Hey folks, Harry here... Well it looks like Capone has decided to take the title from Moriarty as being latest AICN overlord to turn in a list... We're way into February and he's just now turning this one in. Sigh... Yup, typical eh? Also if you e-mail Capone with plans on how to... um... Roepper whilst he's in CHI-TOWN, well go ahead. This is Capone taking a look every which way at 2001, so enjoy, hate him and spew...
Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. Things have been quiet around my Chicago mansion lately as I've been toiling over this damn thing. Now, I realize it's totally lame of me to get this out so late, but I wanted to be on a level playing field with the rest of the nation's critics and wait to see films like MONSTER'S BALL and IRIS (both of which just opened in Chicago recently) before I sent you my Best of 2001 list. Here it is...
1. MEMENTO--I can't tell you how much it bugs me that I picked the same best movie of the year as Richard Roeper, but there you go. To me, MEMENTO was one of the only films in 2001 to take chances (that didn't involve showing the actors having real sex). The image of Guy Pearce's constantly bewildered face atop a stolen off-white suit is unforgettable. I've seen it three times now, and it still fascinates me.
2. LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING--Only loses points because I knew the story in advance. If I hadn't made a point to read the books before the films came out, this would probably be Number 1. The most spectacular spectacle is many years. Flawless execution and performances from everyone in front of and behind the cameras. I've seen it twice and will probably go once more before the Academy Awards.
3. MOULIN ROUGE--Speaking of "Spectacular Spectacular," MOULIN ROUGE gets better with each viewing (four times and counting). Ewan and Nicole as you've never seen them before and probably never will again. The most fun I had in a movie theatre all last year.
4. MONSTER'S BALL--It's a good thing I waited to see this before I compiled this list. Best straight-forward, no frills drama of 2001. A career-altering performance by Halle Berry that shocked and saddened me. This film will haunt you. Just give Halle the Oscar already!
5. APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX--Hey, they touted it as a new film, so I'll treat it like one. Coppola's much-longer edit of his classic trip down the river darkly still packs a punch. The longer version fleshes out characters and situations, while introducing us to a host of new characters that are just as messed up and hopeless as Col. Kurtz and Capt. Willard.
6. THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE--The creepiest and most eerie film of the year did not contain a high school student or belly shirt. This ghost story/period film from Mexico scared the crap out of me, plain and simple. From the director of the upcoming BLADE 2.
7. WAKING LIFE--We wuz robbed. The fact that the newly established Best Animated Feature category ignored the best animated feature of 2001 makes me not want to watch the Oscars at all. I'm not exaggerating. If you haven't seen this brilliant work by Richard Linklater, do so; if you have, you know what I'm venting about.
8. VANILLA SKY--I may be in the minority here, but I really loved Cameron Crowe's remake of the Spanish thriller OPEN YOUR EYES. Tom Cruise puts in one of the three best performances of his career, and the film is a visual splendor with a killer story.
9. A BEAUTIFUL MIND--Everyone seems very afraid this movie will win the Best Picture Oscar. Although it's not my first choice, A BEAUTIFUL MIND is a solid piece of filmmaking from Ron Howard and features Russell Crowe's best work as an actor.
10. BLACK HAWK DOWN--This movie got screwed by the Academy, but action films (and comedies) tend to be ignored as not being prestigious enough for Oscar. As about as perfect as a film could be on the subject of military action. Ridley Scott does an unbelievable job of letting us know where everybody is and where they need to get to to survive. Breathtaking.
11. HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH--Maybe even more so than MEMENTO, HEDWIG took chances and then some. Great music (holds up to repeat listening better than MOULIN ROUGE), a once-in-a-lifetime role for actor-director John Cameron Mitchell as a sexless transvestite who wants to find true love and to rock 'n' roll all night.
12. THE OTHERS--Second scariest film of the year. And like THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, the director's first language is Spanish. What's up with that? Nicole Kidman gave us two fantastic (and very different) performances in 2001. Give Nicole the damn Oscar already.
13. THE DEEP END--Tilda Swinton going to any lengths to save her son's life. Mark your calendars for April 16, the day this puppy comes out on video. It's a fantastic thriller where only the audience knows everything that's going on.
14. IN THE BEDROOM--Before seeing MONSTER'S BALL, this film was much higher on the list. Not to take anything away from Todd Field's feature debut, perhaps the finest film on the continuing pain of loss ever made. Just give Sissy Spacek the Oscar already!
15. AMORES PERROS--Another Mexican film. This one is a gritty and violent look at the interconnected lives of Mexican citizens from every economic strata. Similar to Tarentino but with more atmosphere and less gloss.
16. GOSFORD PARK--Funny, intelligent, and a return to form for Robert Altman.
17. NO MAN'S LAND--Putting not just the war in Bosnia in perspective, but also the futility of war and hate in general. The final image in this movie of a man lying on his back is one I will never forget. It deservedly got a Best Foreign Language Film nomination, and I pray it doesn't lose to AMELIE (I'm not knocking AMELIE--see below, No. 29--but NO MAN'S LAND is clearly the better film). It's so rare that a film about something wins in this category, but we can also wish for the impossible.
18. SEXY BEAST--Ben Kingsley, Ben Kingsley, Ben Kingsley. He's a god and a scary one at that. If you missed this in the theatre, treat yourself to one of the most electrifying performances of 2001 in a film that rises above the Guy Ritchie-style of British crime dramas.
19. DINNER RUSH--Abandoned by its distributor and given a second change by the Landmark Theatre chain, this story about the inner workings of a prosperous Italian restaurant appears to be nothing more than a quaint slice of life film, but don't be so sure. Terrific ending.
20. GHOST WORLD--This film got the nominations I'd hoped it would (Best Supporting Actor for Steve Buscemi and Best Adapted Screenplay). One of the best films about the awkward nature of relationships I've seen in a while.
Here are 10 more I think are worth your time and video-renting dollar.
21. FAT GIRL
22. OCEAN'S ELEVEN
23. AUDITION
24. L.I.E.
25. WHAT TIME IS IT THERE?
26. TRAINING DAY
27. BABY BOY
28. THE DISH
29. AMELIE
30. BLOW
BEST DOCUMENTARIES (and despite many of them being eligible, not one of them
nominated for Best Documentary Feature):
KEEP THE RIVER ON YOUR RIGHT; STARTUP.COM; THE GLEANERS AND I; LIVE NUDE
GIRLS UNITE; CALLE 54; GO TIGERS!; MAU MAU SEX SEX; DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN;
THE ENDURANCE; DOGTOWN & Z-BOYS; THE TURANDOT PROJECT; SUPER 8 STORIES OF
EMIR KUSTURICA; THE MAN WHO BOUGHT MUSTIQUE (My favorite of these was
probably STARTUP.COM with DOGTOWN AND Z BOYS coming in a close second.)
BEST RESTORED RE-ISSUES:
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY; MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL; QUADROPHENIA;
FELLINI'S SATYRICON; FUNNY GIRL; THE IRON MONKEY; THE BLUE ANGEL; KISS OF
THE SPIDER WOMAN
WORST FILMS OF 2001 (I realize with a lot of these, it's like shooting fish
in a barrel, but here they are in no particular order):
ANTITRUST; INVISIBLE CIRCUS; VALENTINE; DOWN TO EARTH; SWEET NOVEMBER;
MONKEYBONE; COMPANY MEN; GET OVER IT; HEARTBREAKERS; SAY IT ISN'T SO;
KINGDOM COME; JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS; JOE DIRT; CROCODILE DUNDEE IN L.A.;
FREDDY GOT FINGERED; SAVING SILVERMAN; EVOLUTION; TOMB RAIDER; POOTIE TANG;
THE GLASS HOUSE; THE MUSKETEER; SUMMER CATCH; AMERICAN OUTLAWS; JOE
SOMEBODY; DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE; RAT RACE
ABSOLUTE WORST FILM OF 2001:
Freddie Prinze Jr. gave it his best shot a couple times in 2001, but it was a star-studded fiasco that captured my heart and turned my stomach--AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS. How so many talented people could produce such mediocre trash did more than baffle me; it pissed me off, every second of this film pissed me off.
Capone
So ya worked on AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS, well e-me your address so me's pals can um whip uh ya out!!!
