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By Christopher Witflee
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Julia Roberts
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One Film Is Not a Trend: American Beauty might have won the Best Picture Oscar, but hit films like Charlie's Angels and The Grinch confirmed that darker films are not destined to be Hollywood's next best thing.
A Change in Appearance Is Good: A frumpy and overweight Michael Douglas made Wonder Boys one of the year's best films. Julia Roberts in a short skirt and push-up bra breathed dramatic life into Erin Brockovich. Of course, only Erin Brockovich attracted audiences.
Movies Its Stars Are Glad You Didn't See: Garry Shandling and What Planet Are You From?; Bette Midler and Isn't She Great?
Movies Its Stars Wish You Did See: Joan Allen and her ensemble cast in The Contender; Colin Farrell and his young ensemble in Joel Schumacher's Tigerland.
Worst Career Decisions: Leonardo DiCaprio agreeing to star in The Beach; Thandie Newton pulling out of Charlie's Angels.
Best Creative Decisions: Leonardo DiCaprio agreeing to star in The Beach; Thandie Newton pulling out of Charlie's Angels.
Sticking to One's Guns in a Good Way: Jim Jarmusch remained the indie film maverick with Ghost Dog.
Sticking to One's Guns in a Bad Way: John Travolta used his celebrity clout to make Battlefield Earth.
There Are Times When Hype Doesn't Work: Controversy over its violent content didn't attract audiences to American Psycho.
Then Again, There Are Times When Hype Works Phenomenally: Everybody just had to see what Jim Carrey looked like in his Grinch suit.
Movies That Just Say No: The down-and-out addicts of Jesus' Son, Requiem for a Dream and Traffic made a compelling case for abstinence from drugs.
Finally, the Digital Revolution: Mike Figgis' Time Code and Miguel Arteta's Chuck & Buck revealed the brilliant potential for films shot on digital video.
Don't Trust Internet Gossip: The bad buzz surrounding Mission: Impossible 2, X-Men and Charlie's Angels proved to be unfounded with critics and audiences.
Moviemade Marathon Man: Veteran director Clint Eastwood emerged as American film's great director with the adventure-drama, Space Cowboys.
Proof of the Necessity for Foreign-Language Film: Zhang Yang's humanist drama Shower; Ed Yang's family epic, Yi-Yi; and Ang Lee's poetic actioner, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Another Stab Against Critics: The worst reviewed film of the year was The Grinch. Oh yeah, the top-grossing film of the year was The Grinch. At least Adam Sandler's Little Nicky bit the box-office dust.
Too Bad We Didn't See It: Baz Luhrmann's period musical Moulin Rouge won't be ready until summer.
So Glad We Didn't See It: A year without a new Star Wars film and all its annoying hype feels wonderful.
Sound Bytes: Choice Dialogue from Key Films
"They called me Mr. Glass." -- Unbreakable, Samuel L. Jackson tells Bruce Willis about the mysteries that bind them together.
"It's a reason to get up in the morning. It's a reason to smile. It's a reason to wear a red dress." -- Requiem for a Dream, Sarah Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) explains to her junkie son (Jared Leto) the importance behind her pill-induced weight loss.
"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." -- Almost Famous, Rock critic Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) explains the world to impressionable William Miller (Patrick Fugit).
"She's a witch, man! She's one pissed-off witch!" -- Blair Witch 2, Jeff Donovan blames Tristen Skyler as the evil source behind this awful sequel.
"The Chad ... is stuck." -- Charlie's Angels, a dopey guy named Chad in an unashamedly dopey action movie.
"What are you doing here, honey? You're not even old enough to know how bad life gets."
"Obviously doctor, you've never been a 13-year-old girl." -- The Virgin Suicides, exchange between depressed teen Cecilia Lisbon and her psychiatrist.
"One man's toxic waste is another man's potpourri." -- Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Jim Carrey's Grinch explaining the box-office secret behind his hit film.
"You are living next door to a real live beauty queen. I was Miss Wichita for Christ's sake." -- Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts promotes herself to next-door-neighbor Aaron Eckhart.
"I'm like Mother Teresa, except of boning." -- The Ladies Man, Leon Phelps explaining why the ladies find him irresistible.
"At my signal, unleash hell." -- Gladiator, Maximus (Russell Crowe) confirming his status as an old-fashioned hero of few words.
"You're making a noise."
"That's my penis. It hums." -- What Planet Are You From?, alien Gary Shandling explaining the unique details of his anatomy to Earth girl Linda Fiorentino.
Talk Soup: Some Favorite Quotes from a Year's Worth of Interviews
"Umm, you do draw on certain parts of yourself to do certain things and I drew on certain parts of myself for this character as I do for anything." -- Robert De Niro describing his acting methodology in typically vague fashion.
"Sex and power are totally wrapped up for this guy. He views the world in a very sexual way. I call him 'The Horny Man.' " -- Kevin Bacon explaining his character's motivation in The Hollow Man.
"Every movie is a risk. But I think when you have a bestseller and famous movie stars, it's a bigger risk. When you have this kind of small operation you can take much bigger risks, then you can, when everyone is expecting you to entertain the planet." -- Veteran director Joel Schumacher on why he made a low-budget film like Tigerland.
"When we did the film, I was 33 and had had a child and was taking care of a baby at night, so my life was very un-Dex-like. Whenever (the writers) were throwing down comparisons, I was like 'I'm changing diapers at 3 in the morning. There's no fucking comparison between my life and Dex's.' " -- Donal Logue on his character Dex in The Tao of Steve.
"I think a lot of us have a little bit of Lester Bangs in us. I think a lot of us edit ourselves because we want to keep our jobs and want to keep our lives." -- Philip Seymour Hoffman reveals an affinity for his Almost Famous character.
"I've learned over 20 years that -- because my career has been up and down so many times -- that the result of the film is not as important to me as it used to be. I don't expect results. I don't put value in that." -- Elisabeth Shue on coping with box office disappointment.
"It always tickles me when actors or journalists meet me for the first time, and they think I'm going to be weird or strange. But that's acting, you see. That's what actors do. I've actually got a silly personality." -- Actress Emily Watson distancing herself from her character Bess in Breaking the Waves.
"I don't think actors want to play themselves. They might want to play aspects of themselves, but it's a fantasy ... I know the industry has all these labels. A film is mainstream or not mainstream or could be mainstream, but my decisions aren't so simple." -- Ralph Fiennes on planning a film career.
"Sarah Polley gets all the parts before I do. They offered her Boys Don't Cry before me. They offer her everything. She's my big competition, and she's a better actress as far as I'm concerned. I probably shouldn't be saying this." -- Chloë Sevigny on her newfound status as an up-and-coming actress.
"My first paid job as an actor was Romeo and Juliet in a shopping mall. How do you know it wasn't fantastic? This was the best Shakespeare performed in a mall ever." -- Kevin Spacey on his early highlights as an actor. ©
