Let's See It Again, Right Now
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1.
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Collateral |
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Michael Mann's best film to date, and that's saying a lot. A brilliant and moody thriller. |
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2.
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Spider-Man 2 |
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An astounding film on its own terms, but one that expands on and surpasses the original. |
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3.
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The Incredibles |
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Kind of a cliche to refer to the title at this point, but it fits. Fantastic to see Pixar stretching its genre legs. |
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4.
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Garden State |
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What right does Zach Braff have to make a film this good this early in his career? Comparisons to The Graduate are pretty apt. |
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5.
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Kill Bill Vol. 2 |
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Can't live up to the raw kineticism of the first, but a satisfying conclusion to the revenge fantasy. |
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6.
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Shaun of the Dead |
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Simon Pegg is like unto a God. |
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7.
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Dawn of the Dead |
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The rare remake that can stand alongside its original. |
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8.
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
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Another brilliant 'gimmick' film from the pen of Charlie Kaufman that maybe hits too close to home. |
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9.
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Finding Neverland |
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Like Shakespeare in Love, but, you know, good. Ooh, I'll get the hate mail for that one. |
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10.
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The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou |
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Lesser Anderson, but still well above most with delightful randomness that comes together coherently in the end. Like a film written by a 12-year old and translated from another language. |
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11.
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Fahrenheit 9/11 |
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Controversial, and with a distinct voice, but what interesting documentaries aren't? |
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12.
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The Girl Next Door |
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Brilliantly captures that crucial moment between high school and college, highlighting the burden of potential. Much, much more than a teen sex film. |
Flashes of Brilliance
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13.
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Super Size Me |
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Arguably the most eye-opening of this year's polemic documentaries, if a bit unfocused. |
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14.
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Dogville |
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Anti-American only in the sense that it's anti-human, this is a gutshot of a movie that combines Our Town with The Lottery. |
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15.
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Anchorman |
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Ridiculously funny set pieces and character creations bordering on genius (particularly Steve Carell) but some of the more bizarre pieces fall flat. |
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16.
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Primer |
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If I understand what's going on here, and I'd like to think that I do, I'm very very impressed and dumbfounded all at the same time. |
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17.
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The Bourne Supremacy |
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As close to a remake as a sequel can get; thankfully they started from a good place. |
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18.
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I Heart Huckabees |
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Will appeal greatly to those who can find the profound in the nonsensical. In other words, people like me. |
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19.
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The Aviator |
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The most shocking thing is how little of Scorsese there is in this Scorsese film. Maybe that's why I like this one. |
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20.
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I, Robot |
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Moderately intelligent sci-fi and great action set pieces. The robots steal the show (and I'm not talking about Bridget Moynahan). |
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21.
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Miracle |
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Some of the best hockey action committed to the big screen and a testament to the lost art of teamwork. |
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22.
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The Corporation |
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Relies maybe a bit too much on its psychoanalysis 'hook' but makes for a great call to action against international corporate greed. |
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23.
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The Saddest Music in the World |
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Guy Maddin makes David Lynch look like Robert Zemeckis. |
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24.
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Silver City |
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It's misleading to call this an anti-Bush film, though you can see where that comes from. Typical Sayles, in that it's got great ensemble work, and a muddled, over-ambitious plot. |
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25.
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The Manchurian Candidate |
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Fantastic acting in this one (especially Meryl Streep) but it does suffer a bit in comparison to the original. The convention scenes are actually quite awful. |
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26.
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The Delicate Art of Parking |
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Q: Exactly what kind of person do you have to be to become a parking enforcement officer? A: No one that's fun at parties, anyway. |
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27.
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Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle |
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Uneven (could have done without the grossout jokes) but sidesplitting at times. It's Dude, Where's My Car? blended with Office Space's corporate frustration. |
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28.
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Zhou Yu's Train |
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Beautiful cinematography in a charming mysterious love story. Plus, Gong Li is gorgeous. |
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29.
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Hellboy |
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Good mix of humour and action and 100 pounds of latex makeup; the sequel will almost assuredly be better. |
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30.
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Spartan |
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Average Mamet, but above-average Kilmer. |
I Want to Love You, But You Make it So Difficult
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31.
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Ocean's Twelve |
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A star vehicle in every sense of the phrase, it's much more interested in entertaining its cast than making sense as a movie. |
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32.
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Shrek 2 |
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Considering I hated the first, this is high praise. At least it's internally thematically consistent this time. |
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33.
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Secret Window |
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Depp's fantastic as usual and the story takes some real risks but the plot asks a bit too much suspension of disbelief. |
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34.
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Ray |
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Foxx brilliant, the rest, not so much. Scenes here and there pop off the screen, but otherwise this is VH1 material. |
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35.
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50 First Dates |
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Sandler grows a soul. Am I the only one who doesn't see the ending as positive as the film does? |
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36.
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Man on Fire |
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"Look at me, look at me!" "Yes, Tony Scott, we see you." |
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37.
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Broken Lizard's Club Dread |
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A big letdown after Super Troopers but not without some great gags. |
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38.
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Goodbye, Lenin! |
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Cute, but it's tough to get behind a film that's ultimately sticking up for communism. |
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39.
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The Ladykillers |
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Coen Brothers, I'm begging you, start writing your own scripts again. |
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40.
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The Motorcycle Diaries |
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"..and then I met some nuns and lepers and became a Marxist. That's why it was the best summer vacation ever." |
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41.
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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow |
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Wants to be Star Wars so bad it hurts. And it's not as if the elements aren't all there -- it just fails in the flat characterizations. |
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42.
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The Terminal |
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Great performance from Hanks; Spielberg turns the schlock dial up to 11. There's a greater movie hiding in here. |
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43.
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Eurotrip |
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Funny, but almost entirely disposable. |
A Big Bag of 'Meh'
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44.
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Starsky and Hutch |
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Just enough... enough mining the '70s already for humor. It's been done. Vince Vaughn's laid-back suburban villain is the highlight here. |
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45.
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Closer |
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Four people being cruel to each other while hopping in each others' beds. Seriously, wasn't this thing suppossed to be in French? |
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46.
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Napoleon Dynamite |
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"I graduated from the Sundance School of Cult Filmmaking, and in 7 easy steps, I can help you make your cult film too!" |
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47.
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The Village |
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This probably would have made one of the best Outer Limits episodes ever but as a movie it doesn't hold together. The buzz on Bryce Howard is legit. |
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48.
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Open Water |
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Probably the most nihilistic film you'll ever care to see. It sticks (mostly) to its premise but really doesn't live up to the |
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49.
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Troy |
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In Ancient Greece, battles were often decided by who had the best hair. |
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50.
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Hero |
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Best Cinematography of the year, but I've never been so bored by a film with this many fight scenes. |
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51.
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The Chronicles of Riddick |
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"Fear is the mind-killer." "Shh! You want to get sued?" |
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52.
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Shaolin Soccer |
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Simply bizarre. More like someone's live-action version of a Flash cartoon than a movie. |
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53.
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Stepford Wives |
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I don't know about you, but I was rooting for the robots. |
MST3K Time!
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54.
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King Arthur |
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Made entirely from spare parts of other, better, period piece battle films. |
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55.
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Alien vs. Predator |
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As bad as you might expect, yet at the same time, it could have been so much worse. Nonesensical and boring. |