Sunday, December 30, 2001
Best movies of 2001
Filmmakers saved best for last
For a movie year that looked so bleak for so long, 2001 ended with a fistful of strong contenders that made compiling a top 10 list a challenge.
Following are my choices for the year's most memorable films:
1. Memento — Utterly original, deeply inventive, thoroughly fascinating.
2. A Beautiful Mind — Compassionate, insightful, gloriously well made. The best of what movies can do.
3. Ali — Recent history, sports and a monumental personality in one thrilling package.
4. The Fellowship of the Ring — All fantasies aim to take us back to childhood. This one really does the trick.
5. Monsters, Inc — High-tech bells and whistles put to proper use, in service of a hilarious story.
6. Ghost World — The only film to simultaneously capture the mind of a disaffected teen-ager and the aesthetic of R. Crumb in live action.
7. Waking Life — One-of-a-kind, outside-the-box filmmaking, a treat for the eyes and the mind.
8. Spy Kids — Who ever guessed a movie made for kids could be so irresistibly hip?
9. Amelie — The year's most inventive romance in any language.
10. Lantana — The Australians come through again in a searing, intimate mystery.
Bonus tracks:
Best reinvention of the musical: Moulin Rouge
Best criminal caper flick: Sexy Beast
Best import you won't see until 2002: No Man's Land
Best R-rated surprise in Spanish: Amores Perros
Best non-Monsters, Inc. animated comedy: Shrek
Best romantic comedy: Bridget Jones's Diary
Best surprise hits: The Fast and the Furious; Legally Blonde
Best re-release: Apocalypse Now Redux
Best use of a heroic star playing against type: Training Day
Best critic's favorite despised by audiences: Mulholland Drive.
DEMALINE: Theater
GELFAND: Classical music
KIESEWETTER: Television
MCGURK: Best movies of 2001
NAGER: Pop music
Anime artist to speak at CAC
Warm reward for those who brave cold
KENDRICK: Alive and well
Rhino's baby steps are huge
Tuned in to Taz
New year puts new wines on my palate
No-frills steak old hat at Maury's, F&N
The Best Tastes of 2001
Get to it
