2001 in Movies

Movie reviews for movies released in 2001.

1. In Praise of Love, directed by Jean Luc Godard (10/10)

It’s amazing that Godard can still make crazy awesome movies this far into his career. Usually people who are avant in one decade or generation can’t really keep up the innovation.

I still don’t quite know what to make of this. Obviously it would help if I could understand French better (the subtitles are incomplete, due to the overlapping dialogue).

This is a remarkable movie, even given that I didn’t get everything. I don’t know where to start in explaining it. It’s just one of those movies that transcends…

2. In the Bedroom, directed by Todd Field (9/10)

I don’t think I wrote a review at the time. The thing that I think I like most about this movie is the decision taken seems to me to be far more realistic than those in most films.

3. Startup.com, directed by Christ Hegedus, Jehane Noujaim (9/10)

I am never going into business with friends: This is a riveting and frankly devastating portrait of life in a startup. No fictional film can truly capture what it is like to form a business with friends and then have business needs get in the way of friendship. It’s horrible to watch. This is much more about the personal relationships, by the way, than it is about the technical and financial reasons why the dotcoms were in trouble. That’s why it’s riveting. A movie about the technical reasons would be informative.

4. Mulholland Drive, directed by David Lynch (9/10)

I was very much in the depths of my Lynch obsession when I saw this. But I still believe that, as mind-fucks go, this is a pretty great one.

5. The Man Who Wasn’t There, directed by Joel Coen (9/10*)

This is generally regarded as one of their weakest films and it might be. I don’t know. I watched it at 20 in the midst of my Coens obsession and was likely not objective at all.

6. Atanjuat: the Fast Runner, directed by Zacharias Kunuk (9/10)

I have lost my review but for once the hype around a “first” feature from a particular culture or country wasn’t lying; this is an absolutely incredible film. (And folks, the pacing is deliberate.)

7. Amelie, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet (9/10)

I don’t know why it took me so long to see this movie. I’m a pretty big Jeunet fan, but whatever interest I had in seeing it at the time soon waned. No idea why. For some reason I anticipated I wouldn’t like it, which seems odd to me.

It’s way less out there than Delicatessen (still my favourite) or The City of Lost Children, and significantly more accessible, but what it lacks in utter uniqueness it makes up in charm. It reminds me of Leolo to a great extent, but a little zanier if that’s possible.

This is how you do whimsy. So few American filmmakers seem to be able to do it, for some reason. (Perhaps, because for them, whimsy always has to be childish or family-oriented.)

Though it is significantly less daring than his earlier films I still found myself utterly carried away by the film, its inventiveness, and, as usual, Jeunet’s inimitable style. Also, I laughed almost constantly, which is something I can’t say for the vast majority of romantic comedies that are made in English.

A wonderful film.

8. No Man’s Land, directed by Danis Tanovic (8/10)

I have lost my review for this crazy – and daring – very dark comedy about the Balkan wars.

9. The Believer, directed by Henry Bean (8/10)

A crazy story dominated by a career-making performance.

10. Gosford Park, directed by Robert Altman (8/10)

Lost my review.

11. Dogtown and Z-Boys, directed by Stacy Peralta (8/10)

A really good documentary about skateboarding, something I really don’t care about it.

12. Super Troopers, directed by Jay Chandrasekhar (8/10)

This is one of those comedies where everything works well. I have watched it many times now and it remains hilarious.

13. The Holy Land, directed by Eitan Gorlin (8/10)

This is about a rabbinical student who gets lured away from his studies into a different world of Russian hookers and drug dealers. It discusses god and the conflict around god in somewhat oblique ways. And it’s fairly interesting, though not the most amazing movie. And then the end comes. The end is one of those that I wish came more often in movies. It seems very appropriate, even though I didn’t really see it coming (mind you I don’t figure these things out usually). But it then makes you think about what was, for most of the movie, in the background. I can see how this movie could be accused of nihilism, though I don’t think it is nihilistic.

14. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, directed by Peter Jackson (8/10)

I watched this around when it came out. In 2018, I read the entire trilogy and so I decided to watch it again. This is what I said at the time.

Bar none, the most incredible CGI-aided movie experience up until this point – literally on another planet from every other film’s CGI usage up through 2001 – and one of the most incredible visual spectacles in movie history. I have never read the source material, but I believe I found the pacing slightly clunky, which is why I didn’t rate it a 9 or 10.

I now get the criticisms of the film, given how much of the story was left out. However, the pacing of books 1 and 2 is pretty awful itself, and I think this film actually condenses or eliminates fairly well. Frankly, I’d rather watch this again than read the book again.

On another note: in 2018 you sure can tell how much this has aged, how less good it looks now than it did in 2001 but it’s also worth noting that it still looks much better than a lot of other digital creations of this era. (Think of how dated early Sopranos episodes look now, for example.) I still think, given the technology at hand, this is a monumental technical achievement.

15. Donnie Darko, directed by Richard Kelly (8/10)

At least at 20, this is a pretty cool movie.

16. Not Another Teen Movie, directed by Joel Gallen (8/10)

I watched this movie multiple times pretty much immediately. It was, to a 20 or 21 year old surrounded by bad teen films, really, really refreshing. I haven’t seen it since I was maybe 22, so maybe I wouldn’t feel this way now. But I knew every word from the climactic song and my roommate and I would sing it while we made dinner.

17. The Grey Zone, directed by Tim Blake Nelson (8/10)

Don’t think for a moment about the accents. Remember, these people are not speaking English, so why should they sound like eastern Europeans speaking English? (I have never understood that.) An excellent film about moral choices.

18. The Royal Tenenbaums, directed by Wes Anderson (8/10)

Very enjoyable and I have meant to re-watch it.

19. The Anniversary Party, directed by Alan Cumming, Jennifer Jason Leigh (8/10)

This is one of those great ensemble dramedies where everyone is on and a balance is struck between (dark) laugh-out-loud humour and pathos.

Though it gets a little over-the-top acting-wise by the end, it’s hard to dislike it, as watching these actors for two hours is hardly a chore. All the characters feel developed, even though some of them we barely meet, and all the humour is rooted in character (and is appropriately dark).

Yeah, it’s Hollywood. We shouldn’t care. But I did, so that works for me.

20. Thirteen Conversations about One Thing, directed by Jill Sprecher(8/10)

I lost my review for this thoughtful and interesting film. All I remember right now is that my friend and I had a debate about what that one thing was. I can’t remember what I said I thought it was about, but I bet I was wrong.

21. Series 7, directed by Daniel Minahan (8/10*)

I liked this a little too much the first time I saw it. It may be very, very low budget but it’s prescient.

22. Jeepers Creepers, directed by Victor Salva (8/10)

I think I didn’t give this film its credit the first time around. The set up is fantastic. The mood they create is just uber-creepy to the max (we must bring back the “to the max” expression to save our modern parlance from total destruction). It’s fantastic. It would make it a great movie. Except then, most of the way through, the movie turns into an ’80s “creature” type horror movie but where you’re rooting for the bad guy like in a slasher film (ala Freddie, Jason, etc) rather than being scared. Oh well. Anyway, it’s worth seeing just for the first hour. The other problem I have is the music. They could have completely built a film around the song signalling doom but instead they include it here as a additional piece of the puzzle. For me that doesn’t work all that well. It’s an extra idea that’s superfluous to the film. The writer should have written another film using variations of the song signalling (oh I’m so clever) death and made that the major presence. By the way, the sequel is terrible, don’t see it (at least I remember it being terrible, but then I remember the original as being mediocre and it’s not…so just ignore me). Anyway, I’m glad I got to watch it again and reevaluate my opinion.

23. Conspiracy, directed by Frank Pierson (8/10)

I have lost my review for this excellent reenactment of the meeting to decide the final solution.

24. I’m Going Home, directed by Manoel de Oliveira (8/10)

I lost my review!

25. Southern Comfort, directed by Kate Davis (8/10)

I can’t for a moment understand what it is like to feel like I am living in the wrong body. From a very early age I have always been comfortable with what I have and don’t have. There are times I have found my physical self upsetting or disappointing, but never have I felt uncomfortable. So I have always been hugely confused by the trans-gendered. And though I now accept where I grew up as my home, I have never found such a profound attachment to it that, were I subject of hate, I wouldn’t have been able to move away.

This movie, and Robert Eads in no small part, helps put a more human face on people who are so different from their surroundings and yet refuse to leave. Eads is a charismatic (wo)man and his relationship with someone who went the opposite way he did is exactly the kind of thing that bigots need to see. There isn’t much to say to anyone who sees these people together and still thinks that it is somehow “wrong.”

26. Scotland, P.A., directed by Billy Morrisette (8/10)

Some modern adaptations of Shakespeare fall flat and others work very well. This is one of the latter. But it’s not quite straight up as it’s now a comedy (in the modern sense), instead of a tragedy. The only major drawback is the pacing, which is a little off at times (and causes some of the jokes to not work so well). I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this was a early film in the director’s career. But it’s hilarious, it’s creative and it’s fun. I can’t say much bad about it.

27. Murder on a Sunday Morning, directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (8/10)

This documentary is very compelling and well worth watching. The biggest problem is the direction. Especially at the beginning, the movies feels like it was made-for-TV or worse (straight-to-video). The editing is quite odd and the soundtrack is bizarrely loud. Things improve once we start meeting the lawyers and hearing about the case. I really don’t know what the director was up to in the first 15 minutes but it leaves a very negative impression that is only vanquished by the sheer quality of the material. With a better director, this would be up there with The Thin Blue Line and Paradise Lost in terms of injustice docs.

28. Human Nature, directed by Michel Gondry (8/10)

This is pretty funny and pretty ridiculous, in a good way. It’s not up to the great level of Kaufman’s other work, but that standard is so high that it’s sort of unfair to hold him to it. Even though it’s less fantastic than BJM, it’s somehow slightly less believable. It’s still better than the vast majority of comedies out there.

29. Baran, directed by Majid Majidi (8/0)

This is an Iranian neo-realist / renaissance film that tells a simple story – it should goes without saying… – of an Iranian boy whose feelings for one particular person cause him to overcome his xenophobia. It’s simply told – there is not much of a score until later in the film, for example – and the acting is naturalistic. It’s one of those films that is clearly good – and affecting – but doesn’t necessarily add anything – beyond the context of migrant workers trying to survive in Tehran – to a very old story of love uniting despite differences.

30. Session 9, directed by Brad Anderson (8/10*)

At 20, I watched this in my mom’s basement in the middle of the night with the lights off – the only true way to watch a horror movie! – and thought it was great. Warren watched it last year or the year before and told me it sucked. He mentioned that David Caruso was terrible in it. I asked, “David Caruso was in it?”

31. The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, directed by Larry Blamire (8/10*)

I wanted to like this so much I’m pretty sure I overrated it highly.

32. Ghost World, directed by Terry Zwigoff (7/10*)

In retrospect I think I really underrated this great coming of age film.

33. The Score, directed by Frank Oz (7/10)

I enjoyed it at 20.

34. Intacto, directed by (7/10)

This movie is flat-out strange. It’s pretty tough to figure out what’s going on in the first third, but eventually it becomes clear. I actually like that, it keeps you interested. How they take forever to reveal the meaning of the title is also great. The tone of the whole thing is a little odd and it’s somewhat difficult to understand some of their motivations (the cop and the bullfighter being exceptions). The ending is abrupt but fits the tone. I really don’t know what to make of this. It’s not boring, but something is missing, keeping it from being outstanding.

35. Buffalo Soldiers, directed by Gregor Jordan (7/10)

Lost my review, but I remember liking it until the end.

36. Heist, directed by David Mamet (7/10*)

Lesser Mamet, which I suspect I overrated because I was on a real Mamet kick (telling everyone, for example, how fucking amazing The Spanish Prisoner was).

37. Black Hawk Down, directed by Ridley Scott (7/10)

On the one hand, this takes what Spielberg did on the beach in Saving Private Ryan to feature-length levels and may stand as the most realistic depiction of combat on screen to this point.

On the other, the film is almost entirely apolitical because of its “noble grunt” nature and is, as a result, implicitly pro-American intervention in Somalia (and other parts of the world). And that is problematic on a moral level, if not on a film level.

38. Spirited Away, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (7/10)

This is a very creative movie that is noticeably more interesting than your average Hollywood animated film, even now that Hollywood’s animated films are getting significantly better.

But it still has many of the genre tropes – and flaws – of anime that personally don’t do anything for me: There’s too much childhood fantasy for me, though I do acknowledge that is definitely what they are going for.

It’s certainly an inventive film – some of the characters are pretty spectacular – but I will save my praise for something that actually affects me after it’s over.

39. ABC Africa, directed by Abbas Kiarostami (7/10)

This is an at times devastating, at times uplifting semi fly-on-the-wall documentary about AIDS orphans in Uganda, and the UN-led efforts to deal with the crisis.

It is extraordinarily impressionistic – apparently it began as location scouting for a more formal film – and so is rather directionless, but that doesn’t prevent you the viewer by being alternatively filmed with anger/sadness and hope by the extraordinary images and the enthusiasm of the children just to be alive.

Thought-provoking in its carelessness (as a formal film, not in terms of its subject), it is a unique film that I liked more than I wanted to.

40. Frailty, directed by Bill Paxton (7/10)

I enjoyed everything but the end, I think.

41. Ichi the Killer, directed by Takashi Miiki (7/10)

Pretty fucking disturbing.

42. Stanley Kubrick: a Life in Pictures, directed by Jan Harlan (7/10*)

Watched at the height of my Kubrick obsession; if I didn’t think it was amazing then…

43. The American Astronaut, directed by Cory McAbee (7/10)

I think I overrated this at the time, just because it was so unique.

44. Ali, directed by Michael Mann (7/10)

The biggest issue I have with this film is not Smith’s incredible performance – the best of his career? – or with the direction, but with the assumption that 10 years of anyone’s life is a definitive biography. Yes, I am that nit-picky.

45. Zoolander, directed by Ben Still (7/10)

The first time I saw this, I found it spectacularly unfunny. The second time, with some “help”, I found it hysterical. I have seen it since and really don’t know what I wasn’t smoking – if you know what I mean – the first time.

46. Enemy at the Gates, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud (7/10*)

I loved the ending of this – the climax, not so much the denouement – so much, at 21 or so, that I probably overlooked some other problems.

47. The Others, directed by Alejandro Amenabar (7/10)

I have lost my review for this but I was genuinely fooled, I think.

48. Kandahar, directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf (7/10)

The acting in this film is atrocious. It is some of the more wooden acting I’ve seen, especially in something otherwise well-made. The subject matter is compelling enough, and so is the ending, to make you forgive the often terrible acting. It certainly doesn’t deserve all the hype its gotten, but that’s just something that comes with its history.

49. Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, directed by Lee Demarbre (7/10*)

I suspect I liked this a little too much at age 21 or 22, whenever I saw it.

50. Y tu mama tambien, directed by Alfona Cuaron (7/10)

Interesting and provocative, if I remember correctly.

51. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, directed by John Cameron Mitchell (7/10)

I liked this a lot less the second time, but this is still an entertaining and unique mockumentary / mockography.

52. Pearl Jam: Touring Band 2000, directed by unknown (7/10)

This is the film that got me into Pearl Jam. I had been stubbornly ignoring them for a decade despite their ubiquity in the early ’90s and despite some high school friends’ insistence that they were awesome. This changed my mind and I went out and bought No Code and Binaural, or something.

53. The Tailor of Panama, directed by John Boorman (6/10)

Well this was interesting, anyway.

54. The Devil’s Backbone, directed by Guillermo del Toro (6/10)

I lost my review and cannot remember what I did not like about it.

55. Ocean’s Eleven, directed by Steven Soderbergh (6/10)

The Hollywood A-List, making us pay to watch them have fun. But they are clearly having fun, and they do a great job of letting us enjoy them.

56. The Piano Teacher, directed by Michael Haneke (6/10)

I’m normally a big Haneke fan but he doesn’t do it for me here (ha). I’m not one to get blown away (ha) by a film just because there’s some slightly non-conventional sex. I can’t claim to have read the novel, or any of the author’s novels, but I was a little surprised to hear it was written by a woman. The whole thing feels a little too much like it was created by men. Do women really find this woman sympathetic? The performance is indeed courageous but that does not mean it’s a great movie. I don’t know that I’ve learned much about the nature of sex – or recital musicians – from the film.

57. Invincible, directed by Werner Herzog (6/10)

As with most of Herzog’s movies, this is one that might require the odd repeat viewing. On the surface it seems like a not-very-well-executed visualization of a folk-tale. But I know Werner too well to think that. There’s a lot going on with the dream and with some of the other imagery which probably didn’t really connect with me when I watched this on a Saturday morning. It is interesting, if nothing else.

58. The Cat’s Meow, directed by Peter Bogdanovich (6/10)

I have lost my review for this, but I remember enjoying much of it.

59. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, directed by Kevin Smith (6/10)

Probably my second favourite Kevin Smith movie and the least obnoxious.

60. A Beautiful Mind, directed by Ron Howard (6/10)

I remember I had major qualms with the execution but because I didn’t write down my review, I do not remember what they were.

61. What To Do in Case of Fire, directed by Gregor Schnitzler (6/10)

I lost my review for this. I seem to remember I was entertained.

62. Bandits, directed by Barry Levinson (6/10*)

Don’t remember it.

63. Between the Moon and Montevideo, directed by Attila Bertalan (6/10)

A strange movie that I have lost my review for, if I ever wrote one.

64. We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company, directed by Mark Cowen (6/10)

This is an affecting documentary about the real people behind Band of Brothers. It is literally just interviews and stock footage (with a couple of brief shots of the mean in the present day) and is not particularly creative in its presentation or anything like that.

And it doesn’t aim for that – this is basically just an extended DVD extra (maybe it aired on HBO too) and it is well made and certainly the stories are affecting.

65. Jason X, directed by Jim Isaac (6/10)

The most absurd and self-aware entry in the series is certainly the most entertaining.

66. Shrek, directed by Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson (6/10)

Entertaining, if I remember correctly.

67. American Pie 2, directed by J.B. Rogers (6/10*)

I was still trying to convince everyone how great the first one was at this point.

68. Made, directed by Jon Favreau (6/10)

I actually don’t really remember this much.

69. Mostly Martha, directed by Sandra Nettelbeck (6/10)

This takes the adult-confronted-with-an-unexpected-child-who-makes-their-life-better sub-genre and actually makes it watchable. That is an admirable achievement. The lead actress is pretty great. It didn’t go quite where I hoped it would but it was still far better than just about every American movie on this theme. The biggest issue (besides the paint by numbers nature of the plot typical of the sub-genre) is the terrible, “smooth jazz” soundtrack, which sounds like it was taped off some bad “cool jazz” radio station in the ’80s.

70. The Happiness of the Katakuris, directed by Takashi Miike (5/10)

This movie warped my fragile little mind.

71. Behind Enemy Lines, directed by John Moore (5/10)

Read the review.

72. Spy Game, directed by Tony Scott (5/10)

I don’t know why people fall for this stuff any more, now that we have more realistic spy thrillers.

73. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, directed by Chris Columbus (5/10)

I avoided Potter like the plague for all of my adult life for a very simple reason: I don’t want to read kids books when there are millions of adult books for me to read. But I never had any issue with seeing the movies – for free, or a low cost – if it happened. And so it has come to that:

The first film’s effects have dated rather poorly, but that is the case with the vast majority films from this era, which have really early CGI and digital video. But beyond that it is an effective kids film and it’s an effective introduction to the world of the characters. I can see why people find this stuff engrossing; they have created an entire world that, while it may have its contradictions, offers so many little alleyways (presumably) that I can see how someone could get lost in it, much like Star Wars and other successful fantasy / science fiction franchises.

74. 3000 Miles to Graceland, directed by Demian Lichtenstein (5/10*)

Most people loathe this movie. I actually didn’t mind it at the time. Maybe I was high. Or just 20.

75. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, directed by Steven Spielberg (5/10*)

I am a liar. I have never actually made it all the way through this; scared to death of Spielberg’s “vision” of Kubrick’s idea. I guess I should just get over that and watch the movie, right?

76. The Mummy Returns, directed by Stephen Sommers (5/10)

Still entertaining, even though it’s pretty stupid.

77. Saving Silverman, directed by Dennis Dugan (5/10)

Pretty blah.

78. Rare Birds, directed by Sturla Gunnarsson (5/10*)

Watched, probably, due to my Molly Parker obsession. Don’t really remember it otherwise.

79. Rat Race, directed by Jerry Zucker (5/10*)

How I could have rated this remake this high is beyond me.

80. Monster’s Inc., directed by Pete Docter, David Silverman (4/10*)

I think I rated this so low to piss someone off.

81. Moulin Rouge, directed by Baz Luhrmann (4/10)

I watched this under duress with my roommates in Australia.

82. A Knight’s Tale, directed by Brian Helgeland (4/10)

I hate when filmmakers use modern music in period pieces, unless there is some point to it. Honestly, I don’t know what the point was here.

83. Along Came a Spider, directed by Lee Tamahori (4/10)

I feel like there were just endless numbers of these, all fairly indistinguishable.

84. Lost and Delirious, directed by (4/10)

I had a profound emotional reaction to this film, where I actually had to sequester myself in my room away from my roommates and friends in order to save my manhood. This happened because, at bottom, all I really wanted was for the hot lesbians to be together. Oh yeah, it was filmed at Bishop’s.

85. The Mexican, directed by Gore Verbinski (4/10)

Don’t remember it enough to say what I thought. Just thought it was odd.

86. The Triumph of Love, directed by Clare Peploe (4/10*)

Don’t remember it.

87. The Majestic, directed by Frank Darabont (4/10)

I’m amazed I wasn’t meaner to this syrupy piece of schmaltz.

88. Evolution, directed by Ivan Reitman (4/10)

I was really disappointed by this.

89. Swordfish, directed by Dominic Sena (4/10)

I remember how much my friends all loved this. They thought I was crazy.

90. Scary Movie 2, directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans (4/10*)

At 20 I think I still could handle this stuff more than I can now. I’m sure it’s really terrible.

91. Training Day, directed by Antoine Fuqua (3/10*)

Full disclosure: I hate Antoine Fuqua and his faux-auter shtick that he brings to interviews. I probably underrate his movies in my desire to hate him so much. That being said, this movie gets preposterous right quick so for all of you whining about my rating, just think about how likely any of this is even compared to something as preposterous as The Shield.

92. The Last Castle, directed by Rod Lurie (3/10)

Redford already made this movie, I think, in the ’70s. Or maybe he was the warden. Oh well. Anyway, this is stupid.

93. From Hell, directed by Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes (3/10*)

Maybe it isn’t as bad as I said it was. I really don’t remember.

94. Don’t Say a Word, directed by Gary Fleder (3/10*)

I don’t really remember why I hated it so much.

95. Jurassic Park III, directed by Joe Johnston (3/10)

Totally unnecessary.

96. Serendipity, directed by Peter Chelsom (3/10)

I can’t begin to tell you how much I hate these types of movies.

97. Domestic Disturbance, directed by Harold Becker (3/10)

Have we not seen this movie enough already?

98. Josie and the Pussycats, directed by Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan (3/10)

It’s tame. Ridiculously tame. No bite whatsoever. No moments of “wow, they went a little too far there” or anything near that. And very little righteousness. Why did I watch it? I don’t know. It was on. Warren, or somebody, once told me it wasn’t bad I think. Anyway, at least I didn’t pay for it.

99. Lara Craft: Tomb Raider, directed by Simon West (3/10)

Gotta love video game adaptations.

100. Kate and Leopold, directed by James Mangold (3/10)

I can’t tell you how much I hate this kind of stuff.

101. Formula 51 aka The 51st State, directed by Ronny Yu (3/10)

The first scene of the movie (set in the ’70s) is kinda funny and somewhat surreal. You’re watching it and thinking: either this is going to be very strange and kinda shitty or it’s going to be awesome. And then the movie flashes forward…and then the director of Freddie VS. Jason and Bride of Chucky – honestly I didn’t know when I saw his name in the credits- starts exhibiting the skills that made him a bottom rung director.

Now I don’t mean any disrespect to Freddie Vs. Jason. That was probably this guy’s masterpiece. Formula 51 is just rotten though. They tell you where every scene is at the beginning (with subtitles), and then they stop. Okay, they start identifying the characters with little graphic IDs. There’s lots of that crazy, we’re having way too much fun with the new technology camera gimmick stuff that we see in everything now. Only in this movie they somehow manage to make it look worse than the average (I don’t know how that’s possible…). The dialogue is terrible. The actors have nothing to work with at all. The plot starts off as pretty average but it soon gets absolutely ridiculous. I think the climactic scene may contain 5 double-crosses but it’s hard to know.

I hope I learned my lesson. Certainly I need to pay more attention to the directors of films that I decide to watch…if it’s directed by the guy who made “Freddie Vs. Jason” and not the guy who made Jason X then you know you gotta skip it. (As we all know Jason X is much better than Freddie Vs. Jason even though the latter film still has its merits.)

102. Xchange, directed by Allan Moyle (3/10)

Don’t remember anything about it except that it was bad.

103. Black Knight, directed by Gil Junger (2/10*)

I watched this in grad school with two friends who didn’t think this version of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court was all that bad. I suspect I docked a point or two for that.

104. Exit Wounds, directed by Andrzej Bartkowaki (2/10)

Don’t really remember it, but it was terrible.

105. Rush Hour 2, directed by Brett Ratner (2/10)

The same shtick.

106. Pearl Harbor, directed by Michael Bay (2/10)

Really this story should be a love story, more than anything else. Because that was really what the surprise attack was, it was a love story.

107. The Void, directed by Gilbert Shilton (2/10)

This must have been a late-nighter. I don’t remember it at all.

108. Kevin of the North, directed by Bob Spiers (2/10)

Can’t really believed I watched this.

109. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, directed by Woody Allen (2/10)

Perhaps the worst movie Allen ever made.

110. Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal, directed by Jorge Montesi (2/10)

This seems charitable.

111. Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell, directed by Chris Angel (2/10)

This feels charitable.

112. Ripper, directed by John E. Eyres (1/10)

Just atrocious.

113. Is Harry on the Boat?, directed by Menhaj Huda (1/10*)

The TV show was pretty weak but this was worse. Still not sure if it’s legendarily bad. I was likely in a mood.

114. Driven, directed by Renny Harlin (1/10*)

My roommates insisted on watching this, more than once if memory serves, and I doubt I actually watched the whole thing.

115. Black Horizon aka Stranded, directed by Fred Olen Ray (1/10)

Incredible.

116. BattleQueen 2020, directed by Daniel D’Or (1/10)

Hoping for some soft-core sex, I watched this. I really did. I will never get that time back. Never.

Shorts:

“Lovesong” by Stan Brakhage (8/10)

It’s Brakhage; can’t always remember why I liked one more than another. Usually just prefer whichever is more visually appealing.

3 Comments

  1. 9. The Lord of the Rings: 8, impressive, but I haven't read the books
    -yay!
    10. Donnie Darko: 8, totally unique
    -excellent
    11. Not Another Teen Movie: 8, classic
    -funniness
    35. The Others: 7, not bad
    -awesome ending
    41. Ocean's Eleven: 6, slick
    -good
    44. A Beautiful Mind: 6, overrated
    -I think I remember liking it
    48. Shrek: 6, fine
    -ok
    49. American Pie 2: 6, I probably rated it a little high
    -first one was probably the best one
    52. The Mummy Returns: 5, silly
    -I hate those mummy movies
    55. Moulin Rouge: 4, not my thing
    -A few minutes into I could not continue watching… wtf.
    58. Lost and Delirious: 4, appealing in the sense that most straight men would like to see two young lesbian lovers succeed; oh yeah, it was filmed at my school too. But is this a good movie? Hardly.
    -sounds like the movie I wanted to make for the 24 hour film festival, but they went with another completely bad idea.
    66. Training Day: 3, totally ridiculous and overrated
    -not good enough to watch twice
    71. Serendipity: 3, ridiculous
    -corny
    76. Kate & Leopold: 3, yuck
    -way more corny

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