|
Persall's Top Five
By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 11, 2001
Recent releases recommended by Times film critic Steve Persall:
1. Traffic -- Steven Soderbergh's engrossing biopsy of the cultural cancer of narcotics, from the lowest dealers to Washington lobbying parties. An excellent cast includes Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro and Don Cheadle. One of the 10 best films of 2000.
2. State and Main -- Hollywood turns a sleepy Vermont town into a movie location and nothing goes right except David Mamet's keen writing and direction. The best ensemble cast of 2000 includes Alec Baldwin, William H. Macy and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
3. O Brother, Where Art Thou? -- George Clooney, John Turturro and marvelously dumb Tim Blake Nelson escape from a chain gang and become Depression-era country music stars. Another weird, wonderful comedy from the Coen brothers.
4. Quills -- Geoffrey Rush makes an erotic and erratic Marquis de Sade in Philip Kaufman's satire of censorship. One of the 10 best films of 2000.
5. Cast Away -- More than a gussied-up episode of Survivor, this island fable is a Zen warning about our rush-hour lives. Tom Hanks is poised for a third Academy Award.
Back to Weekend
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
|
