Movies I haven't seen yet that might influence this list: Black Hawk Down, A Beautiful Mind, In the Bedroom, Monster's Ball and Mulholland Drive.

The Top Ten
12)Spy Game - A well done thriller exemplified by a winning performance by Brad Pitt, who is such a great and unselfish actor that he lets Robert Redford steal the show.  Tony Scott directs in his usual visually exciting way that helps lift this movie.

11)Monsters, Inc. - Good voice work by all that is helped much by it's charming and heartening story that got to me (Sully's relationship with Boo).  The final door scene/chase is a winner that was both exciting, visually cool, and kinda reminded me of the chase through John Malkovich in Being John Malkovich.

10)Ocean's 11 - The best popcorn entertainment in years, done with good acting, chemistry, smarts and the continued feel throughout that the actors had such a great time, which only enhances my enjoyment. Clooney's and Pitt's work beautifully together.

9)The Royal Tenenbaums - Though not as good as Rushmore quite yet, it might take a few more viewings (like Rushmore), as I have a feeling this time next year this movie would be higher on my list.  Great performances throughout, but I found Luke Wilson a surprise, as his character reached me (especially in his scene in the bathroom).

8)America's Sweethearts - Not one that many will agree with, but I had a smile on my face the whole time, and laughed quite a lot.  Perfect summer fun that had me charmed.  Extra points go out to Billy Crystal and Christopher Walked as a Kubrick-esque director.

7)Kiss of the Dragon - Every year I pick an action movie to be on my top 10 list (Face/Off was my #1 favorite movie of 97 actually), and this was it.  Exciting and pumps up the adrenalin.

6)Fellowship of the Ring - What a movie!  It just swept me right into it's story (I haven't read the books and won't because I want to be surprised when I see the next 2 films) and was breathtaking and exciting. 5-Training Day-Powered by Denzel's best performance in
ages, this gritty crime drama was deeply effecting to me, and quite surprising in two ways: Antoine Fuqua's direction (considering he did Bait and Replacement Killers), and Ethan Hawke's quieter performance which I still believe should get more recognition than it does.

4)A.I.:Artificial Intelligence - A movie that took me through a wide range of emotions: joy, sadness, discomfort, etc that just hit me because of it's incredibly original and thought provoking story.

3)Moulin Rouge - A movie that literally made my heart sing.  I absolutely loved it, especially Kidman's and McGregor's performances. The songs are ones to remember; specifically the Elephant Love Song Medly and the final Come What May performance.

2)Memento - I drove up an hour to see this. Twice. It's the movie I make my friends watch (despite their objections) only to have them thank me later.  Still a movie to puzzle over after countless viewings.  God, I hope this is Pearce's breakout, because he's such a talented actor.  Double points to Christopher Nolan's direction and originality in telling the story.

1)Vanilla Sky - A definite love it or hate it movie. When I saw it for the first time with 5 others one thought that it was okay, two had a confused look on their faces, while me and another started gushing over it.  Everything about it: it's story, it's acting, it's direction, it's beautiful cinematography, it's awesome soundtrack hit me in all the right places. I'm a sucker for beautiful images and love stories, and this had both.  It's final scenes will forever stay with me.  Awesome.

Honorable Mentions: Spy Kids, Shrek, Evolution, Fast and the Furious, Rush Hour 2, The Others, American Pie 2, O, Joy Ride, K-PAX, Shallow Hal, Harry Potter, Ali, the war scene in Pearl Harbor and the first 20 minutes of Swordfish.

The Worst Ten
10) From Hell - The biggest disappointment of the year. Historically inaccurate, which could have been overcome, but everything was weighed down.  It seemed to me that the Hughes Bros. thought that since it looked cool nothing else would matter.  They were wrong.

9)13 Ghosts - Incredibly stupid, which would have been okay had this been enjoyable trash like House on Haunted Hill.  But it's not.

8)Cats & Dogs - Clever concept weighed down by awful script.

7)Zoolander - Deeply disappointing, unfunny, and completely annoying.

6)Saving Silverman - Complete silence in the theatre when I watched this one, and justly so.

5)The One - Jet Li went from Kiss of the Dragon to this piece of un-involving, unexciting, dreadful trash.

4)The Musketeer - Not one ounce of excitement in it's fight scenes, and a stupid story to boot.

3)Original Sin - The funniest movie of the year.

2)Say it Isn't So - Any movie which features a guy sticking his hand in a cow's ass deserves a place on this kind of list.

1)Freddy Got Fingered - I actually felt disgusted and stupified.  A film that made me want to scream in anger.


My Top 5: (in order of preference)

Best Actor
Denzel Washington-Training Day
Will Smith-Ali
Ewan McGregor-Moulin Rouge
Gene Hackman-The Royal Tenenbaums
George Clooney-Ocean's 11

Best Actress
Nicole Kidman-The Others
Nicole Kidman-Moulin Rouge
Gwyneth Paltrow-Shallow Hal
Reese Witherspoon-Legally Blonde
Renee Zellweger-Bridget Jones's Diary

Best Supporting Actor
Ethan Hawke-Training Day
Luke Wilson-The Royal Tenenbaums
Brad Pitt-Ocean's 11 & Spy Game
Josh Hartnett-O
Eddie Murphy-Shrek

Best Supporting Actress
Cameron Diaz-Vanilla Sky
Angelica Huston-The Royal Tenenbaums
Julia Stiles-O
Cate Blanchett-Bandits & Lord of the Rings
Hope Davis-Heats in Atlantis

Best Villain
Denzel Washington-Training Day
Andy Garcia-Ocean's 11
Anthony Hopkins-Hannibal
Tcheyo Karyo-Kiss of the Dragon
Ted Levine (voice)-Joy Ride

Best Performance by a Non-Human
Teddy-A.I.
Halle Berry's Breasts-Swordfish
Rusty Nail's Truck-Joy Ride
Super Glue-American Pie 2
The Invisiblity Cloak-Harry Potter

Biggest Breakouts-Actor (in no order)
Vin Diesel-Fast and the Furious
Reese Witherspoon-Legally Blonde
Guy Pearce-Memento
Anne Hathaway-The Princess Diaries
Daniel Ratcliffe-Harry Potter

Biggest Breakouts

Director
Christopher Nolan-Memento
Alejendro Amenabar-The Others
Antoine Fuqua-The Others