Hollywood can make movies for adults and still be successful.
That was the signal given by this week's Oscar nominations. "Chicago," along with last year's "Moulin Rouge," is leading a revival of the great American movie musical leads with 13 nominations. "Gangs of New York" and "The Hours" are close behind with 10 and nine nods, respectively.
Overall this year's contenders are a diverse bunch. "The Two Towers," about a group of hobbits on a mission to destroy a ring; "About Schmidt," starring Jack Nicholson as a retired insurance salesman who sets out to find meaning in a Winnebago trip; and "Adaptation," about a screenwriter and his non-existent twin brother.
I haven't seen all of the best picture nominees, which include "Chicago," "The Hours," "The Pianist," "The Two Towers" and "Gangs of New York," but I have formed my own list of the five best pictures of the year.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: A movie too far-fetched to be taken seriously, yet too weird to be bad. Who would have thought that a biopic of Chuck Barris, creator of "The Gong Show" (the granddaddy of today's low-brow reality TV) and purported CIA assassin would make for such great cinema. George Clooney is superb in his directorial debut.
A weaker filmmaker might have taken Barris' claims at face value, but Clooney and star Sam Rockwell know to have fun with the material. It's a tale about a man trying to overcome his disgrace (Barris was credited with helping to bring down Western civilization) with the ultimate male fantasy of becoming a secret agent.
Dogtown and Z-Boys: This documentary on the early days of the southern California skate culture for the most part stayed under the radar. But this film has appeal beyond the Tony Hawk set. This is more than just kids idling away their time on a lazy summer afternoon to the tune of surfer music. It's a portrait of an era when the Pacific Coast was still inhabited by beach bums making a living in cheap bars and head shops, before the condos sprang up and when crumbling cement and rotting piers were still a common sight.
Metropolis: Not the 1927 Fritz Lang masterpiece, which was re-released last year, but the anime film loosely based on the German-Expressionist cult classic. Like the original, this touches on the theme of society's dehumanization by its own machines. Japanese animation legends Taro Rin and Katsuhiro Otomo create a work of art that stands alongside the landscapes in "Blade Runner" and "The Fifth Element." Watch this film in its entirety to understand the story, then watch it in slow motion to appreciate the color and the detail.
Road to Perdition: Probably the best gangster flick of the past 20 years that didn't have the name Scorcese in the credits.
The skies in "Road to Perdition" are constantly gloomy, and the rain rarely lets up.
But, like "The Sopranos," the film bears its soul with a ruthless mobster, played by Tom Hanks, who always keeps his family in mind. Unfortunately, because the movie was released during the summer, the Academy overlooked his fine performance.
Y Tu Mama Tambien: This road trip through modern Mexico is a tale about the coming-of-age of two oversexed teenagers and the coming-of-age of their native country.
"Y Tu Mama Tambien" celebrates the hopes of this hard land, but tackles its subject matter with a raw intensity rarely seen in American films. The main characters' hobbies in this movie would seem to include getting high, getting drunk and bragging about their sexual exploits. There is plenty of lewdness to go around, but unlike its American counterparts, this teenage movie doesn't play up the sex for laughs, cornball romance or simple bad taste.
Write to Robert at rclopez@bsu.edu
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