2004: My Top Ten--so far
Submitted by RosieCotton on Tue, 10/05/2004 - 01:26
Tags:
- Ray
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Incredibles, The
- Twilight Samurai
- Touching the Void
- Hotel Rwanda
- Shaun of the Dead
- Napoleon Dynamite
- Mean Creek
- Spiderman 2
Author Comments:
This list is subject to change until the year is over.
Two big UGHs for Spider-Man 2 and Miracle. :-)
What?! You didn't like those movies??
Nope.
Why not?
Beyond this, here my thoughts on Spider-Man 2.
As for Miracle, Kurt Russel's performance fails to elevate cliched construction and mediocre direction above 100 other sports movies that have shown us the same conflicts and characters, better.
Thank you for articulating your reasons. Those all sound like valid reasons to dislike Spiderman 2. These are my reasons for loving it:
Peter chooses to do the right thing in the end, despite tremendous personal cost.
Even when he abandons his mission, he remains a basically decent fellow.
He loves Mary Jane and Aunt May very well.
I admire Aunt May, Peter, and Mary Jane.
These elements of the story are more important to me than the logical inconsistencies, plot holes, etc. I love melodrama, when it's in the service of values and characters I admire.
We have stunningly different approaches to appreciating film, then! Wow!
If a movie doesn't make me feel something, or have interesting characters, then I begin to notice things like story logic, direction, or bad dialogue. Just as some people are distracted by visual effects, I can be distracted by characters and their situation.
I just read your review of Independence Day, and I've concluded that we're not so different in our "approaches to appreciating film." Just as you had to "turn your brain off" to enjoy it, and you were able to enjoy it, for factors unrelated to logic or aesthetics, so I am able to enjoy movies in much the same way. I "turn my brain off" for different factors. Yours are action, special effects, humor, or a certain actor who delights you. Mine are more emotional or character-related factors.
Well, but then when I have to make a judgement between a movie I that required my brain's off switch and one that didn't, the latter often prevails, though I may have enjoyed the former more.
I make the same judgment more often than not. I think that Spiderman 2 is the only movie in my top ten that required that of me. I didn't find Miracle as cliched as you did, because I've seen less than a handful of sports movies in my life, and never a hockey movie. I lived through the miracle, watched it on TV, knew how it would end. I thought the movie was a great treatment of it.
My reasons for loving Miracle are much the same as for Spiderman 2: the underdog victory, the emphasis on discipline, humility, teamwork, believing in your vision, and doing what's right at great personal cost. However, I was sad that the coach was such a lousy husband (or maybe he had a stupid wife, eh?). Melodramas, when they work, are very emotionally satisfying to me. They make the world, and people, seem less hateful.
Inside every cynic is a disappointed romantic.
I've only seen one movie from this list, Shaun of the Dead. I really want to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Ray looks good too from the trailers that I've seen.
I hope that you get to see all of them :).