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jchensor's 2002 Memory LaneI've never been to the movie theaters as much as I have in 2002 -- there is no question. Because of that, I have so many fond movie memories from the past year. And only because this is the first year it can actually be justified, I'm gonna share these memories - some good, some bad - with anyone out there who cares to go down 2002 Memory Lane with me. Theater Experiences of 2002Funnest Theater Experience: The Ring Sitting in a theater full of screaming girls during the finale of The Ring was worth the price of admission. And because I had seen the Japanese version before, I knew where each "scream moment" was coming up. I sat eagerly awaiting the next crowd reaction, and, boy, I was not disappointed. Worst Theater Experience: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets In a packed theater, we sat right in front of a man who, even though he was in a nice suit, didn't seem like he had bathed in 15 days and it was... I don't think they've made up a word that can quite describe how awful it was. I couldn't get that smell out of my head for the next hour after the film was done and I was long out of the theater. It was probably the only reason why I wished the movie wasn't so long. Coolest Theater Experience: Roger Dodger I mean, seriously: How many people can say they saw a free movie screening during their lunch break? Jeff and I walked to an Artisan screening room across the street from where we worked during our lunch break to see Roger Dodger. After it was over, we went back to work and no one seemed to notice nor care. That was just too cool. Most Surreal Theater Experience: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones I swear we didn't do it on purpose. It wasn't planned this way. It was just a matter of strange circumstances. But Jeff and I ended up seeing it on opening day, in Digital... TWICE. I've sat through two different movies in one day before, but never the SAME movie twice in one day. Whereas that experience might have been torture for others, I loved the movie... both times!! Most Comfortable Theater Experience: Spider-Man Sitting front and center in large leather seats at the Bridge Cinema in L.A. and snacking on personal pizzas and other actually decent (!) theater food with a large group of my friends (all courtesy of Jeff's excellent planning skills) to see Spider-Man made for the most luxurious visit to a movie theater I think I've ever had. Random AwardsThe Closest You'll Ever Get to an Acid Trip: Spirited Away I'm still reeling from this movie. It seriously takes some sort of twisted mind to come up with the images and concepts this movie had. And maybe it really is some form of a drug, because the more I think about it, the more I like it, and the more of it I want... Most Color-Coordinated Movie: Far From Heaven I need to see this movie again so I can actually pay attention to the story and the acting, because the whole while I was watching this film, I couldn't help but to notice everything in every scene and think, "My God, everything matches!!" Every shot must have taken 8 months to set up properly. All of the furniture matched the walls and the carpets of the house. All of the houses matched the trees outdoors. And everyone's clothes matched all of those! Even Patricia Clarkson's blouse that somehow kept changing between green and brown depending on what angle we were viewing it from... it matched EVERYTHING!!! Most Uplifting Movie: Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever Jeff and I went into this movie in really foul moods and, contrary to what you might think, left in absolutely great moods. Why? Well, watching Antonio Banderas do his best to look bad-ass while getting his ass kicked over and over and over again (sometimes he even kicked his own ass) helped. Laughing at the constant mumbling of characters also helped. At one point, Banderas said, "Sef thaz wha mustub hurr" and Jeff turned to me and asked, "What did Antonio Banderas just say?!?", and I said, "I have no clue..." And there was just too much of the film to make fun of and to laugh at. So as a result, we left in a good mood. Best Awful Tagline: The Count of Monte Cristo "Count on Revenge!!!" Give the man who thought of that tagline a million dollars. Most Poorly Marketed Movie: The Powerpuff Girls Movie Considering the fact that all of "The Powerpuff Girls" fans I know of are in their 20's, having commercials for this film only before 5:00 p.m. during kids' shows and never showing this film in ANY theater after 6:30 p.m. were bad moves. No wonder it flopped at the box office. And now the DVD doesn't even have a widescreen release. We adults just don't get the proper respect when it comes to our cartoons about three small, cute, adorable little girls. Character AwardsThe "What's She Doing There?!?" Most Cameos Award: Lucy Liu Seeing her in both Minority Report and Chicago, I could only ask myself, "How did Lucy Liu manage to get into BOTH of my favorite movies this year?" The "Boy Can She Pick 'Em!" Award for Worst Boyfriends: Emily Watson You couldn't have asked for a more bizarre duo than her choices from Red Dragon and Punch-Drunk Love. In one movie, she picks a man who's a little on the insane side. In the other movie, she picks... a man who's a little on the insane side. The "That Character Must DI-I-I-I-I-I-IE!!!" Award: Morph Treasure Planet was an okay film, but I really hated Morph. He needs to join the Gargoyles of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the hall of Disney characters we must all strive to forget. MusicBest Score: Catch Me If You Can Most people would go for something like Howard Shore's score for The Lord of the Rings or Elmer Bernstein's score for Far From Heaven, but I think John Williams's score for Catch Me If You Can is the best of the year, even by John Williams standards. I had the music from the film stuck in my head long after seeing it, and have since purchased the CD and listened to it numerous times. Best Song: 8 Mile I have yet to meet someone who doesn't think the song "Lose Yourself" is incredibly catchy. During the credits of the movie, I saw a good number of people sticking around for the credits SPECIFICALLY so they could mouth along with the words. Best Use Of A Song That Was From Another Movie: Punch-Drunk Love Taking "He Needs Me" from Robert Altman's Popeye may have seemed a poor choice on paper when you consider how most people regard Popeye. But the song's dreamy tone and simplistic and dizzying lyrics helped convey the mindset of Barry's feelings for Lena much better than it did for Olive Oyl's feelings for Popeye. ScenesMost Shocking Scene: Lilo & Stitch When Lilo jumped on and started to beat the girl with glasses out of her senses, I was in total shock... and I knew a typical Disney film wasn't in store for me... - Runner up: And THEN they run Stitch over with a giant big rig! Best Title Sequence: Catch Me If You Can The fact that it had a title sequence is amazing enough by today's movie standards, but to present it in such a creative and stylish manner was a really good touch. Accompanied by John Williams's jazzy music, it definitely set up the slick atmosphere the movie would have. - Runner up: Panic Room's credits-on-the-buildings really had nothing to do with anything, but it was certainly cool looking. Best Finale: 8 Mile The final contest blew me away. It wasn't particularly new in terms of movies. How many times have we seen the main character overcome all obstacles and win the contest in the end? But something about this one had so much energy and excitement. And how Rabbit overcame the final round was a very smartly-written resolution. Plus, you can't just help but dance in your seat as you listen, even if you're not a big fan of rap. - Runner-up: Can you count the entire last battle of The Two Towers as one scene? Favorite Guilty Pleasure Scene: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones So I loved Yoda. Sue me. - Runner-up: Blue Crush's surfing contest finale was incredibly well-shot. It really put the audience in the shoes (err... on... the board???) and the eyes of the surfer, and I was continually amazed with each in-the-curl and underwater shot. And it's getting harder and harder to calling Blue Crush a guilty pleasure, since it seems most people would agree that the last scene was so exhilirating to watch. Most Uncomfortable Scene: xXx Watching Vin Diesel and Asia Argento kiss was just about the most stomach-churning thing I've sat through in a while. They both looked horribly awkward, really uncomfortable, and no one seemed like they were having any fun. Man, was that painful to watch. - Runner-up: Every scene of Nicolas Cage as Charlie Kaufman fantasizing in Adaptation makes all guys think, "God, I'm glad I'm not that pathetic... am I?!?" Most Confusing Scene: The Time Machine The finale of Guy Pearce saying, "You forgot something... What if?!?", and then punching Jeremy Irons was one of the most baffling "What on earth just happened?!?" sequences of all last year. - Runner up: Everything else in The Time Machine. "The ancient language" still spoken without accents? Orlando Jones 80 gazillion years in the future?? Jeremy Irons all painted white?!? The fact that Jeremy Irons even signed up for this?!?!? What?!? Most Funny Scene: The Powerpuff Girls Up until the last scene, I felt this movie was good, but not great. But when every one of Mojo Jojo's simian cohorts revolted and all of the monkey jokes started to fly, I was laughing so hard. The final scene was the funniest thing I had seen all year long, and it helped make the movie not just good, but great. - Runner-up: Seriously, there are too many scenes in Lilo & Stitch that I thought were hilarious, so pick a funny scene from that movie, any scene. And there's the second funniest scene of the year. Most Unintentionally Funny Scene: The Transporter Hearing Shu Qi in a really, really, really bad accent say "He was a bastard... but he was still my father!" was most likely not meant to be funny, but boy did it make me laugh. - Runner-up: I read The Count Of Monte Cristo before, and some of the major plot changes (such as the inserted evil warden and Edmond Dantes being the actual father of Mercedès's child) were so contrived that I couldn't help but laugh at them... because in some odd way, they worked. On top of that, there was the "hamming-it-up" from Guy Pearce and Richard Harris. It had all of that, and yet the movie was still entertaining. Best Collection of Scenes from Beginning to End: Chicago Every number was awesome, with the "Cell Block Tango" and the "We Both Reached For The Gun" sequences getting the top honors. Maybe I'm just becoming a sucker for musicals or something, but I really enjoyed every musical number from the movie. - Runner-up: A slow-paced movie never kept me riveted to my seat scene after scene like the way Signs did. Best Scene, Period: Minority Report Starting right from where John Anderton and Agatha get into the mall and ending when they disappear into a sea of umbrellas, the scene of the elusion from the Pre-Crime Unit was great from beginning to end. Everything in that scene, from the tension caused by Agatha's cries of "Wait...", to the bit of humor from her "Don't go home... he knows..." warning to a random person, to the revelations that the audience gets from understanding her commands to John to take an umbrella, blends together perfectly to create the most well-fleshed-out scene from all of 2002. And a lot of credit has to go to Spielberg, of course, for his great timing throughout that entire scene. - Runner-up: When I saw the "We Both Reached For The Gun" sequence in Chicago, something sparked in my mind: "Yeah. You love this movie." PerformancesBest Supporting Actress: Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago She laid it all out there. She held nothing back. She threw everything she had and more right out on the table for everyone to see. And even though everyone understandably fixates on how beautiful she is, her looks are completely overshadowed by her performance in this film. - Runner-up: Meryl Streep showed her range in her two films of the year, but it was her comedic role in Adaptation that really left an impression on me. Best Supporting Actor: Andy Serkis for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The best vocal perfomances are the ones that, after hearing it, can never be pictured any other way anymore. And after listening to Andy Serkis voice Gollum, no one will ever imagine that character in any other way ever again. But it wasn't only his voicing that brought Gollum to life -- it was also his characterization. All of his body motions were motion-captured for the film and it comes through. Gollum's motions were more lifelike than any computer-generated character placed in a live-action film yet. And the combination of those two high marks are what make Gollum so believeable. And Serkis deserves all the credit for that. Runner-up: Jesse Eisenberg was not content to let Campbell Scott runaway with Roger Dodger. With all the praise that Scott has been getting for his performance, many people have overlooked the fact that you can't, as my parents always say, "clap with one hand." Without Eisenberg's yang to Scott's yin, Roger Dodger probably wouldn't have been as impressive as it was. But because Eisenberg kept up with Scott in every way, shape, and form, Roger Dodger is one of the best movies no one has seen this year. Best Actress: Daveigh Chase for Lilo & Stitch I have to give her this award because, well, no one else will do it. Her performance will be overlooked for two main reasons: 1) She's a kid. 2) She's a kid doing a cartoon voice. But you shouldn't let that fool you. Her tone of voice and speech timing made Lilo & Stitch one of the best films of the year. Another child, one who may have had less understanding of the importance of subtlety in the tone of voice, could have train-wrecked this movie. Daveigh Chase pulls it off not only successfully, but I dare say flawlessly. Just as A.I. could never have existed without Haley Joel Osment, Lilo & Stitch could not have existed without Daveigh Chase. - Runner-up: I was very surprised at how good Renee Zellweger was in Chicago. After I saw the movie the first time, I wasn't really all that enamored with her performance. It wasn't until the second time I saw the film that I really began to appreciate what she did. I came to this realization when I noticed that in no scene was Zellweger upstaged by Zeta-Jones, despite how great Zeta-Jones was. And let's face it -- anyone who can do that good a job acting like a puppet? That deserves some serious praise. Best Actor: Mel Gibson for Signs The best thing about this performance was how you didn't notice it the first time because, for the entire movie, he's got you convinced of every emotion he conveys. And that's what makes acting great, isn't it? When it's done so well that you don't notice it -- because it's so believable and natural throughout? And it takes a second viewing to truly appreciate this very underrated performance. - Runners-up: Give it up for the confirmed old bachelors. I declare a tie for runner-up: I was definitely glad to see Hugh Grant take a different turn in About a Boy. I didn't think he could ever pull off a character like Will, but he did. And whatever he did, Campbell Scott was doing it too. Scott, who played the title role in Roger Dodger, pulled off the character perfectly. The role called for a fairly slimy character with no regard for women or their emotions. Campbell played that to a "T," but was still able to inject some deeply buried regret and an actual good heart into Roger's character, thus allowing us to actually feel pathos for him. To be able to make such a sleazy guy so likeable is not easy. ©James Chen, Feb. 12, 2003 |
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