Why not?
NOTE: All the films on this list are films I have seen in the cinema this year. Therefore, although they may have been released earlier, they are on this list. Also, I have all but given up on major cinema chains.
10: The Man Who Sued God.
I managaed to get a free ticket for this film. But I would have paid anyway. Billy Connolly was in brilliant form as the layer turned fisherman who’s boat is destroted by an Act of God. So he does what (not) everyone would do and sued Him.
Yes, the ending is a bit twee but the rest of the film more than makes up for it. One question. How did they manage to get an insurance company to insure this film?
9: Ichi the Killer.
This bucked a trend. For too long in films now, loads of gore meant no plot. This marries a brilliant, if slightly confusing, plot with more gore than 10 average Hollywood slasher films. And unlike most Hollywood gorefests I genuinely winced during a couple of scenes. Having seen Audition on TV this year all I can say is Takashi Miike is a very, very sick person. And thank god for that.
8: Ring.
The original Asian version, not the remake (I refused to see The Ring until I saw Ring). A masterclass in psychological horror with no gore, no actual on screen deaths and no good look at the killer. Remember, you have 7 days to see it…
7: Secretary.
James Spader and the gorgeous Maggie Gylenhaal in what turned out to be one of the most erotic films of the year. That this did not get the wider release it deserves both surprises and does not surprise me.
6: Shiri.
Another Asian film. Two cops hunt a crack sniper against the background of the possilbe reunification of the North and South Korean national football teams. That the twist is revealled early on does not remove from one of the best thrillers I have seen in a while.
5: Buffalo Soldiers.
I can see why the US may not use this to attract recruits to the US Army. Soldiers behave very badly, dealing drugs, taking drugs and covering up deaths. Yet the thing which shocked me was that the US used to make people convicted of crime join the army.
4: Adaptation.
Charlie Kaufman is the most imaginative writer in Hollywood at the moment. What do you do if you get writers block while adapting a book for the big screen? If you are Kaufman, you make part of the script about your struggle, put yourself into the script, give yourself a twin brother and make yourself a self loathing, fat, balding bloke. Inspired genius and madness which led to a film which led me to believe that Nicholas Cage is actually a good actor.
3: Dark Water.
Above I called Ring a masterclass. With Dark Water, Hideo Nakata gave us a reminder as to how it is done. To take something as ordinary and everyday as good old H2O and make it an object of fear and terror is ingenius. The scares are after you have seen it, thinking back on something you had just seen in the corner of the screen. The inevitable Hollywood remake is already in pre-production. I shudder.
2: Bowling for Columbine.
Amusing, scary, informative. It’s not many filoms which will give Marilyn Manson the chance to prove how intellegent he actually is. Worth watching for the K-Mart bit and Charlton Haston’s ethnicity comment.
1: Donnie Darko.
Words cannot express how good I think this film is. That it took two years for Richard Kelly to get the funding for this film is a crime. That Kelly is now having problems getting the money to make his next film is a bigger crime. Brilliant performances (including Patrick Swazye), superb directing and a script that shines. This film made me get of my backside and learn how to make films. I can offer no higher praise than that.
Honerable mention: The Eye. If only for the spectacular ending.
Swimming pool. Written in French. Translated into English. Worht seeing.
And the worst. The Matrix: Reloaded. I didn’t want to put this here. But then I didn’t want to be unable to watch The Matrix after watching this dreadfull excuse for a film.
Will
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