My Favorite Movies of 2002

In no particular order:

Time Out - probably my favorite - French existential masterpiece about a man who loses his job, can't bear to tell his family, so begins to construct an elaborate artificial life. Chilling, sad, yet somehow also hauntingly beautiful.
The Sunshine State - Edie Falco (Sopranos) steals the show in a hilarious, touching performance - John Sayles does Magnolia in Florida with folks conniving for real estate.
The Fast Runner - first movie in Inuit - saw it at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic. Beautiful, Shakespearean tale.
Far From Heaven - sad, beautiful and soberingly current
The Piano Teacher - stark, horrifying, believable - Isabelle Huppert is gripping.
24 Hour Party People - giddy wonderful fun, especially if you love '80s bands like New Order and the Happy Mondays, whose evolution this psuedo documentary, rooted in "history" depicts
Y Tu Mamá También - sexy road trip in Mexico with lessons both startling and poignant learned along the way.
Lantana - an Aussie Magnolia. Anthony Lapaglia is solid, as is Geoffrey Rush--and everyone else. It probably came out in 2001, but I saw it this year in the theater.
About a Boy - wonderfully funny, touching wihout being grotesquely sentimental. Hugh Grant's character even learns something about himself, and the changes he makes are reasonably believable. A great, highly animated cast: the expressions flitting across the faces of the various characters in this flick are reason enough to watch it. Toni Collette and, er, the kid who plays the kid, were wonderful choices.

Didn't live up to the hype: The Gangs of New York - interesting a times with a marvelous over the top performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. But hardly top 10 material. A hackneyed plot and one of those unforgivable scenes where villain is about to kill the hero, but instead offers a ludicrous reason for letting him go: obviously, so the hero can return to kill the villain later on. Please! The background details strung throughout the movie were far more interesting, but, unfortunately, these seem consciously inserted, somewhat deflating their value and makng you think our watching a pseudo-documentary.