#29 — The Aviator (Martin Scorsese, 2004) I suspect that Martin Scorsese loved making The Aviator. I have no inside information to back up this theory, no nuggets gleaned from the DVD commentary track or tales relayed about pervasive happiness … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Twenty-Nine
It is perhaps fitting that Jane Campion has made her finest film since The Piano by turning to a poet. Much of what makes the film that won her a best screenplay Oscar and only the second woman in Academy … Continue reading Take me to the dance and hold me tight
#30 — The Queen (Stephen Frears, 2006) When Princess Diana died in a car crash in August 1997, the cultural impact was seismic, and, in a way, unprecedented. As opposed to other celebrity deaths that have set people to mourning in the streets, Diana’s untimely passing wasn’t tinged by movies unmade, songs unrecorded, books unwritten. More than with Elvis Presley who preceded her and Michael Jackson who followed her, the people grieving the loss of a global celebrity weren’t responding to their connection to art, but to the person. Misguided or not, they felt they knew her, loved her the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty
#31 — The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006) Though we’re trained to believe otherwise, change usually happens incrementally. The misconception is fueled by newscasts and history textbooks that portray great social changes growing out singular events, tipping … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-One
I think it’s possible that Steven Soderbergh will never make another great movie. I don’t mean to imply that his efforts won’t be significantly better than most of what crosses multiplex screens, or that he won’t continue to be one … Continue reading I intentionally wrote it out to be an illegible mess
I’ve got a few key things that I’m due to write, including two different new movie reviews, but the truth is that there’s no combination of words that I can concoct that is more worth your time than spending around fourteen minutes with the late, great Richard Harris. Continue reading And I’ll never have that recipe again, oh no
#32 — Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) For all the time I spend pondering movies, I find I don’t often retain my specific first impressions, even when I feel very strongly about the film in question. For example, despite … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Two
The Women (Diane English, 2008). This remake of the 1939 George Cukor-directed comedy had been in development for so long that I swear we reported on it on the movie review radio show I co-hosted in college. That show ended in 1993. Watching the finished product, it’s easy to understand what inspired the reluctance. Similarly, the easiest explanation for the project finally coming to fruition is sheer attrition: Diane English must have simply outlasted the studio execs with sounder taste. As nice as it is to see the rarity of a movie filled with female characters, it would be nicer … Continue reading Theatre goddess, film destroyer, New York girls are sure to enjoy her
#33 — Bad Education (Pedro Almodovar, 2004) Pedro Almodovar is one of those directors that rewards those who make their film-going selections on the basis of adherence to the auteur theory. Not every Almodovar film is exceptional, but every one … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Three
#34 — Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton with Lee Unkrich, 2003) Recently The New York Times Magazine profiled director Spike Jonze with special attention paid to his troubled route he involuntarily took in bringing Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Four
