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ZAPFFE'S PICK OF THE 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2002:
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PERSONAL CAVEAT - MOVIES MISSED (SO FAR):
"The Hours"
"The Quiet American"
"The Pianist"
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NOTE:
"The Quiet American" above definitely would have made my Top 10 List for 2002 had I seen it before I wrote this.
Perhaps "The Pianist," as well, but definitely not "The Hours."
1. "TALK TO HER" ("HABLE CON ELLA")
Spain's premier movie artist, Pedro Almodóvar, has matured from his earlier bad boy movies into a cinematic style of grace
and imagination. Following his 1999's "All About My Mother," he has now given us a film of almost unbelievable beauty,
musicality, and originality.
The improbability of this story does not at all sound like a likely topic for a movie, but Almodóvar pulls it all off
beautifully. The movie begins and ends with two extraordinarily lush dance sequences and is filled throughout with an equally
lush score by Alberto Iglesias. In addition, there is also a wildly original and playful black and white mini movie by Almodóvar
within this movie.
Some elements of this film are either troubling or controversial, but at the end of the day you will come to realize that
this is one of the most original films that you have ever seen.
I have seen this movie twice and I hope to be able to see it again before it leaves the theater near me. Both the New
York Times and Time Magazine have called this the best movie of the year.
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2. "SUNSHINE STATE"
I don't think that I have ever seen a film that brings its characters to such a full and rich life as John Sayles does
with the people in this movie. Some may have felt this movie moved too slowly or said too little, but life is often slow and
what this movie may have lacked in action it more than makes up for in rich characterizations greatly enhanced by John Sayles'
brilliant script writing. This is one of those movies where you find it ever so easy to believe that the characters in this
film are actually drawn from real life. I still believe that the Academy could nominate everyone that had a hand in the creation
of "Sunshine State" for an Oscar nomination and they would not be far off the mark. Leading that list would be Edie
Falco, who very begrudgingly plays the loyal daughter chained to managing her ailing father's motel and restaurant business.
I have already seen this movie three times in theaters, and each viewing has left me even more impressed with this extraordinary
film and all the wonderful characters in it.
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3. "INSOMNIA"
Seldom has the beauty of Alaska been played with such a cold, stark, bleak menacing beauty as it does in "Insomnia,"
a film noir beautifully directed by Christopher Nolan ("Memento"). Al Pacino does his usual magnificent star turn
as a well known but burnt out Los Angeles police detective. When his Los Angeles partner tells him that he has to come clean
about an extracted confession under investigation and Pacino later accidentally shoots him in the fog, it looks like he himself
will now be the suspect under investigation. Unfortunately for Pacino, that shooting was witnessed by the murder suspect,
and now the cat is the mouse and vice versa. Equally sensational acting is done by Robin Williams, who plays against type
as a psychotic murderer reveling in his hidden knowledge about Pacino as well as his observing Pacino slowly collapsing under
the pressure of far too many sleepless nights in this land of the midnight sun.
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4. "MINORITY REPORT"
Steven Spielberg directed this highly original and rather terrifying film noir of the 2050's where technology has taken
over all aspects of life. This is the Spielberg film that the Academy should keep in mind rather than the much less inspired
"Catch Me if You Can."
Tom Cruise, as Captain Anderton, plays a cold, distant man tortured by the previous loss of his young son and the subsequent
dissolution of his marriage. His emotional distance makes him perfect to head the experimental D.C. "pre crime"
unit in which three "Pre Cogs," near lifeless humans floating in a warm brine pool, foretell anyone contemplating
murder in the Washington metropolitan area. This allows for the arrest and the conviction of these not yet guilty suspects
before the act of violence has actually been committed. The loss of personal rights sounds just fine until Anderton's own
name surprisingly comes up, leading to his flight from his own special forces team.
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5. "SPIRITED AWAY"
This is a truly extraordinary movie. The level of creativity and imagination in this film is just astonishing, even awe
inspiring.
Don't for a moment be convinced that this feature length cartoon is suitable only for children. It is not. This is a very,
very sophisticated movie for adults that may also be appreciated by older children, albeit on an entirely different level.
The story, although bearing some resemblance to "Alice in Wonderland," is a mature, ingenious, brilliant, original,
and fascinating Japanese fable of myth and magic. Please also be reminded that NONE of this film's animation is computer
generated. It is all done by hand the old fashioned, painstaking way by Miyazaki and his Japanese artisans working in marvelous
harmony to create this brilliant work of art.
There is no question about it: "Spirited Away" deserves to win the Oscar this year for the Best Animated Feature
Length Film.
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6. "13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING"
Jill Sprecher, director and co-writer along with her sister, Karen, of "13 Conversations About One Thing" has
shown an astonishing grasp of the nuances about character development in this movie. "13 Conversations.." is a
remarkable urban movie about ordinary people who are going through life experiences of different sorts that will affect them
each in vastly different ways. The "One Thing" that this movie centers on is the seemingly indefinable concept of
"happiness." Jill and Karen Sprecher have tied different concepts about happiness and the characters who are pursuing
their version of it in a thoughtful, moving, and extraordinarily well done movie. There is also interaction between most of
the characters that runs from slight to very substantial, sometimes due to inexplicable, random events. This movie is a rare
case study of how to create cinematic characters of such a realistic dimension that you wish the film were longer, not shorter.
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7. "FAR FROM HEAVEN"
This ode to the Douglas Sirk movies of the Fifties is a pitch perfect blend of wonderful acting and brilliantly conceived
characterizations by writer and director Todd Haynes. The surface happiness of a 1950's bucolic suburban community family
is shown to be very much a false front as both husband (Dennis Quaid) and wife (Julianne Moore) have romantic inclinations
that would have been forbidden topics in those years of innocent naiveté on television and at the movies. By keeping everything
else true to the Fifties except for the husband's flirtation with homosexuality and the wife's friendship and flirtation with
a virile Black Rock Hudson type gardener, Haynes brilliantly satirizes the societal conventions of that era. A lush, romantic
soundtrack adds to the joy of this film, which deserves multiple Oscar nominations.
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8. "MONSOON WEDDING"
Director Mira Nair has given us a glorious montage of life in India with this rich and colorful film revolving around
the impending arranged marriage of the daughter of a well-to-do New Delhi family. The ensemble cast in this movie is at first
confusing and then rewarding as every single character has a well drawn personality and a place to play in this film. A delightful
side story involves the initially avaricious wedding planner who suddenly falls madly in love with a servant of the family.
This movie is a riot of spicy Indian color and is worthy of being compared to similar Robert Altman films like last year's
"Gosford Park" or "The Wedding." A wonderful and very loving slice of life film with an extraordinarily
rich portrait of urban Indian life.
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9. "ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS"("ITALIENSK FOR BEGYNDERE")
"Italian for Beginners" is the 12th "Dogme 95" movie and the first to be directed by a woman. This
is a small cinematic gem of a Danish movie because it manages to capture the very essence of its cinema personalities. Director
Lone Scherfig has written a wonderful script and the actors have each in their own special way given life to the roles developed
by Scherfig's fertile imagination.
A shy young man fresh out of the seminary takes up his duties at a small Danish church close to a hotel convention center.
He begins to form friendships with the people working in various capacities at the center and their relationships crystallize
around their all taking a night time course in learning how to speak Italian. The personalities involved discover previously
unknown connections and the film develops each of them in a real and humanly plausible manner so as to make them all realistic
and enjoyable.
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10. "BARBERSHOP"
"Barbershop" is an intelligently written and wonderfully directed movie about what happens inside a Black South
Side Chicago barbershop. This movie about the social life inside that shop has a complex story line with convoluted plots
intricately meshed together, just like in the real world. All of the characters' lives are so well developed that they immediately
become real people, people just like us, with their own dreams and aspirations and hopes and fears as well as a lot of personal
disappointments.
"Barbershop" is similar to other classic movies in that this movie represents a cultural crossing point in which
all ethnic groups striving for the American dream can identify. "Barbershop" could become the modern urban rendition
of "It's a Wonderful Life."
This movie has the additional advantage of containing lots of good natured and very funny ethnic humor.
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HONORABLE MENTION (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER):
PLEASE NOTE:
ANY of the following movies could easily have traded places with some of the movies in the above list. They're all that
good. Sometimes it's just a matter of personal preference as to which movie makes the top 10 list above versus just an honorable
mention below.
"ABOUT A BOY"
"About a Boy" is truthful, honest, sly, witty, sad, and funny while not being at all formulaic in the direction
of the romantic relationships. This movie is filled with outstanding performances, especially the one by Hugh Grant, who makes
this stuff look all too easy.
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"CHICAGO"
"Chicago" is a complete triumph of style over substance, but what a glorious style! Fast moving and glamorous
and filled with wonderful music and dancing, this movie has just about everything but character development. Filmed with very
little dialogue much like an operetta, "Chicago" is loosely based on historical facts during the Roaring 1920's
in Chicago.
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"FRIDA"
Salma Hayek soars in her tour de force performance as the disabled, but talented and sexually adventurous Mexican artist,
Frida Kahlo, one of the wives of the brilliant Mexican muralist and communist propagandist, Diego Rivera. There is no doubt
in my mind that Salma Hayek will be awarded a Best Actress nomination.
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"THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE"
"The Kid Stays in the Picture" is less a movie in the traditional sense than it is a filmed version of the author's
autobiography about his larger than life excess. Robert Evans was head of Paramount Studios during the Sixties and Seventies.
No producer has ever had such a spectacular run of great hits as did Evans. Rattle off the names of his films (e.g., "Chinatown"
and "The Godfather") and you are covering many of the movies that have become cinematic icons during the last 30
years.
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"KISSING JESSICA STEIN"
Jessica Stein (Jennifer Westfelt) has grown tired of all the losers with whom she has been fixed up. An ad for a lesbian
lover in a local paper placed by Helen Cooper (Heather Jurgensen) leads to a very halting, but interested, response from Jessica.
Each girl is under the mistaken impression that the other is an experienced lesbian when in fact both girls to date have been
resolutely heterosexual. This leads to some very funny moments in many cases and some surprisingly heartfelt moments in others.
Worthy of an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress is Tovah Feldshuh, who plays Jessica's warm, loving, and understanding
mother.
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"NINE QUEENS"("NUEVE REINAS")
This is a brilliant con movie in concept and execution and it compares favorably with some of the very best con movies
ever made. The fact that it is the first feature film by a young Argentinean director only adds to my surprise and delight
with this very fine movie. Trying to guess just who is being conned is delicious entertainment as a rare set of Weimar Republic
stamps ("The Nine Queens") pass back and forth in ownership. Or do they? And are they the real stamps or just fakes?
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"POSSESSION"
This movie is smart, literate, beautifully acted, and lushly photographed. The actors, (Jeremy Northam, Jennifer Ehle,
Gwyneth Paltrow, and Aaron Eckhart), are all exquisitely cast. "Possession" is about the discovery of a heretofore
unknown romantic relationship between the Victorian Poet Laureate, Randolph Henry Ash, and and a fellow poet, feminist and
presumed lesbian, Christabel LaMotte. "Possession," however, is also about possession of the clues to this concealed
relationship by 20th Century literary snoops.
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"RABBIT-PROOF FENCE"
The universal themes of familial love and loyalty, the abuse of authority, the pathetically misguided laws of miscegenation,
and a positively riveting story about three young girls and their harrowing flight across the barren Australian outback make
this a movie not to be missed. This is the true story of three young girls who actually made this harrowing 1,200 mile trek
in 1931 in their successful effort to escape from a detention camp built specifically for assimilating mixed blood Aboriginal
children into Australian White society.
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"SIGNS"
"Signs" is a rare and intelligent horror film in the genre that makes the correct assumption that we are far
more terrified by what we can't see than by what we can. This is a correct assessment on the part of the writer, director
M. Night Shyamalan. For the record, the acting job that Mel Gibson does in this movie as the psychologically tormented Father
Hess mourning the loss of his wife is about as good as it can get and certainly one of his very finest efforts. Furthermore,
both Rory Culkin of the Culkin acting family and Abigail Breslin are absolutely sensational and more than believable in their
performances as Graham's two young children.
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