Best of 2000
by Tim Wick
Well, we here are MISFITS are busily compiling our top ten film lists for
2000. This may seem a futile gesture given we are probably the only people
who read these lists, but just let us enjoy our delusions of grandeur just
for a little while.
Problem is, we live in Minnesota and we aren't critics. That means that
most of the big Oscar contenders don't even make it here until Mid January
(see my review of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that was written opening
night - almost a month after it had made most critics' top ten lists). We
are waiting until the end of January so we actually have a chance to see all
the films that might just make our lists.
But let's gaze into one critic wanna-be's crystal ball (mine) and look back
at the best and worst of everything else from 2000:
Best TV Show The West Wing - Sorry, it's not a genre title, but this
show is riveting. I don't write TV reviews because I rarely take the time
to watch Television. I make time to watch every single new episode of this
show. Any show that can introduce a Republican character that I actually
like and care about is doing something extraordinary. Turn off Who Wants
to be a Millionaire, Survivor and Temptation Island and watch a show
with some great writing and acting.
Worst TV Show Temptation Island - Who the hell thought this was a good
idea? Worse, why are people watching it? Five minutes was enough to tell
me that this was crap.
Best Genre News of 2000 Two names - Spider Man and Sam Rami. All of us who
grew up loving the web slinger hoped that someone with a genuine
understanding of the genre would helm this project. Though he did not dump
the annoying organic web shooters, everything else that is coming out of the
production sounds great. I love Spidey and can't wait to see this film.
Worst Genre News of 2000
The butchering of Batman Beyond: Return of the
Joker and the cancellation of Batman Beyond by Warner Brothers Animation.
Proving that the dismal marketing surrounding The Iron Giant was no fluke,
Warner Brothers once again failed to understand their target market. They
axed a popular TV show because they wanted to show more Pokeman (despite
poor box office for the second movie and evidence the fad may be fading) and
then they destroyed a near masterpiece of modern animation. The worst thing
about the cuts that Warner Brothers made to "Return of the Joker" was that
they did kids more of an injustice by taking that stuff out than they ever
would have by leaving it in. I am shocked at the amount of disrespect the
WB showed kids everywhere by sanitizing this piece.
Greatest Scientific Achievement of 2000
I'm not really qualified to make
such judgements, but for me it was the first long term manned mission on the
International Space station. I truly believe the future of our race lies
beyond our atmosphere and the station is one more tentative step in that
direction. It went mostly unnoticed by the general population, which is a
shame. Take some time to read up on what they are doing there.
Best reason to pay attention to sports
Tiger Woods. The kid is amazing.
You don't have to watch golf on TV (I sure don't) to recognize what kind of
phenomenon Tiger represents. It's not enough that he's an extraordinarily
gifted athlete - he's also a seemingly well adjusted person. Tiger has a
gallery of thousands wherever he goes and he still beats the competition
regularly in a sport that rarely produces someone that wins four tournaments
in the same calendar year. In 2000, Tiger won NINE. He is to Golf what
Michael Jordan was to basketball and Wayne Gretzky was to hockey.
Difference is, both those guys played with a team around them. Tiger does
it alone.
Worst reason to pay attention to sports:
Major league baseball. Can you
believe the contracts these guys are getting? Rodriguez is getting paid
over $40,000 per AT BAT!!!! That's a darn expensive strike out. Who cares
if the Twins leave? They don't have the funds to be competitive and a new
stadium wouldn't help. Being a great player is no longer of any importance
and having integrity is a thing of the past. I'd rather watch Hockey
because you know those guys are just out to beat each other up.
Worst place to read a movie review:
CNN.com. I know that you regulars would
be shocked that I did not pick the pretentious, metaphor laden critics at
Entertainment Weekly. They at least like a movie on occasion. The people
who write for CNN.com hate every movie they see. Well if they hate movies
so much, maybe CNN should go out and find someone who enjoys film a little
bit. Entertainment Weekly is at least an interesting read as you see how
these two smug, overeducated twerps try to out clever each other.
Best place to read a movie review:
MISFIT.org!!!! Just kidding. I would
have to pick Roger Ebert's site. It's easy to navigate, his reviews are
pretty good even when I don't agree with them and he has other articles that
will pique your interest. One of may favorites is his Great Movies column
where he dissects the great films of history. I don't always agree with
Roger, but I certainly appreciate his opinion over most other critics. I do
like Aint-it-cool-news as well, but sometimes the overabundance of swear
words drives me a little nuts. Frankly, I need a little more information
beyond "This movie is F***ing amazing!!!! If you don't see it, you are a
f***ing moron!!!"
Best movie not released in 2000 that I saw for the first time this year:
Tough call, but I have to go with The Maltese Falcon. Hard to believe I'd
never seen this picture, but it belongs on any top 100 list of American
films. I've been developing a strong respect for Bogart this year. Other
top contenders were 1999's The Straight Story and American Movie and
classics To Have & Have Not, The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Sea
Wolf.
Worst movie not released in 2000 that I saw for the first time this year:
Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens. Nothing else comes close. What's
worse than enduring a porn movie? Enduring a really bad, really long,
really stupid porn movie.
Movie I most wish I'd actually gotten to see in the theatre:
You're gonna
laugh. Battlefield Earth. There is nothing more fun than watching a
complete crap-fest with your friends. I would have loved to watch that baby
in the theatre with a bunch of people and then gone out to lambaste it
afterwards. Probably the best time I had watching a film this year was
Mission to Mars. The movie was horrible, but the company was great.
Movie I probably should have skipped in the theatre:
Bounce. Not one of
the worst films of the year, but pretty much a blah romance that I ended up
seeing because we were late for Billy Elliott (which I still haven't
seen). As much as I always say that any film is better on the big screen,
this one didn't gain anything by the experience. I should have gone to The
Sixth Day. It probably would have sucked, but it would have been better in
a theatre.
Movie that you probably should have watched but didn't:
The Emperor's New Groove. This film did OK, but I know more genre fans that made it to the
lackluster Titan A.E. but couldn't drag their sorry butts to see this wild
romp. Would you people trust me and go see this film?????
Best DVD
The Fantasia Anthology. You have to get the three DVD set that includes
Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. I spent a weekend surfing through the
extras on these DVD's and still haven't seen everything. Add to all of that
the fact that these are a couple of wonderful animation showcases and there
is no reason NOT to own these DVD's.
Worst DVD
Tie Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Star Wars trilogy.
Because they DON'T EXIST!!!!! What the hell????????? Get those puppies out
there!!!!!!
Best technology decision I made in 2000
Buying a laptop. How did I last
so long without one????
Worst technology decision I made in 2000
Asking for Diablo 2
for
Christmas. I got it and now my life is forever altered by my need to kill
demons and undead until two or three in the morning. This is neither
healthy or smart.
Best of everything in 2000
My son said "Da da".
Worst of everything in 2000
I'm a bleeding heart liberal so it shouldn't
be too hard to figure out. George W. Bush was Time Magazine's man of the
year. If my brother was governor of the state I needed to win the election,
I could be Time's Man of the Year too.
Let us know what your best and worst of the year were! This is a site by
the people and for the people! All you have to do is submit something to
our webmaster and we'll put it up! I mean, we put this load of self
indulgent crap up, didn't we?
Have a great 2001!
|
