2000s

The first ten years of the new century were good to movies. Every genre seemed to be represented in the top movies of the decade. For people my age, this was also the decade where our tastes matured, and sometimes went the opposite direction as well (American Pie). This was when my generation got to know a new James Bond and see Indiana Jones once again.

Comic books became a new source for film makers with Spiderman, Batman Begins, and Iron Man. Each of these films was just the beginning to series that were wildly successful. In addition to comic books, other series also began with Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Transformers all coming to the screen for the first time.

Russell Crowe made the 2000s his own, starting with Gladiator he starred in the Best Picture of 2000. That movie also got him an Oscar for Best Actor. In 2001 he followed that up with another great performance in A Beautiful Mind, also a Best Picture winner. Continuing throughout the decade he would continue to shine with films like Cinderella Man, American Gangster, and Body of Lies.

In addition to Crowe some other actors also made it big. Sean Penn took two Best Actor Awards home for his work in Mystic River and Milk. The second film was one of a number of movies made during the decade which focused on true stories of real people. This genre would grow in the 2000s to included Frost/Nixon, Invictus, Good Night, and Good Luck, Walk the Line, Hotel Rwanda, A Beautiful Mind, Ali, and Pollock.

For the women in Hollywood this was also a fantastic decade. Every year saw a different woman take home the Best Actress statue at the Oscars. Perhaps none was as significant as Halle Berry’s win in 2001 for Monster’s Ball. That award was the first for an African-American actress in a leading role. Berry wasn’t the only one finding success.

In the 2000s we found Nemo, had (500) Days of Summer, and got to embark on a fantastic mission with The Lord of the Rings. So many great series and films were produced during this amazing decade. Here are the films I’ve reviewed from the 2000s:

• Gladiator (2000) – Nominated for 12 Oscars, winning 5 including Best Picture and Best Actor
• Remember the Titans (2000)
• Return to Me (2000)
• Autumn in New York (2000)
• Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
• Sexy Beast (2000) – Nominated for Best Supporting Actor
• The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) – Nominated for Best Original Song
• Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) – Nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) – Nominated for 13 Oscars, winning 4 including Best Cinematography and Best Original Score
• A Beautiful Mind (2001) – Nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 4 including Best Picture and Best Director
• Band of Brothers (2001)
• Ben Folds Five: Live at Sessions at West 54th (2001)
• Training Day (2001) – Won for Best Actor in a Leading Role
• Pootie Tang (2001)
• The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) – Nominated for Best Original Screenplay
• Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
• Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
• Spirited Away (2001) – Won for Best Animated Feature
• Hard Ball (2001)
• Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
• Legally Blonde (2001)
• The Score (2001)
• Zoolander (2001)
• Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) – Nominated for Best Actress
• Mark Twain (2001)
• City by the Sea (2002)
• Minority Report (2002) – Nominated for Best Sound Editing
• John Q (2002)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) – Nominated for 6 Oscars, winning for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects
• Panic Room (2002)
• Catch Me If You Can (2002) – Nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Score
• Chicago (2002) – Nominated for 13 Oscars, winning 6 including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress
• The Hours (2002) – Nominated for 9 Oscars, winning for Best Actress
• City of God (2002) – Nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Director
• The Rookie (2002)
• Deuces Wild (2002)
• About a Boy (2002) – Nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay
• Pure (2002)
• The Sum of All Fears (2002)
• Hero (2002) – Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) – Nominated and won 11 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Song
• Basic (2003)
• Open Range (2003)
• Love Actually (2003)
• Elephant (2003)
• Dying at Grace (2003)
• Elf (2003)
• Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
• Cold Mountain (2003) – Nominated for 7 Oscars, winning for Best Supporting Actress
• Paycheck (2003)
• 21 Grams (2003)– Nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor
• Million Dollar Baby (2004) – Nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 4 including Best Picture and Best Actress
• Birth (2004)
• The End (2004)
• The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
• Deadwood (2004)
• Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
• The Brotherhood of War (Tae Guk Gi) (2004)
• Suspect Zero (2004)
• Unforgivable Blackness (2004)
• National Treasure (2004)
• The Aviator (2004) – Nominated for 11 Oscars, winning five including Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography
• Crash (2004) – Nominated for 6 Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Screenplay
• Capote (2005) – Nominated for 5 Academy Awards, winning for Best Actor
• Munich (2005) – Nominated for 5 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director
• Hustle & Flow (2005) – Nominated for 2 Oscars, winning for Best Original Song
• The New World (2005) – Nominated for Best Cinematography
• Fever Pitch (2005)
• The Proposition (2005)
• Harsh Times (2005)
• Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company (2005)
• Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (2005)
• The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005)
• Wedding Crashers (2005)
• Four Brothers (2005)
• Batman Begins (2005) – Nominated for Best Cinematography
• Hollywoodland (2006)
• Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
• Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
• The Devil Wears Prada (2006) – Nominated for Best Actress and Best Costume Design
• So Much So Fast (2006)
• The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006)
• Scoop (2006)
• The Departed (2006) – Nominated for 5 Oscars, winning 4 including Best Picture and Best Director
• Inheritance (2006)
• Lonely Hearts (2006)
• Little Miss Sunshine (2006) – Nominated for 4 Oscars, winning Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor
• Mission: Impossible III (2006)
• The Holiday (2006)
• Who is Harry Nilsson? (2006)
• American Dreamz (2006)
• American Gangster (2007) – Nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Art Direction
• Ratatouille (2007) – Nominated for 5 Academy Awards, winning for Best Animated Feature
• Zodiac (2007)
• The Assassination of Jesse Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) – Nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Cinematography
• Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) – Nominated for 2 Oscars, winning for Best Costume Design
• Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
• Dan in Real Life (2007)
• Cleaner (2007)
• Ken Burns: The War (2007)
• Fred Claus (2007)
• The Mist (2007)
• Gone Baby Gone (2007) – Nominated for Best Supporting Actress
• National Treasure: The Book of Secrets (2007)
• Shotgun Stories (2007)
• Knocked Up (2007)
• No Country for Old Men (2007) – Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, winning 4 including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay
• The Hurt Locker (2008) – Nominated for 9 Oscars, winning 6 including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay
• Definitely, Maybe (2008)
• Pride and Glory (2008)
• Man on Wire (2008)
• RocknRolla (2008)
• Burma VJ (2008) – Nominated for Best Documentary Feature
• Slumdog Millionaire (2008) – Nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 8 including Best Picture and Best Director
• In Bruges (2008) – Nominated for Best Original Screenplay
• Gomorrah (2008)
• Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008)
• Ip Man (2008)
• Quid Pro Quo (2008)
• They Came to Play (2008)
• New York, I Love You (2008)
• Until the Light Takes Us (2008)
• Witness to Jonestown (2008)
• Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
• Four Christmases (2008)
• (500) Days of Summer (2009)
• Coraline (2009) – Nominated for Best Animated Feature
• A Prophet (2009) – Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film
• A Single Man (2009) – Nominated for Best Actor
• Coco Before Chanel (2009) – Nominated for Best Costume Design
• Cropsey (2009)
• Crazy Heart (2009) – Nominated for 3 Oscars, winning Best Actor and Best Original Song
• Danny Greene: The Rise and Fall of the Irishman (2009)
• Horseman (2009)
• Sherlock Holmes (2009) – Nominated for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction
• Public Enemies (2009)
• The Proposal (2009)
• Avatar (2009) – Nominated for 9 Oscars, winning 3 including Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects
• Star Trek (2009) – Nominated for 4 Academy Awards, winning for Best Makeup
• Get Low (2009)
• The Soloist (2009)
• Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009)
• I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale (2009)

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