End of Decade Movie Review (2000)

My 2 favorite things that are appropriate to discuss in such a public forum are sports and movies. I have discussed movies on here plenty of times, and so now do to the fact that the decade is coming to an end, I will pick out my favorite movies from each year of the 2000's. I will also throw in a couple of movies that could have been great, but missed somehow, and finally my guilty pleasure movie of the year. I will do this every day until Christmas, and then I will put together my top 10 of the decade. So here we go:

The Top 10

10) Requiem for a Dream
- Probably one of the weirdest movies of the decade. Extremely cool view of different people with vastly different drug addictions. This movie should have opened people's eyes to prescription drug abuse, except nobody watched it. The movie is completely worth it if you haven't watched it before. Jennifer Connelly makes this a must watch, TRUST ME!! Darren Aronofsky wrote and directed it, and after watching this you will never want to be alone in a room with him. If you really want to be freaked out by a movie he wrote and directed, watch Pi. If you really want to enjoy another movie he directed, watch The Wrestler.





9) American Psycho
- Another crazy movie. American Psycho was a movie based on the novel by Brett Easton Ellis and was extremely well done. The movie combined gruesome death scenes with dialogue and acting that made you spend every minute of the movie wondering what the shit was going on. When you watch this movie now, you have no idea how the hell Christian Bale became Batman. You also wonder how it took 7 years for Christian Bale to become a major actor, because he was phenomenal in this film. There are a lot of sex scenes in this movie, but they all make you feel really uncomfortable. My favorite parts of this movie revolve around the business cards, and also the musical references during the murder scenes. An interesting thing to consider; Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Ed Norton and Leo DiCaprio were all rumored to play the lead role in the movie. Had any of them played Patrick Bateman, would the film have been better or worse?

Trailer is not safe for work



8) The Beach
- To be honest, I hadn't actually seen this movie all of the way through until 3 years ago. When I actually did watch it, I enjoyed everything about it. What is most appealing about this movie is that fact that I think everyone has fantasized about going off and living on an island somewhere, where the trappings of everyday normal life are completely lost on everyone. All and all it was a very cool movie, and it was pretty much the movie that helped launch Leo DiCaprio to the level he is at right now. Sure he was good in Titanic, but realistically, anyone could have been in that movie, and it still would have made a billion dollars. In The Beach, you actually saw DiCaprio carry a movie with his acting talent. It wasn't the story that carried the movie, it was the acting. What is great about this movie is that for an hour it seems to be a cool, feel good movie about a guy trying to find himself on a hidden island. All of the sudden, it takes some crazy turns that make the movie really enjoyable.





7) Traffic
- A really good movie that looked at basically every aspect of drug trafficking. The movie encapsulated smuggling, using, the DEA and fighting drug use by kids. The only problem I had with the film was that it was so damn long. The movie basically introduced free-basing to the masses, and the fact that rich kids use drugs just as much as poor kids. This was a really good movie to watch once, but I could really never watch it again. The movie did a great job of showing the aspects of drug movies that normally get overlooked. Every other drug movie revolves around cops and drug dealers on the streets. This movie takes a much larger view of it. Instead of just dealers and cops, they throw in the government, moles, witnesses and the families of everyone. Basically every aspect of drugs is explored and it is very well done, it just could have been 20 minutes shorter.





6) Me, Myself, and Irene
-I normally don't like movies that star Jim Carrey, but god damn this movie was funny. The 3 sons are hilarious when they are making fun of each other. The Albino kid killed me, and Renee Zellweger was actually enjoyable in this movie. Why did Renee not change her last name? Everyone in Hollywood does it. I'm pretty sure that Vin Diesel was not the name that Vinny had on his birth certificate. Anyway, this movie has rewatchability, and it doesn't really get old. I could go on and on about different scenes that I love, but then I would be reciting the whole movie. This was a movie that was made for Jim Carrey because of all of the physical comedy that was involved. On a side note, I think that Will Ferrell has become the new Jim Carrey. Both of them started out on sketch comedy shows, both of them were extremely funny when they came out, they both tried to branch out into more serious roles but only Carrey pulled it out. Ferrell has become a one trick pony, and he is about 2 more flops away from taking a hiatous and then re-inventing himself after a couple of years.





As funny as the trailer is, the biggest laugh I got was that gas was $1.13 when this was shot.

5) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
-This movie was unbelievably innovative. The fact that everyone could pretty much fly in this movie was phenomenal. The story was really good, but this is a great example of how creative camera work can make a movie amazing. This movie used what The Matrix did, and took it to another level. The fight scenes were artistic which really had never happened before. If anything, this movie ruined the Martial Arts genre because after this, in order to be cool, you had to do something amazing. Regular fight scenes using Karate became pretty average and boring after this film. If you get the chance, watch this movie again because everything about it was fantastic. 2 other reasons that this movie is in the top 5 is because Ang Lee who directed went to Illinois, and Zhang Ziyi is the hottest Asian woman I have ever seen!!






4) Best In Show
- Hilarious from start to finish, and it was such unconventional comedy. Nothing about the premise of this movie should have been funny, yet the dialogue and acting was so phenomenal that this has to be one of the most underrated comedies of our time. Everybody in this film was amazing, but Fred Willard stole this movie. "How much do you think I can bench press?" is one of the greatest lines in a comedy from the 2000's. Everything he said had to have been ad-libed because there is no way that could have been scripted and delivered that well. What I loved about this movie was that there were so many different story lines, but they all flowed well together. Almost every movie that tries to accomplish this many story lines fails miserably, but Best In Show pulled it off so well. If you are ever bored, just throw on the last 30 minutes of this movie and watch the amazingness that is Fred Willard, or just watch the trailer 15 times. Everything Willard says is priceless! I tried to think of which couple in the movie was my favorite, but that is like trying to decide which beer I would most like to drink...... it all depends on the mood I'm in.





3) High Fidelity
- I almost put High Fidelity at #1 because I have watched this movie probably 1000 times. I love that it takes place in Chicago. The music is fantastic. John Cusack was made for this role, and this was the best movie that Jack Black ever made. To be honest, I thought that this was one of the first acting roles that Black had. I knew that Tenacious D was in Bio-Dome, and I remember him in Enemy of the State, but I had no clue that he started acting in 1991. The only reason that I didn't put it higher was because I hated the girl who played Laura! It's not because she isn't the most attractive woman on the planet, because I thought that the movie was much more believable with a more average looking person playing the love interest. I just didn't think that she was that likable, and so I really didn't want Cusack to get back together with her. I know that the movie revolved around music, but they incorporated the music so well in this film. The music didn't overtake the story which happens a lot when movies have music as the main premise. Another reason that I love this movie is that the dialogue is so clever. Lately when you watch a movie, you only have about 10 seconds of dialogue before there is some sort of action. High Fidelity was basically dialogue and music and both were perfectly done. There isn't a boring moment in this film which is a danger when a movie is dialogue driven.
3 Things came from this movie:

1) "A Cosby Sweater" this line has been used for 9 years now

2) People fell in love with The Beta Band, and started hating Peter Frampton

3) Every guy thought it would be a good idea to track down their ex-girlfriends to find out why they got dumped







High Fidelity (UK Trailer)
by NakedBrotha2007


2) Gladiator
- Not a whole lot to say about Gladiator. It was a great movie from start to finish. The story was amazing, the fight scenes were awesome, and the villain was perfect. The only reason that this is not #1 is because this movie was made using the template already laid down by Braveheart. The movies are basically exactly the same except that they take place in different era's. Either way, the movie was really well done, and it deserves all the credit that it recieved. However, there are 2 things that bothered me about this film.

1) Even though Russell Crowe's character's name was Maximus, I couldn't help but think of Optimus Prime every time I heard his name spoken.

2) The CGI Tigers during the fight scenes were terrible. You can see it during the trailer. Every time I watch the movie, I hate watching that part.





1) Almost Famous

- The only movie that was made during 2000 that was perfect from start to finish. The music was amazing, every actor was perfectly cast, it was dramatic and funny at the same time. When I pictured what it would have been like to be in a rock band during that era, what happened in this movie is exactly how I picture it. 5 Best parts of the movie:


5) When the manager shows the band the shirts that were made

4) Any scene that involves Phillip Seymour Hoffman who by the way has to be one of the top 5 most underrated actors of our generation

3) Anytime Frances McDormand is on the phone, but especially when she is berating Russell Hammond

2) The airplane scene when they all think they are about to die

1) The party when Russell screams "I'm on drugs!!!" another all-time classic line.


The beauty of this movie as is the case in any all-time great movie is that each person has a completely different 5 best parts. Nobody had any clue who Kate Hudson was before this movie, but all it took was this phenomenal performance, and she became a star. If it weren't for her role in Almost Famous, Matthew McConaughey wouldn't have anyone to make shitty shirtless chick flicks with.


Movies that just missed:


Remember the Titans - I love this movie, but because it was a Disney Movie, it was cheesy as hell. I could have done without the dancing onto the field and also to Hero's girl being a complete psychotic in the stands. Petey being a total bitch was also a real big turnoff, everyone who played football got screamed at by their coach, nobody ever walked off the field in the middle of the game.


Road Trip - As a college student at the time, I loved this movie. However watching it now, it really wasn't over the top funny. Seeing Amy Smart naked was a huge plus, but it wasn't classically funny.


Proof of Life - A really good movie, but was missing something. I think it got a little dull while they were trying to find where the husband was and how to get him out. It was still entertaining, but Man on Fire did this premise much better. Russell Crowe should have been a much bigger badass, and they should have delved into why he was such a recluse more.


Legend of Bagger Vance - I love golf movies, but I hated Will Smith in this movie. Had Bagger Vance been played by an older person, then this movie would have been great. I had this argument with my buddy Josh this weekend and said that if Bagger had been played by Morgan Freeman, this movie would have been amazing. He countered by saying that pretty much every role is better when it is played by Freeman. Also, you are told that Junuh is depressed because everyone else in his battalion died in the war, but they didn't delve into it enough. It is hard to really want someone to succeed in movies when you don't completely know why they fail in the first place.


And now for my guilty pleasure movie of 2000:


Bring It On!!

- That's right I said it!! Bring It On is my guilty pleasure movie of 2000. Eliza Dushku is one of my Top 5 favorite actresses of this decade. I could care less that she isn't that good of an actress, I can't take my eyes off of her when she is on TV. Toss in the fact that you have a bunch of hot chicks in cheerleading outfits and bikinis the entire movie, and I am sold. As much as I would like you to believe that I have a sophisticated appreciation of movies (I do by the way), at the end of the day, I could just as well watch a terrible movie as long as hot chicks are wearing skimpy clothing.