As you will come to know, I do enjoy writing about my life as well as movies (for those unaware, the term Optigrab was taken from 1979's "The Jerk"). With the first decade of the new millenium coming to a close pretty soon here, I thought I would look back at a decade in cinema to see what it is I have taken time to view. My lists will not be cohesive, but more a compilation of titles I have seen from individual years to help create a balance. The source was taken from Wikipedia.org (since imdb.com would have too many foreign titles) and are as followed for 2000:
- Almost Famous
- Cast Away
- Chicken Run
- The Emperor's New Groove
- Finding Forrester
- High Fidelity
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
- Me, Myself and Irene
- Meet the Parents
- My Dog Skip
- Next Friday
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?
- The Patriot
- Pitch Black
- Pokemon The Movie 2000
- Remember the Titans
- The Road to El Dorado
- Scary Movie
- Shanghai Noon
- Snatch
- U-571
- What Women Want
- X-MenNotable Titles:
- Almost Famous - Following a fictional rock band, a teenage journalist decides to write a story about them for Rolling Stone while experiencing life on the road and all of the things that come with being a rock star (including one of the few Kate Hudson performances worth remembering). The movie is rather solid and pays homage to a different time in music through a solid mix of subtle humor and reality.
- Chicken Run - While it may have not gotten any Oscar nominations like "Wallace and Gromit", I feel this is the only claymation movie worth watching.
- High Fidelity - A mixture of love, pop culture, and Top 10 lists David Letterman would be jealous of, this was the perfect vehicle for John Cussack and Jack Black to display life of record shop clerks as they go about their lives and following their dreams. Cussack's narration and performance alone makes this one of the best releases of the year.
- Meet the Parents - One of Ben Stiller's best and most remembered comedies of all time. The simple concept with perfect hi-jinks and co-star Robert DeNiro make this an in-law movie that almost anyone who has had to face them laugh.
- Remember the Titans - If you were a teenager after this movie came out, there is no doubt this movie was played in your history class to show how different things were. The story is solid and the acting is as well, though the most memorable part is Denzel Washington in the first of many solid movies he will have released this decade.
- Scary Movie - Probably the last solid Wayans Brothers production and the final full-out slapstick parody effort to be critically acclaimed. The gross-out humor and take on stupid horror movies really gave this movie an authentic edge that has been chased the whole decade, but with little luck. This movie was so successful, it launched so far three sequels, gave Anna Faris a career, and spawned two of the worst directors to ever touch comedy.
- Snatch - Guy Ritchie knows how to make British gangster comedies, and this is proof (also, check out 2008's "RockNRolla") and the line-up features such heavy weights as Brad Pitt and Jason Statham with infectious accents that give the already colorful characters more personality. The intertwining of several different plots makes this an excellent pre-"Lord of the Rings" type of affair. Sure, it's at times a little violent, but overall, the adrenaline in the performances and soundtrack really make up for it.
- What Women Want - I think this is the turning point for Mel Gibson. I could be wrong, but this romantic comedy was his last solid effort before he turned fully to directing and grew a beard only beaten by Saddam Hussein in 2006. There were plenty of cliches, but as a whole, was above the average romantic comedies of yore thanks to Mel Gibson's dynamic personality and desire to not be mistaken for Matthew McConnaughey.
As you may know, I am not a movie buff that has seen every movie made, so my list would be greatly different than yours. Feel free to share your opinions.
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