Best of 2002

Nine easy-to-find movies mingle with nine movies worth the hunt:

1. Spirited Away -- In a year of continued Harry Potter and LOTR hype, this is where the real magic was.

2. Tribute -- A KISS act with a black Paul Stanley! Bitter resentment between "Davy" and "Mike" in the aftermath of a Monkees-act breakup! Spinal Tap meets Behind The Music in this documentary about tribute bands.

3. The Believer - brutal, rich, and rewarding.

4. Hell House - the annual Halloween spookhouse put on by a funadmentalist church in Texas made for the scariest movie of the year.

5. About A Boy - One of the years earlier delights. I'm not qualified to say it was Hugh Grant's best work, but it didn't make me want to wring his neck, so that's something.

6. Rabbit-Proof Fence - Why this isn't gettimg more end-of-year attention is beyond me.

7.(tie) Happiness of the Katakuris and Chaos - two strange visions, one aptly described as "The Sound of Music with a body count," the other a solid psychological thriller, from Japanese cult directors.

9. Lilo and Stitch - Disney gets it right for a change.

10. The Endurance - Simply one of the most amazing stories of the past century.

11. The Man Without A Past - A Finnish Depression-era "forgotten man" film?

12. Two Towers -- Too bad I was sick of hearing about it even before I saw it.

13. Bowling for Columbine -- see above comment.

14. The Independent - May Morty make another 472 films, all as good as VENUS DE MOFO or THE MAN IN THE IRON LUNG.

15. Punch-Drunk Love -- Will the P.T. Anderson and Adam Sandler audiences ever intersect again?

16. Lagaan - brisk and thoroughly engaging at 225 minutes.

17. Scotland, PA - Macbeth for laughs? hell yes!

18. Spider-Man - the best comic-book movie is still Ghost World, but this one had so many opportunities to fall flat, but didn't.



Didn't See: Adaptation, Harry Potter, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Hours, Far from Heaven





Best "Bad" Movie

Blue Crush



Worst "Good" Movie

Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary



Worst

Garmento

House of 1000 Corpses

Attack of the Clones

Hollywood Ending

Wendigo