Performances of the Decade: Actresses

Top 10 Performances by a Lead Actress in the 2000s:






10. (Tie) Ellen Page - Juno;
Audrey Tautou - Amelie


Two social outcasts - one by choice, and the other by pregnancy - prove that films starring women don't always have to be chick flicks. Ellen Page won Best Actress at the 2008 Sullivan-Gooley Awards, and if you saw Juno, you'd easily see why. By taking Diablo Cody's script and running with it, Page nailed the quick-witted, take-no-prisoners Juno and stole the hearts of all my friends ... except mine. Mine was stolen by Audrey Tautou in 2000, when Amelie taught me how to be creative in romance. Her adventurous spirit always at constant battle with solitude, Amelie finds a prospective running mate to the test. I'll admit, I've pawned a few of her ideas as my own.


9. Kate Winslett - Revolutionary Road


Although I'll argue that DiCaprio carries this movie, all you have to see is the look on Winslett's face while standing beside a tree in the back yard to realize the outcome of this story. Revolutionary Road uses tragedy as a call to action: stop at nothing to fulfill your dreams; because once you settle, life will stop at nothing to keep you from obtaining them.


8. Joan Allen - The Contender

You may know her as the mom in Pleasantville or Pam Landy in the Jason Bourne Trilogy, but her turn as a senator destined to become the first female Vice President may very well be the most underrated performance by an actress this decade. The way she reacts to every challenge - every source of two-sided propaganda - is just like a boxer shucking and jiving to the jabs of an opponent. "The Contender" is an overt double-meaning.

7. Halle Berry - Monster's Ball

Playing a mother in love with a murderer; who loses that person to the electric chair; then falls in love with his executioner; and witnesses her son get run over by a car and die ... that's excrutiating. Having to sleep with Billy Bob Thorton on camera? That's either a death wish, an invitation for disease, or a one-way ticket to Oscar glory. She'd like to thank the Academy...







6. Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich

"They're called boobs, Ed."




5. Sissy Spacek - In the Bedroom

I wonder if she hired someone to kill one of her children so that she could prepare for this role. I'm not sure if she even has any kids, but with her turn as a grieving mother in In the Bedroom, she sure knows what it's like to lose one.


4. Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream

After getting lost in a very disturbing game show, exercising a diet consisting of 5 pills and a glass of water, fearing the refridgerator is out to eat her, and with her son stealing her TV to pawn for drug money, I'd be just as excited as Ellen Burstyn's Sara Goldfarb. "Be! Excited! Be, Be, Excited!"


3. Hillary Swank - Million Dollar Baby

I wanted to kill myself after watching Million Dollar Baby, but couldn't stop thinking about the performance given by Hillary Swank. The physical training, the psychology, and the depth required to play Maggie was a challenge only a few women could bring to the table, and Swank was a sheer knockout.

2. Helen Mirren - The Queen

She WAS the Queen. The end.

1. Charlize Theron - Monster
Anyone who thinks Charlize Theron is hot will simply not recognize her in Monster. For exhibit A, please see the picture to the left. I wouldn't touch that with a 40 foot pole. Ironically enough, Theron plays a role every guy would kill to see in their own mind: a hooker who kills her way to personal satisfaction. Instead, we get the person in the picture on the left. The joke's on us, boys. She's evil, and doesn't apologize for it. Theron may never deliver another good performance in her life, but she doesn't have to. Monster isn't a movie to see "just for kicks." It's a movie you study. It's a performance you admire. It's an actress embodying the role she was meant to play; even if it means risking everything that got her there.

Performances of the Decade: Actors

Top 10 Leading Performances by an Actor in the 2000s:

10. George Clooney - Up in the Air

Although he kinda plays himself, many would argue that this was the role Clooney was born to play. It's a come-to-terms-with-one's-self-by-playing-yourself-on-film virtuoso performance, a-la Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire.

9. Jamie Foxx - Ray

He WAS Ray Charles. The End.

8. Sean Penn - Milk

Sam Gooley says it best in describing Sean Penn. "Whenever I see a movie with Sean Penn, I never see Sean Penn's character; I see Sean Penn playing a character. I was never able to truly believe his characters - including his Oscar-winning performance in Mystic River - until I saw Milk. He totally embodied Harvey Milk, and his Oscar was well-deserved."

7. Bill Murray - Lost in Translation

Murray's most haunting, touching performance; he CAN play it serious.

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6. Russell Crowe - Gladiator

Name a Hollywood actor who could have played this role with the conviction of Russell Crowe. That would be nobody.

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5. Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind

Quite the follow-up to Gladiator and The Insider, Crowe proves his chameleon reputation. Despite his off-screen behavior, he becomes the most sought-after character actor in the world.

4. Tom Hanks - Cast Away

Name a Hollywood actor who could have played THIS role with the conviction of Tom Hanks. No one. Who else can carry a 60-minute second act on his back, and single-handedly create Oscar buzz for a volleyball? Other than me, that would be no one.

3. Daniel Day Lewis - Gangs of New York

Bill the Butcher; quite the symbol of anti-conformity. A racist, raspy-voiced, violent American patriot, Bill can stop a city with one blink of an eye (...he only has one eye). The bedside monologue about "fear" should be studying in acting classes for decades to come.

2. Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Name one Hollywood actor who could have played THIS role with the conviction of Mickey Rourke. Who else could have embodied Randy the Ram? That, again, would be no one. Welcome back, Mickey. We really didn't miss you, but you got us on this one.

1. Daniel Day Lewis - There Will Be Blood

He sounds eerily like John Huston in Chinatown. Painful memories of a failed gold-digging enterprise can be found in every gimpy step taken toward a gushing oil rig. His squinty eyes cut through the bull-crap of anyone standing his his way. His morals are in wealth and nothing else. Getting saved is just a price to pay for a pipeline. He'll steal your milkshake without you knowing it; and once he confesses his sins, kills the priest who hears them. Meet Daniel Plainview, the most ambitious, iconic, engulfing character of the 21st Century.

The Year of the Cartoon: A 2009 Year in Review

Before we get started, here's a brief timeline of animation in cinema:

November 18, 1928: The world is introduced to Mickey Mouse as he stars in Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie."

December 21, 1937: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs debuts, becoming the first full-length animated motion picture released in the United States.

February 7, 1940: Pinocchio wishes upon a star, spawning endless influences on pop culture.

November 13, 1940: Fantasia sets animation to classical music and makes Mickey Mouse a household name.

August 13, 1942: Bambi's mom gets shot the day before my dad is born.

The 1950s: We meet classic characters like Cinderella, Alice (in Wonderland), Peter Pan, Hansel and Gretel, Lady and the Tramp, and a sleeping beauty. We're also invited into an adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm.

The 1960s: More classic characters, such as Cruella DeVil (101 Dalmatians), a young King Arthur (The Sword in the Stone), Fred Flintstone, The Grinch, Rudolph, Charlie Brown, and the Beatles (Yellow Submarine). We also saw the emergence of Japanese animation, with Magic Boy, Alakazam the Great, Sinbad the Sailor, and the mythological The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon.

The 1970s: The 70's pretty much sucked. R-rated and X-rated features brought drug-induced and pornographic influences that challenged the way audiences approached animated features. While many claim these films "expanded our minds" and "explored social commentary," these films aren't even appreciated in recent conversations I've had about the history of animation. If we're still uncomfortable talking about them 30 years later, I do believe these films have made a major impact; and I do not believe it's a good one. The only reason I choose to bring these film up at all is to highlight the "dark ages" of animation, which started in late '67 after The Jungle Book and - with few exceptions - lasted until 1986 when an onslaught of decent-to-good films put the spotlight back on cartoons (The Great Mouse Detective, Transformers, My Little Pony, and An American Tail).

Top 10 Animated Films of the 1980s:
10. Heavy Metal (1981)
9. Transformers the Movie (1986)
8. Akira (1989)
7. All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
6. The Brave Little Toaster (1986)
5. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
4. The Fox and the Hound (1981)
3. An American Tail (1986)
2. The Little Mermaid (1989)
1. The Land Before Time (1987)

February 20, 1992: Beauty and the Beast becomes the first animated film nominated for Best Picture. Even today, it remains the only animated feature to receive a Best Picture nomination.

1992: Aladdin becomes highest-grossing film of the year. This happens only 2 more times: 1995 (Toy Story) and 2004 (Shrek 2).

1993: Tim Burton becomes the first mainstream director to successfully take on animation. As only Tim Burton can, he redefines animation though the stop-motion holiday classic, A Nightmare Before Christmas.

6/14/1994: The Lion King earns $1,586,000 its opening weekend. Not bad for only playing in 2 theatres. Its $793,000 per-theatre average remains the highest per-screen average in film history.

9/29/1994: Nick Park's The Wrong Trousers opens in Germany and introduces the world to Wallace and Gromit and clay-mation.

October, 1994: Jeffrey Katzenberg, an executive recently forced out of Disney, co-founds DreamWorks SKG with Stephen Spielberg and David Geffen. While they do not achieve immediate success, DreamWorks later becomes the main rival of Pixar with the release of The Prince of Egypt (1998), Antz (1998), and the Shrek franchise (2001 - present).

11/22/1995: Toy Story debuts, opening a new door in animation. Classic animation has never recovered.

11/19/1999: Toy Story 2 becomes the first CGI sequel, and arguably the only animated sequel to live up to the original source material (I say "arguably" because I only know the 19,000 Land Before Time sequels... and they sucked.)

Top 10 Animated Films of the 1990s:
10. A Bug's Life (1998)
9. The Prince of Egypt (1998)
8. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999)
7. The Iron Giant (1999)
6. Antz (1998)
5. Aladdin (1992)
4. Toy Story 2 (1999)
3. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
2. Toy Story (1995)
1. The Lion King (1994)

6/23/2000: Chicken Run becomes the first wide-released clay-mation motion picture to gross $100 million.

3/15/2002: The release of Fox Animation Studios' Ice Age proves that Hollywood has now switched from traditional animation to CGI, and that three major distributors are in competition for computer-animated box office domination (Fox, Disney/Pixar, and DreamWorks). This fact is evident in 2004 when Walt Disney Animation abandons hand-drawn animation altogether in favor of CGI.

3/24/2002: Shrek wins the first Best Animated Feature Oscar, beating out Monster's Inc. and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and showing that DreamWorks Animation is here to stay.

2004: Shrek 2 becomes the 3rd highest grossing movie of all time. It will drop to#4 in 2008 thanks to The Dark Knight.

11/4/2005: Chicken Little debuts in 3D. Foreshadowing, anyone?

2008: WALL-E receives Best Picture buzz, but does not receive a nomination. Not to worry, because things are looking "Up" in 2009! (God that was corny)

Top 11 Animated Films of the 2000s:
11. Lilo & Stitch (2002)
10. WALL-E (2008)
9. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
8. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
7. Shrek (2001)
6. Ratatouille (2007)
5. Up (2009)
4. The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
3. The Incredibles (2004)
2. Monster's Inc. (2001)
1. Finding Nemo (2003)


This brings us to 2009: The Year of the Cartoon.

First there's box office acclaim. Perhaps you already know why this is such a different year for the Animated Arts. With six animated features grossing over $100 million at the box-office this year (Up, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, A Christmas Carol, and G-Force), you've probably seen a few of them already. Three others (Princess and the Frog, Planet 51, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel) are knocking down the $100 million door, but haven't been out long enough to eclipse the mark. That's nine animated films grossing $100 million in the same calendar year.

Then there's critical acclaim. Now that the Academy has expanded the Best Picture category to 10 films, we will definitely see one animated Best Picture nominee (Up), a possible second (The Fantastic Mr. Fox), and the most heated race for Best Animated Feature since the category's inception in 2002. This year, 20 films have been submitted for Best Animated Feature, which are by far the most entries the Academy has seen. My bet for the 5 nominees: Up, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, Coraline, and Ponyo. Take another look at those nominees and you'll see five different types of animation represented: CGI, puppet stop/motion, hand-drawn animation, clay-mation (in 3D, no less), and anime. There has never been a year where such diversity has shaped the animated genre; and I expect the Academy to recognize it in February (if not, you'll definitely see something in the Sullivan-Gooley Awards).

The truth is, animated pictures have reached a new peak. With the increased quality of storylines, decreased production costs, the ability to transcend standard filmmaking techniques through animation, and given the "all-ages" appeal of cartoons, demand for animated pictures has done nothing but skyrocket in recent years. Also taking into effect the competition between three major distributors, there is a constant pressure to release profitable, quality films on a yearly basis.

Without animated films, this year would have been in a lot of trouble, both financially and critically. As time passes, we may look back at 2009 and discover a few classics hidden within the webs of mediocrity; but until that day, I'll be looking back at 2009 with little excitement. The only films with hope of a bright future are Avatar, The White Ribbon, Up, and (500) Days of Summer. These aren't necessarily my Top 5 Films of the Year; however, these films have the ingredients to make a lasting effect on how movies are made from here on out.

Avatar, which was so epic in scope, revolutionized visual effects the moment we started to get de-sensitized to them. Walking into the theatre, so many people (including myself) thought, "there's just no way this movie can be as visually breathtaking as the critics are saying. I mean, we've seen everything already. I saw Star Wars; I saw Jurassic Park; I saw The Matrix Trilogy; and I saw The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. There is absolutely nothing left that my eyes can feast on." Walking out of the theatre, so many people (including myself) thought, "I gotta see that again." And so many people DID see it again. Week 1: $77 million. Week 2: $75 million. Everyone freakin' saw it again! This is like Star Wars-meets-Titanic.

I know you've never heard of The White Ribbon. It hasn't come out yet - not even in New York until December 30th - but I got to see it in flawless condition from the convenience of a sure-to-be-illegal website. One critic said, "It feels like a classic, even as you watch it for the first time;" and they couldn't be more right. Everything just ... works. I don't know how else to explain it. The symbolism is so thick, that you almost want the characters to shut up so that they don't spoil the filmmaking of Michael Haneke. Every shot is so crisp, so precise, expressing so much, that visions of Citizen Kane keep popping up in my head. Is this film Citizen Kane? No. But you can its influence all over the screen. It's not about a person, it's about a small village; a small village that seems refined to its own world, its own ways, its own customs ... by choice. While at first, everyone seems truly concerned about the sudden accidents that occur around the city. When nobody steps forward to accept blame, we see paranoia slowly engulf the town and turn an elitist town into a set of elitist households. For the average viewer, this may be an excruciatingly boring movie. Nothing happens on the surface - there aren't any car chases, exotic sex scenes, courtroom meltdowns, or epic fights to carry on the story. All the tension is just below the surface, all bubbled up and ready to burst. Haneke says so much by showing us so little, but you doesn't have to look deep to realize that something truly tragic is about it happen in this town; and over the next 20 years, this town will see a new generation arise that will surely to go down in history.

Up is a sure-fire Best Picture nominee, and sits behind Up in the Air and The Hurt Locker as front-runners to win. If Disney has ever had a contender with a fighter's chance, this is the year. If it does win, this will truly be the Year of the Cartoon, and this article will go down as prophesy :)

(500) Days of Summer has been called Generation-Y's Annie Hall. Unfortunately, Oscar labels these films more appropriately, and nobody will remember (500) Days of Summer unless it's at least recognized with a Best Picture nomination. What will make for a lasting impact is its appreciation from a male audience. Dudes don't like romantic comedies; but dudes like (500) Days of Summer. Will dudes remember to rent this flick when they have a date, or will they try to impress their girl by going after "safeties" like When Harry Met Sally or Sleepless in Seattle? (Don't rent The Notebook; that's gay). How dudes answer this question will determine the legacy of this movie. Dudes. Buy it now.

As mentioned before, these four films aren't necessarily in my Top 5, however stand chances at making their long-term mark. We'll just see how they evolve...

As for the best films of the year, I'll reward you for paying attention for this long. Here are my Top 20 Films of 2009 ... in alphabetical order:

(500) Days of Summer
Avatar
Coraline
District 9
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Funny People
The Hangover
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
I Love You, Man
Inglourious Basterds
Knowing
Star Trek
State of Play
Up
Up in the Air
Where the Wild Things Are
The White Ribbon
World's Greatest Dad
Zombieland

There are still a couple films out there that have a shot at making the Top 20 (Crazy Heart, A Single Man, and Nine), so you'll get the opportunity to see the official draft next month.

To all my readers out there, thank you very much for tuning in. I hope you all have had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you a very happy new year.
-Sully

Top 10 Christmas Movies of All-Time

Simply put: The Top 10 Christmas Movies of All-Time, with 1 (or 2) quotes and the best scene from each.

10. Die Hard

Best Scene: Watching Hans Gruber fall in slow-motion.

Best Quote: "Yippie kay-yay..."

9. Elf

Best Scene: Seeing Will Farrell in a Elf's desk

Best Quote 1: "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?"

Best Quote 2: "Watch out for the yellow ones; they don't stop."

8. Love Actually

Best Scene: The airport chase

Best Quote 1: "Hiya kids. Here is an important message from your Uncle Bill. Don't buy drugs. Become a pop star, and they give you them for free!" - Billy Mack

Best Quote 2: "Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around." - Prime Minister

7. A Christmas Story

Best Scene: "Fa-rah-rah-rah-rah. Rah-rah, rah, rah."

Best Quote: "Fa-rah-rah-rah-rah. Rah-rah, rah, rah."

6. Miracle on 34th Street

Best Scene: The verdict.

Best Quote: "Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don't you see? It's not just Kris that's on trial, it's everything he stands for. It's kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles." - Doris Walker

5. Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer

Best Scene: Meeting the Abominable Snowman

Best Quote: The song, "Silver and gold..."

4. Home Alone

Best Scene: The (attempted) robbery.

Best Quote: "Keep the change, you filthy animal!"

3. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

Best Scene: When the Grinch takes the presents.

Best Quote: "And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say
that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day.
And then - the true meaning of Christmas came through,
and the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches... plus two!"
-Narrator

2. It's a Wonderful Life

Best Scene: "A toast. To my big brother George: the richest man in town!"

Best Quote: "Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?" - Clarence

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Best scene: Every scene is a classic.

Best Quote 1: "If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! Hallelujah! Holy shit! ... Where's the Tylenol?" - Clark Griswold

Best Quote 2: "Merry Christmas! ... Shitter was full!" - Cousin Eddie

Messing with Memory: The #3 and #6 Films of the 2000s

If you haven't been to Sporcle, you need to check it out immediately. If you haven't heard of Sporcle, you're about to learn. First, it's a website consisting of every type of trivia imaginable. Its slogan "mentally stimulating diversions" can easily be renamed, "Learning instead of working," "How much stupid crap do I know," or "Why the freak do I NOT know that capital of Missouri?! I totally aced that quiz when I was six years old!"

Do any of you 20-somethings remember GeoSafari growing up? No? Maybe I'm just a nerd, but I played that thing all the time back in the day, and I constantly bothered my family with boatloads of useless geographic knowledge picked up from hour-long binges in front of the GeoSafari (Now I know why my mother called me Rain Man growing up. At first I thought it was a complement, but now that I think about it, I may be offended sometime in the next 15 minutes).

Sporcle is an online version of GeoSafari, and expands from geography to touch on hundreds of categories that are sure to distract even the most diligent worker on the planet. If you think you know your presidents, take the quiz. If you think you know Oscar winners, take the quiz. If you think you know every single element in the periodic table, take the quiz. If you think you know every 300-game winner in MLB history, there's a quiz for that too. I'm tellin' ya, they have a quiz for everything. They even have a quiz for the greatest songs of the 80's, 90's, and 00's. When you take each quiz, you're given the name of the song; and you have to list the artist who performed it. I was taking these quizzes at work the other day and came to 3 quick conclusions:

1. The capital of Missouri is Jefferson City.
2. The 80s and 90s rocked.
3. Starting in 2000, guitars were uninvented.

Seriously, can you name 5 bands who got their start in the 21st century and don't sound like castrated 10th graders? All I got are The Killers, Jet, Three Doors Down (who started in '96, but didn't make it big until 2000), John Mayer (who released Inside Wants Out - my favorite album - in '99), and Evanescence. Everyone else sounds like some version of Sum-41/Yellowcard/Fall Out Boy/Good Charlotte … or T-Pain. Even rap sucks now ... and that's the only thing on the radio today. The only highlights of the 00's have been the peak of Jay-Z, Eminem, and a couple start-ups like Ludacris, T.I., and The Game. Lil Wayne sounds like a poodle with asthma, and listening to anything done by an artist from Florida makes me want to revoke my birth certificate. All the best music of this decade came from artists who emerged in the 1990s (or '80s, for all you U2 and Red Hot Chili Peppers fans).

You can almost say the same thing about movies. Truly unique movies are so few-and-far between now; and when something DOES work, their production company launches multiple sequels that dumb down the original. (On a positive note, these sequels are responsible for several box office records, and have helped the industry stay afloat through a recession and writer's strike. 26 of the top 50 all-time highest-grossing domestic releases are sequels, and over 20 were released this decade.) Furthermore, many believe we're reached a point in cinema where everything has been invented already, and that it's impossible to figure out new ways to present a story on the big screen. To back up this philosophy, we've seen an onslaught of post-modern and apocalyptic works that combine all the same storytelling techniques and narrative we're used to seeing, but using them to predict a very bleak future on the human existence (I am Legend, No Country for Old Men, Children of Men, and WALL-E). While several of these films are very, very good, I still believe they represent echoes and homage of the 90s.

The Top 10 Films of the 2000s represent an evolution in filmmaking. Slumdog Millionaire re-defined fate and brought India to the limelight; Finding Nemo took animation to the sea; Good Night, and Good Luck told Edward R. Murrow's story just how Murrow would tell it; Minority Report took film noir to the future as a cautionary tale for the present; Gladiator gave us a classic story through an epic lens; and Almost Famous showed us actual music from a time when music made a difference (and a sick rendition of "Stairway to Heaven" as a special feature of the Untitled Director's Cut).

Memento (#6) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (#3) show us the importance of remembering, even if we want desperately to forget. These are films so hard to describe that my only recommendation is to experience it for yourself.

If you're about 20 minutes into either Memento or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and you're thinking "wtf am I watching," that means Christopher Nolan and Charlie Kauffman have you right where they want you. Were you ever forced to become retarded in order to see Forrest Gump or I am Sam? No, but you were forced to sympathize for Forrest and Sam. Did you have to cut off your hands to see The Best Years of Our Lives? No, but you were forced to sympathize with Homer Parrish (and the true-life background of Harold Russell). Was The Piano a silent film made for you to experience life as a deaf person? No, but you were forced to sympathize with Holly Hunter's Ada McGrath, nonetheless.

If you see Memento - and I highly encourage you to do so - you will immediately experience what it's like to have short-term memory loss. I'm going to try and explain how the film is told; but to be honest, it's nearly impossible. As mentioned before, you have to experience it for yourself. Each scene is constructed as a glimpse in Leonard Shelby's life (played by Guy Pearce). All color scenes are told backwards, and all black-and-white scenes are told forward. The first scene in color is the last scene of the story - in which Leonard kills Teddy. The next scene (which is in black-and-white) is the first scene of the story - in which Leonard wakes up alone in a hotel room. From there, writer/director Christopher Nolan cross-cuts between color and black-and-white. The black-and-white scenes go forward; and the color scenes back up until eventually, the film ends with a surprise twist... get this... in the middle of the story. Will you care? Nope. By this time, you've quit trying to figure out what's going on and have now become Leonard Shelby - a detective lost in the life he creates for himself, yet refuses to take responsibility for. You may not understand Memento the first time around, but on a second viewing it'll make a LOT more sense. Also, if you buy the Director's Cut DVD, there is a hidden special features that allows you to see the film in chronological order, in which it becomes a different movie altogether.

Never before has a director used non-linear storytelling like Christopher Nolen. Sure, Quentin Tarantino has worked wonders with Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, but his technique is more stylized; whereas Nolan's is surgical. Every block of dialogue and every cut are set in place like bricks of a home, and the house called Memento will remain sturdy for a long time to come.

Just like Leonard Shelby would like to forget what he did to his wife, Clementine Krazinski is trying to get Joel Barrish erased of her mind altogether. Thanks to the best screenwriter EVER, Charlie Kauffman, that is possible in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. After Clementine (Kate Winslett) successfully removes every memory of her boyfriend altogether, we get to see the operation performed on Joel. Through this operation, Charlie Kauffman allows us to re-live all the memories Joel and Clementine created, only to have these memories erased moments later.

Much like Memento, Eternal Sunshine moves backwards while moving forward. The memory procedure starts with Joel's most recent memory of Clementine and makes its way back to the day the two met. Meanwhile, we see the people who are performing the procedure; and the subplots surrounding each of them. Each scene peels off a layer of complexity, while at the same time letting you into the hearts of Clementine and Joel. Winslett and Carey's chemistry works so well that by the time Joel's operation approaches completion, we're fighting just as hard as they are to prevent their relationship from dissipating. It's a love story unlike any other you have ever seen; and along the lines of something you will never see again.

While few films pushed the envelope this decade, Memento and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind challenged the way movies are written, structured, and put together. So far, no other film has been put together as pure as Christopher Nolan’s Memento; and no film has been as satisfyingly bizarre as Charlie Kauffman’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

These movies can’t be described; rather, they must be experienced.

Back from Hiatus, and the #4 Film of the 2000s: Almost Famous Untitled Director's Cut

Ok so I decided to take a couple months off. I'm not dead; nor was I sitting on my couch twiddling my thumbs and waiting for something interesting to fall on my lap. In fact, I've experienced just the opposite. Currently there's so many things to write about - so much going on in life right now that warrents a full-blown article - that I haven't had the time to sit down and piece together a complete work on anything.

Times are a changin', and what better time to revamp Sully's World than in the middle of Bowl Season, Oscar Season, and whatever everyone else does while I'm watching a good movie/ football game while opening Christmas presents?

October 15th was the last day I posted an article. Since then, I've seen 6 movies in theatres, 6 million more after Mike Sullivan met Red Box, 8 Florida football games, the beginning of college basketball, the end of the Sullivan-Gooley DVD draft (it went well - stay tuned for results), the World Series, Golden Globe nominees, countless end-of-year/end-of-decade Top 10s, and zero vacation days from my 9-5 job (Thanksgiving doesn't count, unless you'd like to count waking up before the normal wake-up time; driving 3 hours from Raleigh to Charlotte; stuffing 6 pounds of turkey down my throat; watching Miles Austin tear apart the Washington Redskins' secondary for 7 catches and 131 yds in the first half; realizing Miles Austin is on my fantasy team, only to find out I didn't start him; not taking this realization out on my family during Thanksgiving dinner; staying awake for the 3 hour drive home; and going to bed later than the normal bed-time, only to open the doors to the bank the next morning ... yes, I work at a bank, and my vacation begins January 3rd).

We're all busy, especially this time of the year. And with that said, let's set aside some time to recap the #4 Film of the 2000s: Almost Famous Untitled Director's Cut.

To be honest, there isn't much more to say than what Bill Simmons covers in the article that inspired this Top 10 in the first place. For your reading pleasure, his 2-part article:

Part 1
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090727

Part 2
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090728

If you read Part 1, you'll notice the inspiration for the Sullivan-Gooley DVD Draft, which we chose to pick in round-robin format. If you need a format to the rules, please see the link to Part 1 of Bill Simmons' article, or my article "DVD Draft Creating Buzz" (http://sullyz-world.blogspot.com/2009/10/dvd-draft-creating-buzz.html)

#1 Tom Hanks (Sully)
#2 Dustin Hoffman (Sam)
#3 Tom Cruise (Sam)
#4 Robert De Niro (Sully)
#5 Harrison Ford (Sully)
#6 Jimmy Stewart (Sam)
#7 Jack Nicholson (Sam)
#8 Morgan Freeman (Sully)
#9 Matt Damon (Sully)
#10 Paul Newman (Sam)
#11 Al Pacino (Sam)
#12 Gene Hackman (Sully)
#13 Charlie Chaplin (Sully)
#14 Peter Sellers (Sam)
#15 Humphrey Bogart (Sam)
#16 John C. Reilly (Sully)
#17 Brad Pitt (Sully)
#18 Henry Fonda (Sam)
#19 Kevin Spacey (Sully)
#20 Clint Eastwood (Sam)

Who barely missed the cut: Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Phillip Seymour Hoffman (see Bill Simmons' argument for him in Part 1), Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando, Clint Howard, Jim Carey, Jeff Bridges, Edward Norton, and Jon Voight.

I highly encourage all readers to create their own draft. I swear, it liberates the soul. In the mean time, stay tuned for more articles coming up soon.