Best Movies of 1997

Man, Deconstructing Harry is by far the weakest number one we've had so far. I don't mean to say anything bad about it but I can't believe how weak this year actually was. This does mark Woody Allen's second top finish - it's just a surprising one. While overall I reckon that's an interesting top five, 1997 has proven to be the weakest year so far - I didn't think that'll happen until the 80s.

1. Deconstructing Harry (Woody Allen)
2. Waiting For Guffman (Christopher Guest)
3. Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson)
4. Wintersleepers (Tom Tykwer)
5. The Fifth Element (Luc Besson)
6. Open Your Eyes (Alejandro Amenabar)
   
7. Lost Highway (David Lynch)
   
8. The Castle (Rob Sitch)
   
9. Men In Black (Barry Sonnenfeld)
   
10. Scream 2 (Wes Craven)
    

Best Movies of 2000

Wow. Weak year. The Coen Brothers grab their second top spot though O Brother is probably the weakest of all the top films so far (with the possible exception of No Country For Old Men - but that needs time to fully cement itself in place. Fact is, the Coen Brothers did their best work in the 90s)

1. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel & Ethan Coen)
2. State & Main (David Mamet)
3. Memento (Christopher Nolan)
4. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe)
5. Best In Show (Christopher Guest)
6. Chicken Run (Peter Lord & Nick Park)
   
7. High Fidelity (Stephen Frears)
   
8. Small Time Crooks (Woody Allen)
9. X-Men (Bryan Singer)
10. Dinner Rush (Bob Giraldi)
    

Some Quick Film Reviews

Seen a bunch of films over the last couple of weeks. So without wasting any more time...

Thelma & Louise (1991, Ridley Scott)
I now finally understand that Simpsons episode where Marge meets Ruth Powers. This is one of those movies that everyone has seemed to have seen except for me... but not anymore! The film itself was really enjoyable. 8/10

Strictly Ballroom (1992, Baz Luhrmann)
I saw Moulin Rouge! about a month ago which introduced me to the exorbitant Baz Luhrmann. The amazing thing is how effortlessly he pulls it off. This film is certainly a charmer. 8/10

A Mighty Wind (2003, Christopher Guest)
Back in first year I randomly got the poster for this film to liven up the hallway in my hall of residence. There was something about those cheery faces that I felt would unsettle everyone else on the floor. I'm a huge fan of the previous movies (Best In Show, Waiting For Guffman, etc...) and this one was nice while not quite living up to those ones. 7.5/10

THX 1138 (1971, George Lucas)
I've never been a big fan of these totalitarian visions of the future movies. They all seem too 1984ish. A good one though. 7/10

Pret-A-Porter (1994, Robert Altman)
This is the eighth Altman film I've seen and this one just felt like Altman going through the paces. It was him applying all those techniques he's known for but for what? It was funny, had some interesting characters and worked. Maybe I'm just experiencing some Altman burnout - seven of those Altman films I saw this year. 7/10