Movies are constantly being split into categories and genres, be it horror, comedy, drama or action. But these are only divisions of films; the real split comes between the great and the horrible, the beautiful and the ugly, the “just plain wrong” and the “couldn’t be more right.”
This year, as many others in the past, has these groups present and accounted for. And on top of those two families of films is the group consisting of their cousins, better known as the movies that deserve so much more than they got.
The past year’s films can be divided, ranked, classified and stored away in list form. Their genres differ, but they all fall in one of the three categories: the good ones, the bad ones or the ugly ones that are beautiful on the inside.
The year’s most successful (as decided mainly by big spending audiences who can’t wait for video, it’s all about the cash):
“Gladiator” - Russell Crowe was excellent. This film deserved every buck it made.
“The Perfect Storm” - This film made a lot of money, and its perfect blend of action and heart make it a classic.
“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” - It’s still hot in theaters now, so the cash keeps flowing in. Christmas will be good at the Howard house.
“X-Men” - Movie adaptation of a comic book? Been done before, but “Batman” may just be beat.
“Scary Movie” - The Wayans brothers took both the script of this movie and the butts of every audience member to the edge (of their seats).
“What Lies Beneath” - Can anyone say Hitchcock? Definitely a winner.
“Meet the Parents” - De Niro as the funny guy continues to work, this time more than 100 million times.
“Dinosaur” - Animation brings in the bucks and gives “The Lion King” some real competition.
“Remember the Titans” - Jerry Bruckheimer and Denzel Washington teamed for a real winner despite some bad reviews.
“Chicken Run” - Wow. Was this the sleeper hit of the year? And how much did Mel Gibson have to do with it?
The year’s big, bad bombs (everyone’s favorite movies to talk about, walk out on and, of course, review):
“Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows” - What a letdown. Expectations can really ruin a film when they are good ones and the movie ends up being a bomb.
“Mission to Mars” - Action? Drama? What was this movie? It was too confusing and, once again, expectations were too high.
“Bedazzled” - Brendan Fraser in this kind of role is getting really old.
“The Watcher” - This whole film had a sickly demeanor that made everything pasty and uninteresting.
“Lost Souls” - “The Exorcist” is grandfather to this movie and all the more wiser.
“Hollow Man” - Corny, corny, corny. Good special effects but they didn’t make up for all the cheese.
“Unbreakable” - Many people may be mad to see this here, but, for all who haven’t seen it, just wait for a sequel before you suffer through this.
“Shanghai Noon” - Jackie Chan flicks are getting kind of repetitive. And Owen Wilson, despite being great in everything else, was bad.
“Urban Legends: Final Cut” - Good sequel, but bad movie. Understandable? “Scream 2” was its own film. This wasn’t.
“The Ladies’ Man” - Another “Saturday Night Live” character who can’t really hack it in the real world. Had its funny parts but wasn’t as good as “Wayne’s World.”The year’s Rodneys (the year’s flicks that got less respect, cash-wise, than Rodney Dangerfield but obviously deserved more):
“Bait” - Jamie Foxx, although a bit annoying at times, proved to be a good comic relief in this action flick.
“American Psycho” - Sick and twisted and interesting and hard to look away from all at the same time. That is hard to do.
“High Fidelity” - Not many films can compare to this. See it if you haven’t already.
“The Patriot” - Was it just Mel’s new “Braveheart”? No way. Excellent.
“The Whole Nine Yards” - Funny as hell. Bruce Willis + Matthew Perry = Best On-Screen Duo?
“Final Destination” - Everyone should have seen this already. And for those who have, they should watch it again.
“Pitch Black” - Next best thing behind “Alien” and, arguably, just as good.
“Almost Famous” - Cameron Crowe’s return is marked with a great movie with a lot of heart.
“The Way of the Gun” - It was confusing but interesting, good and bad. Overall? Great.
“Pay It Forward” - Poor reviews tended to give it a bad rap, but the story is incomparable to any other.
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