Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

Saw Chicago again yesterday, and was again amazed by the achievement of director Rob Marshall. I love The Pianist, and feel that Roman Polanski did some of the best work of his career on the film, but still would've given the best director Oscar to Marshall. The performances are amazing - Zellweger! Zeta-Jones! Gere! Latifah! Reilly! et.al.! The costumes, the sets, the choreography, the script... this is a film which is truly greater than the great sum of its parts, and still my favorite film of 2002. Also viewed Far From Heaven a second time in the past week, and was again left without doubt that Julianne Moore deserved the Oscar for best actress; her performance brought to mind the masters of the form, such as Hepburn, Nicholson, and Streep. Stunning.

The 2002 film list, which I'm thinking is final at this point:
1. Chicago
2. Far From Heaven
3. The Pianist
4. The Hours
5. Y Tu Mama Tambien