originally jcphoenix entertainment
Note: The list has been slightly changed from when I first wrote it up. Movies I am looking forward to in 2002, but just stopped short of making the list are The Bourne Identity, Tuck Everlasting, and The Hours.
(05.15.03) -I'd just like to note that I have finally saw all the films here on this list.
(08.02.02) -I'd also like to just make a short list of other movies I am now anticipating in 2002 that I wasn't previously: Moonlight Mile, Tuck Everlasting, Abandon, Solaris, 8 Mile, The Truth About Charlie, and 28 Days Later.
(08.01.02) -I also ended up not seeing Road to Perdition for several reasons.
(07.10.02) -I ended up not seeing Insomnia because 1: my interest in the project actually dropped drastically, and 2: i almost went to see it, but my friends wanted to see something else instead so.
10. Spider-Man 
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, James Franco
Music: Danny Elfman
Director: Sam Raimi
Release Date: May 3rd, 2002
About: A high school student gains spiderlike abilities when he is bitten by a mutated spider, and eventually uses them to fight evil.
Why it's on the list: As it is one of the most successful comic series' ever, Spider-Man looks to be a potentially fun ride -and the trailer was wicked cool. (+Danny Elfman -my fav composer)
09. Resident Evil
Cast: Michelle Rodriguez, Milla Jovovich, Eric Mabius
Music: Marilyn Manson
Director: Paul Anderson
Release Date: March 15th, 2002
About: A military unit has to fight a powerful super computer that has went out of control. To save the world they must fight hundreds of flesh eating undead scientists that mutated in a lab accident.
Why it's on the list: Sounds like a good ole fashion sci-fi/action romp -something I haven't seen for in a while.
08. Road to Perdition
Cast: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Tyler Hoechlin, Jude Law, Anthony LaPaglia, Stanley Tucci
Music: Thomas Newman
Director: Sam Mendes
Release Date: October 4th, 2002
About: A hitman decides to take vengeance on the people who murdered his family.
Why it's on the list: You kidding me? Take a cast of people who always seem to pick good movies to star in, and the director of the 1999 Best Picture -American Beauty, and...you get the point.
07. Signs
Cast: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin
Music:
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Release Date: August 2nd, 2002
About: In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, mysterious 500 foot crop circles start to appear in a farmer's fields.
Why it's on the list: It sounds like the perfect mystery thriller, and with Shyamalan attached to direct, it's no wonder this movie has me excited. After The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, I'm excited that he's chosen a movie with similar undertones.
06. Catch Me if You Can
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner, Martin Sheen, Christopher Walken
Music: John Williams
Director: Steven Spielberg
Release Date: December 25th, 2002
About: The true story of Frank Abagnale who was a master of disguise (long-term) and a master forgerer.
Why it's on the list: This biopic actually sounds interesting, there's a whole lot more plot involved then what I have written above. And with Spielberg directing and DiCaprio (who really is a good actor, whatever you believe) and Hanks...
05. Gangs of New York
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day Lewis, Liam Neeson, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Director: Martin Scorsese
Release Date: December 25th, 2002
About: This is the story of the Irish and Italian gangs in New York City between 1846 and 1863, and particularly about a man-Amsterdam, the son of the leader of one of the gangs.
Why it's on the list: Isn't it obvious? Scorsese, DiCaprio, Diaz and Lewis...+ an interesting premise, and the fact that it was pushed back have all heightened my excitement for this project.
04. Hero
Cast: Maggie Cheung, Jet Li, Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Daoming Chen
Music: Tan Dun
Director: Zhang Yimou
Release Date: TBA FALL 2002
About: Three legendary assassins hired to kill the King of Qin where many others have failed. Based on the true story.
Why it's on the list: Li, Cheung, Leung, Yen, and Zhang-the most star studded Asian cast in a while. +Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix, Crouching Tiger) as the action choreographer and composing is Dun. *Since writing this, Yuen Wo Ping has left this project, and has been replaced.
03. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Cast: Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Chuck Norris, Matt Damon (cameo), Brad Pitt (cameo)
Music: unknown
Director: George Clooney
Release Date: December 27th, 2002
About: The fictitious story about Chuck Barris including time he spent as a CIA assassin called Sunny Sixkiller.
Why it's on the list: With a star studded cast and the fact that this is based on a very different and out there biography (that mixed fiction with non-fiction), sounds good, and that Singer and Aronofsky had been attached to this at a point is another bonus.
02. Insomnia
Cast: Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Al Pacino, Jonathan Jackson
Music: unknown
Director: Christopher Nolan
Release Date: May 24th, 2002
About: This is the English remake of a 1997 psychological thriller, about a detective sent to an Alaskan town who accidentally shoots his partner while apprehending a suspect.
Why it's on the list: The premise is MUCH more complicated (and interesting) than suggested. Add to the mix three Oscar winners for the leads + Nolan directing, and I'm INTERESTED.
01. Chicago
Cast: Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, John C. Reilly, Mya
Music: songs by John Kander & Fred Ebb
Director: Rob Marshall
Release Date: December 25th, 2002
About: this is the film version of the Broadway musical Chicago about a chorus girl who shoots her unfaithful lover and goes to jail, meeting several people there and slowly becoming a star from the attention.
Why it's on the list: With so many people I feel are talented, there is no way this would be missed by me. Add to that fact it has an interesting premise, and is a musical and I am VERY interested, especially after Luhrman's Moulin Rouge.