catapult magazine

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discussion

year favorite

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lopez
Jun 14 2003
11:51 pm

anyone care to share their favorite film of the year thus far? i mean besides “old school” of course.

i’m going to have to go with “adaptation”. there are some great performances by nicholas cage and nicholas cage, but the crispness and originality of kaufman’s script (as with it’s predecessor “being john malkovich”) is what really made it such a standout film for me.

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grant
Jun 16 2003
08:01 am

If “most laughs per minute” was a characteristic of the best movie of the year, I’d have to go with “Old School” too.

The film that struck me the most this year was “Russian Ark”. But I haven’t seen nearly enough of the major movies this year.

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dan
Jun 16 2003
02:38 pm

I’d agree that Adaptation and Russian Ark both were brilliant. I haven’t seen Old School. Add Barbarian Invasions once it crosses the border. How about The Pianist, a film about a coward who survives while all the heroes die? It’s not the best, but worth mentioning. Oh yeah, Spirited Away! —an amazing Japanese animated feature.

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laryn
Jun 17 2003
08:11 pm

I just watched Spirited Away last weekend and was mightily impressed. Especially with the cartoon vomit. Very nice.

Adaptation was also very good. I laughed out loud in the theatre when I realized what was going on with the plot when his brother came to help him with the script, and the intricacies provided good discussion afterwards.

The Pianist was pretty good, too, though I left the theatre with a sick feeling and remember thinking that the main character really didn’t do anything the whole time.

I haven’t seen the others.

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JabirdV
Sep 04 2003
10:06 am

So far The House Of Sand & Fog is probably my favorite…but 21 Grams is a close runner up. Next is probably Pirates or Nemo.

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cvk
Sep 04 2003
05:46 pm

Did anyone else see the movie, “Nowhere in Africa”? It is a German film in English, German and ???? i forgot the African language. Swahili I think. It was beautifully filmed – the scenes keep coming back to my mind and I saw it early in July. The story is also a bit haunting – a Jewish family that are refugees in Kenya from the early thirties through WWII. A really worthwhile film to see or at least rent.
And what about “Whalerider!”

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jo
Sep 05 2003
07:06 pm

I liked Finding Nemo also. Pixar makes great stuff. Adaptation didn’t do much for me. Clever but ultimately unimpressive.

The other movies I’ve watched are not from this year and mostly consist of documentaries (my husband is a documentary nut and I’m almost converted myself).
The really fascinating ones:
Hearts and Minds
One Day in September
E-Dreams

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BBC
Sep 06 2003
09:57 am

Okay, maybe I’m a sap, but I’d have to say Whale Rider. It was a honking good story, it was easy to suspend my disbelief, and I really liked it.

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dan
Sep 24 2003
10:54 am

I couldn’t find the thread for Lost in Translation but I gotta agree with all the rave reviews. Simply brilliant. The characters are perfect. We like them despite their obnoxious expection that all Japanese people in Japan should speak flawless English. It perfectly captures a relationship that is perfect for a few days. I couldn’t happen anywhere else or at any other time and it can’t continue. The moment recreated by this film is the kind of moment that makes life so horribly tragic and so decisively worth living at the same time.

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JabirdV
Sep 25 2003
09:32 am

I will have to renig on my last post. Kill Bill Vol.1 is by far the greatest cinematography I have seen all year. Butterfly Effect comes in a close second on the cinematography side. In terms of story and content…well my last post still stands in this area.

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DvdSchp
Sep 25 2003
10:51 am

So you’ve seen Kill Bill. Is there actually going to be a second part, or not? I’ve heard conflicting reports.