I saw a low number of films this year. That's why the J-Lo movies seem to be ranked higher than they actually are. Not that I'm making excuses.

38. Enough- J-Lo with a mullet and kicking ass sounds like a good idea, but the use of "stylistic" elements such as intertitles made a mess out of the movie.

37. A Walk to Remember- Mandy Moore as a preacher's daughter who is terminally ill. Need I say more?

36. Crossroads- This Britney Spears vehicle fared a tad better than Mandy's attempt at acting.

35. Two Weeks Notice- Not one joke was remotely funny.

34. 25th Hour-I can't even begin to list all the things I hated about this film. I'll just say that I need to stop giving Spike Lee a chance.

33. Maid in Manhattan- Yes, I ranked a J-Lo flick higher than a Spike Lee joint.

32. The Rules of Attraction- James Vanderbeek should not try any role other than Dawson.

31. Dahmer- Creepy, but boring.

30. CQ- I'm so sick of all of the Coppolas.

29. The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys- The use of comic book images didn’t appeal to me, nor did the story.

28. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones- It was better than Episode I (probably due to the fact that Jar Jar Binks was missing) but the romantic scenes were too much.

27. Signs- M. Night Shyamalan is a good director. But he is an awful writer. I could not believe the last half of the movie.

26. Spider-Man- I liked the first half when Tobey Maguire was discovering all of his powers. It was fun, but then it got silly.

25. Hollywood Ending- Not as horrible as the past few Woody Allen films, but still boring and trite.

24. Insomnia- This is such an awful remake of a great Norwegian film. Can Al Pacino please stop yelling?

23. Red Dragon- Definitely better than Hannibal. But it tried too hard to be like Silence of the Lambs.

22. Moonlight Mile- Hoffman and Sarandon disappointed me. Jake Gyllenhaal is the same character in everything, but he's nice to look at.

21. Secretary- The first half was bearable, but the ending ruined it. It was nice to see James Spader again.

20. Chicago- Entertaining, but Renée Zellweger does not deserve all the accolades she has been receiving. Why does Richard Gere sing with a British accent?

19. The Good Girl- Cute movie with appealing moments.

18. Human Nature-Funny moments, but once again, I didn't like the ending.

17. About Schmidt- Jack Nicholson was good, especially in the scenes by himself. Most of the movie was not as funny as I thought it would be, considering Alexander Payne wrote it.

16. Frida- Some scenes were breathtakingly beautiful, like the one of Salma Hayek collapsed on the floor of the trolley, covered in gold. I ranked it this high because of Alfred Molina's performance. But Taymor should have been more consistent with the surreal aspect of the film.

15. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- The first installment was better. I like little British kids, but now they're getting older and a bit boring. Except for Weasley—his facial expressions kill me.

14. About a Boy- I actually liked this more than I thought I would. I enjoyed Hugh Grant's performance.

13. Bowling for Columbine- Overall, I thought he had good points, but the movie was all over the place.

12. Gangs of New York- I liked the battle scenes. That's about it. It seems like Scorcese lost the story while writing it over the past thirty years. I only ranked it this high because of Daniel Day-Lewis. He was amazing.

11. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers- I liked the first one more. The trees bored me. But the special effects and Viggo made up for it.

10. Y Tu Mama Tambien- Engaging performances and script.

9. Punch-drunk Love- So uncomfortably good.

8. Monsoon Wedding- So beautiful to look at. The music was great and Nair did a wonderful job capturing the family dynamics.

7. Roger Dodger- I missed Campbell Scott so much. And he's so good in this role.

6. Adaptation- Chris Cooper was so good in this. And I was pleasantly surprised by Nicolas Cage’s performance.

5. The Hours- I was a bit skeptical at first, because I really like the book. It seemed like it would be hard to adapt. But I think Hare & Daldry did a great job. All of the three stories blended together well.

4. The Kid Stays in the Picture- One of my favorites this year. Not one dull moment.

3. Morvern Callar-I was so impressed by this film. The opening is so great. As is the sound design. I am obsessed with Samantha Morton now.

2. The Pianist- Adrien Brody was so unbelievably captivating. I was very moved by him, especially in the scene where he is playing piano for the German soldier.

1. Far from Heaven- I didn't think it would be my number one choice, but I actually liked it the most out of everything I've seen. Haynes really captured the feeling of a Douglas Sirk film. Dennis Quaid surprised me, and Julianne Moore was perfect.

2002 LISTS
dan
kevin
jeremy
alex
sujan
dave n.
sarah f.
juhi
genna
shawn
chris larry
mitch
chris m.
donovan
marc
jim

discussion