Moviegoing 2001

2002, Christian Sauvé

This being a flash-retrospective of the movies of 2001, concluding with the 2002 Oscars:

  1. AT A GLANCE: A brief recap of the year
  2. THE BEST: Every end-of-year retrospective must have a top-ten list...
  3. HONORABLE MENTIONS: Definitely worth a rental
  4. NOT BAD: Worth a look when you've seen everything else.
  5. ALSO AVAILABLE: You might like them, or you might not.
  6. BOTTOM OF THE BARREL: Movies to avoid.
  7. A QUICK GUIDE TO OTTAWA-AREA THEATRES: For once, some regional content.
  8. WHAT ABOUT THE OSCARS? My picks for the year.

 

1. AT A GLANCE

2001 was business-as-usual for Hollywood, with the expected assortment of routine films, big-budget crap and surprising masterpieces. The problem is that we still remember the vintage year that was 1999, and "average" years like 2001 seem, somehow, disappointing.

It's not as if it was a total disaster. Some film-makers took chances, and the results might have been flawed, but they were certainly interesting. We should be so lucky to get films like MEMENTO, MOULIN ROUGE, BLACK HAWK DOWN, SHREK or AMÉLIE any year. More conventional, but still as satisfying, were more conventional fare like MONSTERS INC., HEIST, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, SPY KIDS or ENEMY AT THE GATES. Hollywood even defied conventional wisdom by turning out no less than two rather good (and faithful!) book adaptations (HARRY POTTER and BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY), plus a successful screen translation of a holy text (THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING). Add to that two remakes that were widely acknowledged as being better than the original (VANILLA SKY, OCEAN'S ELEVEN), and the end result is a year that held its own.

But it's probably more fair to judge a year on the average film and in the case of 2001, the average was indeed quite average. Will anyone remember KISS OF THE DRAGON, K-PAX, LEGALLY BLONDE or THE MEXICAN in a decade? Smart money says no.

It's far more fun to discuss big-budget failures. PEARL HARBOR, PLANET OF THE APES and TOMB RAIDER were only three of the many summer 2001 blockbusters sharing a common story: High expectations, boffo opening weekend, devastating critical reception and quick oblivion at the box-office. The average summer 2001 blockbuster was hyped, loud, not so good and quickly swept under the red carpet by next weekend's blockbuster. Few movies had any staying power, most of them losing 50% of their audience week after week. Studios made some money, but theater owners gnashed their teeth due to the lopsided nature of opening week receipt profit distribution. Symptom of a sick industry? Well, yes, but what's new in that?

The heartening news are that some type of movies failed miserably in 2001, perhaps announcing the end of a few genres. Teen movies worked rather less well in 2001, even when they were rather good ("O") and especially when they weren't (CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL). Speaking of teen movies, the teen horror genre didn't do so well: VALENTINE, SOUL SURVIVOR, THE FORSAKEN all bombed miserably. By far the biggest disaster story is for gross-out comedies, which lined up in a series of pleasing artistic and financial failures (JOE DIRT, SAY IT ISN'T SO, FREDDY GOT FINGERED, TOMCATS, etc...) Is it the end of bodily-fluid jokes? Well, no, but perhaps they'll recede for a while, and stay in movies where they're appropriate.

The idealist bastard in me hopes that 2001 also saw the end of the pretentious Oscar-baiting sentimental crap committed by people who should know better. Alas, the realist bastard in me is beating up my idealist counterpart in pointing out that even if A.I., THE MAJESTIC, ALI and THE SHIPPING NEWS all pretty much bombed, A BEAUTIFUL MIND still won the Best Picture Academy Award.

On the other hand, the family-friendly films worked very well in 2001: ATLANTIS, SHREK, HARRY POTTER, MONSTERS INC., SPY KIDS and JIMMY NEUTRON were all received rather well, and made some money. Perhaps more interestingly, they were all "kid's movies" that could be enjoyed by the whole family, even the surly teenage goth in the back seat.

For the die-hard cinephile, the best part of any year is to discover the underrated gems, the little films that everyone forgot or dismissed too quickly. In that vein, I can recommend NOVOCAINE, AMERICAN OUTLAWS, JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS, HEIST and SUGAR & SPICE for unpretentious fun. 

Ironically enough, there weren't all that many good science-fiction films in 2001: My favorites are JIMMY NEUTRON and VANILLA SKY, which should tell you something. In fantasy, though, it was an exceptional year, mostly due to successful adaptations of beloved works (THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING and HARRY POTTER 1) and strong original animation films (MONSTERS INC and SHREK) Watch out for 2002!

 

2. THE BEST

My Ten Favorite Films of 2000

1. MOULIN ROUGE

Plot: Boy meets girl. Stuff happens. People sing.

Why I think it's great: The first thirty minutes are, from a cinematic storytelling standpoint, a mix of FIGHT CLUB and RUN LOLA RUN, with a wonderful dash of postmodernist musical wit. It's a completely original movie experience, and the simplistic story gracefully allows style to predominate.

I hear your objections, but: Hey, so what if it's not for everyone? MOULIN ROUGE might very well be the most polarizing film of the year, but that doesn't make it any less effective for people who really like it.

2. MEMENTO

Plot: murderer. wife's his find must amnesiac An

Why I think it's great: It was about time we saw a film for which we had to turn on our brain. A great witty screenplay will make you pay attention to such a degree that you won't even be able to get up and get popcorn. Clever, blackly amusing and hypnotically thought-provoking.

I hear your objections, but: So what if it's a gimmicky film whose impact disappears with the gimmick? Did you see the respliced version of the film?

3. MONSTERS INC

Plot: A child stumbles in the world from which Closet Monsters come from. Our two monstrous heros fight to bring her back.

Why I think it's great: It's another great film with the Pixar trademarks: Strong characters, beautiful visual style, hilarious details, dynamite action set-pieces and perfect writing.

I hear your objections, but: Yes, it's conventional and overly sentimental. Is that bad? Not in this case.

4. IRON MONKEY

Plot: Stuff & kung-fu fighting.

Why I think it's great: Well, it does have the best fight scenes I've seen in a long time. The action is awe-inspiring, the characters are uniformly sympathetic and the pacing is perfect.

I hear your objections, but: If you don't think this is great, I would suggest you go watch a few more martial-arts films.

5. LORD OF THE RINGS 1

Plot: A piece of jewellery must be destroyed.

Why I think it's great: It doesn't suck. It improves on the pacing of the book. It's got fantastic acting, cinematography and special effects. Oh, and it manages to successfully adapt a book with a rabid following.

I hear your objections, but: Trust me, in a few years when the whole thing is out on DVD, you won't bitch about the length.

6. SHREK

Plot: Hero rescues princess-in-distress

Why I think it's great: The irreverent satire of fairy-tales is fine, but the characterisation works well, the gags are often fall-down funny, there are several memorable scenes and the pacing has nary a pause.

I hear your objections, but: Maybe it's fluff for you, but it *was* one of the funniest films of 2001.

7. BLACK HAWK DOWN

Plot: The story of a real-life American military operation in 1993 Somalia.

Why I think it's great: Pedal-to-the-metal action scenes reportedly faithful to actual events? A film that accurately depicts the military without knee-jerk moralism? I'm sold.

I hear your objections, but: even if the setup is shaky and the characters undistinguishable, they're not why we're watching, mouth agog.

8. HARRY POTTER 1

Plot: A young boy is trained to be a wizard.

Why I think it's great: I'm a sucker for these "training academy" stories. This one is 120+ minutes of pure compulsively watchable candy.

I hear your objections, but: When it's as well-done as this, it's irrelevant whether or not it's deeply original.

9. JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS

Plot: A child prodigy rescues his parents from aliens.

Why I think it's great: It features more creative imagination that the rest of the other SF movies of 2001 put together. The pacing is just right, the characters are sharply defined and it's constantly hilarious. Especially for adults.

I hear your objections, but: Hey, I want to be Jimmy Neutron when I grow up.

10. BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY

Plot: Full-blown neurosis redefined as being cute.

Why I think it's great: I laughed from beginning to end, I thought Bridget was, like, the cutest girl ever and when you get down to it, I'm just a sucker for well-done romantic comedies.

I hear your objections, but: Don't you just want to hug Bridget and tell her everything will turn out to be all right?

 

3. HONORABLE MENTIONS

Fortunately, 2001 had much more worthwhile material than simply a top-ten list. Here are a list of other rather good video choices, in rough order of release.

ENEMY AT THE GATES

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS

HEIST

THE MUMMY RETURNS

SPY KIDS

SWORDFISH

VANILLA SKY

ZOOLANDER

AMERICAN OUTLAWS

NOVOCAINE

OCEAN'S ELEVEN

LE DESTIN FABULEUX D'AMÉLIE POULIN

 

4. NOT BAD

Some okay films that you might consider renting, in no particular order:

BEHIND ENEMY LINES: Rather good contemporary action/war film with a pleasing patriotic overtone. Dynamic directing, but the silly action-movie clichés eventually surface and the ham-fisted "messages" get tiresome.

DON'T SAY A WORD: Mildly interesting psychological thriller. The first hour is quite good; it gets more and more ordinary as it goes on. Michael Douglas is credible and Brittany Murphy has a flashy psycho role.

DRIVEN: If you can get by the atrocious script, the lousy characters and the Stallone-worship, you'll find a diverting big-screen racing videogame with cool racing scenes and pretty good car crashes.

FINAL FANTASY: The computer animation is nothing short of astonishing, but the science-fantasy plot isn't up to par and the result is amazing but uninvolving. Certainly worth a look, but only for curio value.

FROM HELL: Stylish retelling of the Jack-the-Ripper mythology. Not bad, but still a bit flat. The romantic and psychic elements feel painfully out-of-place. The whodunit aspect is also a bit weak.

JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK: If you're a Kevin Smith fan, rush to see the film. Otherwise, think twice: Yes, it's funny, but it's also highly self-referential and even a bit desperate at times. (A chimpanzee?)

JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS: Oscillates between wickedly-funny consumer satire à la Simpsons, and the inane musical/romance teen film. Also has the dubious distinction of having the most product placements ever.

JOY RIDE: Competent teen thriller with above-average directing, acting and suspense. Hinges, however on an oh-so-infallible antagonist that knows all and can do all.

JURASSIC PARK III: Silly thrill machine, not up to Spielberg's standards but reasonably entertaining as a monster movie. Degenerates in increasingly frustrating mess as it goes along.

LA NUIT DE NOCE: Fun and diverting French-Canadian romantic comedy, but otherwise nothing memorable.

THE LAST CASTLE: Entertaining men's adventure mix of prison and military themes. So compulsively absorbing that you might not notice the inane conflict at the heart of the story nor the icky glorification of less-than-benevolent heroes.

THE MAJESTIC: Full of sugar and unneeded lengths, but at heart a good movie filled with pure sentiments and a pleasant message. Has something idealistic to say about the power of cinema. A touch too manipulative, though.

NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE: Gross, vile, vulgar and often way too lazy with its obvious gags, but nevertheless, it's great good fun. Even the naughty gags are oddly amusing, and even if it could have been much more fun, it's not bad as it is.

"O": Ponderous but fascinating modern teen adaptation of a Shakespeare play. The adaptation is quite clever and the treatment is definitely not wink-wink, especially when the characters start dying.

THE ONE: Good SF/action premise marred by logical plot-holes, some easy plot mechanics and a definite lack of imaginative energy once past the first few minutes. Jet Li is fine, but the film doesn't know what to do with him.

THE OTHERS: Carefully restrained supernatural exercise. Not bad; a demonstration of what can be done without much. But some elements are dropped mid-way through and it's not because it's deliberate that it's not quite boring.

RAT RACE: Uneven comedy, with some sympathetic actors and some irritating ones. Similarly, the segments vary from in-between annoying and hilarious. Some parts work very well, with intricate setups. Other simply fall flat.

RECESS: SCHOOL'S OUT: Rather well-written for a kid's TV show spin-off film, with some unexpectedly funny sequences aimed toward adults. Not exceptional nor worth the bother, but still quite good if you like the show.

RUSH HOUR 2: By the time this sequel reaches its mid-point, it's an unmitigated disaster: unfunny, unexciting and vaguely racist. After that, things improve sharply; two beautiful babes, high-energy action and some classic Jackie Chan sequences.

THE SCORE: Curiously unaffecting story despite the innate attraction of a heist movie and the star-power (Norton, de Niro, Brando, Bassett) driving the film. Montréal shines in a thriller with no twists.

SPY GAME: Brad Pitt and Robert Redford shine in an adult espionage tale without too much flash, but the rest of the tale takes too much time and revolves around yet another spy-in-love plot. Not as intense as the trailers suggested.

SUGAR & SPICE: The production values are visibly deficient, the comedy isn't sustained and the overall feel is a touch too dark, but overall it's a small pleasant surprise: fun, fast and a touch unusual. Worth a look.

TOMB RAIDER: Let's see: A great heroine, gnarly action set-pieces and an intriguing mythos against incompetent directing, cardboard characters and unsatisfying pacing. Yep; it's a typical summer action blockbuster.

TRAINING DAY: A crunchy performance by Denzel Washington elevate a rather standard B-series crime movie to a slightly more respectable level, though without losing the frustrating coincidences and unsatisfying conclusions of the sub-genre

BANDITS: A mish-mash of good (Bruce Willis), annoying (Cate Blanchett: say it isn't so!) and variable (Billy Bod Thornton) elements, never gelling in quite a satisfying way. There are good bits, but they feel lost and adrift.

EXIT WOUNDS: Surprisingly competent police/crime action film starring... Steven Seagal. It's not one for the record books, but it moves well and can be watched with even some amount of jaded pleasure. Not bad, and that's a step up!

GOSFORD PARK: A film to the image of its elderly director Robert Altman: Intelligent, sarcastic, nostalgic but also scattered, confused, overlong and not quite as strong as it should be. Fantastic acting, naturally, but even then...

A BEAUTIFUL MIND: It's always fun to see Jennifer Connelly and Russell Crowe again, but when the typical trite movie-of-the-week "heart over mind" message is hammered home in a very unsubtle way, you can't make me care.

 

5. ALSO AVAILABLE

I didn't find these films too engaging. You might disagree.

15 MINUTES: A drama that does exactly the same thing it's trying to satirize, using increasingly clichéed plot situations and carticatural antagonists.
On the other hand: There's a nifty plot twist, and the third quarter is well-done.

ALONG CAME A SPIDER: Hmm.  I can't remember anything about that movie.
On the other hand: Wasn't Morgan Freeman in it?

AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS: A romantic that relies far too much on the fame of its actors, and not enough on such niceties as plotting or good writing.
On the other hand: Christopher Walken steals the show.

A.I.: Dull and boring piece of pretentious trash, tepidly covering imaginative ground beaten to death thirty years ago by written SF. The atrocious ending takes every care to be as predictible as possible.
On the other hand: Eh, some nice special effects.

BLOW: Hypocritical and self-serving biographical drama that tries to make us care about a scumbag drug dealer that made wrong choices and then had the gall to get caught.
On the other hand: Some scenes are amusing.

THE DEEP END: Overlong, underpaced family drama with a few dubious plot drivers and a puzzling conclusion.
On the other hand: Tilda Swinton is riveting.

GHOST WORLD:
On the other hand: This film I definitely have to see again before making up my mind.

KISS OF THE DRAGON: Ugly, unpleasant euro-kung-fu film starring an unusually charmless Jet Li and a skanky Jennifer Jason Leigh. Not fun at all.
On the other hand: Tcheky Karyo is a lot of fun.

K-PAX: Open mouth wide. Have a dump-truck of sugar poured into it. Say "thanks" as yet another deliberately ambiguous make-up-your-mind ending is inflicted upon America.
On the other hand: It could have been worse. Somehow.

LEGALLY BLONDE: Legal teen comedy that is supposed to make me care deeply about an unworthy protagonist. Weird overdramatic moments.
On the other hand: It's got a bouncy feel to it.

THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE: Rather good mood piece on "people who aren't there" spoiled by an increasingly bizarre and depressing ending.
On the other hand: Beautiful black-and-white cinematography. Tony Shaloub shines.

THE MEXICAN: Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt are wasted in a puzzling romance/drama hybrid that simply doesn't do much for anyone.
On the other hand: More unremarkable than bad.

MONKEY BONE: Incompatible mish-mash of vulgar comedy and deep morbid fantasy. Indifferent characters. Forced laughs.
On the other hand: The production design is truly fantastic.

MULLHOLLAND DRIVE: David Lynch is back to his faux-clever, pretentious and incoherent "artsy" mode. It deliberately makes no sense, them makes you feel guilty for not understanding anything.
On the other hand: One can't deny the power of a few scenes and the directing skill exhibited.

OSMOSIS JONES: Tedious gross-out comedy with the dubious distinction of being Bill Murray's worst film.
On the other hand: The animated segments of the film work rather well as a buddy-cop parody.

PEARL HARBOR: Hilariously inept war/romance film where a girl has to choose between Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett without falling asleep. Major structural problems.
On the other hand: The forty-minute attack on Pearl Harbor is an wham-bang anthology piece.

SERENDIPITY: Unsatisfying romantic comedy that teases for 90 minutes, then slaps the protagonists together through an cheap unconvincing coincidence.
On the other hand: I can't say anything bad about John Cusack. He rocks.

TOMCATS: Vile assortment of gross-out gags, cheap laughs and mis-used comic potential.
On the other hand: Actually, this should be higher on the list; cut the most offending parts, and I'd rather like it.

EVOLUTION: Workmanlike comedy with nary an original gag nor an entertaining thought. Goes out of mind as quickly as it went in. I'm not even sure I remember all of it.
On the other hand: The mall scene is fun, and some oh-so-serious actors (Moore, Duchovny) poke fun at themselves.

THE ANNIVERSARY PARTY: Low-budget filmed amongst famous friends with digital cameras. It's all about relationships and drugs.
On the other hand: Once you get into it, it's not so bad.

WAKING LIFE: Pretentious mish-mash of pop-philosophy told in a wavy headache-inducing computer-animated style over jerky video footage.
On the other hand: There are a few interesting moments

IN THE BEDROOM: Dull, long, slow family drama with a somewhat unsatisfying ending. An actor's movie rather than a viewer's movie.
On the other hand: Tightly-written, with exceptional characterization.

 

6. BOTTOM OF THE BARREL

Try to avoid those, if you can: (in increasingly frustrating order)

10. SAVE THE LAST DANCE

9. RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS

8. THE FORSAKEN

7. JESUS CHRIST VAMPIRE HUNTER

6. WHAT THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?

5. CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL

4. JOE DIRT

3. GHOSTS OF MARS

2. SAY IT ISN'T SO

1. FREDDY GOT FINGERED

 

7. A QUICK UPDATE ON OTTAWA-AREA THEATRES

Not much to say here; theaters closed down (goodbye Somerset and Gloucester... unless they closed down in 2000?), prices increased and the huge googolplexes didn't get any more affordable or pleasant.  I'm constantly surprised that Orleans, Rideau and the Mayfair are still in business.  Of course, they can rest assured of my patronage for as long as they remain affordable.

 

8. WHAT ABOUT THE OSCARS?

As of early March 2002, here how I'd give out the Oscars, damn the Academy!

 

 

Ongoing reviews of films released in 2001