This is a really strong movie year for everyone. No matter what you like: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Romcom, Heist Movie, Coming of Age Story, Biopic, Animated, Musical, Thriller, Mystery….there’s at least 1 great entry into all of these genres in 2001, pretty amazing! I also don’t know what creative juices spread across the planet, but it was a great international year too, with 4 great films, including Amelie and Lagaan, which couldn’t even crack the list. Props 2001! Give yourself a hand!
Baz Luhrmann musicals are outrageous spectacles. When they don’t work they’re pretty off putting. But when they do, you get a rush of excitement and joy like this film, which has some of the best costumes and songs of the year.
Pete Docter is one of Pixar’s best creative minds. This movie is his first feature, a lovely bonding story between monsters and children that’s very inventive and sneaky emotional.
Much like Legally Blonde let Reese be Reese. This movie gets out of Denzel Washington’s way and lets him do his thing. Ethan Hawke has what can only be described as the most harrowing day of lessons in cop history as Denzel takes him on a literal and figurative ride.
If I were creating a list of the coolest movies ever made, this one HAS to be on it. Steven Soderbergh’s suave Vegas casino heist follows one of the great lessons I’ve learned watching movies: they’re better when you’re watching people who are good at their jobs, and no one’s better than George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and the host of intimidating acting talent as well as the puppet master, Steven Soderbergh.
I know Russell Crowe won an Oscar for Gladiator the year before, but he won it a year early. Crowe is excellent here playing John Nash, a mathematical savant who unfortunately suffers from schizophrenia. Ron Howard’s direction augments Crowe’s performance in eye opening ways, showing how paranoid inducing Nash’s condition is to people who unfortunately suffer from it.
One of Studio Ghibli’s masterpieces. It may take more than one viewing, but each new rewatch shows the depths of Hayao Miyazaki’s brilliance as a storyteller and animator. Using the story of a girl about to move to a new place, Miyazaki takes us into the underworld of spirits, creating all sorts of amazing ghouls and characters, with wonderful messages, deep and resonant for kids and adults alike.
There’s lots of sex in high school coming of age movies, but not a lot of sexiness. Sexy is the exact word to describe this tale though, about an older woman who goes on a road trip with two younger men. Alfonso Cuaron’s big international hit wins because of how hot this movie is, and also on depth of emotional examination in the script; growing up means things get messy and complicated, a lesson Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna will never forget.
David Lynch must love the phrase “Wait, WHAT?” The lauded director’s movies have a way of turning randomly, fantastically, and unexpectedly like this one. The movie, about an amnesiac in Hollywood running into a Midwestern dreamer, takes a turn so insane it takes a good 20 minutes of “Wait, WHAT?” until you get sucked into the next part of the movie, a testament to Lynch’s talents as a storyteller and director.
A metallic 8 foot tall rabbit saves a boy from death and tells the boy that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. At the time I thought that premise sounded hella stupid. But after Richard Kelly’s first feature ended, I was riveted at the ambition, surrealism, and brilliance of the film to the point I was Jake Gyllenhaal under Frank the Rabbit’s spell.
Before LOTR, fantasy movies were seen as weird stories meant for children. They had cool creatures and stuff, but they were incapable of having any deep themes or complexity. But then Middle Earth, and the Fellowship arrived, and everything changed. Yes the movie has tremendous battles and visuals, but it’s about the trials and tribulations of the hero’s journey first and foremost, which are very adult, confusing, and sometimes dangerous. Peter Jackson never condescends despite they myriad of magic going on around Frodo Baggins, proving that Fantasy stories are capable of something special like any great drama.
