burstyn); and Val's son, Leo (Mark Wahlberg). Leo, who took a rap for his friends, has just got out of prison and plans to go straight. But his best pal Willie makes big bucks for Frank, and Leo wants in. With all the players in place, Gray takes a straightforward storytelling approach, unfolding events as they come, beginning with the night Willie arrives home. Gray's right there, every time, with the telling shot, including one of the most realistic fight sequences (between Leo and Willie) I've ever seen. This fine film was underrated by critics and underpublicized then dumped by Miramax in favor of the predictable, confectionary Chocolat. But it could of been a contender!
Directed by Patrice Leconte. Written by Serge Frydman. Produced by Christian Fechner. Executive produced by Hervè Truffant. Cinematography, Jean-Marie Dreujou. Edited by Joellë Hache. Costumes, Annie Périer. Production design, Ivan Maussion. Starring Daniel Auteuil and Vanessa Paradis. Paramount Classics, 2000. R. 92 minutes. Polyrhythmic North African music opens this contemporary fairy tale, which travels from Paris to the Mediterranean to Istanbul following the mysterious relationship between a telepathic knife thrower named Gabor (Daniel Auteuil) and his assistant, er, target, Adele (Vanessa Paradis). Other characters are purely incidental, because it's these two director Patrice Leconte and writer Serve Frydam care about. Jean-Marie Dreujou's cinematography catches every nuance of the duo's shtick in delicious, shimmery black-and-white. What I love about Leconte's jewel of a film is that Gabor and Adele don't talk much, but they gaze at one another -- great, long gazes that carry the story forward while leaving much unsaid and unexplained. Substituting a knife-throwing act for the sex act is beyond clever; it's a warmly calculated move to keep the tension high between Gabor and Adele and between them and us. The unique musical selections and a wide range of interesting objects, buildings, rivers and people to look at make this sophisticated European film a true gourmet's delight.
Croupier: Mike Hodges directs and Clive Owen stars in this intelligent, enigmatic British casino caper film that also investigates a writer's warped perspective of reality. True believers went back more than once to unravel the cleverly tangled plot. It took this great-word-of-mouth picture two years to find a distributor. Good on Shooting Gallery for stepping up to the plate. Not eligible for Oscars. R. See review. Erin Brockovich: Steven Soderbergh's* crowd-pleasing true-life tale of a gutsy woman and mother of two (Julia Roberts)* who persuades a tired lawyer (Albert Finney)* to hire her and then brings him the biggest case of his life. They prevail in a David and Goliath struggle against a major corporate polluter, Pacific Gas and Electric. Too bad Roberts' star power overwhelms the subject after the first hour. R. Girlfight: Karyn Kusama's scorching portrait of an 18-year old Brooklyn girl who takes up boxing as a way out of the projects heralds the most promising new talent of the year, Michelle Rodriguez. Her coiled anger and withering gaze hide a poignant vulnerability. Santiago Douglas is also terrific as the love interest. Fabulous. R. See review.
House of Mirth: Yet to open in Eugene, Terence Davies' deliriously visual Edith Wharton adaptation is set in Edwardian New York among smug, rich aristocrats. Lily Bart (Gillian Anderson) is poor, good and beautiful but the object of jealousy. Slowly, her reputation is destroyed, and she cannot recover. At the top of many critics' best-of list. R. Pollock: This passionate story of the great American abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock, directed and starred in by Ed Harris with Marcia Gay Harden as Pollock's wife, painter Lee Krasner, is a tumultuous trip through the late 1940s Manhattan art scene. It's also a quieter picture of an artist discovering a new way to paint. R. See review. Requiem for a Dream: Outstanding visually and stylistically innovative, Darren Aronofsky's film adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr.'s 1978 novel is without hope. Three junkie friends -- Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayons -- and the mother of one (Ellen Burstyn) are on the painful, long slope into degradations too horrific to watch. Stunning performances can't erase the filmmaker's fascination with evil. R. See review. Shower: Zhang Yang's perfect little film was a hit at Sundance 2000. A prodigal-son tale set in contemporary Beijing, the film contrasts modern and traditional ways. An ailing father runs a bath house that's about to be torn down. The successful son comes to visit, and his reconciliation to his father and mentally disabled brother is beautiful and real. PG-13. See review.
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