Everything in Its Right Place
I had proposed an idea when recounting the best films of last year, an idea which would sum up the closing decade and avoid the yearly confusion of a film's placement. Starting today, I am visiting and revisiting the films of the year 2000 in the hopes to compile a revised list of the best films of that given year by the end of the month. Of course, it won't be revised as I don't think I even made a list that year. It will, however, place the films within the year of their international premiere. This will avoid the annual 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days dilemma I seem to be faced with every year and will also give me the advantage of time, having allowed many of the films the ability to settle and resonate. This will also discount a number of amazing titles, like Claire Denis' Beau travail, Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher and Laurent Cantet's Ressources humaines, that premiered locally during this decade but screened at festivals in 1999. Suggestions are certainly welcome, as I'm adding to my to-watch queue as we speak (the IMDb is a pretty solid resource for finding out a film's official premiere). A question to be addressed (though maybe not answered) with the piece: Has it really been ten years since Andrzej Żuławski made a film, and worse, since Wong Kar-wai made a good one? I think I'll probably avoid making "worsts" for each year, as I've hopefully forgotten most of the shitfests from a given year. I also have no desire to rewatch Almost Famous or Requiem for a Dream to justify my once intense dislike for them.