The Critical Underground Guide to Films of 2002
- Frailty (Bill Paxton): ****
- About a Boy (Chris Weitz; Paul Weitz): *** 1/2
- Ice Age (Chris Wedge): *** 1/2
- The Mothman Prophecies (Mark Pellington): *** 1/2
- Panic Room (David Fincher): *** 1/2
- Spider-Man (Sam Raimi): *** 1/2
- Unfaithful (Adrian Lyne): *** 1/2
- We Were Soldiers (Randall Wallace): *** 1/2
- 40 Days and 40 Nights (Michael Lehmann): ***
- Blade II (Guillermo Del Toro): ***
- Changing Lanes (Roger Michell): ***
- The Count of Monte Cristo (Kevin Reynolds): ***
- Hart's War (Gregory Hoblit): ***
- High Crimes (Carl Franklin): ***
- Hollywood Ending (Woody Allen): ***
- Murder By Numbers (Barbet Schroeder): ***
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Joel Zwick): ***
- Orange County (Jake Kasdan): ***
- Return to Neverland (Robin Budd & Donovan Cook): ***
- The Salton Sea (D. J. Caruso): ***
- Sorority Boys (Wallace Wolodarsky): ***
- Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (George Lucas): ***
- Big Fat Liar (Shawn Levy): ** 1/2
- Clockstoppers (Jonathan Frakes): ** 1/2
- Crossroads (Tamra Davis): ** 1/2
- John Q. (Nick Cassavetes): ** 1/2
- National Lampoon's Van Wilder (Walter Becker): ** 1/2
- The Queen of the Damned (Michael Rymer): ** 1/2
- The Scorpion King (Chuck Russell): ** 1/2
- The Time Machine (Simon Wells): ** 1/2
- Death to Smoochy (Danny De Vito): **
- Dragonfly (Tom Shadyac): **
- Jason X (James Isaac): **
- Life or Something Like It (Stephen Herek): **
- New Best Friend (Zoe Clarke-Williams): **
- Resident Evil (Paul Anderson): **
- Rollerball (John McTiernan): **
- Showtime (Tom Dey): **
- Snow Dogs (Brian Levant): **
- The Sweetest Thing (Roger Kumble): **
- A Walk to Remember (Adam Shankman): **
- Deuces Wild (Scott Kalvert): * 1/2
- Kung Pow!: Enter the Fist (Steve Oedekerk): * 1/2
- The New Guy (Ed Decter): * 1/2
- Slackers (Dewey Nicks): * 1/2
- Vulgar (Bryan Johnson): * 1/2
As decided by the Critical Underground...
Our rating system:
***** - A masterpiece; these are rare.
**** 1/2 - An excellent work of art, good enough that even people who usually hate the genre or main artists involved will still probably enjoy it.
**** - A very good work; people who hate the genre / artists involved may not care for it, but almost anyone else will.
*** 1/2 - A fairly good work, but will probably only be embraced by fans of the genre / artist.
*** - A barely good work; only diehard fans need apply.
** 1/2 - An average work; probably won't excite even diehard fans.
** - A below average piece of art; non-fans will hate this work.
* 1/2 - A bad work that few people are likely to enjoy and many are likely to hate.
* - A truly awful work; nearly everybody will hate this.
1/2 - One of the worst works of art ever; like the 5 stars, these are also rare.
Alright, it is back. And, barring any sick family members, I will keep this list updated this time!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I feel like a bad movie freak. I haven't seen ONE movie from 2002 yet. Monsoon Wedding and Y Tu Mama Tambien have attracted me, but I've gotta head down to DC to see 'em. Since its Spring Break I might decide to do that.
Well, according to the Critical Underground ratings, you haven't missed much...
Hopefully, I'll receive enough ratings soon that I can post We Were Soldiers and 40 Days and 40 Nights before too long.
I'm hoping Panic Room might break this bleary, early-year streak.
With a little luck (and free time), I'll get the Critical Underground album list posted today or tomorrow.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Oo, deja vu! We were making the same observation at this time last year (only off by three days, even :-).
See you next year, same bat time, same...
:)
At least it gives us time to catch up on those Oscar-nominated films from last year we may have missed!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs