arenn's 2002 Film Year in Review

I don't really have a lot to say about 2002 in film as it pertains to films released that year. I did manage to see about 30 or so on the big screen again this year. But many of them were older films, not current releases. Still, here are my top picks for films I saw either released in 2002 or debuting in Chicago in 2002.

1. COOL AND CRAZY (***) Directed by Knut Erik Jensen (Norway) A semi-documentary look at a men's choir in a remote Norwegian town. Hiliarious.

2. THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT (***) Directed by Cory McAbbe (USA) A weird and hysterical genre bender. See my review.

3. WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? (***) Directed by Ming-liang Tsai (Taiwan) An important if not particularly pleasant to watch mediation on the nature of loneliness.

4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (***) Directed by Peter Jackson (USA). I really disliked the first installment, which was one reason I was so pleasantly suprised to enjoy this one.

5. COP ON A MISSION (***). Directed by Marco Mak (Hong Kong). A cop gets more than he bargains for when he goes deep undercover to penetrate the triad gangs.

6. COMEUPPANCE (***) Directed by Sung Kee Chiu (Hong Kong) Who is horribly murdering the triad leaders of Hong Kong? Not the top of its genre, but very solid.

Here are the rest of the 2002 new releases / Chicago premiers and how they stacked up. In alphabetical order:

• ABC AFRICA (**) Directed by Abbas Kairostami (Iran). I got the impression he put this together as an impromptu documentary. Interesting, but not in the same league as his feature films.
• THE BELIEVER (**) Directed by Henry Bean (USA).
• THE GANGS OF NEW YORK (**) Directed by Martin Scorsese (USA). Violent, loved Bill the Butcher, but this one really didn't engage me.
• HIT TEAM (**) Directed by Dante Lam (Hong Kong). A disappointing outing from the director of one of last year's big winners.
• METROPOLIS (**) Directed by Taro Rin (Japan). Animated. No Fritz Lang. Not even a particularly outstanding anime.
• SHIRI (**). Directed by Je-kyu Kang (Korea). Ok action thriller. Did not live up to the hype.
• STAR TREK: NEMESIS (**) Directed by Stuart Baird (USA) One of the better Star Treks, all the more so for overcoming the weak premise.
• STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES (**) Directed by George Lucas. I actually liked Episode I, this one not as much though. Liked the digital projection.
• TIME OUT (**) Directed by Laurent Cantet (France).
• SPIDERMAN (*). Directed by Sam Raimi (USA). Yuck.

Here are the pre-2002 films I saw on the big screen and how they fared. I was very fortunate to get to see some phenomenal films from the past this year. In alphabetical order:

• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (*****) Directed by Stanley Kubrick (USA, 1968)
• ACTRESS (***) Directed by Stanley Kwan (Hong Kong, 1992). Maggie Cheung never looked so good. A fabulous story based on the tragic life of 1930's Chinese actress Ruan Ling Yu.
• THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED (**) Directed by Carl Koch and Lotte Reiniger (Germany, 1926, Silent, Animated). Perhaps the first "animated" film, though not the traditional cel animation we know today. An Arabian Nights type tale.
• THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (***). Directed by John Sayles (USA, 1984). One of the top SF films of all time.
• DOUBLE INDEMNITY (****) Directed by Billy Wilder (USA, 1944). Fred MacMurray like you've never seen him before or since in this stupendous film noir.
• LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (***). Directed by David Lean (USA, 1962)
• PATTON (****) Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (USA, 1970).

• L'AGE D'OR (**) (1930). Written with help from Salvador Dali, this surrealist romp is perhaps the single strangest film I've ever seen.
• THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ (***) (1955). Entertaining "confession" of a man who believes himself a serial killer of women.
• THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE (***) (1977). A great title for a great film.

And lastly, Japanese director Kon Ichikawa, with whom I was previously completely unfamiliar.

• AN ACTOR'S REVENGE (**) (1963)
• BRIDGE OF JAPAN (**) (1956)
• PUNISHMENT ROOM (**) (1956)
• TEN BLACK WOMEN (**) (1961)

You can also read about what I thought of last year's films.

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