2002 IN FILM

My favourite films released in the U.S. in 2002. Top 30 & many honorables. Also a "Best in Film" ballot for select categories of 2002. Here's the countdown:






                 

              THE HAPPINESS 

30. OF THE KATAKURIS

29.            MOUNT HEAD

.

28.           LILO & STITCH

.

27.            MAELSTROM

.

26.       MORVERN CALLAR

.

25.    24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE

.

24.     CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

.

23.      DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

.

22.

 SHAOLIN SOCCER [Director's cut]

.

21.     Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN

.

20.               DECASIA

.

19.               FRAILTY

.

18.     TROUBLE EVERY DAY

.

17.            ADAPTATION.

.

16.         SUNSHINE STATE

.

15.          LATE MARRIAGE

.
              THE MAD SONGS
14.   OF FERNANDA HUSSEIN

.

13.             RUSSIAN ARK

.

12.            TALK TO HER

11.               25TH HOUR

.

10.          MINORITY REPORT

.

9.      TAKE CARE OF MY CAT

.

8.                       HERO

.
       THE LORD OF THE RINGS:

7.    THE TWO TOWERS

.

6.             FEMME FATALE

.

5.                   SPIDER

.

4.        PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE

.

3.     WHAT TIME IS IT THERE?

.

2.         FAR FROM HEAVEN

.

1.            SPIRITED AWAY

*****

ALSO ESSENTIAL. NOT RANKED.

(other titles from 2002 I loved that could've placed)

GANGS OF NEW YORK

.

THE FAST RUNNER

.

BLADE II

KYLIE MINOGUE: 

COME INTO MY WORLD

.

BIGGIE & TUPAC

.

KUNG POW: ENTER THE FIST

.

HEAVEN

.

PASSAGE

.

WINGED MIGRATION

.

DEVIL'S ON THE DOORSTEP

.

TREASURE PLANET

.

THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST

.

DAGON

.

METROPOLIS

NARC

.

CREMASTER 3

.

WENDIGO

.

VISITOR Q

.

TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE

.

SIGUR ROS:
VIÐRAR VEL TIL LOFTÁRÁSA

.

TIME OUT

  

.
ON THE OCCASION OF REMEMBERING 
THE TURNING GATE

.

ALL OR NOTHING

.

IVANSXTC.

.

ESTHER KAHN

.

THE LADY AND THE DUKE

.

BRIEF CROSSING

.

SOLARIS

.

O FANTASMA

.

HUMAN NATURE

.

SPIDER-MAN

 .

UNDISPUTED

.

PANIC ROOM

.

K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER

.

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

.

RABBIT-PROOF FENCE

.

THE PIANO TEACHER

  

.

BLOODY SUNDAY

.

AUTO FOCUS

.

MERCI POUR LE CHOCOLAT

.

CONFESSIONS 

OF DANGEROUS MIND

.

THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE

.

THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE

.

UNFAITHFUL

.

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

.

8 WOMEN

 .

FRIDA

.

DAS EXPERIMENT

.

SECRETARY

.

'R XMAS

 .

MONSOON WEDDING

.

THE QUIET AMERICAN

.

THE PIANIST

.

THE ISLE

.

CQ

.

THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS

.

THE BOURNE IDENTITY

.

INJA [DOG]

.

DUMBLAND [Roadshow version]

.

BELOW

.

UZUMAKI

.

GUERREROS

.

READ MY LIPS

.

LES 
DESTINÉES SENTIMENTALES

.

ROAD TO PERDITION

.

BEIJING BICYCLE

.

NINE QUEENS

.

REFLECTIONS OF EVIL

AMBUSH

[RUKAJÄRVEN TIE]

****

2002 recap
TOP 30

1. SPIRITED AWAY (Miyazaki)
2. FAR FROM HEAVEN (Haynes)
3. WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? (Ming-liang)
4. PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (P.T. Anderson)
5. SPIDER (Cronenberg)
6. FEMME FATALE (De Palma)
7. TWO TOWERS (Jackson)
8. HERO (Yimou)
9. TAKE CARE OF MY CAT (Jae-eun Jeong)
10. MINORITY REPORT (Spielberg)
11. 25TH HOUR (Spike Lee)
12. TALK TO HER (Almodovar)
13. RUSSIAN ARK (Sokurov)
14. MAD SONGS OF FERNANDA HUSSEIN (Gianvito)
15. LATE MARRIAGE (Kosashvili)
16. SUNSHINE STATE (Sayles)
17. ADAPTATION. (Jonze)
18. TROUBLE EVERY DAY (Denis)
19. FRAILTY (Paxton)
20. DECASIA (Bill Morrison)
21. Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (Cuaron)
22. SHAOLIN SOCCER: Director's cut (Chow)
23. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (Wiseman)
24. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (Spielberg)
25. 24HR PARTY PEOPLE (Winterbottom)
26. MORVERN CALLAR (Ramsey)
27. MAELSTROM (Villeneuve)
28. LILO & STITCH (Sanders/DeBlois)
29. ATAMA YAMA (Koji Yamamura)
30. HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS (Miike)

RUNNER-UP:
GANGS OF NY (Scorsese), THE FAST RUNNER (Zacharias Kunuk), BLADE II (del Toro), COME INTO MY WORLD (Gondry), BIGGIE & TUPAC (Broomfield), KUNG POW: ENTER THE FIST (Oedekerk), HEAVEN (Tykwer), PASSAGE (Shirin Neshat), WINGED MIGRATION (Perrin), DEVIL'S ON THE DOORSTEP (Wen Jiang), TREASURE PLANET (Clements), MAN WITHOUT A PAST (Kaurismäki), DAGON (Stuart Gordon), METROPOLIS (Rintaro), NARC (Carnahan), CREMASTER 3 (Barney), WENDIGO (Fessenden), VISITOR Q (Miike), TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE (Demme), VIORAR VEL TIL LOFTARASA (Arni & Kinski), TIME OUT (Cantet), TURNING GATE (Sang-soo), ALL OR NOTHING (Leigh), IVANSXTC. (Rose), ESTHER KAHN (Desplechin), LADY & THE DUKE (Rohmer), BRIEF CROSSING (Breillat), SOLARIS (Soderbergh), O FANTASMA (J.Pedro Rodigues), HUMAN NATURE (Gondry), SPIDER-MAN (Raimi), UNDISPUTED (Hill), PANIC ROOM (Fincher), K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER (Bigelow), MOTHMAN PROPHECIES (Pellington), RABBIT-PROOF FENCE (Noyce), PIANO TEACHER (Haneke), BLOODY SUNDAY (Greengrass), AUTO FOCUS (Schrader), MERCI POUR LE CHOCOLAT (Chabrol), CONFESSIONS OF DANGEROUS MIND (Clooney), UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE (de Oliveira), KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE (Nanette Burstein), UNFAITHFUL (Lyne), COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (Reynolds), 8 WOMEN (Ozon), FRIDA (Julie Taymor), DAS EXPERIMENT (Hirschbiegel), SECRETARY (Shainberg), 'R XMAS (Ferrara), MONSOON WEDDING (Nair), QUIET AMERICAN (Noyce), THE PIANIST (Polanski), THE ISLE (Ki-duk), CQ (Roman Coppola), MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS (Hickenlooper), BOURNE IDENTITY (Liman), INJA (Pasvolsky), DUMBLAND (Lynch), BELOW (Twohy), UZUMAKI (Higuchinsky), GUERREROS (Calparsoro), READ MY LIPS (Audiard), LES DESTINEES SENTIMENTALES (Assayas), ROAD TO PERDITION (Mendes), BEIJING BICYCLE (Xiaoshuai Wang), NINE QUEENS (Bielinsky), REFLECTIONS OF EVIL (Packard), AMBUSH (Saarela),