Entangled in a “spider’s web”, whisked off by some clones to a galaxy far, far away and witnessed a resurrection of Leo and Dennis are just some of the events this critic had to endure throughout the year that will be forever remembered as ’02.

It’s probably a given that it was the year of the “spider” and next year we have a slew of superhero epics racing to catch the spider’s fumes. Next year will for most be the dawn of “heroes”.

In hindsight I looked back at some of the films in my top 10 this year and thought they were a lot better than audiences or I gave them credit for. That is why my top 10 is a little different than the ratings I gave each film. Some of these films I look back on and probably should have garnered them with a perfect score instead of accenting their flaws.

What was probably the hardest thing about ’02 was the amount of average films that the year presented. It was hard to yell from the rooftops about a film or slap a soothsayer warning on a review. The majority of the films were between 3.5 and 2.5, which is quite interesting in itself. I think I awarded maybe 2-3 films a 5 this year.

Why is it that a mass audience never sees these amazing Japanese animated epics? Films like Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” or Ozuma Tezuka’s “Metropolis” were lost in the market. “Spirited Away” was probably one of the greatest animated films made in the past decade. A lot of newspaper headlines are claiming that standard animated films are dead. If this is true then I have to shed a tear because so much magic will be over-looked.

I hope that I can find more films to cherish in the 2003. The new year will start off on January 8th when I see “NARC”. See you then.

They were so popular last year that I decided to continue with the 2nd Annual Soothsayer Awards (see below):

The Best

11. “Treasure Planet”

10. “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”

9. “Windtalkers”

8. “Sum of All Fears”

7. “Rabbit Proof Fence”

6. “The Ring”

5. “Gangs of New York”

4. “Brotherhood of the Wolf”

3. “Road to Perdition”

2. “Spirited Away”

1. “Catch Me If You Can”

The Worst

10. "Abandon”

9. "Half Past Dead”

8. "Slackers”

7. "Eight Crazy Nights”

6. "Bad Company”

5. "Solaris”

4. "Rules of Attraction”

3. "A Walk to Remember”

2. "Kung Pow: Enter the Fist

1. "Rollerball”

The Soothsayer Awards

Best Action Film of the Year: "The Sum of All Fears"

Best Sequel of the Year: "Episode 2" & “Two Towers” (tie)

Best Animated Movie of the Year: “Spirited Away”

Best Comedy of the Year: "I, Spy "

Best Baffler of the Year: “The Ring”

Best Horror Film of the Year: "The Ring"

The Break-Out Actor of the Year: Dennis Quaid for “The Rookie” & “Far from Heaven”

The Break-Out Actress of the Year: Katherine Isabelle for “Insomnia” & “Turning Paige”

'What Were They Thinking' Award: Steven Soderbergh for “Solaris” and “Full Frontal”