It's time, once again, for my annual Top 10 Films list. And without further ado, here is the 2001 list in descending order:
#10) MOULIN ROUGE: Normally musicals are not my bag, but this one won me over with its zany, in your face, style and great on-screen chemistry between Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman.
#9) THE TAILOR OF PANAMA: A fable about how a tailor's tall tales to a banished British spy leads to an international incident.
#8) SHREK: A dark animated comedy that turns the conventional fairy tale on it's ear. I especially enjoyed some of the not-so-subtle swipes at Disney. Good fun.
#7) JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK: This is a gift from director, Kevin Smith to his most loyal fans. A hilarious road movie with absolutely no socially redeeming value whatsoever.
#6) THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE: A modern film noir classic from the Coen Brothers. Billy Bob Thornton gives a brilliant, understated performance in this film which manages to be both funny and sad at the same time.
#5) AMELIE: Audrey Tautou is just enchanting as the shy but creative title character in this film about awoman who has an easier time helping strangers than dealing with real relationships.
#4) A.I.: A wonderful Science Fiction film that deals with the staggering cruelty of programing a machine to have human emotions. Kind of like an old Grimm's Fairy Tale with the darkness and the harsh lessons. Jude Law shines as Joe the android gigolo.
#3) MULHOLLAND DRIVE: An amazing, surrealistic, erotic, suspensful, puzzle-box of a movie with a star-making performance by Naomi Watts. Is this film a dream within a nightmare? A nightmare within a dream?A drugged out hallucination? I don't know. What I do know is that it was totally absorbing from beginning to end and well worth multiple viewings.
#2) MOMENTO: Easily the most clever movie of the year. A backwards running murder mystery with a protagonist with no short term memory. Also worth multiple viewings.
And my pick for the #1 best film of 2001...
#1) LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: A beautifully shot, acted, and realized interpreation of the first book in J.R.R. Tolken's classic trilogy. Perhaps the greatest fantasy story ever written lovingly done justice to by Peter Jackson. Not at all an easy feat.
Looking over my list, I see that it was a better year at the movies than a lot of people thought it was. Agree with me? Disagree? Think I'm on crack? E-mail me and let me know. I'd love to hear from you. Hope you all had a wonderful New Year. I'll see you all on May the 3rd for the premier of SPIDER-MAN!
"And I'd have gotten away with it tooif it wasn't for those meddling kids!"
John Michael Decker
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