The (Now-Overrated) ILX Top 100 Films of the 2000s Poll Results

A strange and gorgeous film. Not at all the sappy inspirational tale that someone else might have generated using the same material.

When people say "well-made comic book" I don't think it's a slander against comic books, rather an expression that it's something that doesn't transcend the genre.

I don't really understand ppl who can't make themselves watch the LOTR movies.

I saw the first one in the theater. Was kind of into the Hobbit mythology at the beginning, but then about halfway through, it became a series of endless scenes with characters marching someplace or doing battle with this or that, and I found it hard to stay interested.

I really did think the did an excellent job of distilling 98% of what made the books

That's why I can't make myself watch the movies.

rather an expression that it's something that doesn't transcend the genre.

why do you hate genres

LOTR movies are awesome and fun, and i don't really care for fantasy

like, why are genres bad and why is "transcending" them desirable

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xp - maybe it would be better to say "medium" as opposed to "genre"?

i like some genres just fine, but if someone suggests a movie in a genre I don't have much affection for, man that movie better transcend the hell out of it!

I always thought the Diving Bell would be better as a super-realistic version of the publishing world where dude is put through 80 rounds of rewrites and edits until he loses it, furiously blinks "fuck you" and the movie ends.

I saw the first one in the theater. Was kind of into the Hobbit mythology at the beginning, but then about halfway through, it became a series of endless scenes with characters marching someplace or doing battle with this or that, and I found it hard to stay interested.

yeah I seriously bet 80% of the audience who hadn't read the books would have a difficult time explaining the plot of the film(s) they just saw beyond "he has to destroy the ring, also, gollum is evil...also there are lots of big battles"

*watch out for orcs

xp - maybe it would be better to say "medium" as opposed to "genre"?

either way you're insulting the medium... do people praise films for "transcending" the genre of film?

It had been 20 years since I'd read the books when I saw the films - and pretty much I would have explained the plot as "he has to destroy the ring, also, gollum is evil ... also there are lots of big battles and they march around a lot, plus elves that are supposed to be hot that are just kinda goofy looking"

like "wow, 2001 was an amazing movie - so amazing it made me forget I was watching something as lame as a movie"

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if the source is video, i dont see the problem with using it for the home video transfer.

― brews before HOOS (s1ocki), Thursday, February 4, 2010 1:07 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

i mean i guess it comes down to your preference for a 24p fake-film look but it doesn't sound like it was a technical screwup

― brews before HOOS (s1ocki), Thursday, February 4, 2010 1:08 PM (1 hour ago)

well, the frame rate was off, which caused a discernible speedup of people's movements and threw off the rhythm of the film. plus, you wouldn't have known it was shot on video from watching the film in a theatre, there was a lot of praise for the cinematography at the time.

like "wow, 2001 was an amazing movie - so amazing it made me forget I was watching something as lame as a movie"

actually pretty otm...

Mathieu Amalric's general appeal is stomping around being obnoxious, couldn't bring myself to watch him in bed for 2 hours.

'do people praise films for "transcending" the genre of film?'

ad copy for event movies do. "this isn't just a movie, but an EXPERIENCE"

LOTR movies are awesome and fun, and i don't really care for fantasy

^ this

so, yeah I think they transcend their genre

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/etienne_saint/teamamerica_800.jpg

Yeah, confusion over the film's contradictions seems to me to be it's most salient benefit. But at the same time, they could've delved into the contradictions a whole lot more and the film would've been stronger for it. For instance, the fact that most of those actors have, y'know, actually played the Team America roles at various points in their real careers (which is a much more interesting hypocrisy, especially if we're supposed to believe that this movie is a satire of the Bruckheimer propogandae) is never really delved into at all, aside from Helen Hunt weilding a sword and purring "I've done a few action movies."

― Eric H.

Just saw this for the first time last night (July 4th AMERICA FUCK YEAH - seemed appropriate) after many misgivings and hemmin and hawin, but a friend insisted. Overall - great looking sets/funny puppets, pretty funny songs, fairly shitty script, completely loathsome politics. The Kim Jong Il thing, for example, is a funny concept - the lonely dictator wandering around his palace - but the inexplicable weirdly racist voice almost ruins it, its so unnecessary and distracting... I find much of Stone/Parker's ouevre does this to me, there are lots of funny ideas, often well executed, but then there's these subtexts and underlying ideas that are really obnoxious and stupid.

Plus they run a non-union shop. Fuck that shit.

― Shakey Mo Collier

It's a shame though, for at least the 1st half the straight faced use of blockbuster action devices applied to current symbols of "terrorism" gave the film an energized sense of danger. The opening sequence of the little boy walking into a shadowy terrorist had a weirdly fun sense of manifesting peoples worst fears w/r/t terrorism. The exploding titles credit sequence that preceded this was also a nice gesture of mocking such spectacle while respecting the fun power of the form.

― theodore fogelsanger

#79

Team America: World Police
Trey Parker
2004
United States
(237.5 points, 8 votes)

kinda interested in watching m&c now - had written it off as a russell crowe garbage and nvr really even tht about watching it. always meant 2 see diving bell but something abt that blonde chick's face made me not want to watch it. also i think mb overly art-directed. will probably nvr watch lotr or almost famous.

lol morbz

ad copy for event movies do. "this isn't just a movie, but an EXPERIENCE"

taking ad copy literally = lolz

I'm pretty sure Mel Gibson's street team was out there hyping Passion as more than a movie also. Like it's not enough to just be a good movie about torture, but a necessary component for spiritual communion.

interesting 2 stats nerds: team america has the highest points/vote so far

that is a high per vote avg 4 team america wow xp

Team America was weak tea. Must be a few libertarians around.

Team America is so boring.

yeah that's almost an average of #10

xp Shakey - I don't see how that's necessarily insulting the medium - "as lame as a movie," "only a comic book" - it's that different media have different formal properties. What makes a compelling comic book doesn't necessarily make for a compelling movie, and vice versa. Like - what if they made a movie of one of your favorite comic books that was basically just shots of the book and someone off-screen turning the pages with voice-over narration by one person reading in different voices, and a slightly distorted-sounding home stereo playing in the background? Most people would think that that would not make for a good movie, but it would - theoretically - replicate the experience of reading the comic book.

i never saw team america looked pretty dumm

I forgot I used to actually have intelligent thoughts about movies and would post them on ILX. Thanks for the reminder, omar.

is there a sword n sorcery fantasy film that "transcended the genre" better than LOTR?

please to name

this is the last film with a single digit # of votes

gotta run for awhile, be back later for 71-78...

best thing about Team America was the "montage" song. definitely a filmic device that I've grown to hate, and well-parodied.

but yeah, MOVIE SO RACIST

Was "Sin City" nominated for this? lol

what if they made a movie of one of your favorite comic books that was basically just shots of the book and someone off-screen turning the pages with voice-over narration by one person reading in different voices, and a slightly distorted-sounding home stereo playing in the background

wait this was called Watchmen

xp E3 - Clash of the Titans - better acting

lol

LORDS WILL RING

but yeah movies + comic books are obviously vastly different media, I don't think that's the problem... its when you say one medium is inherently better than another that I get pretty WTF

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best thing about Team America was the "montage" song. definitely a filmic device that I've grown to hate, and well-parodied.

didn't they just re-use a song from a south park episode? I forgot which one came first, but I'm pretty sure it was the south park episode. anyway parker and stone have an amazing eye for genre-parody type stuff but their politics are so retarded that I have trouble watching basically anything they do anymore.

yep

"Clash of the Titans" is one of my favorite movies in the world and the idea of seriously championing the idea that the acting in it was better than the acting in LOTR is possibly the most ludicrous thing ever, more ludicrous than a beach ball balancing a seal on its nose.

uh - we're talking about a movie with Laurence Olivier and Maggie Smith vs. one where the best acting was done by a CGI mutant?

I think it was Burgess Meredith who said there was a really wide exterior shot of the gods in "Clash of the Titans," filmed w/out sound in the spatial equivalent of a conga line, and when they rolled the actors just started chanting "We're gonna make some money!"

anyway parker and stone have an amazing eye for genre-parody type stuff but their politics are so retarded that I have trouble watching basically anything they do anymore.

I'm a couple of years behind on South Park, but unless they've grown really odious and overbearing w/r/t their politics, I'd like to continue to say that I think they're great strongly in spite of their politics (although their not-so-subtle racism makes me pretty :/ on the unfortunate occasion when it pops up). It's clear where their politics lie, but they're pretty good about delivering a blow to pretty much everyone across the spectrum.

yeah everybody knows laurence olivier's best paycheck work was in clash of the titans

To this day, people talk about Maggie smith's star-making turn as Thetis.