2002best

The Two Towers
There's one scene near the middle of the second "Lord of the Rings" installment
that has the ability to at once instill a childike sense of wonder while appealing
symbolically to an adult sentimentality about the world around us that was
almost indescribably captivating. It involves a league of walking and talking
trees who decide to wreak vengeance against the beings that have destroyed
them, beautifully connecting the struggles of Middle Earth with our own.

Spirited Away
There's a reason why most of the big studios' animated films didn't
connect with audiences this year -- they lacked the imagination and
daring of Miyazaki's near-masterpiece about a little girl's inadvertant
quest for maturity and confidence. Some of the images are so
unforgettable and inexplicably fascinating you wonder how one mind
could have dreamed them up.

The Hours
Nicole Kidman's superb portrayal of Virginia Woolf -- one-third of a remarkable
female acting trifecta -- is the most enduring element of this multi-layered Pulitzer
adaptation. Her every soft word, every lit cigarette, every intense stare, every
steadfast gesture, and every tousled stocking suggest the torment of the author
with compassionate realism. A rewarding work of cinematic (and literary) distress.

Bowling for Columbine
Despite the fact that his works are rarely objective, documentarian Michael Moore struck a
chord -- and a nerve -- with his incisive investigation of our country's handgun obssession.
Wielding a stick that reaches from Colorado to Canada to South Central to Beverly Hills, it's
clear that much in our nation needs to get fixed before it gets better. The film strikes best
with its most deliberate punches, like the verbal assault on Charleton Heston's feeble gun
stance, or the condemnation of governmental red tape that drew a small child to kill a
classmate outside Flint. Moore's never been better, more topical, or more necessary.

Igby Goes Down
Burr Steers' debut film features an eclectic mix of hilarious, inimitable, and
startling performances that resonate long after one's left the theater. Amanda
Peet, Jeff Goldblum, and Claire Danes are better than they've ever been as
peripheral characters in the twisted life of Kieran Culkin's Igby -- a tortured soul
who doesn't know it, living in an upscale world that doesn't want him. It's
more than a coming-of-age film; it's an analysis of what adolescent angst is.

25th Hour
Spike Lee's latest and most accessible film in years is a collection of vivid
scenes and brilliant character acting, addressing everything from post-9/11
New York to the prison system to racism to fidelity to the drug war to
directionless adulthood. It's all held tightly together by David Benioff's incisive
script; but more importantly, it's Spike Lee's renewed sense of intensely
dramatic storytelling that keeps the audience involved. It's also a beauteous
example of how true friendship and self-examination are indeed redemptive.

Punch-Drunk Love
The hits keep coming from writer-director P.T. Anderson. In his latest gem,
Adam Sandler becomes an actor, turning his usual smug, everyman persona
into a deftly conflicted man filled with rage, shame, and self-effacement.
Additionally, Anderson's usual behind-the-scenes players contribute astounding
work to this offbeat romance. Jon Brion's love-warped score and Robert
Elswit blue-toned lensing marvelously complement Sandler's humbleness.

Adaptation
Nicolas Cage has been redeemed. In playing twin brothers -- one too smart for
his own good, one wisely free-thinking -- he exhibits a rarely-tapped range of
emotions. Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman have crafted the most obscure,
self-referential, articulate, sensitive, and humorous Hollywood tale perhaps the
town has ever seen. It might fly over the heads of 90% of the audience, but the
themes it tackles are remarkably accessible and honest. Cryptically brilliant.

Far From Heaven
When stylistic film experiments work -- and this one certainly does --
they are able to transcend moviegoers to that cerebral place in cinema
where characters come alive as they only could on the big screen.
Todd Haynes has crafted a near-perfect world for such characters in
"Far From Heaven," in which the values and filmmaking styles of the
'50s blend harmoniously with a modern sense of race and sexual
identity. Showcasing acting peaks for Dennis Quaid and Julianne
Moore (not to mention brilliant supporting turns by Dennis Haysbert
and Patricia Clarkson), this is a film about -- and for -- the ages.


				The 10 Best Films of 2002 by Q

					*8 Mile* While the question of whether Eminem cut it as an actor got all the press, the rest of this inspired production deserves equal merit. From Curtis Hanson's gripping direction to Scott Silver's deft script to Rodrigo Prieto's crisp cinematography to the enlivening performances of Mekhi Phifer and Brittany Murphy, the film was a class act all the way through. Though the premise was familiar and the "loosely based" element was overtly apparent, few of the year's Hollywood movies could be this engrossing.
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