Wednesday, February 8, 2012

BEST OF 2000 (*UPDATED*)

What a list of films to start off a new decade with, huh? Like 2005, 2000 was another exceptionally great year with more standout films than usual. And it wasn't just that one year. 2000 was part of an amazing 3 year period ranging from 1999 (Rosetta, Beau Travail, Pola X & Humanite) up to 2001 (The Piano Teacher, Spirited Away, La Cienaga & Mulholland Drive, etc) which featured some of the greatest films in modern cinema (in my opinion). 2000 was a year that featured some of the best in romance (In The Mood For Love) to touching stories of youth/coming of age (George Washington & Ratcatcher...which are almost doppelgangers) and family dramas (Yi Yi & You Can Count On Me). Great filmmakers like Michael Haneke (Code Unknown) and Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) even managed to squeeze out the last bit of magic that was left in those multiple plot/multiple character/interweaving storyline/"HEY! its a small world"/everyone is connected/6 degrees of Kevin Bacon films that Quentin Tarantino was somehow given credit for inventing in 1994 with 'Pulp Fiction' (I know, right? I still don't get that one either). And speaking of giving undue credit, its funny how both; critics and moviegoers gave Michael Moore & Morgan Spurlock credit for breathing life back in to documentary films between the years of 2002-2004, while 'Dark Days' had already done that two years earlier. 'Bamboozled' became the first misunderstood masterpiece of the decade (a year later 'Bamboozled' would pass the torch on to 'Trouble Every Day'). For some reason when that film was released everyone in America acted as if WB & UPN weren't showing some of the most offensive, backwards thinking television shows in YEARS, but somehow had the right to judge a film (BEFORE EVEN WATCHING IT) after seeing an image of a blackface. 
Unfortunately some of the films on this list have actually not stood the test of time (which would have most people questioning why I'd even have them on this list). But I urge you all to go back and re-watch some of these films. With films like 'The White Ribbon' & 'The Piano Teacher', its kind of easy to forget 'Code Unknown', but if you go back and watch you'll see that it not only laid the groundwork for later stuff like Haneke's 'Cache' (with his exploration in to race & racism) but its one of best films about multiculturalism in Europe to come out in years. To this day, many people (mostly black folks) still don't stand behind 'Bamboozled', which is a shame, but I still urge people to not just go back and give it a second chance, but think about what was going on in television during the time Spike Lee made it. Thanks to David "Sellout" Green's recent comedies (which aren't even funny, so I don't know why they're called comedies), he's becoming more and more disassociated from his earlier work like 'George Washington'.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this list. Let me know if I missed anything... 

*EDIT* Well, I did ask for you guys to let me know if I missed anything and i sure did. Thanks to Ian over at Notes & Scribblings for pointing out that 'Battle Royale' and 'Ivansxtc' were missing from this list...

TOP 12 FILMS OF 2000: 

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
BAMBOOZLED
CODE UNKNOWN
DARK DAYS
WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES
GEORGE WASHINGTON
YI YI
TRAFFIC
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
DANCER IN THE DARK
 IVANSXTC

BATTLE ROYALE


TOP 5 FILMS FROM 1999 NOT RELEASED THEATRICALLY IN THE U.S. UNTIL 2000:

BEAU TRAVAIL

GHOST DOG
HUMANITE

POLA X

 RATCATCHER

HONORABLE MENTION:

FIVE FEET HIGH & RISING

O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU

VIRGIN SUICIDES

THE WAR ZONE

WINGS OF HOPE


and a few more worth mentioning...

chuck & buck
best in show
requiem for a dream
shadow of the vampire
Me, Myself & Irene
Girlfight
before night falls
Erin Brokovich

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