Best Movies of 2002

Added on by C. Maoxian.

This is a list of the Best Movies of 2002 according to John Farr. I find his site hard to navigate, so I create summary lists like this one.

English-language movies:

  1. 28 Days Later

  2. About Schmidt

  3. About a Boy

  4. Adaptation

  5. All or Nothing

  6. Bloody Sunday

  7. Dirty Pretty Things

  8. Insomnia

  9. One Hour Photo

  10. Path to War

  11. Rabbit Proof Fence

  12. Raising Victor Vargas

  13. Road to Perdition

  14. Skins

  15. Sweet Sixteen

  16. The Bourne Identity

  17. The Count of Monte Cristo

  18. The Gathering Storm

  19. The Hours

  20. The Magdalene Sisters

  21. The Pianist

  22. Thirteen

Foreign-language movies:

  1. Behind the Sun (Portuguese)

  2. Chi-hwa-seon: Painted Fire (Korean)

  3. City of God (Portuguese)

  4. Distant (Turkish)

  5. Dolls (Japanese)

  6. Good Bye Lenin! (German)

  7. He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (French)

  8. Hero (Mandarin)

  9. Infernal Affairs (Cantonese)

  10. L'Auberge Espagnole (French)

  11. Oasis (Korean)

  12. Russian Ark (Russian)

  13. Talk To Her (Spanish)

  14. Ten (Farsi)

  15. The Clay Bird (Bengali)

  16. The Cuckoo (Russian)

  17. The Lady and the Duke (French)

  18. The Man Without a Past (Finnish)

  19. The Son (French)

  20. The Twilight Samurai (Japanese)

  21. When the Last Sword is Drawn (Japanese)

  22. Yossi & Jagger (Hebrew)

English-language documentaries:

  1. 7 Days in September

  2. 9/11

  3. Ansel Adams: a Documentary Film

  4. Bowling for Columbine

  5. Bukowski: Born into This

  6. Decasia: The State of Decay

  7. Dig!

  8. Dogtown and Z-Boys

  9. Elaine Stritch: At Liberty

  10. Lost in La Mancha

  11. My Flesh and Blood

  12. Prisoner of Paradise

  13. Smothered

  14. Spellbound

  15. Stevie

  16. The Agronomist

  17. The Last Game

  18. Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election

  19. Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion

Foreign-language documentaries:

  1. Balseros (Spanish)

  2. Blind Spot (German)

  3. To Be and To Have (French)

Movies Watched -- Return to Seoul (2022)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

In Korean. 119 minute running time so 20 minutes too long … this wasn’t terrible, it would appeal to adoptees from Korea (or other parts of east Asia), but I wouldn’t recommend it. John Farr did: “Freddie is a wild, restless creature, unsure of who she is even before arriving in Korea. This latest adventure only adds to her dislocation, but it’s clear she’s searching for something.” Yeah, it’s OK, but not good enough for me to recommend.

Best Movies of 2001

Added on by C. Maoxian.

This is a list of the Best Movies of 2001 according to John Farr. I find his site hard to navigate, so I create summary lists like this one.

English-language movies:

  1. 61*

  2. And the Band Played On

  3. Ghost World

  4. Gosford Park

  5. Hedwig and the Angry Inch

  6. L.I.E.

  7. Memento

  8. Monsoon Wedding

  9. Mulholland Drive

  10. Tape

  11. The Deep End

  12. The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit

  13. The Others

  14. Wit

Foreign-language movies:

  1. All About Lily Chou-Chou (Japanese)

  2. Amélie (French)

  3. Baran (Farsi)

  4. Elling (Norwegian)

  5. I’m Going Home (French)

  6. La Cienaga (Spanish)

  7. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (Hindi)

  8. Late Marriage (Georgian)

  9. Mostly Martha (German)

  10. Musa, the Warrior (Korean)

  11. My Father and I (French)

  12. Nine Queens (Spanish)

  13. No Man’s Land (Bosnian)

  14. Nowhere in Africa (German)

  15. Pauline and Paulette (Dutch)

  16. Safe Conduct (French)

  17. Spirited Away (Japanese)

  18. The Devil's Backbone (Spanish)

  19. The Piano Teacher (French)

  20. The Road Home (Mandarin)

  21. The Son’s Room (Italian)

  22. The Tunnel (German)

  23. Time Out (French)

  24. Under the Skin of the City (Farsi)

  25. Y Tu Mama Tambien (Spanish)

English-language documentaries:

  1. New York in the Fifties

  2. Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

  3. Startup.com

  4. War Photographer

Foreign-language documentaries:

  1. Children Underground (Romanian)

Movies Watched -- Hit the Road (2021)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

In Farsi. 93 minute running time so the right length, but I only made it ten minutes in before going to fast forward, I couldn’t bear the bratty kid or obnoxious family … I guess it was a story about smuggling their older son abroad, out of Iran, no reason given … there was probably a lot of humor in this, but I didn’t get it because I’m not Iranian … this was a John Farr reco (“this portrayal of a loving family coping under stress also contains a measure of hope and affirmation”), but I certainly don’t recommend it.

Best Movies of 2000

Added on by C. Maoxian.

This is a list of the Best Movies of 2000 according to John Farr. I find his site hard to navigate, so I create summary lists like this one.

English-language movies:

  1. Almost Famous

  2. Best in Show

  3. Billy Elliot

  4. Bread and Roses

  5. George Washington

  6. Girlfight

  7. High Fidelity

  8. Innocence

  9. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

  10. Our Song

  11. Pollock

  12. Requiem for a Dream

  13. Sexy Beast

  14. Snatch

  15. Songcatcher

  16. The Contender

  17. Traffic

  18. You Can Count on Me

Foreign-language movies:

  1. A Matter of Taste (French)

  2. Amores Perros (Spanish)

  3. Bread and Tulips (Italian)

  4. Code Unknown (French)

  5. Coronation (Spanish)

  6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Mandarin)

  7. Gloomy Sunday (German)

  8. Il Mare (Korean)

  9. In the Mood for Love (Cantonese)

  10. Italian for Beginners (Danish)

  11. Lumumba (French)

  12. Songs from the Second Floor (Swedish)

  13. The Circle  (Farsi)

  14. The Day I Became a Woman (Farsi)

  15. The Fast Runner (Inukitut)

  16. The Taste of Others (French)

  17. The Widow of Saint-Pierre French)

  18. Under the Sand (French)

  19. With a Friend Like Harry (French)

  20. Yi Yi (Mandarin)

English-language documentaries:

  1. Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-Betweens – A Life in Animation

  2. Dark Days

  3. Half Past Autumn

  4. Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport

  5. Napoleon: Soldier, Emperor, Lover, Statesman

  6. Ring of Fire

  7. Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light

  8. Sound and Fury

  9. The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack

  10. The Endurance

  11. The Filth and the Fury

  12. Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election

  13. World War II: The Lost Color Archives

Foreign-language documentaries:

  1. Calle 54 (Spanish)

  2. Paragraph 175 (German)

  3. The Gleaners and I (French



Movies Watched -- Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

In Japanese. 121 minute running time so at least 21 minutes too long. Three separate short stories, all of them sort of weird and pointless? Japanese culture is very strange after all.

The Chinese characters (the Japanese have adopted a lot of Chinese characters) on the box say “coincidence and imagination,” which I guess turned into “fortune and fantasy.” This was a John Farr reco (“smart, subtle filmmaking”), but you can definitely give it a miss. Oh, this is the same guy who made the terrible “Drive My Car” movie … I’m not fan.

She swallowed his right testicle…

Best Movies of 1999

Added on by C. Maoxian.

This is a list of the Best Movies of 1999 according to John Farr. I find his site hard to navigate, so I create summary lists like this one.

English-language movies:

  1. A Civil Action

  2. American Beauty

  3. Being John Malkovich

  4. Boys Don't Cry

  5. Dick

  6. Election

  7. Magnolia

  8. October Sky

  9. Ratcatcher

  10. Spring Forward

  11. The Blair Witch Project

  12. The Cider House Rules

  13. The Insider

  14. The Iron Giant

  15. The Sixth Sense

  16. The Straight Story

  17. The War Zone

  18. Topsy-Turvy

  19. Toy Story 2

  20. Tumbleweeds

Foreign-language movies:

  1. After Life (Japanese)

  2. All About My Mother (Spanish)

  3. Audition (Japanese)

  4. Children of Heaven (Farsi)

  5. East / West (French)

  6. Farewell, Home Sweet Home (French)

  7. Himalaya (Dolpo)

  8. In China They Eat Dogs (Danish)

  9. It All Starts Today (French)

  10. Kadosh (Hebrew)

  11. Leila (Farsi)

  12. Not One Less (Mandarin)

  13. Peppermint Candy (Korean)

  14. Princess Mononoke (Japanese)

  15. Running Out of Time (Cantonese)

  16. The Color of Paradise (Farsi)

  17. The Emperor and the Assassin (Mandarin)

  18. The Wind Will Carry Us (Farsi)

English-language documentaries:

  1. American Movie

  2. Genghis Blues 

  3. Not for Ourselves Alone

  4. One Day in September

  5. Return With Honor

Foreign-language documentaries:

  1. My Best Friend: Klaud Kinski (German)

  2. The Specialist: Portrait of a Modern Criminal (French)

Movies Watched -- Blue Jean (2022)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

97 minute running time so the perfect length … lesbian life in Newcastle (northeast England) during the 1980s when the Thatcher admin was apparently actively anti-homosexual … this is a W.D. By movie (written and directed by the same person, i.e., someone’s baby) … I enjoyed it … it helped that the star, Rosy McEwen, is stunningly beautiful … Blue is the Warmest Color remains the greatest lesbian love story movie of all time, but this was good enough to get a green-go. This was a John Farr reco and now I recommend it too.

Movies Watched -- May December (2023)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

117 minute running time so about 17 minutes too long, but I liked this one … I’m sort of shocked to admit it … Todd Haynes and Julianne Moore like working together for sure … she looks amazing for 63 … Natalie Portman is 42 and looks worse than Julianne … hapa husband was a simple-minded hunk and all their 1/4 Korean “children” were beautiful … I liked the story and the acting was good … I might upgrade this to a green-go later depending on the other 2023 movies that I watch. This was a John Farr reco.

I am secure.

Personicx Classic Segment Names

Added on by C. Maoxian.

“Personicx Classic Refresh is the household-level segmentation system that places each U.S. household into one of 70 segments based on similar demographic, socio-economic and consumer behavior.”

01 -- Summit Estates

02 -- Established Elite

03 -- Corporate Clout

04 -- Skyboxes & Suburbans

05 -- Sitting Pretty

06 -- Shooting Stars

07 -- Lavish Lifestyles

08 -- Full Steaming

09 -- Platinum Oldies

10 -- Hard Chargers

11 -- Kids & Clout

12 -- Tots & Toys

13 -- Solid Single Parents

14 -- Career Centered Singles

15 -- Country Ways

16 -- Country Single

17 -- Apple Pie Families

18 -- Married Sophisticates

19 -- Country Comfort

20 -- Dynamic Duos

21 -- Children First

22 -- Fun & Games

23 -- Acred Couples

24 -- Career Building

25 -- Clubs & Causes

26 -- Savvy Singles

27 -- Soccer & SUVS

28 -- Suburban Seniors

29 -- City Mixers

30 -- Spouses & Houses

31 -- Mid Americana

32 -- Metro Mix

33 -- Urban Tenants

34 -- Outward Bound

35 -- Solo & Stable

36 -- Raisin’ Grandkids

37 -- Cartoons & Carpools

38 -- Midtown Minivanners

39 -- Early Parents

40 -- The Great Outdoors

41 -- Truckin’ & Stylin’

42 -- First Mortgage

43 -- Work & Causes

44 -- Community Singles

45 -- First Digs

46 -- Home Cooking

47 -- Rural Parents

48 -- Farmland Families

49 -- Devoted Duos

50 -- Rural Retirement

51 -- Family Matters

52 -- Resolute Renters

53 -- Metro Parents

54 -- Still Truckin'

55 -- Humble Homes

56 -- Modest Wages

57 -- Collegiate Crowd

58 -- Young Workboots

59 -- Mobile Mixers

60 -- Rural Rovers

61 -- Urban Scramble

62 -- Kids and Rent

63 -- Downtown Dwellers

64 -- Rural Everlasting

65 -- Thrifty Elders

66 -- Timeless Elders

67 -- Rolling Stones

68 -- Pennywise Proprietors

69 -- Pennywise Mortgagees

70 -- Resilient Renters