film: commentary

> Y2K: THE YEAR IN MOVIES
Film Critic John C. Lyons wraps up the year in pictures.

Hello everyone! I wanted to take a moment to thank each of you that have visited ErieEntertainment.com this year. We are starting to establish a pretty good source for everything entertainment here (thanks to Allison), and we couldn't do it without each of you.

THE BEST OF 2000:
(in alphabetical order)

Almost Famous
American Psycho
Erin Brockovich
Gladiator
High Fidelity
Meet the Parents
Mission: Impossible- 2
*Traffic

Almost Famous- A great coming of age movie set around a 70s rock band and a young journalist. The direction, cast, and story are all brilliant. This film served as my introduction to both Patrick Fugit and Kate Hudson, and I must say I was quite impressed by both.

American Psycho- A great and disturbing dark comedy starring Christian Bale. This movie really made me laugh, but anyone who cannot find or understand humor in films like American Beauty and Fight Club should stay well away from this one. I recommend the DVD, which contains the director's cut (NC-17) of the film.

Erin Brockovich- A very strong acting movie, Julia Roberts is amazing! If she doesn't receive an Oscar for this effort I will be really pissed. Steven Soderberg knew what he was doing with this one.

Gladiator- This film is giant in every way. Gladiator has it all: the acting, the gritty special effects, the plot; all are fined tuned for the ultimate movie experience. Russell Crowe (star) and Ridley Scott (director) will get most of the credit, however, Joaquin Phoenix and Connie Nielsen turned in excellent work themselves.

High Fidelity and Meet the Parents- Two great relationship comedies. The first stars John Cusack and contains a whole assortment of other cameos and small roles. High Fidelity struck a nice chord with me in its basic idea that music is the soundtrack to our lives (and relationships). Meet the Parents teamed DeNiro with Ben Stiller, and their awkwardness around one another works towards some of the best chemistry. Very funny and well done movies.

Mission: Impossible-2- A lot of people will say that this movie has no right to be listed as a best of 2000, although I will disagree. It's your big budget, summer, action thriller the way they are supposed to be done, and it was done so well. For that, I am giving it my best action movie of the year prize.

Traffic- This may just be my new pick for BEST movie of the year (my original was Gladiator). Great direction, beautiful cinematography, and a wish list cast! Kudos to all involved in this project! Best of luck to Catherine Zeta-Jones and Benicio Del Toro at the Golden Globes!

THE WORST OF 2000:
(in alphabetical order)

*Battlefield: Earth
Gone in 60 Seconds
Hollow Man
Little Nicky
Vertical Limit

Battlefield: Earth- Horrid! In all aspects. Easily the WORST movie of the year.

Gone in 60 Seconds- Nice cars and Angelina Jolie were the best things about this movie.

Hollow Man- Kevin Bacon and his over-inflated ego couldn't help this movie that should have been a straight-to-video release.

Little Nicky- Adam Sandler is in a bit of a slump, and this movie successfully extended instead of extinguished it.

Vertical Limit- Another film that had no business being released into the theaters.

GREAT POTENTIALS:
(in alphabetical order)

Castaway
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Requiem for a Dream
O' Brother Where Art Thou
Thirteen Days

For whatever the reason (small distribution, short runs, or I haven't seen them yet) I have not had the opportunity to see these films. I have wanted to since I first started reading about them online. I really need to move closer to a big city. Castaway and Crouching Tiger… are Oscar hopefuls, Requiem for a Dream is the drug movie follow-up by the amazing Darren Aronofsky, and O' Brother… is the latest dark comedy from the Coen brothers. I will see these films in some form eventually, but I just haven't had the opportunity as of yet.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON Y2K:

Overall, while 2000 was a good year for movies, however, I feel that it paled in comparison to an amazing 1999. Last year is such a tough year to follow. I was so impressed by how original some of the films from that year were, most notably American Beauty, The Matrix and the amazing Fight Club. These films were groundbreaking in their own ways and somehow changed the way we will look at films (and our lives) in the future. I don't get this same feeling from many movies this year. That is not to say this was a dull year. Ridley Scott created an amazing visual representation of Rome for Gladiator. The arena scenes especially were quite gripping and by using some of Steven Spielberg's steady cam styles he was able to achieve some awesome close-ups, which made you feel as if you were there right alongside Mr. Crowe. My other major favorite from 2000 is Traffic. By the time the movie ends I was really hit hard. This is easily the best "war on drugs" movie you're going to find. These two movies, in particular, kept my attention from beginning to end, and for this they receive my highest praises for 2000.

On another note, year 2000 is the year that DVD finally broke into the mainstream. I can remember a friend of mine (I won't mention your name TOM) making fun of me for buying a DVD player before anyone else did, and telling me it was just another fad that wouldn't catch on. Well, the technology is amazing and everyone is beginning to realize this now (over 13 million players have been sold in the US alone). Outside of the theater experience, DVD is the way to go for viewing movies. With all the features they are packing into these DVD releases you can be sure that each film listed here, and those released from now on, will get some great treatments on this medium. And speaking of future releases I can't wait for 2001 and the next couple years! Why? Well, Hannibal, Snatch, Tomb Raider, Pearl Harbor, Moulin Rouge, Star Wars: Episode 2 and 3, Batman: Year One, Batman Beyond, The Panic Room, Rendezvous with Rama, I could go on and on…

By John C. Lyons
Film Critic

(01-0115)