Pat Wick's 2001 Lists

1. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

   For anyone who has not yet seen this... GO. Today. This movie was over 3 hours long and at the end all I could think to say was "It's over already?"

2. In the Bedroom

   Also, see this. Don't read reviews, don't see the trailer, attempt to go knowing as little as possible. It is a family drama. That is all you should know.

3. Moulin Rouge!

   The trailer and [Lady Marmalade] music video are terrible. I know lots of people who saw them and decided not to go on that basis alone. Bad move. Great movie.

4. Amelie

   Sweet film

5. Monsters Ball

   Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle and Halle Berry all deserve nominations for their performances in this gripping tale.

6. Ocean's 11

   Great popcorn flick. Just don't make the mistake of seeing the original that this good movie is based on the title of.

7. (tie) Monster's Inc. & Shrek

   It may be a cop out to have them tie, so what? They are both wonderful.

8. The Dish

   A nifty little film on the 1969 moon landing from the perspective of people running a satellite dish Down Under.

9. The Business of Strangers

   Okay here, please pay careful attention. Do NOT attempt to look at the trailer for this movie. It tells WAY more than any trailer should. Stars Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles and has a similar feel as Six Degrees of Separation.

10. (tie) A.I & Vanilla Sky

    These both are very powerful movies. They have similar feels to them. Both have people that either hate or love them. Both are great to talk about.

Honorable mentions:

• Bridget Jones's Diary
• Black Hawk Down
• Gosford Park
• The Majestic
• Waking Life
• The Royal Tennebaums
• Memento

Bottom Five

1. Sweet November

   Eeeew!

2. Tomb Raider

   Hey, all I have to say is that I hope when my palatial estate is besieged by dozens of ninja like raiders (and I win hands down) is that they remove all of their dead (and the blood) leaving me to only deal with the shattered plaster, marble and glass... the instant it is over! How thoughtful. Really.

3. The Musketeer

   The risk with taking the names of the characters from a well known story and telling a different tale is the basic idea that you could tell a story that is better than the one intended and being dead wrong. Many of these characters would have been stoned for heresy and/or treason long before the story could take place - thus saving us the time it took to watch this dumb.. thing.

4. Planet of the Apes

   The costuming and makeup was superb! The plot...er... well... did you see the makeup?

5. Ghosts of Mars

   You know when people say that there was some plot holes large enough to drive trucks through? Well that means that there was some plot to make a structure out of. This didn't have that much going for it.

(dis)Honorable mentions:

• Glitter

  I missed 40 minutes of it when I ran an errand. I didn't miss anything in the plot, but I technically didn't actually see the movie to have it qualify - or it would be in the #1 slot)

• Brotherhood of the Wolf

  I cannot say what annoys me the most about this movie because it gives away the end. I know some people who really liked this movie so I won't say what was so bad about it (IMHO) because others might like to see it without knowing the end.