End of Decade Movie Review (2002)

2002 was a pretty solid year for movies, and it also was the beginning of the end for great movies for the decade. While 2000 and 2001 had plenty of good movies to choose from, 2002 had some great movies to carry the year, but not after the top 10. It was another year that was dominated by the major movie series, with Spider Man, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Harry Potter being the top 4 earners of the year. I hated every Spider Man movie, couldn't stay awake for all of the Lord of the Rings, but I do like Star Wars and Harry Potter. Here are the top 10 movies of 2002.

10) Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
- Chuck Barris was a damn looney tune. He claimed to be an assassin for the CIA, and really not much of the movie is really based on reality. Basically the movie is what a delusional Chuck Barris wishes his life was, even though he claims that everything is true. Sam Rockwell does a great job playing Barris, and really the movie is pretty entertaining. Basically this movie would be like me writing an autobiography saying that in my younger days, I was secretly Allen Iverson.





9) Van Wilder
- You guys can bash me all you want about having Van Wilder in my top 10, but I loved the return of a college comedy. At the time, no movies were being made that had that type of comedy. Ryan Reynolds was funny, Tara Reid was hot for the last time in her life, and it had an Indian in it. Pretty much all I need. Believe me, it was a down year for comedies. It was either this movie or Goldmember, and Goldmember was terrible. I can still watch this movie anytime it is on TV, no matter how many times I have watched it before.




8) Igby Goes Down
- Pretty sure none of you have ever watched this movie, but it was actually very good. It is a very weird story, but it is really well done. Kieran Culkin actually shows that he can act in the movie. Basically the story revolves around a rich teenager who is completely disinterested in his life and his lineage. At times the movie can be darkly funny, and also at times it can be pretty dramatic. I really enjoyed it, and Susan Sarandon as Igby's mother is fantastic. If you get the chance, check it out, everyone in the movie is a different type of crazy. Also I think that The Dandy Warhols "Bohemian Like You" has to be the record holder for times in a trailer. Either way, I love that song.




7) The Count of Monte Cristo
- I had to read the book in high school, and so when the movie came out I was actually excited to watch it, seeing as though it was the one book I read in high school that I enjoyed. It was one film that did a decent job of cutting out the needless fluff from a novel, yet still keep the integrity of it. I absolutely feel in love with the girl who played Mercedes. It really shocked me when I found out she played the tranny manager in Rock Star. The prison scenes are very good. This movie did a great job of being dramatic, but not over the top. In too many movies that are adaptations of novels, either they become too serious, or they become like Zorro and are made with mass appeal, but end up sucking.

The Count of Monte Cristo - Theatrical Trailer Movies & TV SPIKE.com

6) Minority Report
- This was the beginning of the end for Tom Cruise. Minority Report was fun to watch because the story is fantastic. Overall it was a really good movie from start to finish. Watching it over though, you see the over acting that made Tom Cruise famous. It is pretty funny to watch his movies now that I realize that he wasn't fantastic in Days of Thunder and Top Gun. I think it is safe to say that Tommy won't be up for any Best Actor Oscars in the near future. Even with him, this movie is very cool.




5) Road To Perdition
- Many of you will think that this movie is way too low on the list, and maybe it is, but for me it was too long. The story is fantastic, and the acting couldn't have been better. The only problem I had with the movie is there are too many scenes in it that don't really do anything to add to the film. There are countless scenes where there is no dialogue or any type of action. I am assuming that they didn't want the movie to be only 90 minutes, but realistically that is all the movie was. It always amazes me that Tom Hanks conquered every genre except for action hero. Seriously, he has done everything and he has done it well. He started in comedies like Dragnet, Big, and Bachelor Party. He did chick flicks like You've Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seattle, and then he moved on to dramatic roles. Hell, he was even a cartoon. He is a fantastic actor, but the only roles I don't like him in are the Dan Brown novels. I still think that there could have been someone better to play Robert Langdon.




4) Catch Me If You Can
- Loved every second of this movie. Leo, Tom Hanks, and Chris Walken are fantastic. It is really hard to imagine that most of this movie is true. Here are some amazing facts about Frank Abagnale Jr.
- forged 2.5 million worth of bad checks in five years, starting when he was 16!
- He flew over 1,000,000 miles acting as a Pan Am pilot between the ages of 16-18
- He was a Chief Resident of Pediatrics at a hospital in Georgia for almost a year
- Forged a Harvard Law degree and passes the bar in Louisiana after his 3rd try after studying for 8 weeks. He was 19.
- Escaped from police and prison custody twice.

The movie changes some of this around, but it is still amazing to watch.




3) Super Troopers
- One of my favorite comedies of all-time. From start to finish, this movie is hilarious. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I will either text friends lines from this movie, or receive lines from this movie. No matter what I am doing, or what mood I am in, it always makes me laugh. The repeater, counting how many times you can say meow, the Halloween costume, there are so many fantastic scenes that I would basically recapped the movie if I mentioned them all. The best Halloween costumes I have seen probably ever was when a group of guys in college dressed up like all of the Super Troopers. If this is not one of your favorite comedies of all-time, you need to re-evaluate you sense of humor.




2) Gangs of New York
- I think that this is probably the best movie that Leo DiCaprio has been in. Not because he was good, even though he was better than good. This movie is the best that he is in because of the cast around him and the story. The action and fight scenes in Gangs of New York was spectacular, and it really depicted a time that no one really knows about in American History. I actually even liked Cameron Diaz in this movie. I didn't love her, and realistically you could have placed anyone in the role, and all they had to do was not fall down all the time to be good. A very underrated actor out there is Daniel Day-Lewis. I'm sure a lot of you agree with me that he is fantastic, but he is never really mentioned when the Best Actors of our era are mentioned. I think that this can be attributed to the fact that all he does is work on movies. It is a common fact that he spends months if not years researching the next character that he is going to play. He then gets so involved with who he is playing, that he says that he usually needs 6 months to actually become normal again. Either way, having both of these guys in the same movie was fantastic.




1) Bourne Identity

- This movie was the best action movie of the decade, hands down! Normally a story about an assassin who lost his memory would have been pretty cliche, but the action and intrigue in this movie was amazing. Watching Jason Bourne trying to figure out who his is by figuring out he is a killing machine is really cool. You are figuring out who he is at the same time as him, and while he can't figure out who to trust, neither can you. You're not sure if he is a good guy, or actually a brutal killer gone rogue. Bourne Identity was as close to Memento as a movie can get without being crazy. Not only that, but the Bourne movies completely recreated the art of the car chase scene, and it was done by shooting most of the action from the car, and using crazy techno music. The final reason that I think this is the best action movie of the decade is the sole fact that somehow this movie made Matt Damon a badass. What part of Good Will Hunting or All the Pretty Horses made you believe that Damon was capable of pulling off this role? That was the exact mindset I had going into this film, and this movie made me change every preconceived notion I had of him. Have you ever wondered how many words that Damon actually says in this movie? I wonder that all of the time. I bet if you take all 3 of the Bourne movies and add up his dialogue, it would equal his dialogue in Good Will Hunting.




Movies that came close:
Red Dragon - This was a good movie, and it was a good follow up to Silence of the Lambs, but nothing could ever really top the original.
The Time Machine - I like how they adapted the movie from the book, but it was a little too crazy with the future being what it was. Really great premise though.

Durty's Guilty Pleasure:

The New Guy- Absolutely horrible movie, but again it has Eliza Dushku in it, so I will watch it every time it is on TV. Not only is she a cheerleader again in this movie, but there is also a scene where she is trying on about 5 different bikinis. It's awesome.