2001: A Better Movie Year Than 2002
Sunday, Mar. 09, 2003

So, I said that I thought that 2001 was a better movie year than 2002 as far as my tastes and the top grossing movies of that year are concerned. Some fine googling if I say so myself has netted me the 100 top grossing flicks for 2001 at http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0300775.html, and here I go blabbing about the ones I�ve seen:

(Note: meanwhile Aisai is watching Steven King�s Sleepwalkers downstairs, and both the cats and I refuse to watch it.)

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Warner Bros.) $309,659,297

I remember that I liked this, but thought it was a little long and felt the people who did the adaption from the book felt they needed to include more scenes then they really needed. However, Aisai and I were in full wanting-to-have-a-kid mode at the time, and just seeing all the cute kids in the movie, especially that gal friend of his, was nice also.

2. Shrek (DreamWorks) 267,665,011

None of those dollars are mine, as I actually saw it on DVD borrowed from one of Aisai�s coworkers. I really wasn�t impressed. I don�t understand those who were.

3. Monsters, Inc. (Buena Vista) 249,919,653

Ditto on this. DVD, borrowed, but this one I liked. Pixar is always good at removing the riff raff from scripts. I did however think that crabman was too scary for that to slip by with a G. But the concept was great, and the execution was better than I expected. I think the reason we didn�t see it in the theater is that Billy Crystal�s name scared me off.

4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line) 248,212,8873

Yeah, brilliant, terribly long, eat a sandwich beforehand. I�m tempted to compare the first one with the second, but, eh, they really don�t compare well. Liv Tyler is absolutely beautiful and the elf world is boooooring. But killing big demon guys is cool. One comparison I will make is that the Rock Troll in LOTR could kill the one in Harry Potter in a � second. I don�t think the LOTR Troll would die from having a, was it a drumstick?, stuck up his nose.

6. The Mummy Returns (Universal) 202,007,640

I remember I liked it, but thought that The Rock was very fakey looking when he had all six legs. Kinda Goro from Mortal Kombat goofy. No desire to see it again, really, but I know it was fun. Oh, but weren�t there like stupid pigmy mummies too? I think I�d rather see the original again. Or Raiders.

8. Jurassic Park III (Universal) 181,166,115

The epitome of what I dislike about the whole JP series is seen in the closing scene of this movie. The Pterodons are flying toward Florida and the people who have just escaped them look at them and their magesticness. Meanwhile, the navy ship they are flying to which has those cool spent uranium bullets the size of a coke can with computer targeting, don�t shoot the things down. Why? Because the stupid people doing all the JP stuff have some stupid unconditional love toward dinosaurs. That makes for one lame series of movies. You can�t thrill me with the CGI, if Jar Jar looks better, ya know.

9. Planet of the Apes (Fox) 179,996,4253

I remember it was lame and stupid, but did give the world Ape Lincoln.

10. Ocean's 11 (Warner Bros.) 171,624,2043

Saw it on DVD and really liked it. The cast scared me off from seeing it in the theater, as Julia Roberts can use her �starpower� to turn good scripts into crap (like all her scenes from The Mexican and that derivative homosexual story she forced into the movie).

13. The Fast and the Furious (Universal) 144,512,310

It was a waste of Vin and a waste of that gal who played his girlfriend, but that 240SX his friend had was pretty cool. No need to see ever again.

14. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Paramount) 131,168,070

I know a lot of people didn�t like this, but I did. Favorite thing was when they tanky �Ark 2� transports entered the Dead Zone (sans Breakfast Club Boy) and they all stopped. Worst thing was them using laser pointers later when no machinery would work there. I�d like to see it again. In fact, I�ve seen it twice. Once on opening night and again on DVD, which I believe didn�t have any good extras.

20. Vanilla Sky (Paramount) 93,648,5723

Ok, I don�t really like Tom Cruise. I don�t really like the movies he is in generally, with the notable exception of Far and Away, which was a fluke. Well, meet Fluke II. This movie rocked HARD. I�ve only seen it in the theater, but I�ve actually thought about buying the DVD. I know it wasn�t advertised correctly, and I refuse to give anything away, but it�s brilliant in my opinion.

25. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Warner Bros.) 78,616,689

Beautiful, wonderful, and full of subtle depth you only catch on a second viewing. This is a classic in my book. It didn�t do terribly well, and is to be expected. My neice actually didn�t like it. What does she know. If you are wanting kids, I�ll make you cry. Definitely in my top 50 movies of all time.

33. Swordfish (Warner Bros.) 69,772,969

Like many movies, just watch the first 15 minutes (or was it first three on this one), since the more time that passes in the movie, the worse it gets. I saw this on DVD back in my Netflix days. Seeing the other three endings just make you realize that the crap ending they put on was about the best one they could do. I would have just rolled the credits and left it to the viewer, but then this would be around 87 on the list rather than 33 and would be considered a bad art pic.

35. The Mexican (DreamWorks) 66,845,033

Ok, I liked it somewhat. But there were things that bugged me (besides Julia Robert�s freak head). Why did the gay badguy drive the green VW like a maniac when no one was chasing him and then stop on the side of the interstate for 20 minutes to talk right after? (Because VW slipped them some cash to make the car look cool?) Why was that derivative pro-gay sidestory even in there? (Because Julia�s starpower pushed it in there?) Basically, it�s two movies. The one with Brad Pitt in Mexico is very good. The one with Julia Roberts in California is total crap.

41. Behind Enemy Lines (Fox) 56,981,7263

Owen Wilson is fun to watch. Period. However, there were some serious flaws in what he does as a soldier. Don�t sit on a white background wearing dark clothes if you think people are trying to kill you, since in real life, snipers don�t miss. But I liked it, and would like to see it again sometime. Though I don�t think the TBS version would remove too much of what I�d like, so why rent.

46. Blow (New Line) 52,990,775

Saw it on DVD and liked it. Watched much of the extras on the disc, where Ted Demme praises Jung for allowing the US into the cocaine world. That Monday, in Yahoo Most Emailed Content, I see that dumb old Demme died of an overdose. Moron. Depp was good in it, but I�d rather watch Fear and Loathing or, right now, Sleepy Hollow (though I can�t stand Christina Ricci, eew).

53. The One (Sony) 43,905,746

Jet Li can really take a normal old police motorcycle, lift it above his head, and whack his alternate universe self with it well. I liked this silly cartoon of a HK flick. We DVDed this rather than theatered it.

59. Evolution (DreamWorks) 38,345,494

As if David (Captain) Ducouney needed a nail in the coffin of his career, he got one anyway. If you�ve seen 8 legged freaks, same thing with a bigger budget. If not, imagine if Ghost Busters made one more movie and it sucked. Though some of the creature design was good, like the closet thing and the dragons that grew lungs, and the deus ex machina at the end was nice (with the dandruff shampoo).

Aside: If that Steven King movie of Aisai�s plays that stupid 50s song again, I�m going to drive up to Maine and choke Mr. King. That�s probably why that guy ran over him. Overused 50s music.

60. Jeepers Creepers (MGM) 37,904,175

Great low-rent horror. Formula? Sure, but it was well done. Some people didn�t like the ending since it wasn�t happy. Well, choke on it then.

65. Black Hawk Down (Sony) 35,471,6393

Excellent excellent movie. Though not the kind of thing that Aisai would want to see again. Very good, but not happy. Think a modern Private Ryan without Ted Danson shocking you out of your groove half way into it.

70. Final Fantasy (Sony) 32,131,830

Another masterpiece that got no credit. Admittedly, as soon as the movie was released, the CGI was dated (it took them five years to make it). And you can�t tell me that story line has ever been used, and envisioned, before. Another Sci-Fi classic. This, Vanilla Sky, and AI were all released near each other and I had a great time seeing them.

86. 15 Minutes (New Line) 24,403,552

This was such a hack piece, I�m not sure I actually watched the ending of it on DVD. See nearly any other DeNiro movie, please. Though it did have some good scenes.

95. Amelie (Miramax) 21,127,1943

Probably the best chick flick I�ve ever seen. Absolutely brilliant in many places, and the actress really pulls off the difficult scenes well (while being very beautiful). Saw it in the theater with subtitles. Seeing it dubbed would probably have ruined it for me.

Somewhere out of the top 100. Pacte des loups, Le (2001)

A great film, saw it in the theater, but tried to DVD it too soon after and rememberd it too well. Some excellent scenes. Note: the subtitles aren�t what the people are actually saying. If you know a little French (I have SpanFrenchish garbled together in my head) you�ll get some more witty lines than the translation, plus, oooh, I can�t give away the baddie. Too cool, and tragic.

I�ve had a busy weekend. I�ll write about it tomorrow.