The 10 Best Films of 2002: IndieWire

In 2002, the name of the game was bigger is better. Cinemagoers got a year full of sequels including "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," "Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones," "Men In Black II," "Blade II," and "Austin Powers in Goldmember." But it wasn't just franchise films audiences flocked to. A little film called "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was the sleeper indie that turned into a blockbuster smash. At the Oscars, it was an uncommon year with auteurs taking control of the show over populist crowd-pleasers. Roman Polanski's "The Pianist," Stephen Daldry's "The Hours," Spike Jonze's "Adaptation" and Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" took home the major statues, although "Chicago" danced away with Best Picture. But, if Hollywood was having a rare year featuring a burst of creativity, our top ten of 2002 shows they paled in comparison to their competition from overseas, as our list for this year is appropriately foreign-film-heavy.