Ray’s 2000 Film Awards
THE YEAR’S BEST FILMS
- Traffic
- The Contender
- O Brother Where Art Thou?
- Chocolat
- You Can Count on Me
- Almost Famous
- Best in Show
- Unbreakable
- The Wonder Boys
- The Cell
Why?
Because I said so.
Runners up
Boiler Room, What’s Cooking?, High Fidelity, Timecode, Quills, Thirteen Days, Chicken Run, Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire, Croupier, Tigerland, Billy Elliot, The Yards, Sunshine, State and Main, East is East
Perfectly Harmless Fun
Keeping the Faith, Pitch Black, The Whole Nine Yards, Final Destination, Return to Me, 28 Days, Where the Money Is, Frequency, Road Trip, The Kid, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Remember the Titans, Miss Congeniality, Cast Away, Snatch, Center Stage, DinosaurActor
Tom Hanks, Cast Away
Ralph Fiennes, Sunshine
*Javier Bardem, Before Night Falls
Geoffrey Rush, Quills
Michael Douglas, The Wonder Boys
HONORABLE MENTION: Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot, Clive Owen in Croupier, Bruce Willis in Unbreakable, Donal Logue in The Tao of Steve, George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?, Om Puri in East is East
Actress
Laura Linney, You Can Count On Me
*Julia Roberts, Erin Brockovich
Juliet Binoche, Chocolat
Gillian Anderson, The House of Mirth
Joan Allen, The Contender
Supporting Actor
*Jeff Bridges, The Contender
Billy Crudup, Almost Famous
Mark Ruffalo, You Can Count on Me
Benicio Del Toro, Traffic
Willem Dafoe, Shadow of the Vampire
HONORABLE MENTION: Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable, Josh Hartnett in The Virgin Suicides, Todd Louiso and Jack Black in High Fidelity, John Hawkes in The Perfect Storm, Lucas Black in All the Pretty Horses, John Michael Higgins and Fred Willard in Best in Show, Colin Farrell in Tigerland
Supporting Actress
Judi Dench, Chocolat
*Frances McDormand, The Wonder Boys and Almost Famous
Madeline Kahn, Judy Berlin
Kate Hudson, Almost Famous
Rosemary Harris, Sunshine
HONORABLE MENTION: Parker Posey Scream 3 (No, I’m not kidding, she was brilliant) and the divine Elaine May in Small Time Crooks
Director
*Steven Soderbergh, Traffic
Rod Lurie, The Contender
Lasse Hallstrom, Chocolat
Joel Coen, O Brother Where Art Thou?
Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous
Adapted Screenplay
Ethan Coen, O Brother Where Art Thou?
*Stephen Gaghan, Traffic
Robert Nelson Jacobs, Chocolat
Steven Kloves, The Wonder Boys
Doug Wright, Quills
Original Screenplay
Ken Lonergan, You Can Count On Me
*Rod Lurie, The Contender
Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous
M. Night Shyamalan, Unbreakable
David Mamet, State and Main
Cinematography
Paul Laufer, The Cell
Barry Markowitz, All the Pretty Horses
*Roger Deakins, O Brother Where Art Thou?
Steven Soderbergh, Traffic (yep, he was the DP!)
Roger Pratt, Chocolat
Eduardo Serra, Unbreakable
Visual Effects
The Perfect Storm
Production Design
Tom Foden, The Cell
Best Score
Howard Shore, The Yards
Best Soundtrack
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Best Documentary
Eyes of Tammy Faye – trust me, you’ve got to rent this one.
Best Surprise Ending
What’s Cooking? Despite the corny title, this is a terrific movie about four Los Angeles families on Thanksgiving.
Funniest Movies
Best in Show
Chicken Run
State and Main
The Whole Nine Yards
Best Performance By An Actress in a 40 Second Role
Amy Hohn as the Airline Clerk in Meet the Parents
Best Experimental Film
Mike Figgis’s Timecode, which simultaneously showed four screens of action. The entire film was shot in four simultaneous 90 minute takes with digital cameras. The result was more than a stunt, it was a stunning experience! It’s also the first time I’ve ever seen Jeanne Tripplehorn in a movie without wanting to slap her silly.
Underrated Movies
The Yards. Why was this movie ignored? It’s a beautiful, sad, almost operatic story of a Brooklyn kid struggling to go straight despite overwhelming pressure to do otherwise.
Titan A.E. Why was this movie ignored? It’s a beautiful, fun, exciting animated space adventure.
Unbreakable. Of course it isn’t as great as The Sixth Sense, but it’s still a terrific movie. However, America can’t handle a movie that’s languidly paced.
The Sixth Day – a surprisingly smart and entertaining futuristic thriller; this one’s worth cloning, Arnold!
A Triumph of Style Over Substance
Snatch
Worst Name for a Good Movie
Laughing Fish and Goat on Fire
Great Title
The Tao of Steve
Easily the Best Family Film of 2000
My Dog Skip
Great To See You Again . . . Please Stick Around This Time!
Carroll O’Connor in Come Back to Me
Bruce Dern in All the Pretty Horses
Pamela Reed in Proof of Life
Best Internet Movie
George Lucas in Love
Special Career Development Award
To director Joel Schumacher. Keep it up, Joel. After Tigerland, we might have to start taking you seriously after all these years!
Great Scenes
Prep school student Topher Grace explains the social economics of the illegal drug trade to Michael Douglas in Traffic.
Bruce Willis lifts weights, with the help of his son (Spencer Treat Clark) in Unbreakable.
Jeff Bridges’ final speech to Congress in The Contender
Mark Ruffalo and his 10-year old nephew win a pool bar bet in You Can Count in Me
Rock star Billy Crudup gets dressed down on the phone by supermom Frances McDormand in Almost Famous
Todd Louiso uses his arcane knowledge of Green Day to successfully flirt with Sara Gilbert in High Fidelity
Best Directorial Debut
*Tarsem Singh, The Cell
Sofia Coppola, The Virgin Suicides
Ed Norton, Keeping the Faith
Kevin Jordan, Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire
Best Use of Weather as a Character in a Movie
The unrelenting Pittsburgh weather in The Wonder Boys
The Year of Nice Movies About Adult Sibling Relationships
You Can Count on Me
Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire
Most Fortuitous Casting
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in X-Men. Thanks, Dougray Scott, for having to drop out!
Best Teen Movie
Bring It On
Please Can We See More Of
Amanda Peet (hilarious in The Whole Nine Yards as a dental hygienist who really rather be an assassin)
Jim Caviezel — excellent in Frequency
Gabrielle Union – excellent as the hottie Compton cheerleader captain in Bring It On
Adam Garcia – excellent in completely unseen Bootmen
That Gym Membership is Really Paying Off
Vin Diesel, Dermot Mulroney
Honorable Misfires
The Ninth Gate – don’t give up, Roman Polanski, we still believe you’ve got some good movies in you!
All the Pretty Horses – Billy Bob, you had all the right ingredients . . . they just didn’t quite catch fire
The Gift – love Sam Raimi, love Cate Blanchett . . . not terrible but not the gem I hoped it would be.
Worst Movies of 1999
Reindeer Games – Veteran Director John Frankenheimer’s latest in his long and embarrassing decline
I Dreamed of Africa – so did I, Ms. Basinger, after I went to sleep while watching this movie
MI2 – the ONLY thing good about it is that its extra-long shooting schedule forced co-star Dougray Scott to drop out of X-Men.
Hollow Man – blech.
Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows – I was (and remain) a HUGE fan of the original, but this half-baked mess is . . . a half-baked mess.
Vertical Limit – who knew a daring rescue on K2 could be so BORING?!
The Fantasticks – if you love the musical as much as I do it was heartbreaking to sit through this misbegotten fiasco
Hanging Up – Nora Ephron should be excommunicated for taking three of our best actresses (Diane Keaton, Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow) and one legendary actor (Walter Matthau) and coming up with this mess.
Most Disturbingly Overrated Movies of 2000
Gladiator
Nurse Betty
Worst Remake of Braveheart
The Patriot
A Big Fat Disappointment
Fantasia 2000
Worst Gay Movie
But I’m a Cheerleader!
Worst Supporting Actor
Guy Pearce with his baffling accent and anorexic physique in Rules of Engagement. Let’s hope he’s better in the upcoming Memento.
Worst Actor
It pains me to report it, but this year’s winner is Harrison Ford for What Lies Beneath.
Worst Actress
Robin Tunney in Vertical Limit. I wouldn’t have crossed the street to save her life, much less climbed a mountain!
I Love You, But Take a REST Already
Helen Hunt, who in 2000 appeared in Dr. T and the Women, What Women Want, Pay it Forward and Cast Away. Time to switch to decaf, honey.
Reason to Consider Extending the Eligible Age for Statutory Rape
Autumn in New York
Reason To Cling To Hope
Adam’s Sandler’s Little Nicky TANKED at the box office. So sad.
Most Abused Planet
Mars. Poor thing, it had not one but two high-profile terrible films about its exploration this year: Red Planet and Mission to Mars. You deserve better, dude.
Now Playing At the Shrieking Nightmare Multiplex
Gossip
Hamlet (Ethan Hawke’s version)
Jesus’ Son
The Patriot
Space Cowboys
Dr. T. and the Women
Proof of Life
What Women Want
Dude, Where’s My Car?
The Claim
Hanging Up
How the Grinch Stole ChristmasCharley’s AngelsBounceDuetsDancer in the Dark
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
Gone in Sixty Seconds
Me, Myself and Irene
102 Dalmations
Pay it Forward
Shaft
Shanghai Noon
What Planet Are You From?
We Will Miss You . . .Hedy LamarrRichard MulliganBilly BartyJason Robards
Victor Borge
Werner Klemperer
Steve Allen
Julie London
David Dukes
David Tomlinson
Tito Puente
Paul Bartel
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Steve Reeves
Edward Gorey
Larry Linville
Durward Kirby
Roger Vadim
Jim Varney
Doug Henning
And the Eight I’ll Miss the Most . . .
Charles Shulz
Gwen Verdon
Marie Windsor
Nancy Marchand
Alec Guinness
John Gielgud
Walter Matthau
Claire Trevor
Upcoming 2000 Titles To Get Excited About
Denzel Washington plays a maverick fine art professor in Remember the Titians.
Alanis Morrissette plays a maverick Greek architecture professor in Isn’t It Ionic?
QUESTIONS? ANSWERS? BITTER DIATRIBES? COMPLIMENTS? WRITE ME AT RAYIVEY@ca.rr.com.