Top 15 Films of the New Millennium

Using reader scores, IMDB ranked their top 15 films produced since 2000. Other than “The Departed,” which along with “Mystic River,” “Crash,” “Crash,” and “Crash,” ranks in the top 5 over-rated films of ever, there’s little to quibble over. Taste is a subjective thing.

My personal Top 15 are ranked as my favorites always are — based on nothing more than re-watchability. “Rocky Balboa” might not be better written, photographed or acted than any number of films not on this list, but I’m going to watch it a helluva lot more, that’s for sure.  

1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) – Ever since the lights came up after that first screening, like a drug this lyrical, gorgeously photographed piece of myth-making has tugged me back for another taste. This isn’t easy to admit, but I think I admire Andrew Dominik’s directorial debut even more than John Ford’s “Young Mister Lincoln” (1939), which it resembles in so many ways. Were this also a listing of the greatest performances of the new millennium, Casey Affleck’s portrayal of Robert Ford would rank #1, as well.

2. The Passion of the Christ (2004) – Easily, the purest and rawest emotional cinematic experience I’ve ever had. The Left’s bigoted, venomous attacks combined with the film’s eventual blockbuster success were almost as satisfying as the re-election of George W. Bush. (more…)

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Tags: 28 Weeks Later, 300, A.I., Amelie, Assassination of Jesse James
Posted Aug 19th 2009 at 12:12 pm in Classic Hollywood, Featured Story, Reviews, Top 5 | 207866220 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/08/19/top-15-films-of-the-new-millennium/Top+15+Films+of+the+New+Millennium2009-08-19+19%3A12%3A10John+Nolte

Overlooked: The Top 10 Best Performances of 2008 that you may not have heard about!

The Academy Awards for 2008 have been handed out, and the “popular kids” have Oscars on their mantles, but the dirty little secret about winning awards is that you’ve gotta campaign for them. Thousands of dollars were spent by the distributors and filmmakers behind Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), Milk (Focus Features), The Reader (Weinstein) and other assorted winners and nominees, but not all performances received that sort of big money backing.

I am an unabashed lover of the acting craft. I see virtually every movie, large and small, that passes through the US marketplace, and, taking nothing away from Sean Penn, Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz and Heath Ledger, not all of 2008’s best performances have been recognized. I’m not going to be obvious here. Clint Eastwood was snubbed for Gran Torino, but he received lots of acclaim for the role including being named Best Actor by the National Board of Review. My goal is to highlight 10 performances from last year that have received virtually no acclaim in the US. Many of these roles can be found in hardly-seen, under-appreciated movies that came and went without much notice. Each and every one of these movies deserve a spot in your Netflix (or Blockbuster) cue. (more…)

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Tags: "Traitor", 2008, academy awards, acting, alan rickman
Posted Mar 1st 2009 at 2:10 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story | 7013043 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/01/performances/Overlooked%3A+The+Top+10+Best+Performances+of+2008+that+you+may+not+have+heard+about%212009-03-01+22%3A10%3A58Steve+Mason

My First Assignment: “Gone Baby Gone”

I promised in my earlier post that I would watch more movies.

Well, tonight I watched a doozie on Starz, and I must say, I have to give Benjamin Geza Affleck props. I have made fun of him publicly (it’s easy!) but this guy picked good material and directed it wonderfully. His brother Casey is phenomenal.

It’s like nothing I expected with a name like “Gone Baby Gone.” I thought Susie had me watching a chick flick. It was anything but. Ed Harris and his wife Amy Madigan, the douchebags that crossed their arms when Elia Kazan was awarded a lifetime Oscar, co-starred. So does Morgan Freeman who was injured in a mysterious car crash in Mississippi last year. But Casey Affleck really emerges the savior of this creepy and gritty missing child crime mystery tale.

Whoever cast the Boston grotesques that littered the film, my hat’s off to you. These profoundly ugly people really created a backdrop that made you want to root for the kid not to be found and brought back to her natural origins.

If Ben is willing to rethink his love of Marxism and former neighbor, pal and history revisionist Howard Zinn, perhaps there is redemption for him. After seeing this film, I can’t help thinking he’s gotten a bum steer in this impossible town. He certainly has talent.

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Tags: amy madigan, ben affleck, casey affleck, ed o'neill, gone baby gone
Posted Jan 11th 2009 at 12:08 am in Entertainment, Reviews, Uncategorized | 1524535 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/01/11/my-first-assignment-gone-baby-gone/My+First+Assignment%3A+%22Gone+Baby+Gone%222009-01-11+08%3A08%3A56Andrew+Breitbart