Well, the year is almost over, and as “5” is the number of films they nominate for best picture, it works just as well for this thread. So, while we still have a passel of films yet to see this year, I’d like to present my top 5 films of 2002, so far. I’m sure the AAMP will disagree, as will many of you. What are yours?
#5 is a German movie I doubt anyone on the board’s seen (it barely got an arthouse distribution here in the States). A load of fun and both unpredictable and irresistable.
1 2 and 5 were films I’ve never heard of. and 4 was one that I wanted to see but never got around to. I’ll look into these and maybe, if they pass muster, update my top 5 
This is not my list for best picture nominees…just movies I thoroughly enjoyed watching.
This is not my list for best picture nominees…just movies I thoroughly enjoyed watching.
Apologies if this double posts…the hamsters took 7 minutes without moving.
Jman is stuffing the ballot! 
I can’t even remember what came out this year. Let’s see, I enjoyed
I can’t remember any more. Need sleep. And like Ballotstuffer, these aren’t my best picture nominees.
Easy.
[ol][li]Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (what, you really have to be bothered to see it first?)[/li][li]Death to Smoochy[/li][li]Sunshine State[/li][li]My Big Fat Greek Wedding[/li]One Hour Photo[/ol]
Given the arrival of Baby, we haven’t seen too many movies this year. I didn’t think that AOTC was a good movie and that Signs was M. Knight’s least impressive effort, but you can’t rank what you didn’t see.
Zuma said:
*Spirited Away* won the grand prize at the Berlin International Film Festival and has received near-unanimous acclaim here in the States. I can’t claim to be much of a fan of anime, but I was thoroughly impressed and surprised by such an engrossing and inventive fantasy film.
*Sunshine State* was the most recent film from John Sayles (Passion Fish, Lone Star) about development, history, legacy, and progress in a Florida town. With a huge cast, including Angela Bassett, Timothy Hutton, and stellar work from Edie Falco. Some might find it too “talky” but I find the characters and perspectives on money, politics, and heritage riveting.
In July is a road trip romance with our hero persuing a girl from Germany to Istanbul and finding danger, adventure, and romantic revelations on the way. Not deep but fun and irresistable. Starring Moritz Bleibtreu from Run Lola Run. Maybe it’ll come out on video soon (at a non-Blockbuster type outlet).
As for me, I want to catch The Rookie & Frailty but rarely rent, though I like Quaid & Paxton.
Hmm I didn’t see too many theatrical releases but I liked the following:
1)Spirited Away
2)Minority Report
3)Spider-Man
4)About a Boy
5)Signs
Of those the first two were excellent and Oscar-worthy while the other three were decent entertainment.
sigh … it’s too bad we’re limiting this discussion to movies released in 2002.
None of the released this year come anywhere close to the awe-inspiring majesty and grandeur of last year’s Shallow Hal.
…with a nod to Minority Report, Red Dragon, and Panic Room. I would have added Attack of the Clones to the list if they’d replaced the sappy, boring love story with more 'splosions.
I think most of my Top 5 have yet to be released (The Two Towers will no doubt be #1) but this has been a good year so far, and will only get better. So, for now…
**
Just missing the grade, movies I loved (in no particular order): Rabbit-Proof Fence, Bowling For Columbine, The Good Girl, One-Hour Photo, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Spirited Away, Secretary, Road to Perdition, Lovely & Amazing, Tadpole, Igby Goes Down, Insomnia, Signs, Changing Lanes and Barbershop.
I also REALLY liked Minority Report, The Kid Stays In the Picture, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, 13 Conversations About One Thing, Possession, Auto Focus, Below, The Ring, Moonlight Mile, Crazy As Hell, Undercover Brother, Lilo & Stitch, Birthday Girl, Dinner Rush, The Panic Room, Last Orders and Ice Age.
I liked Attack of the Clones, Spider-Man, Festival In Cannes, Reign of Fire, Blood Work, Spy Kids 2 and K19: The Widowmaker.
I thought xXx, Windtalkers, Eight-Legged Freaks, Clockstoppers and Austin Powers 3 were ok (they had their moments).
I didn’t much care for White Oleander and The Scorpion King.
I didn’t see any movies I hated, mainly because I don’t go see the type of movies I’m likely to hate. There are too many good movies to see.
I don’t include all of the great 2001 films I didn’t see in the theater until early in the year, such as Iris, Gosford Park, Lantana, Monster’s Ball, Black Hawk Down, In The Bedroom and No Man’s Land, among others.
I know you’re joking, and damn, there’s no laughing smiley! (insert at least 20 laughing smilies here)
I’m also looking forward to Treasure Planet and the next Harry Potter movie.
In retrospect, this hasn’t been a great year for movies! Although Lilo & Stitch is in my to 10 of all time, easily. And Spirited Away was brilliant, but I have such extraordinarily high expectations from Studio Ghibli at this point that it was no surprise…
Actually, I should clarify that – when I say “this hasn’t been a great year for movies,” I should say “this hasn’t been a great year for me at the movies.” I haven’t gotten to see that many; many of the ones listed here I’d barely heard of, much less seen.
I haven’t seen five new films worth mentioning this year. So here’s the list of good films I did go to see:
Thank goodness for the Kurosawa/Mifune film festival, or this past year would have been spent entirely on the couch. Thankfully, there are several mentioned above which I may yet endeavor to see.
I wish the scriptwriters would threaten to strike again.
The year is almost over?!? There are over 50 movies to be released and the holiday season is huge for big/great movies.
The Two Towers
Star Trek Nemesis
Adaption
Die Another Day
Analyze That
Gangs of New York
Chicago
Catch me if you can
The Hours
All of these, to me, look like great movies. I think I’ll wait.
(Sofa King, I think One Hour Photo came out this year)
–Punch-Drunk Love
–Monsoon Wedding
–Lovely and Amazing
–Igby Goes Down (just saw it recently, so it may be replacing something better in my mind)
–leaving a space for Sunshine State as I know it must be great but I haven’t seen it yet.
About a Boy and Barbershop up there too.
The Good Girl doesn’t quite make it as, while surprisingly good, Jennifer Aniston’s performance leaves something to be desired in its depth. I mean, she is caught up in the death of one guy and deception toward her husband and she just kind of walks through it all, preserving herself. It’s almost like she’s sociopathic (doing all this just to have something happen in her life since she’s bored) or evil, but her performance is rather wooden for that. She should realize what she’s up to and not care, but at least have her look like she acknowledges it. But overall it was good, especially the always entertaining John C. Reilly and his sidekick.