The good, the bad and the dreadful

By MILAN PAURICH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Movies took a back seat to the national and global political scene in 2001. Certainly nothing on multiplex screens could compete in impact or immediacy with the events of Sept. 11. Fallout from that day is still being felt in the corridors of Hollywood, and probably will be for years to come.
The release schedules of several major studios went into a tailspin. Three films (MGM's World War II drama, "Windtalkers"; "Big Trouble" from Disney; and Arnold Schwarzenegger's terrorist action film "Collateral Damage") got pushed back to 2002 as directors and producers scrambled to read audiences' minds and figure out what is acceptable. For the time being, mindless bloodshed and violence are quickly losing favor to more family friendly fare -- just check out the grosses for "Harry Potter" and "Monsters, Inc." Whether this proves to be a good thing remains to be seen..
Here is the cream of the crop from a most peculiar year:
1. "In the Mood for Love."
A man and a woman in 1962 Hong Kong discover their spouses are having an affair and are inexorably drawn together. Wong Kar-wai, the most post-modern of contemporary directors, has the heart and soul of the great romantic poets, and you can get drunk on his film's rhapsodic beauty.
2. "The Royal Tenenbaums."
Wes Anderson follows up 1998's "Rushmore" with this unexpectedly touching, dysfunctional family chronicle starring Gene Hackman (in a career performance certain to be remembered at Oscar time), Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Stiller. I haven't experienced this much pure joy at the movies all year.
3. "Mulholland Drive."
Hollywood will never be the same after David Lynch's ("Blue Velvet," "Twin Peaks") mesmerizing Tinseltown deconstruction. An indecently pleasurable, if willfully opaque mystery whose clues matter less than your perception of them.
4. "A.I."
Steven Spielberg's hauntingly enigmatic and profoundly disorienting masterpiece stars the remarkable Haley Joel Osment as a robot boy who yearns to become human. Even though moviegoers rejected it en masse last summer, history will surely be kinder.
5. "Amores Perros."
Mexico's Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu stunned audiences with his breathtakingly assured debut film, which had the rich, interlocking narrative structure and thematic richness of great jigsaw movies like "Traffic" and "Pulp Fiction."
6. "The Others."
Nicole Kidman triumphed as the high-strung, fiercely protective mom of two small children awaiting the return of her husband from World War II in Spanish director Alejandro Amenebar's spectacular Gothic thriller. Not since 1973's "Don't Look Now" has a movie left such a palpable mark on the emotions and the nervous system.
7. "With a Friend Like Harry."
Childhood acquaintance Harry (the wildly charismatic Sergi Lopez) re-enters Michel's adult life with unexpected results in Dominick Moll's pitch-black French comedy.
8. "The Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the Rings."
The triumphant first film in New Zealand cult director Peter Jackson's eagerly anticipated J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy is vividly expressive. Not since the first "Star Wars" has such a self-contained and completely organic fantasy universe been so vividly captured on film.
9. "Ali."
Director Michael Mann delivered a knockout punch with his impressionistic screen biography of the legendary pugilist who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee. It was that rare 2 1/2-hour-plus movie you actually wished was longer.
10. The year's best, most
enchanting fairy tales:
"Amelie."
For those who want to feel really, really good about life, love and movies, Jean Pierre Jeunet's whimsical magical-realist romantic comedy should have no trouble burrowing its way into your personal pleasure zone. Enchanting Audrey Tautou became an overnight sensation in the lead role.
"Shrek."
This fractured fable about a foul-smelling green ogre who falls in love with a beautiful princess was an instant classic. There are more big laughs than in any movie all year, yet it still managed to be profoundly moving.
Thirteen more that almost
made my final cut:
"Waking Life;" "Our Song;" "Bully;" "Ghost World;" "Black Hawk Down"; "The Pledge;" "Gosford Park;" "The Man Who Wasn't There;" "Ocean's Eleven;" "No Man's Land;" "Under the Sand;" "Va Savoir;" "Bridget Jones's Diary."
BEST PERFORMANCES
Best Actors: Gene Hackman ("Heartbreakers," "Heist," "The Royal Tenenbaums"); Billy Bob Thornton ("Bandits," "The Man Who Wasn't There," "Monster's Ball"); Sergi Lopez ("With a Friend Like Harry"); Haley Joel Osment ("A.I."); Eric Bana ("Black Hawk Down" and "Chopper").
Best Actresses: Nicole Kidman ("Moulin Rouge," "The Others"); Naomi Watts ("Mulholland Drive"); Renee Zellweger ("Bridget Jones's Diary"); Charlotte Rampling ("Under the Sand"); Reese Witherspoon ("Legally Blonde").
Best Supporting Actors: James Gandolfini ("The Man Who Wasn't There," "The Mexican"); Josh Lucas ("A Beautiful Mind," "The Deep End"); Brad Renfro ("Bully," "Ghost World"); Libero de Rienzo ("Fat Girl"); Ethan Hawke ("Tape," "Training Day").
Best Supporting Actresses: Kerry Washington ("Our Song," "Save the Last Dance"); Anjelica Huston ("The Golden Bowl," "The Royal Tenenbaums"); Gwyneth Paltrow ("The Anniversary Party," "The Royal Tenenbaums," "Shallow Hal"); Scarlett Johansson ("American Rhapsody," "Ghost World," "The Man Who Wasn't There"); Marisa Tomei ("Happy Accidents," "In the Bedroom," "Someone Like You").
It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times: Hong Kong martial-arts superstar Jet Li starred in July's irresistibly entertaining popcorn flick "Kiss of the Dragon," and ended the year with November's incoherent disaster "The One."
"Pearl Harbor" Notwithstanding, Best Evidence That Bad Movies Really Are Getting Shorter: "Cats and Dogs," "Domestic Disturbance," "Double Take," "Joe Dirt," "On the Line," "The One," "Out Cold," "Sugar and Spice," "Saving Silverman" and "Texas Rangers" all clocked in at under 90 minutes.
Sleepers Still Waiting to be Discovered on Video: "Born Romantic;" "Diamond Men;" "Dinner Rush;" "Lisa Picard is Famous."
Continuing Proof That Most HBO Original Series Are Better Than Contemporary Hollywood Movies: "Curb Your Enthusiasm;" "Sex in the City;" "Six Feet Under;" "The Sopranos."
Second Banana Most Worthy of a Starring Role: Seann William Scott ("American Pie 2," "Evolution," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back").
Best Ensemble Performance: The glittery cast of Robert Altman's impishly entertaining "Gosford Park" (Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Alan Bates, Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Emily Watson, et al).
Best "Up-in-Smoke" Rap Comedy: "How High."
Best Vegas Casino Heist Movie: "Ocean's Eleven."
Best Musical: "Get Over It."
Best Movie to Go Straight to Video: "Cherry Falls."
Best Movie to Go Straight to Cable: "The Believer."
Best Documentary: "Go Tigers."
Best Performance in a Not-Great Movie: Cameron Diaz ("Vanilla Sky").
Best Movies That Made You Want to Take a Shower After Watching: "Bully;" "L.I.E.;" "Monster's Ball."
Best Movie Banned in Canada: "Fat Girl."
Best Reasons to be Optimistic About 2002: Some of the best movies I saw at film festivals during the past 12 months ("In Praise of Love;" "The Lady and the Duke;" "Lovely and Amazing;" "The Pianiste;" "Storytelling;" "Y Tu Mama Tambien") are all set for theatrical release next year.
Best Crossover from Music to Movies: Sean "P. Diddy" Combs ("Made," "Monster's Ball").
Promising Young Actors Most Deserving of Better Scripts: Anthony Anderson ("Exit Wounds," "Kingdom Come," "See Spot Run"); Shannon Elizabeth ("American Pie 2," "13 Ghosts," "Tomcats").
Best Movie That Nobody Saw: "Bubble Boy."
Best Movie Adapted from an "Archie" Comic Book: "Josie and the Pussycats."
Best Movie That Looked Like a Comic Book: "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."
Best Scary Movie: "Jeepers Creepers."
Best Kids Movie: "Shrek" (animated); "Spy Kids" (live action).
Best Action Movie: 1993's Hong Kong martial arts extravaganza "Iron Monkey."
Best Medieval Times Movie With Music by Sly and the Family Stone: "Black Knight."
SOMETIMES BAD IS BAD
War is Hell and So Were These War Movies: "Behind Enemy Lines;" "The Castle;" "Enemy at the Gates;" "Pearl Harbor."
Biggest Nonevent "Event" Movies of the Year: "Atlantis: The Lost Empire;" "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within;" "Pearl Harbor."
Worst, and Most Misleading, Title for a Good Movie: "Monster's Ball." For the record, this was neither a horror movie nor a musical.
Best Evidence That Dying is Easy, but Romantic Comedies Are Hard: "America's Sweethearts;" "Serendipity;" "Town and Country."
Most Inexplicable Sleepers: "The Fast and the Furious;" "The Princess Diaries"
Most Depressing (if Predictable) Hits: "Rush Hour 2;" "Tomb Raider."
Most in Need of Career Advice: John Travolta followed up last year's box-office duds "Battlefield Earth" and "Lucky Numbers" with "Domestic Disturbance" and "Swordfish."
Most Embarrassing Performances by Recent Oscar-Winning Actresses: Angelina Jolie ("Original Sin," "Tomb Raider"); Hilary Swank ("The Affair of the Necklace," "The Gift.")
Worst Roberto Bengini Imitation: Nicolas Cage ("Captain Corelli's Mandolin")
Most Unnecessary non-"Pok & eacute;mon" Sequel: "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles."
Proof That Robert DeNiro is Making Too Many Movies: "15 Minutes," "The
Score."
Dreariest Animated Disney Movie: "Recess -- School's Out."
Dreariest Live-Action Disney Movie: "Max Keeble's Big Move."
Least Successful Crossover from Music to Movies: Mariah Carey ("Glitter").
Most Relentless Music-to-Movies Crossover Attempt: Snoop Dogg ("Baby Boy," "Bones," "Training Day," "The Wash").
Worst Performance in a Good Movie: Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Heartbreakers").
Worst Teen Movie Not Starring Freddie Prinze, Jr.: "On the Line."
Worst Movie to Open at No. 1 on the Box-Office Chart: "The Musketeer." Tim Roth, Catherine Deneuve and Stephen Rea squandered their talents on this clumsy, pointless and generally dull retread of the Dumas classic.
Biggest Disappointments: These all looked like contenders going into the ring, only to suffer a knockout in the first round: "America's Sweethearts;" "Baby Boy;" "A Beautiful Mind;" "Captain Corelli's Mandolin;" "Hannibal;" "The Last Castle;" "Life as a House;" "Town and Country."
The year's biggest letdowns: Lasse Halstrom's water-logged "The Shipping News" and Cameron Crowe's emotionally inaccessible "Vanilla Sky."
Worst "Up-in-Smoke" Rap Comedy: "The Wash."
Most Unnecessary Remake: "Sweet November."
Worst Medieval Times Movie With Music by Queen: "A Knight's Tale."
Proof That Bad Movies Come in Any Language: France's "The Closet."
Worst Movie Filmed in Youngstown: Ray (Boom-Boom) Mancini's embarrassing vanity project, "Turn of Faith."
SOMETIMES BAD IS GOOD:
Favorite guilty pleasures: "The Affair of the Necklace;" "Driven;" "Freddy Got Fingered."