Best movie this year

Rating: 9/10 (18 August 2004)

I was only half through viewing this movie when I turned to my wife to say it was the best we had seen this year so far. Too many movie-goers have to have huge budget special-effects, and fast-paced plot driven movies to be entertained. Atmospheric, ethereal movies that not only make you care about the characters but capture the mood and essence of the time period they are set in seem lost on these viewers. Sure, Sixth Sense was good, but I am less taken by plot twists than the mood the director was able to generate in that as in his other films. My willing suspension of disbelief was not overly strained in any of his films, and I think The Village was superb film-making, with excellent acting and cinematography. If you need big explosions and CGI creatures and car chases to banjo music, maybe you should stick to movies like Independence Day, where the jet-fighter pilot/President of the United States communicates telepathically with the alien invader.