Moulin Rouge

Baz Luhrman is one of the most dynamic and creative directors working in film today. Moulin Rouge is only his third film (the other two being Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet) but it the first one that is hands down brilliant film making.

This film is #135 (currently) on the IMDB top 250 and has made several critics' top ten lists (Including Chris Hewitt from the Pioneer Press, Jeff Strickler from the Star Tribune, Lisa Schwartzbotton from Entertainment Weekly and Harry Knowles from aint-it-cool-news), so I am not alone in my admiration for this film. The movie is kinetic in a way that we have never seen before. It's like an old MGM musical on speed and just a little bit of acid. At it's core, it is anchored by Oscar-worthy performances from Ewan MacGregor and Nicole Kidman.

Luhrman grabs the musical by the throat and wrests it, possibly against it's own will, into the Twenty first century. Go watch Evita and ask yourself why the movie doesn't quite work. The reason is because the theatrical convention of people breaking into song does not work in a realistic film. But if you create a hyper realistic film, the songs make so much sense, you wonder why people even bother to speak.

Certainly for most people this film was feast or famine - you loved it or you couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. To me, this film made going to the movies fun again. And it actually got me to like a song by Elton John. Any film that can do that should hold the #1 spot.

Fellowship of the Ring

When was the last time a much anticipated film actually met your expectations? I'm sure that it wasn't when Episode I was released. I would guess it was when you watched Frodo, Gandalf and the rest embark on their epic quest to destroy the one ring. Oh sure, I could nitpick a thing or two about this film - but what's the point? When you have the fusion of Peter Jackson's direction with acting that in all cases perfect, you should just sit back and enjoy the ride. Despite it's three hour length, I found time to see this film in the theatres not twice - but three times. So far.

Forget the fact that it is a first installment in what is ultimately a nine hour magnum opus. This is epic film making at it's best. The comparison's people have made to such films as Lawrence of Arabia and The Ten Commandments are pretty much spot on perfect. I'm not sure there is any way to overstate how good this film is.

In the Bedroom

Has as much in common with the two films above it as Water skiing does with harvesting corn. That is to say nothing at all. This dark, painful film is as real a depiction of a family torn apart by the tragedy of meaningless death. Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek give what are arguably the best single performances of the year. Like last year's fabulous You Can Count on Me, the movie is fantastic at communicating without words. My wife and I saw the film together and there was a point where Spacek's character asks a priest two pointed questions. In her silence, we both came to the same conclusion of what she was thinking. The ultimate resolution of this film will really make you question your own moral point of view as you ask yourself it you would have made the same choice the characters did.

Warning: Op ed comments ahead!

We have a right to films like these three! I am so tired of Hollywood deciding what we as moviegoers should like. Those of us that love films go because it is like a drug and we open our veins to allow the experience to enter our bloodstream. I have never regretted shelling out money to see a film but I have been angry and some of the things I've paid for because they broke their promise with me. I promised to pay and they promised to give me more than a mediocre two hours.

When I wrote my review, I said I would never buy this film because it was too personal. I have changed my mind. I will buy it because it deserves my money.

The Dish

If you were not alive (or old enough) to experience the Apollo moon landing, this film is quite possibly the best way to learn what that must have felt like. I love the gentle comic script, but what works best is they way the movie makes the moon landing a global experience. To those of us born in America, we always hear about how the first man on the moon was an American. To the rest of the world, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were representatives of the human race. When was the last time science was daring? I've been force feeding it to all my friends because they need to see it. At least one of them now resents me because I made him re-think his whole top ten as a result. Ha ha.

Although I honestly feel the three movies above this one are better FILMS, I think this is my favorite film of the year from the perspective that I find it a pure joy to watch.

2001 showed us the worst human beings were capable of. This film is about the best.

Amelie

As sappy sweet as a film can be, but I think it will work no matter how much you hate schmaltz. Something about the way the film sees the world is especially alluring. Since I saw this film, I always take a moment to look at the audience when I am at a movie. See this film and you will know why.

TIE Vanilla Sky And Mulholland Drive

One of these films is a critical hit, being awarded Best Picture by just about every critics' circle in America. The other was a critical failure that somehow struck a chord with the public, stubbornly staying in the box office top ten and inching ever closer to the $100 million mark.

I really don't understand the critical backlash against Vanilla Sky. I found it to be emotionally raw and completely captivating. I loved the movie so much, I rented a copy of the original Spanish version of the film just to understand where it came from. Tom Cruise really stretched his limits in this movie and I think he showed that no matter what you think of him as a person, he is really a good actor. The film plays with your perceptions and expects you to be paying attention. I read several reviews saying the film made no sense. I wonder if they were sleeping through the movie. It made perfect sense to me and I tend to act under the assumption that most critics are smarter than I am. This film was crystal clear if you just listened to it's first line - Open your eyes.

Mulholland Drive is, on the other hand, wonderfully confusing. While it is a lush, beautiful, erotic, disturbing film, it is also a film that cannot possibly appeal to all people. Anyone who likes their films to have a definite beginning, middle and end will be frustrated by the complete lack of Beginning and End and the over abundance of middle. The film is like a puzzle where not all of the pieces fit and even if you can find a way to fit them together, there is a strong possibility that the picture you came up with won't match anyone else's. I don't particularly like David Lynch. I expected this would be a movie I would endure rather than enjoy. Instead, I have been thinking about it ever since I saw it.

And speaking of films that made me think:

A.I: Artificial Intelligence

Now here is the truly divisive pick of my list. I've seen this movie on other top ten lists. I've also seen in on bottom ten lists. How truly perfect. I think Stanly Kubrick would be proud.

The movie is all about eliciting a reaction from its audience and in that way, it is a near complete success. I've spoken to many people who - like me - think it is brilliant. I've also spoken to many who think it's a piece of garbage.

I can't deny there are flaws in the design, but that doesn't make me admire the overall concept or execution any less. So much of the film to me is perfect. The parts that fall short are all the more glaring because they are in the same film with moments that are pure cinematic genius.

There are those who pine for the old Spielberg. They say that he hasn't done anything as good as E.T. or Jaws or Raiders in the last ten years. In my opnion that is a bunch of hooey. Saving Private Ryan is quite possibly the penultimate WWII film but it is a completely different experience from E.T. He could no longer make an E.T. but I simply cannot understand why that means his skills as a director have diminished.

He has moved on to try new things. Instead of complaining about it, perhaps we should observe that more people in Hollywood should be doing exactly the same thing.

Love it or hate it, A.I. was a huge leap of faith for Spielberg. He knew that it would be both loved and hated and he made it anyway because no one out there would dream of telling him what he can or cannot make. I admire that. It is what we should expect from the best director of the last twenty years. He chose to make this film instead of Harry Potter because this film wasn't safe. The last safe film he made was The Lost World. I, for one, think he's better off trying to create something new.

I paraphrase Roger Ebert when I observe that I would rather watch a flawed, daring film that a perfect boring one.

The Royal Tenenbaums

Here is another film I've seen on several top tens and a couple bottom tens. Why anyone would view this as one of the worst films of the year is a mystery to me. The movie is as funny as anything released for the big screen this year and boasts a rich cast of wonderful, quirky characters. Gene Hackman's Royal Tenenbaum is one of the great screen creations of the year - a person so awkward and clumsy in his expressions of love that you can't help but hope he succeeds. His children are a bundle of neuroses wound so tight that something has to give. For every hysterically funny moment in the film, there is a tragic one to balance it. Wes Anderson has carved a niche for himself in much the same way as the Coen brothers. He makes comedies with his heart and with his head and ignores the formulas that so many use to churn out what passes for humor these days.

Ghost World

I can't believe I could rank this film no higher than tenth! A movie that is eerie in it's ability to capture the experience of moving from the insulated world of high school to the real world. Once the walls are behind us, we start to wonder why we were so anxious to get away. Freedom is a wonderful concept until you have it thrust upon you. Then it is terrifying and sometimes crippling. That isn't all that this movie was about but for me it was the central theme. I think it also really helped me develop my newest theory of human behavior. We are all geeks - just for different things. A football fanatic is simply a football geek. Rather than look down upon him, we should recognize that he is as ensnared in his own obsession as we are in ours. Fortunately, my obsession is going to the movies and that meant I was able to see this wonderful film.