Johnny Simmons

I may have said this before, but I’m rather spot on with knowing what I’d like. Most of the films I seek out are the ones I know I’ll love. Most often the ones I despise are those I see for the hell of it, or Oscar bait I watch for completion’s sake. Not to say that I’m omnipotent…surprises occur. A number of films ran through my head when I saw the title, but it kept coming back to a particular. It’s one that I felt even more of a desire to feature since it narrowly missed making my TOP 100 and I do love it. I’ve never been a big fan of Spielberg. He has two Oscars and even though one is often considered the best film of the nineties, and the other is considered the best in the war genre I wouldn’t have given him on either count. I like Tom Cruise even less. Whereas I’m neither for nor against Spielberg, Tom Cruise tends to annoy me generally. Hence, I felt the slightest bit of trepidation at seeing Minority Report. A Cruise / Spielberg blockbuster? I think not. How wrong was I in prejudging this? Very!          

Though it’s nowhere near as brilliant as 2007, 2002 was a brilliant year for films (2002 in review). There was the trimester of Chicago / The Hours / The Two Towers and those were followed by another trimester Gangs of New York / Minority Report / Spiderman. Each of these six had something that made me anticipate an appreciation for them, except for Minority Report. The story focused on a time in the future when a special band of policeman could anticipate crime and the perpetrators, essentially curbing it before it occurred. One day Chief John Anderton, Head of the Precrime department, sees himself projected in the precogs vision – he will commit a murder. There’s no reason to doubt them because the precogs visions are always accurate. Right? At its base Minority Report is about one man trying to find ascertain the truth around him and  Anderton must do the unthinkable going on the round with Agatha (the female precog) in two. It’s part action, part scifi and complete brilliance. I don’t usually find myself going agog at the genre (though I’ll continually pledge allegiance to Gattaca) but I’m always seduced by the adrenaline rush in Minority Report.

Spielberg creates a brilliant film and art direction and visual effects play an important part in the brilliance of the film, but what makes Minority Report stand apart is the acting. I’ve never found Tom Cruise so moving even in a role that reads as Tom Cruise doing Tom Cruise. I’d have given him an Oscar nomination for this, along with Samantha Morton who is simply outstanding. Neal McDonough, Max von Sydow, Collin Farrell and Kathryn Morris offer good support to the two thespians making the film as dependable for its human resources as it is for the technical ones. I never fail to be lost in the world of Minority Report, I never expected myself to be as enraptured as I was the first time but I was and I am. It’s still brilliant.

       

           

All because of the MEME.

Here are my final thoughts on 2002, taking a look at the top categories. I can't say that I really saw that much. I'm yet to see Talk To Her, which seems like a criminal act. I also need to see Igby Goes Down, Secretary and Punch Drunk Love. Still, take a look at what I did see.

              

An embarrassingly weak year in this category. Far From Heaven is the easy winner here, and not having seen Talk to Her I can't say whether The Academy made the right decision was made.

Minority Report

There were quite a number of good contenders here. The Hours and Chicago both did great things with difficult things to adapt. Minority Report particularly should have seen some love here.

             

Todd Field for Far From Heaven

Paul Greengrass for The Bourne Identity

Sam Mendes for Road to Perdition

Roman Polanski for The Pianist

Steven Spielberg for Catch Me If You Can

             

Stephen Daldry for The Hours

Peter Jackson for The Two Towers

Rob Marshall for Chicago

Martin Scorsese for Gangs of New York

Steven Spielberg for Minority Report

So Rob Marshall takes it for his film debut followed by Stephen Daldry with his sophomoric effort.

               

Fs [#67-#58]

I have a feeling that I’m a bit too harsh on a couple of these [The Ring, perhaps] but the grades don’t lie. And really I have no desire to see any of these ever again.

 

D-s [#57-#55]

Each is horrible. They have a slight something preventing them from being complete failures. There’s still horrible, though.

D [#54]

What’s there to say?

D+s [#53-#44]

All are not quite good. But some I’m partial to, for easy watching.

C-s [#43-#38]

I know Signs is hated. It’s not very good, but I don’t think it’s terrible. Same goes for the others.

C+s [#37-#22]

Whew. That’s a lot. As it I didn’t get in to Adaptation at all. I’m thinking that C+ is too much. Eh. The Good Girl juxtaposed goodness with terribleness. Sweet Home Alabama and yes, Two Weeks Notice are surprisingly entertaining but ineffective baubles and Chamber of Secrets remains as my least favourite of the Harry Potter Films.

B-s [#21-#18]

The Birthday Girl is a bit of an unorthodox, and sick ride. But I like it for the most part, as I like The Sweetest Thing. It's a pleasure, and not one that I feel guilty about.

Bs [#17-#11]

I don't think I'm being hard on The Pianist. Perhaps you were fans? I don't know. It didn't strike a resounding chord with me. And White Oleander was criminally ignored that year. Pity.

#10 - Far From Heaven [B+]

An exceptionally smart film. I do want to like it more than I do, but I like it enough, so it's okay. Julianne Moore is luminous here as in The Hours and offers up a beautiful performance. The atmosphere is so strong here, which is uncommon in most period pieces. It's beautiful to look at, and thought provoking.

            

#9 - Spiderman [B+]

There’s always something good about the first one. I’ve never been an overt fan of the genre, but Spiderman was a well made and enjoyable genre picture. MaGuire, Dunst, Franco and Dafoe. Sure it's a popcorn flick, but it's done with so much integrity. How can I resist?

         

#8 - The Bourne Identity [B+]

I can’t deny that the sequels were good too, but the first in this trilogy has always been my undivided favourite.I remember seeing this time and time again, and Matt Damon really seemed cool here. That was a first for me.

       

#7 - Road to Perdition [B+]

Mendes' film is another underrated one. It's a harrowing piece, and it's so tautly directed. Jude Law and Hanks are exceptional here. Like Far From Heaven, it's a film where atmosphere is particularly important. It's nothing if not affecting. 

     

#6 - Catch Me If You Can [B+]

This is a light almost comedy film and yet it's able to examine some deeper issues. DiCaprio is able to sell his character in more ways than one and Hanks and Walken are strong supporting players. Spielberg's direction is just so much fun, you can't help but be entertained.

              

#5 - Gangs of New York [B+]

This was somewhat maligned. I'm partial to Scorsese, but who knows. It's period piece with a different. It's gorey like any other gangster film and it all looks so majestic, you're enthralled, astonished and interested at the same time. And, damn, Daniel Day Lewis is something.

         

#4 - Minority Report [A-]

It’s arguably my favourite Spielberg film. Tom Cruise, who I am usually not fond of, impresses me loads here and anchors the film with his solid performance. Spielberg

Chicago [A]

The Hours [A]

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers [A]

I’m not really going to rank these three. Although if I were to base it on my top 100 it would be just as it is –Chicago, The Hours, The Two Towers. However, I don’t really care to rank them. Each of these films have their merits and together they make up the trimester of the goodness of 2002. There’s the musical, the drama and the fantasy. Each skilfully directed, with smart screenplays and top notch actors.

The men were pretty matched. There were a few outstanding ones, a couple of fair ones and then the rest.

                   

Runners Up: Jeff Bridges in The Hours, Tom Hanks in Catch Me If You Can

Chris Cooper in Adaptation

Ian Mckellen in The Two Towers

Paul Newman in Road to Perdition

Dennis Quaid in Far From Heaven

John C. Reilly in Chicago

Cooper should have been nominated for American Beauty, maybe. But I wasn’t too hot on him in Adaptation. Still, I wasn’t that mad at him for getting his Oscar and stuff. It was cool seeing Newman and Reilly nominated, though absent from my five both did good jobs.

          

Stephen Dillane in  The Hours

Ed Harris in The Hours

Jude Law in Road to Perdition

Viggo Mortenson in The Two Towers

Christopher Walken in Catch Me If You Can

It was surprising that Jude didn’t pick up traction for his Road to Perdition performance. It was a haunting performance in a good film. It was no surprise that Dillane was ignored, but he was the perfect ally to Kidman and gave a solid performance. One reason the train scene works is because of the reaction shots of him. Viggo does his best work of the trilogy in The Two Towers and it’s a pity that no acting nods came his way. Christopher and Ed had the top two spots for me. I know many felt Ed was a major hambone, but he was my favourite. Figures.

          

Adrien Brodey in The Pianist

Leonardo DiCaprio in Gangs of New York

Hugh Grant in About A Boy

Tom Hanks in Road to Perdition

Guy Pearce in The Time Machine

Brodey is the best of this bottom five, but I still didn’t see what exactly the hubbub was about. And I’ll always be miffed that he has the title of youngest winner in this category. I don’t know how Leo picked up no traction for either of the performances he gave that year.

             

Tom Cruise in Minority Report

Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity

Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York

Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can

Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt

Leo wasn’t my favourite of the bunch, but it was an excellent performance that went completely ignored. There is no other actor that could have creditably sold the teenage and adult life of his character, and it goes to show that he’s been better than people give him credit for. No one could top Daniel Day Lewis’ monstrous turn in Gangs of New York, and when it looked like the SAG were on to something it’s a pity that Oscar couldn’t follow suit. Tom Cruise gave what is arguably my favourite performance of his in Minority Report where he brought all his assets to the table. Damon and Schmidt didn’t exactly take stretches, but both performances were effective and the single most important performance in both pieces.

It’s almost becoming second nature doing these year in review posts, so I’ll just oblige myself and move on to 2002. After that it’s on to 2000 and 2001, and then 2009. All three are years where I’ve seen few of the good films, so I’m not exactly looking forward to them. 2002 is battling it out with 2007 and 2001 as my favourite years of the decade. So today we’re going to be looking at the technical achievements of the year and continuing as usual with the acting, writing, directing and of course the top categories.

              

"Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile

"I Move On" from Chicago

"The Hands That Built America" from Gangs of New York

These are three good songs, and I remember that at the time I was a moderate fan of Eminem. However, as much as I find Bono to be a moron I can’t deny that I was a big fan of their number from Gangs of New York.

            

It was almost offensive that the immaculate score from Phillip Glass earned no love from the Academy. Sure, Road to Perdition was impressive but The Hours’ score was just flawless. Oh well. At least he won an Encore Award.

            

As far as technical achievements these three films were golden. The Time Machine in particular was a bit underrated in truth. Of course, with the wonderfulness of Tree Beard The Two Towers took this easily.

         

So The Time Machine took this. Of course the happenings of Middle Earth demanded epic sound control, but for such a spotty film the sound was spot on in The Time Machine.

             

Each of these had formidable cinematography, but the edge went to Chicago. Obviously it had the edge with all the imaginative scope of the script and whatnot. It’s an easy winner here actually.

          

As much as I appreciated Chicago [obviously that was much] I had no idea how it picked up this award. It was almost ridiculous given the great work done by set designers that year. But when you love a film, you really love a film apparently.

         

The Lord of the Rings and Gangs of New York were my two frontrunners for this and eventually it went to the latter.

        

Minority Report wins this for me. It was easily the best edited film of the year done with extreme prudence.