10. Robert De Niro's THE GOOD SHEPHERD
I loved THE GOOD SHEPHERD, maybe because it's exactly how I like my coffee and my women: cold and bitter. It's slow, dark, and extremely calculating in how it unfolds, and all of this is done by sophomore director Bobby D's more-experienced-than-you'd-think hand. Matt Damon is better here than he has ever been, and his shelf of terrific performances is quickly growing, with impressive turns in GOOD WILL HUNTING, THE DEPARTED, GERRY, and THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY all under his belt. Why he didn't get more acclaim for this gritty, implosive piece of acting is beyond me. As his morals quickly deteriorate and the line separating right and wrong becomes increasingly blurred, he can only look on in horror as his family and what he believes to be friends' lives are all turned inside out. I know they're really apples and oranges, but you can see how THE GODFATHER PART II influenced De Niro while he was making this, as the story unfolds slowly and beautifully. And dare I say, this is the better film? Just my opinion.09. Richard Linklater's A SCANNER DARKLY
Total total total total total total providence. A trippy, transcendent trip down the rabbit hole of drugs and addiction in the not-so-distant world of Los Angeles. Keanu Reeves and Robert Downey Jr. give their best performances to date as a couple of strung-out addicts who bum around all day, all the while addicted to Substance D, which over 20% of America is hooked on. Reeves is Bob Arctor, an undercover cop who succumbs to the evil he is trying to rid the street of while maybe, or maybe not, falling in love with the dealer (an underused Winona Ryder) he is infiltrating. A sense of melancholia permeates throughout the film, and though I had to watch the last twenty minutes or so twice, it really hits home when you figure it out. It's a kind of rotoscopic tragedy in a way. If you liked this, I really recommend director Richard Linklater's 2001 film WAKING LIFE, which also featured the animated technique. "Mind-blowing stuff".08. Todd Field's LITTLE CHILDREN
It's funny. It's intense. It's dramatic. It's erotic. It's gleeful. It has two Oscar-nominated performances (and out of the bunch they're in, Winslet and Haley both deserve to win), and the script earned an Oscar nod (which it deserved). Why isn't everyone talking about LITTLE CHILDREN? It's better than Todd Field's IN THE BEDROOM, which was a damn fine film itself; deeper and more watchable. Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson are two bored housewives who begin an adulterous affair, finding a long-eluding pulse in their lives that opens their hearts to opportunities they thought they would never again feel once confined in the prison of marriage. Just across the neighborhood, though, is Jackie Earle Haley's former child-molester, who just wants to make peace with his demons. The tension rises with every minute as more is at stake for the characters. The thing is though, we don't know more is at stake for them. Only at the end does everything resolve. That's the sign of a good director: an audience being completely under a spell by the unfolding story.07. Michael Mann's MIAMI VICE
God, I love the backstory. No one was happy with Michael Mann during MIAMI VICE's production. He travelled across continents, into dangerous locales, and used the campy 80s show title and his artistic clout to make his movie. It's not an action movie, though there is action. It's a character study, and a meditation on how the constant grind of life on the edge affects two cops, Rico Tubbs (Jamie Foxx-the coolest cat in Hollywood) and Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrel). It's a $180-million drama, and the final product wasn't what executives (or many critics or audiences, apparently) wanted or expected. This isn't the 80s show, it's a whole nother monster. When you can read between its lines and see the underlying messages and the character interaction (it's there, I promise), MIAMI VICE is a fantastic film.06. Larry Charles's BORAT! CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
You have no heard of BORAT moviefilm? Your vagine must hand like sleeve of wizard, like my wife, who 15 years. It funny. Raunchy. BORAT is very nice. Now go fucking see it.
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