A few weeks ago, I decided to embark on a project, a journey of sorts. I've become more interested in movies over the past couple of years, and I wanted to see what makes a "great" film. I also needed a focus, so I decided on watching all the Best Picture Nominees from the 2000 Oscar ceremony forward. I truly wanted to see what the Academy thought were the standout films and decide for myself which ones were my favorites and why.
Having watched The Green Mile yesterday, I have now watched the five Best Picture nominees from the 2000 ceremony. These films took me from an orphanage in Maine (Cider House Rules) to suburban rage (American Beauty), from a struggle to expose the tobacco industry (The Insider) to a struggle to stop Cole Sear from seeing dead people (The Sixth Sense), and then, perhaps fittingly, to Death Row in The Green Mile.
So, without further delay, here's how the nominees ranked, in reverse order.
#5- The Cider House Rules
The journey began with this film about life within a Maine orphanage's walls and a young man's desire to get out and have his own adventures. After having watched all the nominees, The Cider House Rules to me is just not in the same class with the others. Although it does have one of my favorite actors in Michael Caine, the fact that he won Best Supporting Actor over Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile) and Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) is astounding to me. His performance, especially in comparison with the two just mentioned, was not all that memorable. The Cider House Rules isn't a bad film, but it isn't consistently attention-grabbing or as memorable as the others.
#4- The Insider
The Insider is a gripping film, very well paced, and features an excellent performance from Russell Crowe as a fired scientist determined to tell the truth about the tobacco industry and Al Pacino as a dogged journalist who wants to bring the story to light on 60 Minutes. The second longest of the nominees at over two and a half hours long, it was the only one of the nominees I hadn't previously seen, so it was a good new film experience, as it moved briskly along with a lot of quick scenes and cuts, but overall, although it was very interesting to me (as I love a good movie about journalism), it comes up a bit short in intensity to the final three.
#3- American Beauty
I remember being lukewarm on this when I first saw it, but I was quite spellbound seeing it this time. Kevin Spacey gives a commanding performance as Lester Burnham, a man who finds himself slowly dying on the inside. It seems each character has something bubbling just beneath the surface- Lester's rage at living a safe life, his wife Carolyn's self-loathing and increasing distance from Lester, their daughter Jane's suffering from being between the two, and the neighbor kid's living in fear of his father. From this point on, there's nothing really negative to say, just a gut feeling as to why these films rank the way they do....
#2- The Green Mile
When these films first came out, I probably would have ranked this one first. I enjoyed The Green Mile as much this time. Clocking in at over three hours long, each scene, each sequence seemed essential to the story. There are some absolutely frightening scenes in this film set on death row in 1935, and I remember being haunted by them upon first viewing. Michael Clarke Duncan gives a towering performance as tormented giant John Coffey. I loved that there was a sense of dignity in a film about death row, and a stellar cast brings Stephen King's memorable characters to life.
And the winner is.......
The Sixth Sense
There was something that just stood out about this film for me, and I think it was the fact that The Sixth Sense uses various ways of grabbing and holding the viewer's attention. As I mentioned in my review, it's a relatively quiet film. Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment speak mostly just above a whisper, and the film seems almost old-fashioned in how still it is. For all the rage in American Beauty and the chaos that unfolded in The Green Mile, The Sixth Sense had the scenes that hit me the hardest at the end. This project is about really paying attention, and The Sixth Sense rewarded that and proved to be my Best Picture winner.
Having watched The Green Mile yesterday, I have now watched the five Best Picture nominees from the 2000 ceremony. These films took me from an orphanage in Maine (Cider House Rules) to suburban rage (American Beauty), from a struggle to expose the tobacco industry (The Insider) to a struggle to stop Cole Sear from seeing dead people (The Sixth Sense), and then, perhaps fittingly, to Death Row in The Green Mile.
So, without further delay, here's how the nominees ranked, in reverse order.
#5- The Cider House Rules
The journey began with this film about life within a Maine orphanage's walls and a young man's desire to get out and have his own adventures. After having watched all the nominees, The Cider House Rules to me is just not in the same class with the others. Although it does have one of my favorite actors in Michael Caine, the fact that he won Best Supporting Actor over Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile) and Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) is astounding to me. His performance, especially in comparison with the two just mentioned, was not all that memorable. The Cider House Rules isn't a bad film, but it isn't consistently attention-grabbing or as memorable as the others.
#4- The Insider
The Insider is a gripping film, very well paced, and features an excellent performance from Russell Crowe as a fired scientist determined to tell the truth about the tobacco industry and Al Pacino as a dogged journalist who wants to bring the story to light on 60 Minutes. The second longest of the nominees at over two and a half hours long, it was the only one of the nominees I hadn't previously seen, so it was a good new film experience, as it moved briskly along with a lot of quick scenes and cuts, but overall, although it was very interesting to me (as I love a good movie about journalism), it comes up a bit short in intensity to the final three.
I remember being lukewarm on this when I first saw it, but I was quite spellbound seeing it this time. Kevin Spacey gives a commanding performance as Lester Burnham, a man who finds himself slowly dying on the inside. It seems each character has something bubbling just beneath the surface- Lester's rage at living a safe life, his wife Carolyn's self-loathing and increasing distance from Lester, their daughter Jane's suffering from being between the two, and the neighbor kid's living in fear of his father. From this point on, there's nothing really negative to say, just a gut feeling as to why these films rank the way they do....
#2- The Green Mile
And the winner is.......
The Sixth Sense
There was something that just stood out about this film for me, and I think it was the fact that The Sixth Sense uses various ways of grabbing and holding the viewer's attention. As I mentioned in my review, it's a relatively quiet film. Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment speak mostly just above a whisper, and the film seems almost old-fashioned in how still it is. For all the rage in American Beauty and the chaos that unfolded in The Green Mile, The Sixth Sense had the scenes that hit me the hardest at the end. This project is about really paying attention, and The Sixth Sense rewarded that and proved to be my Best Picture winner.
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