I've finally finished watching all the 2002 movies I wanted to see, 60 in all out of the 468 released. What follows is my best and worst list for the year. I even saw my first 2003 film: Daredevil. Suffice it to say, it's going on my worst list soon. But first, here is the list for the best of the year. Check the archive for past reviews.

1. The Pianist - Roman Polanski's new take on the Jewish holocaust is one of the best on the subject. Adrien Brody masterfully brings realism to the picture.
2. Minority Report - Cruise and Spielberg team up to make a great movie for sci-fi fans as well as the mainstream audience.
3. Chicago - Sets the bar high for the continuing revival of the musical started by Moulin Rouge.
4. Gangs of New York - Captures 1860s New York superbly with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. Daniel Day-Lewis gives a masterful performance.
5. The Quiet American - Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser fight for the same girl in the beauty and the political scene of 1950s Vietnam.
6. About Schmidt - Jack Nicholson gives one of his finest performances ever. And the movie's pretty good too.
7. Punch-Drunk Love - Yes, that really is Adam Sandler toning down his slapstick comedy just a tad to let in some dramatic scenes.
8. Catch Me If You Can - Another DiCaprio flick with Tom Hanks this time. The chase and its inevitable end is entertaining and funny.
9. Y Tu Mama Tambien- Great coming-of-age story about two Mexican teenagers growing up by learning about themselves and an attractive woman.
10. Antwone Fisher- The power generated by poor Antwone can no longer be ignored in this true story directed by first-timer Denzel Washington.

Of the 60 movies I've seen, these are the top ten movies of the year through a composite ranking of 129 prominent critics (i.e. professionals, not a nobody like me) courtesy of moviecitynews.com.

1. Y Tu Mama Tambien
2. About Schmidt
3. Adaptation
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
5. The Pianist
6. Chicago
7. Gangs of New York
8. The Hours
9. Punch-Drunk Love
10. Minority Report

Of course, after the best comes the worst. None of these movies were true stinkers. No. Instead, they were just really bad. And the worst movies this year are...

1. Scooby-Doo - It didn't need to be made but it did and it doesn't even come close to the decent cartoon it's based on.
2. The Tuxedo - Whoever thought Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt could have on-screen chemistry should be fired.
3. Jason X - Mindless killing. If that's your kind of movie, then maybe it's on the wrong list.
4. The Rules of Attraction - College kids on the brink of killing themselves. Just die already.
5. National Lampoon's Van Wilder - It all seemed out of place to me. Can you really stay in college for 8 years?
6. Solaris - Even at 2 hours, it felt like 20.
7. The Mothman Prophecies - Really...we're supposed to be scared of a moth?
8. Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams - Strays past the original and into bizarro land.
9. Full Frontal - It looks bad, the story's bad, the acting's bad, it's bad.
10. Eight Legged Freaks - It has Kari Wuhrer, but big spiders sadly do not mean a better movie.