R2D2's Ultimate Top 10 Countdown Of The 2000s #2 - Dramas.

[For the last 10 days of the decade, I'm doing a Top 10 list a day, all culminating into an ultimate post of Top 10 lists. We have previously seen Top 10 Comedies. Now we're moving on.]

Top 10 Dramas of the 2000s

We start with comedy and go straight to its opposite, the drama. I'm not typically a big fan of the drama. For me, there has to be something a little extra to go with it. Whether it's a bit of comedy or a pinch of the fantastical, dramas need a little extra besides, well, drama to keep me invested. Otherwise, they're typically too depressing. For this reason, this category was tough to come up with. But I believe my choices, while mostly compiled of cross-genre films, are moreso dramas than their co-genre, which is why I placed them here. But then, once I got 10, it was tough putting them in a Top 10 order... but I somehow did. This being said, let's get to it.

10. Adventureland (2009)

This was one of my favorites of this year. It was advertised as a comedy; it was everything but. It did have some funny moments, but this is no ha-ha comedy. It's also one of those "crazy" movies that actually proves Kristen Stewart can act. And having Ryan Reynolds in it doesn't hurt, though he's not playing his usual shtick. If you're not going in thinking it's a comedy, you should go out loving it, much like I did.

9. Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Leo DiCaprio isn't one of those actors I go out of my way to see. He's good, for sure, and I'm pretty excited for his upcoming Shutter Island. But in the middle of his rise to stardom, he starred in this flick alongside Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken. On the surface, it's essentially a drawn-out heist/chase flick. But at its core, it's a character drama, a drama between the relationships between a boy and his father, as well as a boy and the FBI agent chasing him. But that heist/chase aspect is what draws me in, and the reason it made this list.

8. Driving Lessons (2006)

The adults of the Harry Potter films aren't the only ones that can act. While Dan Radcliffe has shown his chops on stage and in a few other things, I've always said that two of the better younger actors were Rupert Grint (Ron) and Matt Lewis (Neville). While Matt hasn't really done anything outside the Potter flicks, Rupert has, and Driving Lessons is the best of what I've seen (I've yet to see Cherrybomb or Wild Target). Tonally, the film is similar to Adventureland, but with a slight bit more comedy. However, like Catch Me If You Can, it's a character drama more than anything... a film that focuses on the relationships between a boy and his mother, a boy and the opposite sex, and a boy and the crazy old retired actress he has to take care of. Funnily enough, Grint was cast in this movie (opposite Potter mom Julie Walters) because the director felt he wasn't given enough in the Potter films for what he knew Grint could do. And I have to agree. Grint is great in the film, and thus the film itself is great.

7. Finding Neverland (2004)

What a cast! Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Dustin Hoffman, Radha Mitchell, Freddie Highmore... telling the story of J.M. Barrie and how he came up with the idea of Peter Pan. This is a truly wonderful and magical film. On the surface, it's a fantastical film about imagination... a film with great visuals and wonderful acting. But at its core, it's about the dramas of a childish man with marital issues and his innocent friendship with a dying woman and her children. Great stuff.

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Speaking of Kate Winslet, she has another on my list. Some might say this is Jim Carrey's best film (that award still goes to The Truman Show for me). This film was hard to place. I knew it was going to go on one of my lists, but it could honestly fit in numerous places. It could go under sci-fi/fantasy, due to its "in the head/erasing memories" nature. It could go under comedy, as it does have moments of a dark comedy. But I think at its core, it's a total drama. A couple want to forget about each other because being with one another is too hard. A young woman is in love with her boss, who is married... and other relationship dramas. It's all over the place in this film. But the character depth, even for the secondary characters, really helps this film shine.

5. Black Snake Moan (2006)

There's nothing fantastical about this movie... and you'd be hard-pressed to label it a comedy. So what draws me in with this one? I love the atmosphere. The deep south bluesy feel that emanates from every pore of this film keeps it going for me. And Christina Ricci mostly naked throughout... but I digress. It's a highly sexualized film, but there's a lot of metaphor thrown about it. There's a ton of great acting in it, too, including Sam Jackson and Justin Timberlake (believe it or not). It's not a movie you wanna watch with your momma, but I do recommend it if you love deep south culture or blues music (especially if you like blues music).

4. The Last Samurai (2003)

I'm usually not one for period dramas, but I have a soft spot for Japanese culture. I loved this film from the day I saw it in theater. Love or hate Tom Cruise, this is one of his finer films (and I'll have my other favorite on another list later). Many were skeptic about Tom Cruise being "the last samurai," but most people took it out of context of the film. Yes, it's basically your Dances With Wolves story, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable (looking at you, Avatar haters).

3. The Prestige (2006)

Another film that could have gone into a couple different categories. It could have fit under the Sci-Fi/Fantasy list, as it does have Sci-Fi aspects (particularly the sub-genre of steampunk). I could have also put it under my action/thriller section, as it has many mystery/thriller aspects. But I placed it under drama, as at its core, it's the story of a bitter rivalry and what either of these two men would do to outdo the other (and/or gain revenge). It's the study of man vs. man and the degradation of man in the process. And that's totally dramatic.

2. In Bruges (2008)

I went back and forth on this one. Drama... dark comedy... drama... dark comedy. I ultimately chose drama, because I always found this film much more dramatic than funny. Sure, it had funny moments ("Ah! A bottle!"), but the movie was way too serious to label it fully under comedy. It's pretty much the study of the lives of hit men and how they deal with life. This is probably Colin Farrell's best film, as well. It also stars three Harry Potter alums, all of which were ironically introduced in the same film. And, strangely, it's the second film in my Top 10 lists so far that stars a dwarf actor. Huh.

1. Bang Bang You're Dead (2002)

This was practically the first movie I put on my drama list, and it was automatically my #1, no matter what. This is what I feel to be one of the best and/or most important films ever made, and a film hardly anybody knows about. It's also actor Ben Foster's finest/strongest performance to date. There are no magic tricks, no fantastical trips into the imagination... there's hardly even comedy. This is straight-up drama if there ever was one. It tells the story of Trevor, a troubled boy who threatened to blow up the football team. He comes back to school the following year to even worse situations and a Zero Tolerance policy. Nobody trusts him except for his theater teacher, played by Tom Cavanagh, who gives him the lead role in a (real) play titled Bang Bang You're Dead, a play about a school shooter. Of course, this brings up a ton of controversy throughout the community. The movie is brilliant and powerful. It delves into the mind of a teenager and shows us what really brings out troubled kids... and I'll give you a hint: it's not the movies or the video games. I highly recommend this movie to anybody... really... go try to find a copy. (And don't tell me to go see "Elephant," or I'll punch you in the face.)

2 In 1: Miss Potter and Finding Neverland.

This 2 In 1 focuses on movies based on two famous children’s authors with even more famous works of literature. Both movies also tend to have a bit of magical realism played into it, for better or worse.

Miss Potter.

This film is based on Beatrix Potter, famous for writing and illustrating the children’s story The Tale of Peter Rabbit. But the movie, really, isn’t about that. However, it’s hard to pinpoint what the movie is about. It really isn’t a story about her rise from nothing to fame, because she starts off rich and gets published in the first scene of the movie and then begins to gain fame within the first 30 minutes. It’s more of a love story between Beatrix (Renee Zellweger) and her publisher, Norman (Ewan McGregor), as well as her friendship with Norman’s sister, Millie (Emily Watson)… as well as her relationships with her parents. So if I were to be asked what this movie is about, I’d answer ‘the many relationships of Beatrix Potter.’

Obviously one of the major faults of the movie, to me, is that it has no clear purpose. The movie moves as an almost breakneck speed, leaving no room for plot, character development, or chemistry. It moves from scene to scene adding more tidbits on the life of Beatrix Potter without really extending on any given moment besides its importance on the surface level. There was no real chemistry between Zellweger and McGregor. There was only a marginal bit of chemistry between Zellweger and Watson. But none of the characters really grew. They all stayed exactly the same, including Beatrix. Sure, she moves on with life and eventually stands up for herself… but she did that numerous times in other different ways as shown in the movie. There needed to be a lot more to the movie, especially on the character of William Heelis, who has all of 4 or 5 scenes in the entire movie, but turns out to be highly important in Beatrix’s life. His complete lack of screen time gives the audience no ability to attach to him or actually care about what the heck happens (much like with any character in the movie). And then within the last 15-20 minutes of the movie, it continues to go in a completely unimportant direction before abruptly ending. There’s no real conflict or climax to the movie. It’s just like “moments in the life of Beatrix Potter.”

As for acting, I felt Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson did the best job. Renee Zellweger, though I’m not sure why, got on my nerves. Something about the way she acted the part was just irritating. Not to mention she came off as clinically insane for most of the movie. It was interesting, at the least, how her pictures kept coming to life via her imagination, but they really didn’t make too much use of the idea (except in one scene to show a mental breakdown, though, as I said, she was arguably already mentally unstable anyway).

I usually talk about a movie more than this, but I honestly don’t know what else to say about it. The movie was at least somewhat entertaining for the most part, though it had a lot of flaws to me, and the last 20 minutes or so was pointless and needed a lot more meat to it. The best visual is toward the beginning when the young Beatrix is picturing her parents getting into a pumpkin-carriage being led by giant rabbits (and driven by a mouse, if I remember correctly). I really didn’t care for Renee’s acting in the part, and the movie could have just used more of a plot in general. That’s about all I can say on that.

Feed Me, Seymour!

Finding Neverland.

How is it that this movie only won a single Oscar again (and only for Original Score, at that)? J.M. Barrie (Johnny Depp) is a failing playwright, much to the chagrin of his producer (Dustin Hoffman), with a failing marriage with his wife, Mary (Radha Mitchell). But when he happens across a family headed by widow Sylvia Davies (Kate Winslet), with four boys including the much-troubled Peter (Freddie Highmore), both his life and his imagination find a sudden spark. Even against the wishes of Sylvia’s strict mother (Julie Christie), and through all the slanderous rumors against Barrie’s true purposes with the family, the friendships strive on as Mr. Barrie creates his masterpiece, Peter Pan.

There’s so many wonderful things about this movie. The acting is magnificent, from Johnny Depp all the way down to Freddie Highmore (I would argue that this and August Rush are his two best films). Johnny Depp is great and diverse as usual, as well. The only slight buggy bit was when he kind of dropped the accent to do a pirate accent at one point, which made it more reminiscent of Captain Jack than of a proper Scotsman. The actress that catches my attention the most, though, is Radha Mitchell, who really seems to be one heck of a diverse actress. I mean, she’s played a troubled, badass ship pilot in the Sci-Fi/Horror flick Pitch Black, she’s played the worried mother in the Horror film Silent Hill, and now here she is playing the snotty English woman. It’s just fun to see the range she can take and still do well in (we all know Johnny Depp is pretty much the same, but I’m talking in the terms of actresses here. There aren’t many actresses out there who can do these vastly different roles and pull them all off well).

The sense of imagination/magical realism in the film is handled very nicely, as well. It isn’t played up like J.M. Barrie is insane or whatnot, but simply opening his imagination and inviting everybody else to join him in doing so. My favorite bit, which really shows the contrast between characters, is when Barrie and his wife are going to bed in their separate rooms. Mary opens her door, which is just to a dark bedroom, while J.M. opens his door to a bright, flowery meadow. There’s quite a bit of symbolism between reality and the imagination imagery, which is handled nicely (especially toward the end when Kate Winslet ‘Finds Neverland’, so to speak).

The music was beautiful, obviously, since it won an Oscar for it. This is really a short review, as well, because there’s not much more to talk about. The movie was handled very well on all fronts, and it’s a shame that it was relatively ignored. It’s just a beautiful film overall.

Royale With Cheese