2002 in review
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 5:48 pm
And here we go again...
Didn't see EVERYTHING that came out in the field--just everything that played within my reach. So BELOW is disqualified, as are DAS EXPERIMENT, MY LITTLE EYE, 28 DAYS MORE, probably others. But I still got quite a good handful in there. 2002 wasn't a bad year, all told, but it had its highs and lows... no surprise there. So let's start digging.
THE BEST
BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF was quite unlike the film people tended to expect from its hype--it had a surprising jolt of philosophy to go with its action and gore... and those elements were quite uniquely handled, as well. Perhaps savate wasn't in vogue at the time--but would you rather have THE THREE MUSKETEERS done CROUCHING TIGER style? Oh, right--they already did that... Great fun.
REIGN OF FIRE split the masses (as did many films on this list)--I simply happened to think it was a terrific monster movie. The aerial attack sequences and the intelligent restraint used in the effects paid off quite handsomely. And Roger-Dodger never admitted that he completely misheard the last line of dialogue in the film (his misquote was used as part of his attack), so I've got an even greater stake in defending it.
SIGNS did the near-impossible: it made a "worldwide alien invasion" movie into an exercise in subtlety, of all things. Great mood, fine acting, satisfying finale--it's all there. Good Night.
And ONE HOUR PHOTO fulfilled the almost-kept promise of DEATH TO SMOOCHY, delivering an excellent, surprising psycho-thriller with the Robin Williams performance we all knew he had in him.
As for my pick for the very best of 2002? Well, BLADE 2 was right up there as the most flagrantly exciting, action-and-effects crammed monster mash of the year, no two ways about it. But there was one film that I found quite a bit more frightening...
Never mind the wraparound story or the attempts at "surprise twists"--if FRAILTY doesn't get to you with the setup of Bill Paxton waking his children in the middle of the night with news of the family's new special job, then nothing else in the film will work for you, either (and that was the case for some people whose opinions I continue to respect, I'll admit). But if it does get to you (and Midwesterner that I was born and raised, it got to ME, all right), then FRAILTY becomes the single most horrifying film of the year--and then some.
THE MIDDLE GROUND
Well, actually, there's one honorable mention that goes somewhere between "good" and "middle." And say what you will, but for me, it was HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION. Short version: while Michael Myers will never scare me again, I found this to be significantly more imaginative than the vastly overrated H2O--it tried very hard to do something different (even with the well-worn premise) and had the courage to try to literally burn down some series conventions and make things move in a different direction (whether it works or not remains to be seen). So even though I was never actually frightened, the fact that a HALLOWEEN sequel could actually hold my attention and interest throughout makes it legitimately special. Which is more than could be said for...
JASON X. That other masked madman finally showed up in his long-delayed space adventure. But the space adventure itself
was nothing more than yet another ALIENS clone, and the setting didn't really add much to the concept--heck, they had to create a VR Crystal Lake to give the people what they wanted! Still--an imaginative kill or two combined with a good laugh near the end gave it a little something it needed. And yes, I saw it on the big screen even though I'd watched a tape earlier.
RESIDENT EVIL had its moments, too, but it was still much too dry for a zombie movie. As was pointed out earlier, the film was okay, but the fact that BLADE 2 popped up and painted the screen red right afterwards set far too strong an example to ignore.
DRAGONFLY wasn't a bad little movie--it wasn't even a bad little Kevin Costner movie. One thing wrong, though--it wasn't even a horror movie... which didn't stop it from pretending to be one for most of its running time.
Remake where I didn't see the original: THE RING. Great opening, intriguing story and visuals, but a bit too slow in the middle for me--a little tightening would have bumped it up a notch.
Remakes where I DID see the originals: RED DRAGON was well-made and well-acted, but it was one trip too many to the "well" when it came down to it. Essentially, there was nothing here I hadn't seen before (save for the prologue)--including the pleasure of watching Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. And SOLARIS wasn't a horror film, but including it here brings the list to an even twenty, so there. Steven Soderbergh's attempt to boil SOLARIS down into a ninety-minute George Clooney vehicle gave us a film that was too mainstream for arthouses and too arthousey for mainstream audiences. Nice try, but a hopeless sell.
GHOST SHIP had a routine SHINING/EVENT HORIZON riff going for most of the show, but it boasted one hell of a great opening and a successfully shocking rapid-fire flashback sequence near the end. Enjoyable enough, but I wish Dark Castle would get to MR. SARDONICUS, already.
And the only thing that saved THEY from the slag-heap was the ending. Yes, the ending was that good. But the rest of the film was a weary, boring rehash that nobody needed.
THE WORST
Oh, where to begin? Where to end?
There was that embarrassing Goth leftover called QUEEN OF THE DAMNED. It wasn't Aaliyah's fault, but somebody needed to wake up and smell the decade.
I have rarely been so painfully, excruciatingly bored with a movie as I was with THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES. Sure, some people believe in it. Other people have seen the same things happen too many times before in TWILIGHT ZONE and X-FILES episodes.
EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS I wanted to love, but I felt the attitude was all wrong. I LOVE giant spider movies. But I can't enjoy giant spider movies that are much more interested in nudging people with cute jokes, in-jokes and all other manner of jokes than trying to scare the hell out of people with giant spiders. THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION was technically inferior. But THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION tried its best to scare people with spiders. And you know what? Back when I first saw it--it worked. This one didn't even make me twitch.
And the very worst? Would you think it was too easy if I were to single out SWIMFAN? Yeah, you're probably right--everyone knew going in that it was nothing but a FATAL MISTY MALICIOUS CRUSH deal... but this one didn't even give us anything worth looking at in the meantime!
No--much as it pains me to say so, the worst horror film of 2002 was one I was greatly looking forward to, as its director's previous film was my top pick for 1999. FEARDOTCOM was a hideously confused, painfully jumbled mess of a psycho/cyber thriller that thought that the mere inclusion of blatant Bava/Argento imagery would automatically win the awe and respect of fans. No way in hell. One needs to try one's best to write an original, coherent story to go WITH the razzle-dazzle. FEARDOTCOM went for the kitchen sink approach. Fetch the Drano.
Well, that's the horror year 2002. There was also plenty in the science fiction/fantasy department to mention: ATTACK OF THE CLONES was better than THE PHANTOM MENACE, while SPIDER-MAN, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS and THE TWO TOWERS delivered handsomely on their promises. MEN IN BLACK 2 was, on the other hand, only amusing for a while before it became yet another disappointing follow-up that need not have happened. MINORITY REPORT was excellent, by and large, but showed serious signs of compromise in its resolution. THE TIME MACHINE? Ah... no. THE SCORPION KING? It's what anyone who would want to see it would want to see, making it safely critic-proof. THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE? I prefer the TV show, but I'll stick up for it just to stick it to Ebert. Don't forget CQ, which wasn't science-fiction itself, but which paid wonderful homage to the BARBARELLA school of filmmaking. And then there was PINOCCHIO. Yes, dammit, Roberto Benigni's PINOCCHIO. See my Beaten Track review if you haven't already.
Oh, and let's not forget that restoration of METROPOLIS...
And as for direct-to-video? Frankly, I didn't see much. DOG SOLDIERS was great monster-movie fun, of course, but the DVD could and should have been so much more. (Whaddya expect from Artisan?) Other than that, there was yet another CORN sequel and a truly crappy HELLRAISER entry.
Agree? Disagree? Feel I left anything out? Say the word. In the meantime, have a great 2003!
Remo D.
Didn't see EVERYTHING that came out in the field--just everything that played within my reach. So BELOW is disqualified, as are DAS EXPERIMENT, MY LITTLE EYE, 28 DAYS MORE, probably others. But I still got quite a good handful in there. 2002 wasn't a bad year, all told, but it had its highs and lows... no surprise there. So let's start digging.
THE BEST
BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF was quite unlike the film people tended to expect from its hype--it had a surprising jolt of philosophy to go with its action and gore... and those elements were quite uniquely handled, as well. Perhaps savate wasn't in vogue at the time--but would you rather have THE THREE MUSKETEERS done CROUCHING TIGER style? Oh, right--they already did that... Great fun.
REIGN OF FIRE split the masses (as did many films on this list)--I simply happened to think it was a terrific monster movie. The aerial attack sequences and the intelligent restraint used in the effects paid off quite handsomely. And Roger-Dodger never admitted that he completely misheard the last line of dialogue in the film (his misquote was used as part of his attack), so I've got an even greater stake in defending it.
SIGNS did the near-impossible: it made a "worldwide alien invasion" movie into an exercise in subtlety, of all things. Great mood, fine acting, satisfying finale--it's all there. Good Night.
And ONE HOUR PHOTO fulfilled the almost-kept promise of DEATH TO SMOOCHY, delivering an excellent, surprising psycho-thriller with the Robin Williams performance we all knew he had in him.
As for my pick for the very best of 2002? Well, BLADE 2 was right up there as the most flagrantly exciting, action-and-effects crammed monster mash of the year, no two ways about it. But there was one film that I found quite a bit more frightening...
Never mind the wraparound story or the attempts at "surprise twists"--if FRAILTY doesn't get to you with the setup of Bill Paxton waking his children in the middle of the night with news of the family's new special job, then nothing else in the film will work for you, either (and that was the case for some people whose opinions I continue to respect, I'll admit). But if it does get to you (and Midwesterner that I was born and raised, it got to ME, all right), then FRAILTY becomes the single most horrifying film of the year--and then some.
THE MIDDLE GROUND
Well, actually, there's one honorable mention that goes somewhere between "good" and "middle." And say what you will, but for me, it was HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION. Short version: while Michael Myers will never scare me again, I found this to be significantly more imaginative than the vastly overrated H2O--it tried very hard to do something different (even with the well-worn premise) and had the courage to try to literally burn down some series conventions and make things move in a different direction (whether it works or not remains to be seen). So even though I was never actually frightened, the fact that a HALLOWEEN sequel could actually hold my attention and interest throughout makes it legitimately special. Which is more than could be said for...
JASON X. That other masked madman finally showed up in his long-delayed space adventure. But the space adventure itself
was nothing more than yet another ALIENS clone, and the setting didn't really add much to the concept--heck, they had to create a VR Crystal Lake to give the people what they wanted! Still--an imaginative kill or two combined with a good laugh near the end gave it a little something it needed. And yes, I saw it on the big screen even though I'd watched a tape earlier.
RESIDENT EVIL had its moments, too, but it was still much too dry for a zombie movie. As was pointed out earlier, the film was okay, but the fact that BLADE 2 popped up and painted the screen red right afterwards set far too strong an example to ignore.
DRAGONFLY wasn't a bad little movie--it wasn't even a bad little Kevin Costner movie. One thing wrong, though--it wasn't even a horror movie... which didn't stop it from pretending to be one for most of its running time.
Remake where I didn't see the original: THE RING. Great opening, intriguing story and visuals, but a bit too slow in the middle for me--a little tightening would have bumped it up a notch.
Remakes where I DID see the originals: RED DRAGON was well-made and well-acted, but it was one trip too many to the "well" when it came down to it. Essentially, there was nothing here I hadn't seen before (save for the prologue)--including the pleasure of watching Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. And SOLARIS wasn't a horror film, but including it here brings the list to an even twenty, so there. Steven Soderbergh's attempt to boil SOLARIS down into a ninety-minute George Clooney vehicle gave us a film that was too mainstream for arthouses and too arthousey for mainstream audiences. Nice try, but a hopeless sell.
GHOST SHIP had a routine SHINING/EVENT HORIZON riff going for most of the show, but it boasted one hell of a great opening and a successfully shocking rapid-fire flashback sequence near the end. Enjoyable enough, but I wish Dark Castle would get to MR. SARDONICUS, already.
And the only thing that saved THEY from the slag-heap was the ending. Yes, the ending was that good. But the rest of the film was a weary, boring rehash that nobody needed.
THE WORST
Oh, where to begin? Where to end?
There was that embarrassing Goth leftover called QUEEN OF THE DAMNED. It wasn't Aaliyah's fault, but somebody needed to wake up and smell the decade.
I have rarely been so painfully, excruciatingly bored with a movie as I was with THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES. Sure, some people believe in it. Other people have seen the same things happen too many times before in TWILIGHT ZONE and X-FILES episodes.
EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS I wanted to love, but I felt the attitude was all wrong. I LOVE giant spider movies. But I can't enjoy giant spider movies that are much more interested in nudging people with cute jokes, in-jokes and all other manner of jokes than trying to scare the hell out of people with giant spiders. THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION was technically inferior. But THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION tried its best to scare people with spiders. And you know what? Back when I first saw it--it worked. This one didn't even make me twitch.
And the very worst? Would you think it was too easy if I were to single out SWIMFAN? Yeah, you're probably right--everyone knew going in that it was nothing but a FATAL MISTY MALICIOUS CRUSH deal... but this one didn't even give us anything worth looking at in the meantime!
No--much as it pains me to say so, the worst horror film of 2002 was one I was greatly looking forward to, as its director's previous film was my top pick for 1999. FEARDOTCOM was a hideously confused, painfully jumbled mess of a psycho/cyber thriller that thought that the mere inclusion of blatant Bava/Argento imagery would automatically win the awe and respect of fans. No way in hell. One needs to try one's best to write an original, coherent story to go WITH the razzle-dazzle. FEARDOTCOM went for the kitchen sink approach. Fetch the Drano.
Well, that's the horror year 2002. There was also plenty in the science fiction/fantasy department to mention: ATTACK OF THE CLONES was better than THE PHANTOM MENACE, while SPIDER-MAN, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS and THE TWO TOWERS delivered handsomely on their promises. MEN IN BLACK 2 was, on the other hand, only amusing for a while before it became yet another disappointing follow-up that need not have happened. MINORITY REPORT was excellent, by and large, but showed serious signs of compromise in its resolution. THE TIME MACHINE? Ah... no. THE SCORPION KING? It's what anyone who would want to see it would want to see, making it safely critic-proof. THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE? I prefer the TV show, but I'll stick up for it just to stick it to Ebert. Don't forget CQ, which wasn't science-fiction itself, but which paid wonderful homage to the BARBARELLA school of filmmaking. And then there was PINOCCHIO. Yes, dammit, Roberto Benigni's PINOCCHIO. See my Beaten Track review if you haven't already.
Oh, and let's not forget that restoration of METROPOLIS...
And as for direct-to-video? Frankly, I didn't see much. DOG SOLDIERS was great monster-movie fun, of course, but the DVD could and should have been so much more. (Whaddya expect from Artisan?) Other than that, there was yet another CORN sequel and a truly crappy HELLRAISER entry.
Agree? Disagree? Feel I left anything out? Say the word. In the meantime, have a great 2003!
Remo D.