Windy Merrill's 2000 Films

I saw about 20 - 30 (or more) movies this year. Unfortunately, some of the best movies I saw this year weren't released this year. The Sea Wolf starring Edward G. Robinson, for example. And I finally got around to seeing Fight Club. Before you jeer at me for waiting so long, I'll let you know that it blew me away and I've been kicking myself pretty hard, so I don't need your abuse too. But the year 2000 was not a banner year for movies. I've got 10 here, and they were all enjoyable movie experiences to one degree or another, but The Shawshank Redemption or The Matrix they are not. Also - I REALLY hate rating things. How do you compare an animated film with a martial arts film with a comedy??

1. Unbreakable
   The most under-appreciated film this year. I give it my number one slot because as I look at my favorite movies of the year, this is the movie that I remember being absolutely riveted all the way through. When I think of it, specific visual images pop up. Yes, it's very similar in style, construction and tone to The Sixth Sense. But I love what the movie has to say, how it says it, and I absolutely love Mr. Glass and RainCoat Man. And Samuel L. Jackson's hair.

2. Traffic
   Probably the most important movie this year, in terms of reflecting and commenting on the world around us. Standout performances throughout the film, including Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, Michael Douglas, his daugher (forgot her name), and Catherine Zeta-Jones. This film covers a lot of familiar territory, but it also takes an honest look in some of the murkier corners. You're a socialite used to the good life, stability, good reputation - and you find out your husband is a drug dealer. What do you do? Honestly?

3. Erin Brokovich
   I don't want a Julia Roberts film to be one of the best of the year. I really don't. But it is. Great dialogue, a compelling story, wonderful supporting cast, and fully realized, honest characterizations.

4. Chicken Run
   I love Aardman Animation. I was completely drooling for this one, and it delivered. So many jokes and inside references I still don't feel like I've caught them all.

5. X-Men
   Did you know Hugh Jackman is over 6 feet tall? Tom DeSanto told me that and my jaw hit the floor. I know all about movie magic, but I completely bought that Wolverine was a short little man. I figured he may not have been THAT short, but still. Most importantly, Hugh captured that short-man-attitude-syndrome thing. Patrick Stewart as Professor X was a treat, but it was Ian McKellan's Magneto that I loved. Storm was a total waste, but you can't focus intently on EVERY character, and the Rogue/Wolverine storyline was very satisfying. As I sat in the theatre before my first viewing, you would've heard me chanting "Please don't suck. Just don't suck." And as the credits rolled, you would've heard me gleefully exclaim, "It didn't suck! It didn't suck so much that it was actually great!" Okay, so the syntax on that is skewed, but I think you all understand. It was the little moments that took it to the highest level: "Does it hurt?" "Everytime."

6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
   This was an amazing movie. Truly a highpoint in the year. But it didn't seem to do as much for me as for others. I did see a late night showing when I was tired and had a headache, so maybe that's it. I'll own the DVD though, make no mistake. And after future viewings, I may come back and read this list and say to myself, "What was I thinking!??" I might have rated this movie higher except I wasn't all that captured by the wire work, it took me out of the movie occasionally. But the confrontation between Shu Lien and Jen Yu more than makes up for any quibbles. And the subtle, beautiful performance by Michelle Yeoh.

7. Cast Away
   I wasn't all that engrossed and blown away by the island scenes. Yeah, Tom Hanks did a physical transformation thing. Yeah, life alone is hard. But it seemed to satisfy a voyeuristic societal need to watch someone suffer. What I loved was the ending section of a man returned to a life that he doesn't fit in anymore. He's unhappy about it, but so overwhelmed with gratitude to be back, to not be alone anymore, that there's still a subtle joy radiating from him. If anything, I would've liked a movie that had no Island section. Show us a brief picture of the man and the life that was. Show him crashing and surviving. Then go to the viewpoint of the life that moved on without him and how everything is torn apart by his sudden return. I was moved by how simply and elegantly Tom Hanks moved through those final scenes. And how much conflict he conveyed - sadness at the life he lost, and joy at the life he regained.

8. Snatch
   I didn't see Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels so I don't have any comparisons to poison my enjoyment of this movie. It's a thrill ride that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the characters. I loved the dialogue. I loved the use of clever editing to make a punchline even funnier.

9. Return of the Joker
   The best movie not released in 2000. Warner Brothers has got a serious karmic bitchslap coming it's way if the forces of the universe are remotely fair.

10. Emperor's New Groove
    The best movie no one wanted to see this year. It was FUNNY, people! If you rate a movie by quotability - this was a winner! And no dumb songs to stop the comic flow. Kronk will become a legend in comic sidekick circles. Granted, I might be rating this so high because I had no real expectations. Or I might be rating it highly because - well, we all know that the year 2000 was not a great year for movies. But...."Llama face!!"

Runners up: Keeping the Faith & Return to Me

I'm a sucker for a good romantic comedy, and these two were tiny little gems. Nothing that will overturn the great classics of Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. But a romantic comedy should make you want to fall in love again, and these did. Keeping the Faith's star and director Edward Norton surprised me with his light and confident touch for comedy. Ben Stiller finally made a convincing romantic lead, and I've always thought Jenna Elfman was just too damn cute for words. And Return to Me showed that David Duchovny can be more than just Spooky Mulder. He can also be romantic, heartbroken, slyly witty, confused and damn good at subtle physical comedy.

Worst Movies of the Year:

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
2. Mission to Mars
3. Scream 3
4. Perfect Storm

I really really hated Mission to Mars. It was the most ludicrously bad thing I've seen since...well, Godzilla. Possibly - even worse. The pacing was horrid, the characters flat, the dialogue was a snooze-fest. And the PLOT?!?

But as much as I hated M2M, The Grinch was worse. Because it offended me. It managed to take a simple parable about the meaning of Christmas and COMPLETELY MISS THE POINT. It took one of my favorite childhood villains and made him an idiot. He wasn't scary anymore. No vicarious thrills of "love-to-hate". He was just pathetic. Let me be clear - the Grinch should not "get the girl." Hell, there shouldn't even BE "a girl".

Scream 3 was the predictable conclusion to a trilogy that had started with such zesty promise. Self-aware, cynical and satirical, the original Scream was a breath of fresh-air. By #3, it was merely a breath of air wafting up from an overfull dirty clothes hamper - stale and slightly smelling. The only thing that could've redeemed it for me is if Sidney (Neve Campbell) had become a serial killer herself. Yeah!

Perfect Storm makes my Worst list because it was just .... ugh. Like bad fettucine alfredo. Rubbery, bland and pasty. I knew they were all going to die and I didn't care. It was a relief when they finally did. And what was with the secondary plotline about the idiot machoman in his private boat??