Best movies of the 2000 Oscar Class

It’s almost Oscar time and most of the Oscar-quality films have had their release (at least limited) by now. DON’T POST YOUR OPINIONS OF OTHER LISTS, just list those movies you want to recongnise. Remember: they’re only opinions.

[ol]
[li]Requiem for a Dream[/li][li]O Brother, Where Art Thou?[/li][li]State and Main[/li][li]The Tao of Steve[/li][li]Quills[/li][li]Panic[/li][li]You Can Count on Me[/li][li]Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire[/li][li]Shadow of the Vampire[/li][li]Almost Famous[/li][li]Chicken Run[/li][li]Nurse Betty[/li][li]Finding Forrester[/li][li]Traffic[/li][li]All the Pretty Horses[/li][li]Chocolat[/li][li]The Contender[/li][li]Billy Elliot[/li][li]Sunshine[/li][li]Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon[/li][/ol]

  1. Erin Brockovich
  2. Hannibal
  3. What Women Want (Okay, maybe it’s not an Oscar quality movie, but it does have Mel Gibson in it, and
    quite honestly, what more could ya ask for in a movie?)
  4. Castaway. I think that Wilson (the volleyball) is definitely gonna win best supporting actor.

I’m picking five, because that’s what the Oscars have:

Quills
Shadow of the Vampire
Traffic
Thirteen Days
Nurse Betty

**You Can Count on Me

All the Pretty Horses

Women on Top

Before Night Falls

The Gift

The House of Mirth

Chocolat

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon**

I didn’t regret spending a cent on any of these movies. Penelope Cruz (All the Pretty Horses, Women on Top) is, IMHO, is incredibly beautiful and talented. I can’t wait to see “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.”

Gillian Anderson was spectacular in “The House of Mirth.” I didn’t think this adaptation would work (Edith Wharton does not translate well to film), but I was quite surprised.

Chocolat is sweet and hilarious; Juliette Binoche was awesome, and it hit all the right notes.

Julian Schnabel is one of my favorite artists since way back, so I was really looking forward to “Before Night Falls”; I had to drive to DC to see it, but it was well worth the trip.

“CT,HD” is my pick for Best Film. Loved it, adored it, saw it three times and I’m seeing it again Friday.

Sticking to the Oscar 5-picture limit:

  1. Traffic
  2. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  3. Almost Famous
  4. Chocolat
  5. The Way of the Gun

I’ve only seen two movies that I could put on an Oscar list:

–Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
–You Can Count on Me

CTHD is a wonderful movie that moved me in the same way that a piece of art, or passage of classical movement can touch one emotionally. I’ve seen it four times–not because it is “cool” (which it certainly is) but because of the way it makes me feel inside.

The acting in YCCoM is top-notch. The story is compelling because it involves “real” people behaving in real ways. Not Hollywood ways.