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List added by The Mighty Celestial on 7 January 2009 07:27
Ten Really Good Movies From 2002. |
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 178  7.4  7.7  An island heritage that is already desperately trying to hold onto it's own identity, finds itself even more challenged when a little girl tries desperately to fit into it in a manner that would break one if it's fundamental "rules". For, in order to triumph, she must dispel the ages old belief that to achieve the mantle of a chieftain, one must be a male. And in the process, she ends up making both that old tradition and a pack of whales, her b#tchez. Yay for Girl Power!  The Mighty Celestial's rating:
 
466 6.9 7.4  A P. T. Anderson effort that delves into how an unforseeable strength & driving force can result when two souls take the jump into the unfamiliar territory that is the map of the human heart. A map whose directions seem only to reveal themselves on a need to know basis. But wait...! It stars Adam Sandler? Who puts the effort of actually acting in it? And in the end, does a good job? To the point, that it becomes the very first movie starring the waterboy that I not only ended up actually enjoying, but also, now come to regard as one of my favorite romance films ever? Okay, verily, the seventh seal hath been broken. The Mighty Celestial's rating:
792 7 7.8  Based off of a graphic novel of the same name, Road To Perdition is a quality film that addresses an area of the mobster life that rarely gets any notice from most movies from this genre: the relationship of a gangster with his kid(s) when the child is at the age in which the the parent's influence is most strongest & begins to crystalize in the kid's identity. Just this one aspect of the mafia lifestyle is enough to open a new set of ideas for future movies plotlines that focus on those in the world of organized crime. Tom Hanks wanders out of his standard role to play an assasin who, along with his only survivng son, is on the run from the crime syndicate which he formerly called home. A life & death experience which reveals that there's a difference between the blood that is spilled for a mob-family & the blood that is shared between a real family. The Mighty Celestial's rating:
140 7.3 7.9  Is it possible to watch a tale of a family that struggles to make their dreams come true without it seeming too corny? Or to watch 'em suffer personal traumas that bind 'em with friends from completely different worlds that doesn't come off as formulaic? Or is it possible to watch a film where they try to come to terms with life's hard curveballs in a manner that will make you laugh & cry but without having to worry about embarrassingly getting a face bloated with the snotty tears of over-sentimentality? In a word, yes. But only In America. The Mighty Celestial's rating:
 
998 8.2 8.8  For me, watching this Brazillian-based film feels almost exactly like watching a documentary. One frighteningly all-too real scene involves a young (incredibly young) kid gang member who is cornered by a much older gang leader from another troupe & then is asked to choose between getting shot in the hand or in the foot. IMO, it is a scene that holds more power, depth & context than most movies contain in their entirety. An incredibly eye-opening & moving picture that reveals the true grit of violence, hopelessness & poverty of the South American slums that lie behind tourist paradises such as Rio de Janeiro and the like. The Mighty Celestial's rating:
831 7.2 8  A martial arts movie with beautifully colored fighting themes, an actual purpose in it's plotline & more arrows than some metaphor that would contain a point about many more arrows that any situation would ever deem necessary. An epic kung-fu flick that is way more poetic than this or any description of Hero could ever hope to be. The Mighty Celestial's rating:
1605 7.4 7.7  The spy theme was never really one of my favorite genres. So I was quite surprised at not only how much I enjoyed the Bourne Identity, but also how the whole series became, for me, one of those rare trilogies that only got better with each successive movie. By the time this series got to the intelligently bad-ass ending of Ultimatum, I knew that I had just witnessed what was now one of my favorite movie trilogies of all time. The Mighty Celestial's rating:
604 7.2 7.8  For me, this is kind of like a "The Matrix Unloaded". A very stunningly stylish movie that features action sequences that any martial arts or straight-up action flick would be proud to call it's own. And even tho the story, like The Matrix, seems like it can lose it's audience every couple of turns and again, it does have a more solid & linear structure, making it is possible for the viewer to get back onto understanding it's premise. And I liked that since Equilibrium did not have the big budget that it's computer themed bigger succeeding cousin had, that it came up with a concept called "Gun Kata", to allow for the insane bullet hails that make these types of gun-toting movies the kind that could cause even the hardiest NRA member to bust his own cap. The Mighty Celestial's rating:
1100 7.2 7.6  Y'know, the concept of zombies has gotten bogged down with the campiness that has overtaken this horror sub-genre over the years, that the horror aspect seems to have been practically filtered out. And though alot of this may be due to the logistic of being able to easily escape these stumbling monstrocities, the fact is, if anyone reading this actually saw a zombie, they'd still be scared to the point of shittin' out their own skeletons. If at least by the idea that they have born witness to something as "death-defying" as an entity of the "undead". This movie attempts to address these issues by respectfully replacing the idea of rising from the dead more akin to being infected with a rabid mind-devolving plague. And IMO, that's enough to turn the concept of a zombie into a more reality like creature that's pretty damn scary. Especially when added to the fact that they can now move fast enough to actually catch you. The Mighty Celestial's rating:
 
3078 6.9 7.4  Mild mannered Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, resulting in super-powers that grant him the proportionate abilities of the eight-legged arachnid. Leading into a story where the young webslinging teen-ager truly learns that "with great power comes great responsibility". As a comicbook nerd, I was pleased with Marvel's 1st. initial effort at trying to do what Burton did with the Batman: Introduce the webhead as a serious legitimate property for film. One of the things that usually bugs (pun unintentional) me about comicbook based movies is that the changes made in the character's universe for the sake of the film are usually so off, that it oft-times it strays away too far from the character's unique feel that helped to separate it from that of other superheroes. Spider-Man's debut featured adaptations in the wallcrawler's world that showed that not only did Sam Raimi & crew understand the character's premise, but also, respected it as well. The Mighty Celestial's rating:
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Description
Alot of good movies this year. Had a hard time choosing just twenty, let alone ten. And the enjoyment levels that I got from these top ten are so close together, that I may find myself continually rearranging this year's list. This was also a year that included some great (& pretty powerful) performances from very young kids with the films Whale Rider, In America, City Of God & Punch Drunk Love. Okay, so maybe Adam Sandler isn't a kid. But his maturity level tends to lend itself to that of one pretty comfortably. Anyways, even though I have only one film that made it into my personal rating system of five full stars, the amount of three star+ films for this particular year easily extends not only up to twenty, but even beyond. Just a boatload of good movies for this list in an amount that I rarely get to experience on any other year. List cont. 11. Changing Lanes - Get this motherf#ckin' Ben Affleck offa these motherf#ckin' lanes! 11. Phone Booth 12. The 25th Hour 13. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 14. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - The fact that this movie made only up to #13 on my list is a testament to the amount of quality movies released for this year. I'm sure that on any other year this film would've easily made the top five, let alone my top ten. 15. Solaris - Not as good as the 1972 version (but let's be honest here, despite Steven Soderbergh being at the helm, this version stood almost no chance of replicating the masterpiece status that is Tarkovsky's) but still a solid & more streamlined remake that effectively modernizes the theme of it's original. 16. Secretary - I found this movie engagingly quirky & quite sexy. It really would've been higher on my list if but at one point, the lead character wouldn't have taken a dump in her wedding dress. 17. About Schmidt - Jack decides it's time to step away from the more spotlight movies & start flexing some acting muscles to remind everyone that he's not just the Jackster that Hollywood has decided to iconally cement him into. Jack plays a role of which we're not accustomed to seeing him in. A man who after a lifetime made up of a reliable yet indifferent job, a dutiful wife who makes him sandwiches for lunch & a family that has just simply moved on, now finds himself alone & purposeless. And thus begins a journey for identity & meaning in which, hopefully, the end result will be some tidbits of inner-discovery in the meandering life that is about Schmidt. 18. About a Boy - For those of you who haven't seen this movie, can you figure out what this movie is about? 19. Minority Report - Mission Impossible meets Blade Runner with a dash of the Bourne Identity. 20. Signs- How do you get a former priest whose lost his faith to "open his eyes" & believe again? Try sending down an alien or two to start forming big ol' circles in his crops. Also enjoyed, in no particular order: About Schmidt, Gangs of New York, One Hour Photo, Catch Me If You Can, Chicago, Panic Room & Insomnia Films from this year that I have not seen but am interested in seeing: - Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - Bowling For Columbine - The Mothman Prophecies Other lists by The Mighty Celestial: My Top 20 Female Movie Bad-Asses http://www.listal.com/list/my-top-10-female 10 Movies That Feature A Dancin' Travolta In 'Em http://www.listal.com/list/my-list-9158 Yep. When It Comes To Comicbook Movies .... http://www.listal.com/list/yep-am-huge-comicbook WAATAAAH!! My Top 10 Favorite Martial Arts Flix! http://www.listal.com/list/my-list-thecelestial The Final Frontier Of Space... & Time. My Top 50 Favorite Sci-Fi Flix Ever http://www.listal.com/list/final-frontier-space-time Can't We Be Dysfunctional Like A Normal Family? http://www.listal.com/list/dysfunctional-family-movies/edit Top Ten Favorite Movies By Year Lists: http://www.listal.com/list/19551959-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/1976-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/1982-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/1983-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/1984-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/1992-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/1993-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/1995-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/1997-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/1998-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/1999-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/2003-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/2004-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/2005-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/2007-my-top-ten-favorite http://www.listal.com/list/2008-my-top-ten-favorite
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