Reading the cine-meter

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Norene Cashen

The Adventures of Sebastian Cole — Tod Williams
American Beauty — Sam Mendes
Detroit Rock City — Adam Rifkin
The Green Mile — Frank Darabont
My Life So Far — Hugh Hudson
My Son the Fanatic — Udayan Prasad
Romance — Catherine Breillat
The Sixth Sense — M. Night Shyamalan
Whiteboys — Marc Levin
The Wood — Rick Famuyiwa

Scariest: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut — Trey Parker

Funniest: The Blair Witch Project — Eduardo Sanchez & Daniel Myrick

 

Serena Donadoni

American Beauty — Sam Mendes
Boys Don't Cry — Kimberly Peirce

Cabaret Balkan (aka The Powder Keg) — Goran Paskaljevic
Fight Club — David Fincher
Mansfield Park — Patricia Rozema
The Matrix — Larry & Andy Wachowski
Ride With the Devil — Ang Lee
Run Lola Run — Tom Tykwer
Rushmore — Wes Anderson
Summer of Sam — Spike Lee

Old-school Hollywood revisited: The 13th Warrior — John McTiernan

Great director stumbles: Eyes Wide Shut — Stanley Kubrick

 

Timothy Dugdale

After Life — Hirokazu Kore-eda
All About My Mother — Pedro Almodovar
American Beauty — Sam Mendes
Being John Malkovich — Spike Jonze
Central Station — Walter Salles, Jr.
Election — Alexander Payne
The Insider — Michael Mann
The Limey — Steven Soderbergh
Run Lola Run — Tom Tykwer
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut — Trey Parker

Overhyped shite: The Blair Witch Project — Eduardo Sanchez & Daniel Myrick; Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace — George Lucas

 

Paula Farmer

American Beauty — Sam Mendes
Being John Malkovich — Spike Jonze
Boys Don't Cry — Kimberly Peirce
Central Station — Walter Salles, Jr.
Election — Alexander Payne
Flawless — Joel Schumacher
Lovers of the Arctic Circle — Julio Medem
Outside Providence — Michael Corrente
Summer of Sam — Spike Lee
Tango — Mario Suarez

Much ado about nothing: The Blair Witch Project — Eduardo Sanchez & Daniel Myrick; Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace — George Lucas

 

Jerry Herron

American Beauty — Sam Mendes
American Pie — Paul Weitz
Being John Malkovich — Spike Jonze
Election — Alexander Payne
The Matrix — Larry & Andy Wachowski
Pecker — John Waters
The Sixth Sense — M. Night Shyamalan
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut — Trey Parker
The Straight Story — David Lynch
The Thin Red Line — Terence Malick

Movie I wish I could have liked a lot more because a great American genius made it: Eyes Wide Shut — Stanley Kubrick

Kid movie that made me glad to be a geezer because now I won't even have to try to begin to care about it: The Blair Witch Project — Eduardo Sanchez & Dan Myrick

 

Deborah Hochberg

After Life — Hirokazu Kore-eda
American Beauty — Sam Mendes
Being John Malkovich — Spike Jonze
Central Station — Walter Salles
Late August, Early September — Olivier Assayas
The Matrix — Larry & Andy Wachowski
Romance — Catherine Breillat
Run Lola Run — Tom Tykwer
A Simple Plan — Sam Raimi
The Thin Red Line — Terence Malick

Best documentaries: Buena Vista Social Club — Wim Wenders; Dancemaker — Matthew Diamond

 

Dayana Stetco

Being John Malkovich — Spike Jonze
eXistenZ — David Cronenberg
Eyes Wide Shut — Stanley Kubrick
Felicia's Journey — Atom Egoyan
Fight Club — David Fincher
The Loss of Sexual Innocence — Mike Figgis
The Matrix — Larry & Andy Wachowski
Ravenous — Antonia Bird
Run Lola Run — Tom Tykwer
The Straight Story — David Lynch

Biggest con: The Blair Witch Project — Eduardo Sanchez & Dan Myrick

Best meet the devil-end of millennium movie: Stigmata — Rupert Wainright

 

George Tysh

Affliction — Paul Schrader
Bringing Out the Dead — Martin Scorsese
The Dreamlife of Angels — Erick Zonca
Eyes Wide Shut — Stanley Kubrick
Last Night — Don McKellar
The Matrix — Larry & Andy Wachowski
Romance — Catherine Breillat
Run Lola Run — Tom Tykwer
The Straight Story — David Lynch
The Thin Red Line — Terence Malick

Great kid stuff: The 13th Warrior — John McTiernan

Less than zero: The Blair Witch Project — Eduardo Sanchez & Daniel Myrick

 

Ralph Valdez

Being John Malkovich — Spike Jonze
Brakhage — Jim Shedden
The Brandon Teena Story — Susan Muska & Greta Olafsdottir
Dogma — Kevin Smith
The Dreamlife of Angels — Erick Zonca
Fight Club — David Fincher
The Matrix — Larry & Andy Wachowski
Run Lola Run — Tom Tykwer
Toy Story 2 — John Lasseter
Twin Falls Idaho — Michael Polish

Overrated: American Beauty — Sam Mendes

Underrated: Bringing Out the Dead — Martin Scorsese

 

Richard C. Walls

American Beauty — Sam Mendes
An Autumn Tale — Eric Rohmer
Bringing Out the Dead — Martin Scorsese
Cookie's Fortune — Robert Altman
The Day of the Beast — Alex de la Iglesia
The Dreamlife of Angels — Erick Zonca
I Stand Alone — Gaspar Noé
Limbo — John Sayles
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels — Guy Ritchie
The Thin Red Line — Terence Malick

Honorable mention: Election — Alexander Payne

Reissue of the year: Shoot the Piano Player — François Truffaut

Consensus Best:

American Beauty (7)
Being John Malkovich (6)
The Matrix (6)
Run Lola Run (6)

About The Author

Metro Times Staff

Since 1980, Metro Times has been Detroit’s premier alternative source for news, arts, culture, music, film, food, fashion and more from a liberal point of view.
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