A few minor tweaks for this year's series of films: I'm going to be slightly more strict with grading, which should result in a smaller distribution spread. Also, should my opinion of a picture change upon subsequent rewatching(s) or further reflection, I will now revise the rating where applicable (in the past, I've let my initial assessment stand de facto in stone, which in retrospect seems a bit silly and counterproductive.)

A brief, deliberately vague verbal translation of the revised grading scale:

Films with full reviews have direct links. Unreviewed films have brief capsules. (At least in theory -- well, maybe not.)

**** / A
The Dreamlife Of Angels (La Vie Rêvée Des Anges) (d: Erick Zonca)
Eyes Wide Shut (d: Stanley Kubrick)
The Iron Giant (d: Brad Bird)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (d: Anthony Minghella)
Toy Story 2 (d: John Lasseter)

*** ½ / A-
Being John Malkovich (d: Spike Jonze)
Boys Don't Cry (d: Kimberly Peirce)
The Cider House Rules (d: Lasse Hallström)
Magnolia (d: Paul Thomas Anderson)
The Matrix (d: The Wachowski Brothers)
Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos) (d: Alejandro Amenabar)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (d: Trey Parker)
The Straight Story (d: David Lynch)
The War Zone (d: Tim Roth)

*** / B+
Autumn Tale (Conte D'Automne) (d: Eric Rohmer)
Black Cat, White Cat (d: Emir Kusturica)
Cookie's Fortune (d: Robert Altman)
The Dinner Game (Le Dîner Des Cons) (d: Francis Veber)
Family Resemblances (Un Air De Famille) (d: Cédric Klapisch) *
Go (d: Doug Liman)
The Insider (d: Michael Mann)
My Son The Fanatic (d: Udayan Prasad)
Never Been Kissed (d: Raja Gosnell)

*** / B
8MM (d: Joel Schumacher)
American Beauty (d: Sam Mendes)
American Pie (d: Paul Weitz)
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (d: Jay Roach)
Children Of Heaven (d: Majid Majidi)
Cruel Intentions (d: Roger Kumble)
Deep Blue Sea (d: Renny Harlin)
Dick (d: Andrew Fleming)
Election (d: Alexander Payne)
Fight Club (d: David Fincher)
The Five Senses (d: Jeremy Podeswa) *
Guinevere (d: Audrey Wells)
An Ideal Husband (d: Oliver Parker)
The Jaundiced Eye (d: Nonny de la Peña)
The Limey (d: Steven Soderbergh)
Mr. Death: The Rise And Fall Of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (d: Errol Morris)
Notting Hill (d: Roger Michell)
Ride With The Devil (d: Ang Lee)
Rosetta (d: Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne)
Run Lola Run (d: Tom Tykwer)
The School Of Flesh (L'École De La Chair) (d: Benoit Jacquot)
Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season (d: Sandy Tung)
Show Me Love (Fucking Amål) (d: ???)
Tarzan (d: Kevin Lima & Chris Buck)
This Is My Father (d: Paul Quinn)
Three Kings (d: David O. Russell)
Three Seasons (d: Tony Bui)
Topsy-Turvy (d: Mike Leigh)
True Crime (d: Clint Eastwood)

** ½ / B-
All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre) (d: Pedro Almodóvar)
American Movie: The Making Of Northwestern (d: Chris Smith)
Arlington Road (d: Mark Pellington)
Bowfinger (d: Frank Oz)
Broken Vessels (d: Scott Ziehl)
Cradle Will Rock (d: Tim Robbins)
Desert Blue (d: Morgan J. Freeman)
Earth (d: Deepa Mehta)
Eternity And A Day (d: Theo Angelopoulos)
eXistenZ (d: David Cronenberg)
Felicia's Journey (d: Atom Egoyan)
GalaxyQuest (d: Dean Parisot)
God Said, "Ha!" (d: Julia Sweeney)
Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows (d: Paul Jay)
The Hurricane (d: Norman Jewison)
Late August, Early September (Fin Août, Début Septembre) (d: Oliver Assayas)
Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels (d: Guy Ritchie)
Man Of The Century (d: Adam Abraham)
The Minus Man (d: Hampton Fancher)
Mystery Men (d: Kinka Usher)
Office Space (d: Mike Judge)
Set Me Free (Emporte-Moi) (d: Léa Pool)
The Sixth Sense (d: M. Night Shyamalan)
Sleepy Hollow (d: Tim Burton)
Titus (d: Julie Taymor)
The Winslow Boy (d: David Mamet)

** ½ / C+
10 Things I Hate About You (d: Gil Junger)
Analyze This (d: Harold Ramis)
Better Than Chocolate (d: Anne Wheeler)
The End Of The Affair (d: Neil Jordan)
The Green Mile (d: Frank Darabont)
I Stand Alone (Seul Contre Tous) (d: Gaspar Noé)
Jeanne And The Perfect Guy (Jeanne Et Le Garçon Formidable) (d: Olivier Ducastel & Jacques Martineau)
Last Night (d: Don McKellar)
Liberty Heights (d: Barry Levinson)
The Muse (d: Albert Brooks)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (d: George Lucas)
Summer Of Sam (d: Spike Lee)
Sweet And Lowdown (d: Woody Allen)
The Third Miracle (d: Agnieszka Holland)
Twin Falls Idaho (d: Michael Polish)

** / C
Angela's Ashes (d: Alan Parker)
Anna And The King (d: Andy Tennant)
Any Given Sunday (d: Oliver Stone)
Anywhere But Here (d: Wayne Wang)
The Astronaut's Wife (d: Rand Ravich)
The Blair Witch Project (d: Eduardo Sanchez & Daniel Myrick)
Bringing Out The Dead (d: Martin Scorsese)
The General's Daughter (d: Simon West)
Jesus' Son (d: Alison Maclean)
Limbo (d: John Sayles)
Man On The Moon (d: Milos Forman)
A Map Of The World (d: Scott Elliot)
October Sky (d: Joe Johnston)
Payback (d: Brian Helgeland)
A Place Called Chiapas (d: Nettie Wild)
Romance (d: Catherine Breillat)
Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train (Ceux Qui M'Aiment Prendront Le Train) (d: Patrice Chéreau)

** / C-
Besieged (d: Bernardo Bertolucci)
The Bone Collector (d: Phillip Noyce)
The Corruptor (d: James Foley)
Dogma (d: Kevin Smith)
Double Jeopardy (d: Bruce Beresford)
Entrapment (d: Jon Amiel)
Happy, Texas (d: Mark Illsley)
julien donkey-boy (d: Harmony Korine)
Mansfield Park (d: Patricia Rozema)
Metroland (d: Philip Saville)
Pushing Tin (d: Mike Newell)
She's All That (d: Robert Iscove)
The Story Of Us (d: Rob Reiner)

* ½ / D+
Girl, Interrupted (d: James Mangold)
The Haunting (d: Jan de Bont)
Holy Smoke (d: Jane Campion)
Lucie Aubrac (d: Claude Berri)
The Mummy (d: Stephen Sommers)
Music Of The Heart (d: Wes Craven)
Random Hearts (d: Sydney Pollack)
Runaway Bride (d: Garry Marshall)
Simpatico (d: Matthew Warchus)
The Very Thought of You (d: Nick Hamm)

* ½ / D
Devil's Island (d: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson)

* / D-
200 Cigarettes (d: Risa Bramon Garcia)
Jawbreaker (d: Darren Stein)

* / F
none (hopefully, I'll never see a movie so bad as to drive me out of the theater)

* = 1999 Canadian theatrical release

Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca)

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