By Dale Nauertz

So far, friends and neighbors, this has not been a great year in film. Oh, don’t get me wrong. There were several films that I absolutely adored. “Chicken Run” made me squeal with delight. “Space Cowboys” made me very, very happy. “X-Men” was cooler than hell and “High Fidelity” is second only to “Chicken Run” in my affections. Then there were some little movies that were largely forgotten by the rest of the crowd like “The Wonder Boys” and “The Patriot”. Okay, “The Patriot” was not exactly a little movie, but it was mostly ignored by people who thought it was going to be “Braveheart Part Two”.

But, so far, it has not been the monumental year of film that 1999 was. Then again, few years offer the wealth of glorious fare that 1999 did. 1999 was one of those years like 1984 or 1939, when a glut of amazing films come out to make up for the rest of the decade. There were no less than four films last year that qualified for “A+” status in my book. Believe me, that is rare. Not every year can be that great (though it would be nice) and I didn’t expect 2000 to be that way either, even if I was sort of hoping it would be.

But I didn’t expect to be disappointed quite this often.

Last year we had “American Pie” instead of “Road Trip” and “Scary Movie”. “American Pie” was witty, truthful and hilarious where the other two are just sporadically funny and mostly gross. Last year we had “The Matrix” instead of “Mission Impossible 2″. Those two are so far apart that I don’t even want to compare them. “Gladiator” was cool, but take away Russell Crowe’s performance and I don’t think you would have much of anything. Time after time this year I have seen dreck floating through the theater. “The Perfect Storm”: sappy, manipulative junk with good effects. “Gone in Sixty Seconds”: I barely even remember it, that’s how forgettable it was.

But there is still hope. Well, sorta. I was going to list ten films that I was anxiously waiting for, but I can’t even think of ten. That’s how empty our slate for the rest of the year is looking. But there are still a few things that look worth waiting for. And here they are.

1. “O Brother Where Art Thou”

The Coen Brothers have never disappointed me. As far as I remember, they have never even made a movie that was less than great. Maybe “Crimewave”, but that one was even a lot of fun. And with this one, an update of Homer’s “Odyssey” set in during the Great Depression and revolving around three escaped convicts who are chained togther, it doesn’t look as if they are about to start. The convicts are George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson. Nelson is a newcomer, but the other two you should know. You might remember Turturro simply as Jesus The Bowler in “The Big Lebowski”, but this guy has done a great wealth of things that you should have seen. He is consistently brilliant in movies like “The Cradle Will Rock” and “Barton Fink”. And if you haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourself to go out and see his delightful Groucho Marx impression in the film “Brain Donors”. It’s great stuff. And as for George Clooney, well, I have heard his role in this film described as “Cary Grant on drugs”. Now this I gotta see.

2. “Cast Away”

Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis, together again and on a deserted island. That’s all I need to know to want to see this movie. And Helen Hunt is in it too. Helen, in her short film career, has done no wrong. She was the thing that made “As Good as it Gets” worth sitting through. Nicholson may not have earned his Oscar, but she deserved every ounce of hers. Hanks? I think you all know how I love Hanks. I’d like to see him try his hand at comedy again (I miss the Tom Hanks of movies like “Bachelor Party” and “The Burbs”) but I would still follow him anywhere. And Zemeckis? Well, I’m hoping that working with Hanks is what he needs to regain the zaniness of his old movies, rather than the good and serious stuff he has been making lately (which are still good, but, well, I miss the old Zemeckis, okay?).

3. “Almost Famous”

The trailer has sold me on this one. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, what are you waiting for? The official site is pretty cool also. Like the Blair Witch website, it plays its plot completely seriously. This movie is Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical account of touring with a rock band to write for Rolling Stone during the Seventies. It’s the story of a fifteen-year-old kid who gets to tour with the band Stillwater. Aside from Cameron Crowe’s loving and beautiful writing and directing (I love his choice of music in each and every one of his films) you have a stellar lineup of actors as well: Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Anna Paquin and Goldie Hawn’s daughter Kate Hudson. I am there.

4. “What Women Want”

Mel Gibson is a chauvinist bastard who is suddenly able to hear what women are really thinking. The afore-mentioned Helen Hunt is the woman that he wants, and whose thoughts he can read. And it’s a comedy. The only picture I have seen from this film is of Mel working out alongside a bunch of women. It made me laugh, as I hope the whole movie does. It has promise.

5. “Unbreakable”

M. Night Shyamalan’s followup to “The Sixth Sense” has Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and another famous twist. Who cares what it’s about? I’ll see it.

6. “Pay it Forward”

We have Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment and Barb Hilleshiem. (She runs the music store in Richland Center and she’s in it somewhere, I’ll be going just on the off chance that I catch a glimpse of someone I know onscreen). It’s about a teacher or something, and I think it’s set in Las Vegas. The cast is enough to ensure that my heinie will be in the theater opening weekend.

Other than that, I can’t think of anything else that really has me intrigued. “13 Days”? Thanks, Costner, I already saw “JFK”. “The Legend of Bagger Vance”? Maybe. Depends on the trailer. That movie where Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr. are scuba divers? I’ll pass. But at least there are a lot of great movies coming on DVD later this year.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 1st, 2000 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Dale Nauertz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.