ILX Top Films of 2000-04 RESULTS (yes, really)

It won't be and there's enough wrong here nevertheless

Spirited Away will clearly (and deservedly) win.

I could go for that. Too lazy to look, what were the #1s in the previous polls again? Blue Velvet for '80s, I sort of remember.

5) City of God (Meirelles/Lund, 2002)

seriously, this is the best comment on City of God that Google turns up:

My joint fave magic movie moment of 2003 was the torture / shooting of the small Brazilian street kids in City Of God, although I realise that saying it like that makes me look like some kind of sadist paedophile.
-- udu wudu

the followup to that movie moments thread:
camera follows a suitcase being wheeled through hollywood, onto an elevator, down a hallway and into an apartment where it is laid on the floor and unzipped, revealing four feet and eleven inches of gauge to the delight of three eager, big-dicked gentlemen.
^^--intro to weapons of ass destruction 2. highly recommended.
-- brian badword

http://www.ocean-films.com/themoodforlove/secret/images/img_menu.jpg

4) In The Mood For Love (Wong, 2000), 260 points

Finally, "In the Mood for Love" by Wong Kar Wei was a wonderfully melancholy moodfilm of quiet lives and missed opportunities, as visually *rich* a movie as any I've seen since the Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Even a twilight gale-blasted Tottenham Court Road seemed romantic after seeing it.
-- Stevie T

3) Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001) 279 points, 1 first-place vote

SPIRITED AWAY -- or This Week In Acid Casualty Anime Fairy Tales That Will Haunt Your Dreams For A Long Time But Make You Want To Watch Them Over And Over Again

So, I got back from my week long stay in British Columbia (Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo) last night, only to be whisked away to a friend's birthday party and then to a showing of the just-off-the-racks DVD for this little gem of an anime movie called Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki.

Oh.. my.. god. Not to underrate the surreal values of most anime flicks, but this one takes the cake, only because it's disguised as a fairy tale free of violence. And, while, compared to most anime flicks, this is indeed relatively violence-free, the images from this movie will never ever leave my brain -- partially to will, and partially not.

Keep in mind that I'm hardly a movie kinda guy, much less an ANIME kinda guy, and I think this is just one of the movies of the year. Maybe anime connoisseurs will balk at my recommendation... but whatever. And with almost all movies, I recommend the Japanese dialog with English subtitles.

Mind you, I still don't understand most of "Spirited Away", and probably never will. (And that pic at the top really doesn't even touch the surface of what horrific wonders and wonderous horrors are contained within)
-- Donut Bitch

Miyazaki believes in the audience feeling genuine, powerful emotions, terror, confusion, unease, gladness, love. Like in early Disney, eg Pinnochio, not today where it's all filtered for you into a low-key blandness.
I saw Spirited Away several times and it stayed fresh while each time suggesting more to me. Finally i think it's an allegory of the horror of having to grow up and go to work. Chihiro being in fear of her life conveys the death of innocence that we fight against.
-- pete s

90s: Pulp Fiction
80s: Blue Velvet
70s: Taxi Driver

I guess I'd be surprised if something like Spirited Away joined this company.

(XPOST!)

what are 2 and 1 then?

2) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004), 406 points, 3 first-place votes

the opening credits, so perfectly timed, of joel crying his eyes out in the car, that's everything. the entire centre of the movie is rooted in joel's anguish. there's a quote near the beginning where he's remembering their last major fight and is chasing her down the street and she disappears and he says something like (major paraphrase): "great - the perfect end to the perfect piece of shit story!" things have gotten so bad between them that on some level its clear that he BELIEVES what he's saying. he's that frustrated, that lost. and of course it rings true because most of us have been in that situation, where we've ended relationships and felt so separated from the love that was there in the beginning that our only logical recourse is to assume that we dreamt it.

what's so perfect about the second last scene is that the film's conceit allows kaufman to construct a direct bridge between that terrible frustration (in the form of their lacuna tapes) and the couple's excitement in meeting each other for the 'first' time. that's where you get your answers i think, in the way they happily relent to each other even in spite of knowing what's probably in store. it's hamfisted but its also stupidly powerful, the way their hopefulness and curiosity is enough to wash away their better judgement.

my interpretation of this scene was similar to jody's. i heard the voices in the background as analogous to the baggage that we carry with us into new relationships. they represent all the hurts and fears that you're left with whenever you part ways with someone, things you can ultimately get over but never totally leave behind. and even though they're with you when you meet the next person (and the next, and the next), they're never enough to keep you from trying again.

if joel and clementine end up in a loop, it's probably because they have that luxury! i don't infer anything overtly misanthropic from that, just the obvious: love is a difficult thing to say no to.
-- mark p

I fail to see how Kirsten Dunst dancing in her underwear in this movie expanded upon KD dancing in her underwear in 'Bring it On.' Then again, BiO was a fairly flawless performance, which she would be hard-pressed to improve upon.
I thought Kate Winslet in this movie had as much charisma as a sack of stale pototoes. God, and her hair could only be surpassed in its unfecthingness by Katie Holmes' locks in 'Pieces of April.' Did the two movies retain the same hair stylist perhaps?

I will say that Mark Rufallo's return to the stoner role suits him well—so well that I suggest that he never undertake to play a non-stoner.

Elihjah Wood? Please.

Can someone please acknowledge how utterly stupid this film was? Oh, OK, let's have an office where we erase peoples memories, but let's do the actual work of the memory erasing in peoples homes, and cart around our supplies in what looks like a stolen van.
-- Mary

I do rate Inland Empire, and it tops 2006 as an A minus.

http://www.celluloid-dreams.de/content/images/kritiken-filmbilder/mulholland-drive/mulholland-drive-1.jpg

1) Mulholland Dr. (Lynch, 2001), 454 points, 4 first-place votes

Finally saw MD last night, I took the advice of many and decided not to try and too much make sense of it all, just strapped myself in and went along with the ride. My "date" took me by surprise afterwards by declaring that it had all made sense to her, tears still streaming down her face.
The whole thing still lodged deep in my psyche where I suspect it will remain for a while. The Spanish "Crying" (by no means a mere rehash of Blue Velvet's Orbison moment) had me gripping the sides of the seat with a lump in my throat and eyes damp, yet I couldn't really understand why. As someone who doesn't necessarily demand a plot, let alone a logical one, but would rather immerse himself in atmosphere and beautiful imagery, it was some kind of perfection. I haven't seen all the reference points that Edna talks about, but I was put in mind of Bunuel and Polanski's "The tenant". But no-one can create menace quite like David Lynch.
-- Tag

do people in relationships go to the movies on v-day?

Oh, I meant single people's VIEW of romance. I don't give a damn what ppl in relationships do.

http://uashome.alaska.edu/~jndfg20/website/pupkin.jpg

I think the best film of all 4 decades was likely made outside America.