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Friday, December 27, 2002

By Barbara Vancheri, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Even more than usual, the year seemed back-loaded with all of the best movies (and if they haven't opened in Pittsburgh, they will soon). It's still a man's movie world, although Julianne Moore did dynamic double duty in "Far From Heaven" and "The Hours," and Diane Lane was unfaithful and unbelievably good.

1. "Gangs Of New York"
(Post-Gazette review)

Something is amiss when the term "director" is used to describe both Martin Scorsese and the folks who churned out "Van Wilder" and "Jackass: The Movie." Scorsese, whose lack of an Oscar is an outrageous oversight, has never before painted on such a broad canvas. New York City in 1846 and 1862 is a combustible cauldron, with bloodthirsty gangs, crooked pols and fissures along lines of ethnicity, money, class and race. It's been five years since Daniel Day-Lewis last appeared in a movie, and he roars back to life -- as does Leonardo DiCaprio.

2. "Far From Heaven"
(Post-Gazette review)

Writer-director Todd Haynes models his picture after 1950s domestic melodramas but deals with the social taboos in a way that no Eisenhower-era filmmaker dared. He presents the "perfect" Connecticut couple -- played by Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore -- and gives them secrets, prejudices and tear-jerking compromises. Gossip swirls around them as he tries to deny his homosexuality and she befriends a widowed black gardener.

3. "The Pianist"
(Post-Gazette review)

Roman Polanski, now 69 years old, was 8 when his Polish-Jewish parents were taken to a concentration camp, where his mother died. He directs this real-life story of a Warsaw pianist (Adrien Brody) whose instinct to survive is tested by hatred, despair, homelessness, starvation, loneliness and silence. Just when society seems at its worst, strangers demonstrate unexpected and life-saving acts of kindness.

4. "About Schmidt"
(Post-Gazette review)

With his arching eyebrows, grin and leer in check, Jack Nicholson may give the single best performance of the year. He's an Omaha insurance actuary named Warren Schmidt who retires and leaves his empty office, only to find an empty life at home with his wife of 42 years and their long-distance daughter who is about to marry. Warren Schmidt takes off for the wedding in a 35-foot Winnebago in search of self, worth and meaning of a life 66 years in the making.

5. "Bowling For Columbine"
(Post-Gazette review)

Yes, Michael Moore has a point of view and agenda, but it's hard to argue with either. He raises enough questions about gun ownership, violence and the media's creation of a culture of fear (and demonization of African-American men) to keep the holiday conversation stoked for hours.

6. "The Hours"
(Post-Gazette review)

A Philip Glass score and parallel images in 1923 England, 1951 California and 2001 New York help this movie feel seamless as it moves back and forth and then back again. It chronicles a day in the life of writer Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman), a depressed housewife (Julianne Moore) in post-World War II Los Angeles and a Manhattanite (Meryl Streep) nicknamed "Mrs. Dalloway" by a now-ailing friend. Like parallel tracks that seem to meet in the distance, it unites the story strands near the end.

7. "Insomnia"
(Post-Gazette review)

This thriller is all about losing your way, literally in the fog and figuratively when you're a cop who begins to believe the ends justify the means. Al Pacino is a respected Los Angeles detective who is sent to Alaska to help find the killer of a teen-age girl. The sun never sets and neither does his conscience in this intelligent remake of a Norwegian film also starring Robin Williams as a manipulative murderer.

8. "About A Boy"
(Post-Gazette review)

Hugh Grant has said "all the best comedy arises out of pain. And there's plenty of pain in this story -- particularly in terms of the boy. I personally think Marcus is the best thing Nick Hornby ever wrote." Marcus is the boy who, through sheer persistence and pestering, becomes a surrogate son/friend to Grant's confirmed bachelor. Both boys, Grant and young Nicholas Hoult as Marcus, grow up before the end credits roll.

9. "Unfaithful"
(Post-Gazette review)

As we all know, Richard Gere is no schlub but wait until you get a look at Olivier Martinez. He plays the 28-year-old Parisian who literally collides with Diane Lane one windy day in Soho and begins a life-changing (nay, destroying) affair with her. Lane is phenomenal and Gere, appropriately, little resembles his onetime American Gigolo.

10. "Antwone Fisher"
(Post-Gazette review)

Truth trumps fiction, again, with this drama about a Navy sailor who is ordered to see a psychiatrist about his anger problem and finds a sympathetic ear. It's life-affirming as it celebrates perseverance, the indomitability of the human spirit and family. Denzel Washington directs and plays a supporting role but the real stars are Derek Luke in the title role and Antwone Fisher, writer, co-producer and survivor.

Honorable mention: "Lovely & Amazing" has four lovely and amazing leading ladies, from Brenda Blethyn as a liposuction patient to Raven Goodwin as her 8-year-old adopted African-American daughter who is constantly hungry, trying to fill a void in her life with fat-free cookies and fast food. Director-writer Nicole Holofcener gives us much to chew on.

Barbara Vancheri can be reached at bvancheri@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1632.