Top Ten Favorite Films of 2002

1. Atanarjuaat: The Fast Runner: A film with an all Inuit cast, written and directed by Inuits, and filmed mostly in the snow above the Arctic Circle sounds like it would be somthing more suited to an anthropology class. But Atanarjuaat is a epic tale of love, betrayal, murder, and revenge with an almost Shakespearean quality that made it riveting. I was literally on the edge of my seat (OK, so partly it was because the seats at the Cleveland Cinemateque are so uncomfortable) during a chase sequence as thrilling as anything from Bullitt or The French Connection. Only this chase is on foot. Two crazed murderers with knives and clubs chase a naked man over the ice. This film gave me everything I look for in a moviegoing experience: interesting characters, surprising plot twists, a unique setting beautifully photographed, and, most importantly, a new perspective. A thoughoughly unique and fascinating experience.

2. Spirited Away: One word: Miyazaki! The only thing that kept this film from being # 1 was Atanarjaat. All the elements are here and if I didn't think it was quite as good for me as Princess Mononoke that only show up some deficiency in me as a filmgoer. Miyazaki is a master.
3. Y tu Mama Tambien: One of the most powerful coming of age stories I have seen. With a superb cast, sharp poigniant writing, beautiful cinematography and a very sexy, yet almost painfully realistic and awkward teenage male sexual awakening story that took it to much higher level well out realm of silly American teenage sex movies.
4. Bowling for Columbine: Michael Moore takes on Americans an their obsession with guns. And he makes it hilariously funny. Probably funnier and more angry than Roger and Me and it couldn't have come at a better time.
5. Kytice (Wild Flowers): Highly stylized Czech film that retells six (or was it seven? It's been a while) Czech fairy tales with a beauty and maturity that made it one of the best fantasy films of the year or really of any year.
6. The Good Girl: Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhall are both great in this bittersweet story of love and infidelity. John C. Reilly and Tim Blake Nelson are alternately hilarious and revolting as her stoner husband and his goofy stoner friend with an unexpected dark side.
7. Nine Queens: A Spanish thriller in the David Mamet "who's conning who?" genre of House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner and every bit as good as those two.
8. The Quiet American: Look for Michael Caine at Oscar time. He is brilliant, and by the way so was Graham Greene, who saw it all coming in Vietnam way ahead of the curve.
9. Secretary: A kinky fairy-tale-office-romance-comedy that gets maybe a little to silly near the end, but has great performances by Maggie Gyllenhall and James Spader. They walk a tightrope with this material between camp, farce, and eroticism that keeps the viewer off balance in a slightly painful yet pleasurable way.
10.Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: Saw this one late, but it bumped Far from Heaven to the Honorable Mentions because it was so much more fun to watch while oddly enough working some of the same period territory, and playing with some of the same surface vs. reality tension of the 50's and 60's that made America so great and so fucked up. You end up admiring Far from Heaven, but scene by scene you will enjoy Confession more.


Near Misses and Guilty Pleasures: Far from Heaven, Monsoon Wedding, 13 Conversations about One Thing, Rabbit-Proof Fence, About a Boy, Bubba-Ho-Tep, The Eye.