2000's Top 20

One of the most sensual and romantic films ever made, without one single kiss. This film is 100% pure beauty. From the colors, to the music, to Maggie Cheung... Stunning in every possible aspect, In The Mood For Love is one of the first masterpieces of the twenty first century, perfection reached in the art of film making. No matter what Kar-Wai does in the future, this will always be the film that made me 'fall in love' with him...

One of my personal favourites... Amazing script, wonderfull acting, brilliantly shot! A modern masterpiece!

One of the greatest cinematic achievements of the 21st century. Will be as a classic in 20 years as The Godfather or Star Wars are for us today.

One of the strongest and most affecting films ever made. Horrifyingly honest, mesmerizing, scary, raw, romantic, sad and devastatingly effective. Conveys, visually, sonically and dramatically, the siren call of addiction like no other film has to date. A phantasmagoria of self-destructive obsession that is so visually astounding it becomes literally painful to watch. And yet, you can't look away. A spiritual nightmare. One very worth having. Has everything a cult film is supposed to have: innovative visuals, a haunting score, undeniably courageous performances from all of its leads and a consistently gripping narrative. A masterpiece.

The reason why Battle Royale is so loved and hated at the same time is simply because it explores an idea that the human mind is almost pre-programed to fear and reject. We are thought, when we're kids, that there are two sides: 'Good' and 'Evil'. Stealing is wrong, killing is even wronger. But the pure and unquestionable truth is that any human being has the ability to take someone else's life, or themselve's for that matter. As simple as that. That's why Battle Royale has the unique and fascinating ability to shock, inlight, entertain and divide people. It's just brilliantly honest exploring that idea. How more honest could it be than putting 42 teenagers on a deserted island and making them kill each other for their own survival? If you think about it, it's not that different than a bunch of kids with guns killing everything and everyone on their way on some random american school... Is it? Of course, the probability of something like that (the 'BR' program, I mean) happening is almost unexistent. That's why the script can be a little surreal and at times silly. But guess what? I LOVED IT!



The violence, the killing, the blood... All of that loses relevance when we realize just how original and visionary (in a kind of twisted and bizarre way) Battle Royale really is. I mean, let's face it, it wasn't for the violence or the blood (seen on thousands of other, sometimes awarded, beloved films) that the film was banned from the US and almost in Japan. It was the social/polytical message. Youth has the need to be heard. As simple as that. 20, 50 years ago and now as well. When a kid is not taken seriously he makes himself heard, he asks for attention. Rebels. This may be a little 'Oprah,' but it's true. So, maybe kids boycotting their schools, writting on the board 'Today there's no class, because we don't want too!' is not that utopic... That's probably the reason why the japanese goverment didn't find it that funny.

Either way, and finalizing, I just can't help finding hilariously ironic that the same country that banned this modern masterpiece from their theatres is the same one who will remake it in 2008...

A film that should be used in Film schools in the "How to create the perfect Soundtrack" class.

"Let's deflower the kid."

Almost Famous is Cameron Crowe's pet project, a heavily autobiographical tale based on his mid-'70s adventure as a fresh-faced teenage journalist on tour with the Allman Brothers, which produced a Rolling Stone cover story that kick-started his career as a rock writer and, eventually, as a filmmaker.



The average film gives me 90-or-so minutes of mindless satisfaction. I sit in darkness, munching on some snacks staring straight ahead at the screen. Chomp, blink, sip, stare. Lots of films entertain me, but few entertain and inspire me. Almost Famous was, for me, one of the first films to accomplish both. It's an honest and touching look at many big themes such as family, friendship, love and fame, any one of which could have made for a great film. Yet, like the large cast, Crowe managed to give balance to all without shorting anyone, including the audience.

Almost Famous' opening credits are dazzling. A hand writes (just as our upcoming boyhood hero) furiously into a notebook. Then it takes us to 1969, William Miller (played by Michael Angarano as the young William) and his mother Elaine (Frances McDormand) are walking home from the movies after seeing To Kill a Mockingbird (on the marquee it reads Don't Look Back, D.A. Pennebaker's rockumentary on Bob Dylan and Truffaut's Stolen Kisses, which was a major influence on this for autobiographical reasons - Truffaut based himself as Antoine Doinel as played by Jean-Pierre Leaud).

No doubt Elaine plants these ideas of becoming an honest lawyer into William's head. She is a very hard woman, sweet under a rough exterior, a vegetarian college professor who forbids rock music into the house. William's sister Anita (well played by Zooey Deschannel) sneaks Simon & Garfunkel's Bookends album under her coat but Elaine catches her. She moves out to become a stewardess using Simon & Garfunkel's "America" to explain her reasons why and leaving William all her albums. (Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Dylan's Blonde On Blonde, Rolling Stones' Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!, Led Zeppelin's II, Joni Mitchell, etc. and most importantly, The Who's Tommy, with a note: "play Tommy with a burning candle and you will see your future"). End of prologue.

It is 1973, William is 15 and a senior, he's not well-liked at school, all he does is write and listen to rock music. He meets his hero, Lester Bangs (played to perfection by Philip Seymour Hoffman). Bangs is a real-life character - he was editor of Creem magazine and Crowe's real-life hero. His knowledge scattered through the film is worth the price of admission alone. His rants in the radio station, cafe, on the sidewalk and particularly end monologue in his home (the "uncool" one) are all some of the best dialogue and knowledge I've ever heard of. Anyway, Miller sends Bangs some of his writing journalism and Bangs puts him on assignment. He has to go to a Black Sabbath concert and write about it. He is to be paid $35.

He goes to the concert with strong discouragement from his mother ("Don't Do Drugs" is her constant motto) and meets a group of groupies ("a group of groupies", ha!) played by Bijou Philips, Anna Paquin, Fairuza Balk and most importantly Kate Hudson, as Penny Lane. Penny revolutionized the role of the groupie. She calls them "Band Aides", as they're there for the music and not for the sex with someone who's famous. Miller can't get into backstage with the groupies - a huge guard won't let him - so he gets backstage with Stillwater, a rising rock band. They are: audacious, arrogant lead singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee), drummer Ed Vallencourt (John Fedevich) and bassist Larry Fellows (Mark Kozelek) - both real-life musicians, not really actors - and finally the star, Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup). He is, as Jeff describes him, "the guitarist with mystique" and the only who really befriends Miller.

Rolling Stone then hires Miller to write a piece on Stillwater on the road. He is to be paid $1000, and have a trip not to forget. He is only to be gone for a few days and not miss one test at school but as it turns out, he stays longer involuntarily and misses graduation. The trip changes his life. He loses his virginity in a tastefully done, mirage-like threesome, falls hard in love with Penny and really hurts when married Russell uses her for sex. This develops an interesting love triangle: there's Miller who is affectionate for Hammond but falls for the first time in love for Penny who is his really around his own age, Lane, confused, is sweet and nice to Miller but cares for Hammond whom she thinks she's in love with. There are some flashes of the two in genuine love but nothing comes into fruitation. Russell, however, with his hard exterior, looks like he cares for Penny but also sells her for $50 and a case of beer in a poker game, to which she gracefully replies, in an absolutely heartbreaking scene, "what kind of beer?" It was Heineken.

The band, the Band Aids, William and his dysfunctional family, the staff at Rolling Stone - there's a large cast to keep track of. With so many characters and so many areas of potential conflict, it would have been easy to gloss over certain aspects or only go half way with the entire film. Instead, everyone is given an equal voice and the opportunity to show growth. This is an ensemble cast where everyone shows up. While Hudson, Fugit and Crudup may be standouts, that's not to mean that the rest of the cast slacks off. Besides McDormand, Hoffman, and Hudson's fellow groupies, there's also fine work by Noah Taylor as Stillwater's manager, and SNL's Jimmy Fallon, unrecognisable in a beard, as the smarmy half-manager that comes into the picture when Stillwater gets a little success.

Being a CC film, one of the its primal strengths hinges on its use of some absolutely incredible music. The soundtrack periodically drifts in and out, flooding scenes with heartfelt emotion and feeling. Many of the film's best moments are marked by a silence accompanied by several moving rock classics (the bus scene, at the sound of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer", being my favourite). Crowe knows that something special was going on in the '70s and he takes every opportunity to show his love for the period. Almost Famous is as much about music and rock as it is about growing up. Luckily, it manages to succeed without being cheesy or melodramatic. Instead, it's filled with honest moments of love and frustration as we watch a young, talented man slowly coming to terms with his youth and becoming the man who'd eventually go far and accomplish great things - including writing and directing Almost famous

Using personal and professional discovery as a frame for his film, Crowe shows a maturity of his own. Several of his prior films, such as Say Anything... and Jerry Maguire, have touched on similar themes but neither has quite the same 'real' feeling Almost Famous has. This is, of course, due to how autobiographical the film is, although I'm sure many things were the product of his imagination (I'm not sure if the fact that he might have lost his virginity with three groupies makes me admire him more or envy him to death). By making such a personal film and getting his life out and onto the screen, Crowe appears ready to tackle subjects outside his safe zone. After watching Almost Famous for the fourth time, I'm once again inspired to politely nod at my nay-sayers and hit the road (symbolically speaking) to chase my dreams and challenge my own safety zone.

To put it simply, Almost Famous made me want to live in the '70s. Just like Truffaut and Kubrick's films make me dream about the '60s. It made me want to listen to old Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath albums that were now just collecting dust. Crowe has accomplished something enormously special here, something that can't be undervalued. He's told a story that is both simple and complex, fictional, but believable, funny, yet heartbreaking. Will always remain one of my favourite films from one of my favourite filmmakers.

"If you think that Mick Jagger will still be doing the whole rock star thing at age fifty, well, then, you are sorely, sorely mistaken."

The rare kind of film that can righteously claim to be inspirational. Funny, touching and honest. The kind of excelence that British cinema can produce.

I've always felt fascinated with stories of guys who crash on deserted islands, so I guess I would have still loved this film even if didn't turn out to be this good. Which it did. One of Hanks' best performances, almost at the same level as in Forrest Gump and Philadelphia.

Smart, charming and funny. It's about finding the right inspiration and making the right choices. A film that emphasizes character over story, successfully integrating the idiosyncracies of its main characters - with a hilarious, awsome performance by Michael Douglas - into the more fundamental issues with which they struggle. It's always very rare and refreshing to see a film that celebrates writing and intelligence.