Movies seen in 2002
Submitted by spoky on Tue, 07/09/2002 - 03:16
Tags:
- July
- Orange County : This was an okay movie, not great but not terrible either. Most of the comedy came from Jack Black who I almost always find amusing to some degree. Not really recommended, but worth sitting through for the few laughs that are there if the opportunity arises.
- Shallow Hal : Another movie with Jack Black this one was much better then Orange County. Very predictable ending but definitely had fun getting there. I liked that the people he knew before his perception changed stayed the same, I think it made Hal's inability to realize his condition a bit more believable. I recommend this one, especially if you enjoy Jack Black.
- Focus : I saw the preview for this on about four or five movies in a row a few months ago. The first time I saw the preview I didn't think it looked that great, but each subsequent viewing peaked my interest a little more. So when I saw it in the movie store the other day I grabbed it. I thought that the movie was quite good, and does a good job showing that much of societies perceptions are not necessarily based on facts. I do not know a lot about US history, but I am going to assume that such blatant discrimination against Jews did occur during WW2. I also think William H. Macy did a great job, but then I usually do most of the time anyway. Definitely recommended.
- The Man Who Wasn't There : I am not sure about this one. I thought I liked it as I was watching it, but now a few days latter I am not sure why. Its not a bad movie but I don't think its a great movie either. Not something to avoid but not really worth searching for either.
- The Bourne Identity : This was a very good action movie. Not much more to say about it. It had guns, fight scenes, a car chase, explosions. Everything you expect in an action movie. All very well done. Something to see but wait for video or cheap night at the theater.
- Tape : I very much liked this movie. It is more like a play then a movie: one room, three actors, everything is moved along by the dialog. This type of movie lives or dies by the dialog. Fortunately this one was very well written. If you need to see things happen and have your story progress visually I would avoid this one. If you like a well written, well delivered conversation this is a definite must see.
- The Royal Tenenbaums : A very very good movie, quite enjoyable to watch. I have liked all of Wes Anderson's films and would rate this one below Rushmore and above Bottle Rocket. Gene Hackman definitely deserves all the credit he has been getting for this one. Highly recommended.
- Kate and Leopold : I was surprised that I liked this movie. My wife felt like watching a romantic comedy so we got it. The movie is very predictable and the time traveling duke seemed to adjust to modern times way to quickly, but there was enough chuckles to keep me entertained for the duration. Recommended only if you are in the mood for something light and fluffy like this.
- American Outlaws : Spent a weekend at the cottage watching the movie network (my father-in-law has a satellite dish at the cottage). This was not too bad. I am not a big fan of westerns, but as an action movie it was passable. Watch it if the chance arises but there is really no reason to seek it out.
- Loser : Another movie network movie. This was a comedy that really wasn't very funny. There were just too few laughs in this keep it going. I probable could have found a better movie starting a half hour latter or something but for the most part I like to finish watching what I started. Not recommend at all.
- Savage Messiah aka Moïse: L'affaire Roch Thériault : The last of my cottage weekend viewings. This was based on the true story of a French Canadian cult where the leader abused his wives and children. The actor who played the cult leader did a really good job I think, but the movie probably only touched the surface of what really happened and would have been more interesting if it went deeper into the story. Another one worth watching if the chance arises but nothing more.
- Lantana : This was a very good film. I was interested in the characters and I was interested in the story. I wish I was a better writer so I could tell why with out ruining the entire movie. A must see in my book.
- Good Advice : This movie was alright. Had funny moments and not so funny moments. It belongs in the same class as most romantic comedies seem to belong, entertaining enough while you are watching them and soon forgotten. Something to get when you know you are not in the mood to think about what you are watching.
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch : I liked this movie. I didn't love it, and most certainly didn't hate it. Just liked it. I think my expectations were too high after reading all the reviews for it by other people on this site. The high point was definitely the songs. I am not much of a fan of the musical movie genre but I do know that for any chance of success the musical needs a good song basis. So in that regard this was great. I just didn't get caught up enough in Hedwig's life to truly enjoy this one. Recommended with hesitation.
- Rare Birds : This was a good movie. Light hearted and very enjoyable. Kept me entertained all the way through. Recommended.
- Amélie aka Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain : I loved this movie. By far the best I have seen in while (at least since starting this list anyway). The quick shot through Amélie past at the start was throughly entraining and I thought is was great that every new character introduced was briefly described for us. Recommended to everybody.
- John Q : This was all right Denzel Washington did a great job ( as he usually does) but the script just couldn't keep up the pace. This one can probably be skipped.
- Dinner With Friends : This movie was pretty good. Some parts were really interesting and entertaining other parts fell a little flat I think. No need to seek this one out but if the chance arises no need to skip it either.
- The Tailor of Panama : This movie disappointed me I think. I am not sure why but in the end there was something that just didn't sit right with me. I won't be recommending this one to anyone but I can't say why.
- The Road Home : I normally do not get to see a lot of foreign language films because my wife needs to be in the right mood to "read a film", so more often then not my suggestions for this or that subtitled film get rejected in favour of an English film. I on the other hand quite enjoy "reading a film", so being given the okay to see one is very exciting. I saw this one sitting on the shelf at the movie store and remembered reading in some comment by Jim that it was a Zhang Yimou film and since Raise the Red Lantern was probably my wifes favourite subtitled film that I have managed to bring home I figured I could sell it to her telling her that it was by the same directer. It of course worked so we sat down to read a very enjoyable film. We both loved it! It is a wonderful story well told and beautifully shot. Highly recommended to all.
- August
- Door to Door : Saw this one at my in-laws cottage on the movie network. William H. Macy has been one of favourite actors lately, so I figured something he is in should be good. This was a great movie. Its a true story of the life of a salesman with cerebral pals. The story does a great job showing that disabled people are really not that disabled if given a chance. Recommended.
- Men In Black : This was a re watch. We were at my sister-in-law's staying there a night, before hoping on a plane to Vancouver for week. they had a bunch of movies to choose from and I was going to watch Titan A.E. which I have not seen but there was a game console hooked up so the DVD player was not working. So instead of pulling out wires and what not I just went to the video cassettes and picked from there. I choose this one because my wife had not seen it yet and with the second one in theatres at the time I figured if we watched this one now for free we would not have to rent it before renting the next when it hit the video stores. I should have gone for something else though because my wife was asleep before the movie was even half an hour old. Still it is an enjoyable little movie the second time around and I will probably get to see it yet again since my wife still hasn't and from what I have heard the second one is at least worth renting. Recommended
- Signs : I saw this one the first night we were in Vancouver since it was overcast and not really the right kind of weather to go up a mountain for the view. I must say I was disappointed. When I was watching it was okay. I jumped when I was supposed to and everything but by the end of the movie I was really let down. I don't think the ending held up to the beginning or even the middle at all. I realize that the real message about the movie was about re-finding faith and stuff like that but this one did not do it for me at all. I think what added to my disappointment is that I quite liked both The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable a lot so maybe my expectations were too high. That happens way too often for my liking. Not recommended.
- Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring : This was my second viewing of this great film. I was still in Vancouver, we just came back from a day at Ruby lake and decided to stop and get a movie. I think that it had just come out on video two or three days earlier and only half of us saw it in the theatre. Of course it is a long movie and on top of a very long day I was the only one of the group who managed to stay awake until the end (though my wife did make it all the way to her favourite scene . Of course I also got to watch the end all over again when every one else finished watching the next morning. I can not wait for The Two Towers in December.Spoiler: Highlight to viewNot sure this needs the spoiler tags but what the hell; The fight with the Balrog in the mines and the scenes immediately after once they get outside
- Life or Something Like It : Saw this one on the plane back home. Not that great. I can hardly remember it now three months later.
- In the Bedroom : This was a good movie, and I truly remember enjoying it but I think I took to long in getting back to these write ups, because I am not sure what else to say, maybe I will watch it again in a future incarnation of this list.
- Sexy Beast : I liked this movie but as with a lot of British movies (especially the crime related ones) the dialect and speed at which they talk makes the film a little less enjoyable. I need to get a DVD player so I can throw on the English with English subtitles for films like this. I thought it was quite well acted by the two main actors (Kingsley and Winstone). My only other comment would be Spoiler: Highlight to viewthat Gal's participation in the bank heist seemed like it could of been carried out by anybody, I know that Don really went to Spain as an excuse to see the girl but why would the head guy fund a trip to Spain for a job that it appears anyone could have done. Maybe I missed a scene
- Pearl Harbour : In the condo that I (used to) live in, one of the condo owners kept his video collection in one of the public rooms. Any of the other owners could go and borrow them anytime they wanted. This was one of those films and I must say that I am glad that I did not have to pay to watch this one. It was way too long and really not all that engaging. Some of the effects were nice I suppose but they in no way make up for the pitiful story. I found the whole last half to be quite boring and unnecessary..Spoiler: Highlight to viewIf they just killed Danny (I think was the name) during the attack on Pearl Harbour the exact same result would of occurred. The only lose would be the movie would not show that the Americans sent a counter raid, but every one knows how the war ended anyway. The gain would be a movie that didn't drag on way too long
- The Island of Dr. Moreau : This one also came from video collection at my old condo. This one was grabbed as a last minute replacement for We Were Solders . My brother-in-law called just as we were about to watch the latest from Mel and it was decided that we would watch it with him and his girlfriend but they would be about two hours before coming over. So a two hour wait with nothing to do is just about right for a movie but no time to go to the video store. So with a quick run upstairs we can find a movie to bide our time. The selection isn't the greatest (mostly horror/action where as I am more of comedy/drama kind a person, plus I have already watched the few I was more interested in before I started this list). In the end we decided on The Island of Dr. Moreau . Not the greatest of films by any means, but it did manage to pass the time.
- We Were Solders : Seen right after the previous movie this is quite good in comparison and a much more enjoyable two hours of my life. Of the war movies I have seen this was about the middle of the road, not the greatest but definitely not the worst (see Pearl Harbour above).
- Moulin Rouge! : This was such a great movie. I have not watched a whole lot of musicals but this is by far the best one I have seen. It was fun and energetic. I thought the inclusion of the modern songs was very well done. Plus it kept my wife singing bits and pieces of its songs for days afterwards.
- The Castle : I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It was great. I loved the deadpan manner in which most of the laughs were presented. This was a comedy with a plot and characters that you could actually care about. Which is so much better then your typical Hollywood comedy like Austin Powers where the whole point of the plot is just to get to the next joke.
- Novocaine :
- Mute Witness : This was another of the movies found in the common room of my condo. It was okay. There were parts of this movie that I enjoyed, I quite liked that none (I think, it has been a while) of the Russian was translated I think it added quite a lot to the whole not being able to communicate atmosphere of the movie but in the end I think I was more disappointed with the film then I was impressed.
- September
- Austin Powers in Goldmember :
- What's Cooking :
- In The Mood for Love :
- Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her :
- Changing Lanes :
- Tao of Steve :
- The Sweetest Thing :
- High Crimes :
- Panic Room :
- Y tu mamá también :
- Frailty :
- 40 days and 40 nights : Its been a while for this one. Not that good but at least watchable. I think it had some funny moments but I can't really remember them now.
- Shadow of the Vampire : This was the last movie that I borrowed from the common room of my old condo. In fact it was the last movie that I watched there as well. It was an alright movie but nothing all that spectacular. It would have been interesting to have watched Nosferatu just before. Perhaps I will do that sometime in the years to come.
- October
- Insomnia : October (and September) really flew by this year. We purchased our new home at the end of August but were not allowed to move in until the first of November, so we had two months in which to get everything sorted out before moving. We had to arrange for a moving company, secure the mortgage, purchases new appliances, pack everything up, plus go to work everyday and try not to be so excited that we cease to function at all. Most of this was done in the month of October and obviously movie watching was one of the sacrifices to the gods of packing and moving. I can not think of another month were I only watched one movie. Even in slow months we usually rent three or four over the entire month. We actually rented another movie (Enough) in October but never got around to watching it. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not. When we watched Insomnia we were actually staying at my parents house for about a week rather then live among all the boxes in our condo. Insomnia was an okay movie. I think Al Pacino did a great job expressing his lack of sleep as the movie progressed but the story and the rest of the cast didn't really wow me in quite the same way.
- November
- Monsoon Wedding : This was the first movie that we watched on our first night in our new house. My wife let me get a treat because she was feeling so happy to have finally moved in after two months of waiting. I loved this movie I especially enjoyed the transition scenes that showed glimpses of everyday life in India. The only complaint for this film was that I found the constant switching between English and Hindi made it very difficult to follow at times. My wife fell asleep. In her defence we did have a really hectic day inspecting the new house; cleaning the old condo; waiting around for two hours while the lawyers worked out all the paper work and all our belongings sat in a moving truck with nowhere to go. Then starting to unpack and figure out where everything should go. Both of us should have known that she would fall asleep if she had to read no matter how much she may be enjoying the film. That is just the way things work with her. In retrospect we should have gone with something not from away, but this way I will get to see it again sometime for she was enjoying it up until she fell asleep.
- Spiderman : A good movie, kept us entertained. For all the money spent on this type of big budget blockbuster I was surprised at the quality of some of the cgi. I am sure there was a whole slew of computer enhancements that were so good I didn't even notice them, but some of them I found to be glaringly obvious and distracting. Good enough that I am sure that I will watch all the sequels when they come out.
- Men With Brooms : I decided that my answer to dgeiser13's comment was pretty close to what I wanted to say about this movie anyway so I moved it up into the list. Men with brooms was good. If you like quirky regional comedies like the Full Monty or the Castle it is in the same sort of genre, maybe not quite as good as those two example but it does hold its own, you should definitely take a gander. If your sole reason to see it is because of the Hip I must warn you that their one scene goes by quite quickly; but not knowing a head of time that one of my favourite bands had a cameo in the movie I was watching proved quite memorable to me. I think the Hip scene was my favourite and if it was any longer it would not have been as good.
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets : I think my friend who I saw this with summed it up best when he said that this movie was underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it was a good movie and it sure didn't feel like 2 hours and 40 minutes went by, which if nothing else says something good about its entertainment value. But in the end it failed to satisfy in quite the same way that the books do. The best part of the whole movie was Kenneth Branagh portrayal of Gilderoy Lockhart that stole the show you could certainly tell he was having a ball in this role.
- No Man's Land : Another foreign language movie snuck into the list. I seem to be seeing more of them this year then I normally do. This one got picked up due to a college friend of ours who was staying with us on the tail end of his great cross Canada Adventure. He decided that he was not happy with the way his life was going so quit his job and took a three month journey by train from the east coast to the west and then back again to start fresh (doesn't that sound like so much fun). He lives about two to three hours away which you think is close but really its not; so it was good to see him again. In the past four years we have only crossed paths twice, the previous time was my wedding two and half years ago. Anyway he and I have very similar tastes in movies and books and what not so we were able to easily convince my wife that this would be a good choice, and we were right. I think this movie did a great job showing how in war no one really wins. I also loved the ending. One of the best movie endings I have seen in a long time.
- Stolen Summer : This was such a good movie, I loved every minute of it. I think Adiel Stein who played Pete (the 9 year old) did an amazing acting job. I had not heard of project greenlight before but if it can produce a movie this good then I hope it will continue to be successful.
- December
- Ice Age : If viewed as a kids movie Ice Age is a pretty good movie. It has its share of funny moments, it has a lesson to be learnt; I think kids would probably really enjoy it. Watching it as an adult it didn't really have the depth in humour that movies like Shrek and Toy story had, or interesting story and characters like that found in the Iron Giant. In the end it is something I could watch a few times but if I had kids I don't think I would want this to be the movie they insist on watching over and over again.
- With a Friend Like Harry : This movie was alright. I think I had higher hopes for it then I should have. There was nothing wrong with it really I though it was well acted and everything but something just didn't wow as much as I anticipated. My wife of course fell asleep as she tends to do with foreign language films especially late at night, but I found myself starting to nod off a little near the end as well. It just wasn't keeping my attention; perhaps it was a little too late at night for both of us.
- The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys : I quite enjoyed this one. I found the story interesting enough and the two main leads did a great job acting. I think Macaulay Culkin's brothers (Kieran here and Rory in Signs and You Can Count on Me) are doing a much better job acting then their more famous brother ever did.
- Murder by Numbers : This was a pretty good movie. The best I have seen from Sandra Bullock in a long time, but is that really saying all that much?
- Minority Report : I think this might have suffered the fate of being over hyped. I had heard such good things before watching it that I felt a little disappointed that it was only good but not great. Maybe it was the theatre experience that I was missing; some movies are just more enjoyable watched in the theatre then at home very very late at night.
- Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers : This was very very good, every bit as good as the first. I thought Gollum in particular was quite well done, the best part of film. My only complaint It's my own fault for having read the books my wife who hasn't read them has no complaints at all.Spoiler: Highlight to viewis that I think some of the scenes that were skipped over in this movie may cause problems in the next. For example when Merry and Pippin finally reunite with their companions after they have grown taller for drinking the entish water, will be hard to explain having never shown them drinking the water in this movie. Of course they may explain it to my satisfaction in the Return of the King so I may be gripping prematurely, but if they leave it out entirely I will be a little disappointed. It may not be all that important for the overall story but I do think it was an important part of Pippin and Merry's development. Also some of the other scenes I felt were missing may still show up at the beginning of the next film, I will just have to wait impatiently to find out.
- The Sum of All Fears
- The Importance of Being Ernest
- Catch Me if You Can
- Story Telling
- Men In Black
- Men In Black II
Author Comments:
Starting July as I am not sure I can remember everything I have seen in the first half of the year.
I decided that the more recent I have watched the movie the easier the comment writing is. So rather then struggle through the older movies in order I will go in the reverse order instead. From now on I will try (and please note I am only saying try) to add the comments as I add the new movies plus at least one old movie comment with each update. No one will be more surprised then me if I actually pull that off. But I think I am off to a good start by getting all of November finished in one sitting. Here's hoping!
I had a busy movie watching Christmas so for now I shall just put the titles down and I will try to get back to them in the very near future
The very near future is still just a little bit out of reach. But it seems I will entertain special requests.
Cloned From:
Thanks for cloning! I love commented lists, and I'm looking forward to following this one.
I guess this means I am going to have to keep this up. I have been bouncing around the listology for over a year now (maybe longer) and I kept meaning to start a list or two but never seemed to have the time for more then a quick glance at any new lists or the occasional comment. I also much prefer the commented lists which is why I have put off starting lists of my own in the first place. I am not sure I will have the time to keep it up, but I will try.
I do hope you keep it up. For me the key is to not fall behind. And I'm finding it's good exercise to write something (even if it's inane) about each movie I watch. It forces me to think more critically (usually).
Regarding The Man Who Wasn't There, I just thought I'd provide a link to The Mother of All TMWWT conversations (well, at least it's the longest one here at Listology).
Feels like I've been waiting for The Road Home comments forever! The list grows, the anticipation builds. :-)
I know I said that I would try to keep up with this list and have been doing a terrible job at it. I will blame vacation time and finalizing the purchase of my new house and the sale of my old condo which has taken up much of August. Or was it that I was just being lazy. The former sounds better but the latter is probably more accurate. I will try harder and maybe get some comments up today or tomorrow.
Well, no pressure! I know how hard these lists can be to keep up with, and moving sucks. Congrats on the house purchase though!
There ya go! and only about a month and have later. Since you waited so long and all I really had to say was that I loved it, I decided to give you a little bit behind the renting since I think it was one of your comments that got me to see it in the first place.
I think I might be able to get in the rest of Zhang Yimou's work since my wife has quite enjoyed The Road Home, Raise the Red Lantern and Not One Less (she actually picked this one out herself not long after we saw RTRL). The only other movie of his I have seen is Shanghai Triad
Of course she fell asleep during In the Mood For Love the other night so I may need to wait for the right time to strike.
Excellent! So pleased that you liked it. I humbly submit Jou Do or To Live as your next Zhang Yimou viewing. The former is actually quite similar to Raise the Red Lantern, so it's probably a safe bet that your wife will like it. Shanghai Triad is probably the movie of his I like the least.
Spoky, did you really see all of these movies in one month?
No. These are movies from July, August and September. I will start splitting them up by month.
I think you will see a great reduction in my movie viewing now that summer is over. A combination of nothing on tv and my wife being off for the summer (she is a teacher) leads to lots of movies in the summer and hardly any the rest of the year.
Nice to see you get back to this list! I had all but given up. :-) I hadn't considered your Sexy Beast gripe, but yeah, you're right.
How is Men With Brooms? I've been wanting to see it because of The Tragically Hip factor...
Men with brooms was good. If you like quirky regional comedies like the Full Monty or the Castle it is in the same sort of genre, maybe not quite as good as those two example but it does hold its own, you should definitely take a gander. If your sole reason to see it is because of the Hip I must warn you that their one scene goes by quite quickly; but not knowing a head of time that one of my favourite bands had a cameo in the movie I was watching proved quite memorable to me. I think the Hip scene was my favourite and if it was any longer it would not have been as good.
Wow, all of November in one swell foop! What a treat! I do hope you're successful in trying (and please note I am only saying trying :-) to include comments with each new addtion, while filling in the history.
Spoky, I'm interested in your comments on Mute Witness.