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

"It’s crap. Science fiction has to be logical, and it’s full of lapses in logic." Dunno if I agree with Aldiss that sci-fi HAS to be logical but all the nonsense in AI is definitely a negative.

One third of the way through, one of my votes shows up. (AI = my #39)

AI is ridiculous. had more endings than The Return of the King iirc.

I don't remember anything about AI, in fact I think it is one of the rare films that sent me to sleep in the cinema. Have no inclination to ever watch it again.

You guys are getting me excited to rescr**n this.

had more endings than The Return of the King iirc.

Really not Kubrick's fault that you don't know what an ending is.

(and the script treatment Kubrick developed was essentially intact)

is rescr**n like "F star star"?

A.I. kind of fell apart toward the end, but the simultaneous creepiness and poignance of the scenes with the robot-boy David were worth it. Agree with Morbius that the child abandonment scene was terrifying and heartbreaking. I think this movie speaks to anyone who felt out of place as a child

couldn't care less that kubrick's script treatment was intact. it didn't make the film any less awful.

I prefer to consider this fable/fantasy not SF, as with E.T.

Actually, my blurb up there pretty much sums it up. It's above average Spielbergian futurism up until David makes it to flooded out NYC. At which point, the movie turns into one of the smartest, most philosophical mass market movies of the decade, a pitch that crescendos all the way up to the mother. fucking. credits.

admittedly up til the abandonment scene the thing is pretty damn amazing.

another movie I'm looking forward to seeing again

Not to derail the thread, but, jeez, what a decade Spielberg's had, with this, War of the Worlds and Munich.

Gattaca is still Jude Law's best performance though. Cold-bloodied posh-boys is the one thing he can do well.

jed, I just meant some ppl's instinctive reaction is to think Spielberg ruuuuuuined Kubrick's masterful vision

and if only The Terminal had a different lead actor in it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/etienne_saint/Kung_fu_hustle_010138_.jpg

It has the beauty of a Zang Yimou film and the inspired lunacy of a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Wonderful, I laughed my arse off.

― chap

Definitely top five of the year material. I want this guy to make two films a year until i die, please.

The visual flourishes were so dead on; personal fave was the cat shadow leaping then dividing in two perfect halves.

― Forksclovetofu

Put this in my top 20 of the decade. Forgot the Beast going all bullfrog in the last fight.

Chow supposedly in pre-prod with sequel.

― Rage, Resentment, Spleen (Dr Morbius)

Have we had a thread about Kung-Fu Hustle yet?

#65

Kung Fu Hustle
Stephen Chow
2004
Hong Kong
(278.5 points, 16 votes, 1 first place)

wow, you guys are puttin all the good stuff in the 60s huh

I felt worse for robot chris rock than robot sixth sense kid.

I find that any film with the "too many endings" problem is more tolerable on the second viewing

haven't gone back to watch AI again, but I remember thinking it would've been great if it ended with the boy in the pod staring at the blue lady

I didn't vote for it, but it is my favorite speilberg besides jaws, prolly cause the kubrick pessimism cramps spielberg's natural instincts for audience pandering

1 first place? did El Tomboto vote?

morbs, i'm baffled by the love the film gets but it's one of those ones where i admire how wildly opinions diverge on it. like people have the exact opposite take on the film, where it starts to get truly great/ completely loses it.

Count me in with the AI post-sea crash haters.

I dunno, it's a pretty exclusive club, Simon.

Kung Fu Hustle gets much love from me - the way kung fu movies should be done imho. love the landlady.

Kung Fu Hustle is one of the best semi-animated films of the '00s

Maybe Jude Law's best performance. A caliber of imaginative world-making no other pop filmmaker can approach.

^^^this, totally totally (re AI)

I remember watching AI because it was a hot day and it was a long movie, and the theater had air conditioning, so I would have happily sat through even a third ending. It's a perfectly pleasant and serviceable movie that way.

Kung fu movies are so not my thing. I would like to be convinced that this is worth watching

It definitely transcends Kung Fu/animated genres, but God of Cookery invented and transcended its own genre.

it's hilarious imo, i think the gag with the snakes was the funniest unexpected lol in any film i'd seen this past decade (excepting the part in high fidelity where they beat the shit out of tim robbins)

2010th reply!

or 09th.

Kung fu movies are so not my thing

It's not even a bit solemn, tho there's a mild love story ... Incredible effects-laden gags throughout. The real 'looney tunes' masterwork/hommage.

"Kung fu movies are so not my thing"

What about Hustle movies?

lol
come to think of it I did kind of like Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Hustle is about a million times better and way less sanctimonious than Kung Fu Panda

yeah its non-stop jokes/visual gags, very cleverly constructed, never a dull moment or wasted scene

stephen chow is my dawg

ok. I'll watch it.

Urgh. Elephant is the first selection to make me feel mildly chagrined, although I shouldn't have been surprised at its placing, given how highly it was rated in the Van Sant poll. As a big, big fan of most of Van Sant's '80s and '90s stuff, I shake my head sadly at Elephant.

I am surprised to see Synecdoche show up. It's the only Kaufman joint that I haven't made an effort to see yet, given all of the 'middlin' to poor' reviews I've read/heard. But now I'm intrigued.

AI is ridiculous. had more endings than The Return of the King iirc.

Kinda true, regardless of who was responsible for the endless poorly-structured, hall of mirrors denouement. Which is not to say that I disliked the content of the endings, or the movie as a whole. It's just mildly frustrating, because I think Spielberg is a real visionary with at least one great movie in him (i.e. one that you can single out as his definitive magnum opus), but I think he still has some popcorn to work out of his system before we'll get that from him. Still: AI = pretty and pretty good.

My #2 (Memories of Murder) and #3 (Kung Fu Hustle) movies have shown up so far. Sad they were both so low. :(

Elephant made me realize how much I like films with dialog.

"Spielberg is a real visionary with at least one great movie in him (i.e. one that you can single out as his definitive magnum opus)"
It's got its faults, but E.T. isn't good enough?

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

Upon viewing it last night, I thought most of it was marvelous. At first I thought Desplechin was letting scenes run too long, especially the ones in which Ismael (crazy second husband) was indulged. IIt's still about 15 minutes too long (the suicidal girlfriend in the loony bin was cute but a bit much), and the epiphany between Nora's son and Ismael wasn't written or shot with the finesse the scene demanded. Then as I got accustomed to his rhythms I relaxed.

The mixture of tones most impressed me, even when Desplechin strained by using jump cuts and intentionally elided transitions; an American version of this kind of novelistic film would have too many cute ironic moments. The performances were good. Emmanuelle Devos is exhaustive and exhausting (Desplechin forces her to cry too often); Catherine Deneuve is dry and self-amused; Maruice Garrel as the father was quite moving.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn

This is stupid, but had I known it would ultimately be so revered, I probably would've thought more about it at the time. Instead, it was the movie I went to with my dad because he had a free pass for a film at the Music Box. Saw it, then had Thai food afterwards. I admired a lot about it, and thought Amalric's performance was quite good, but I did long for it to be shored up somewhat (even if its patience with letting scenes play out was one of the things I admired).

― jaymc

It's been nearly a year since I saw it, but I remember a lot of scenes being extra spry and that there were a lot more of them than in most movies.

I loved it, but my love is sort of guarded with this movie. I don't like talking about it with people. I'm much more comfortable enthusing about Cannibal Holocaust and Dave Chappelle's Block Party and such.

― Eric H.

Arnaud Desplechin's "Kings & Queen" – Classic or Dud?

#64

Kings and Queen
Arnaud Desplechin
2004
France
(282 points, 10 votes)

because I think Spielberg is a real visionary with at least one great movie in him (i.e. one that you can single out as his definitive magnum opus)

The mind boggles at what he'd have to do to achieve this if he hasn't already. But I look forward to see its arrival.

OK, someone seriously flipped the good/bad switch on this poll overnight.

yay, i loved 'kings and queen'

The mind boggles at what he'd have to do to achieve this if he hasn't already

yeah if he hasn't done it yet... uh

i only just voted for Kings and a Queen. i remembered that i had forgotten and added it my ballot after i sent it. as it was i voted it 29th (the last place of my 29 submitted films) but it should have been higher.