So, anyone who follows the movie biz at all knows that 2000 was a dismal year at the box office, right? Well, not really. While the summer of 2000 was unusually slow, the year as a whole can not be considered a complete wash. In fact, according to a Los Angeles associated press article, Americans spent $7.7 billion at the box office in 2000. This is “a 2.7 percent increase over last year’s record... and the ninth straight year that revenues climbed.” Of course, the increase in profits can probably be attributed to rising ticket prices, as movie attendance may actually have fallen as much as 3 percent last year. However, “although attendance was down in 2000, the record revenues were significant considering that studios had a relatively weak summer, a time that typically accounts for about 40 percent of Hollywood’s box office.”
Therefore, it appears that Americans were, in general, happy with what Hollywood had to offer in 2000. And, while I saw some reallybad movies last year, I was generally happy with the films I saw, too.
And now, I am actually going to write an article that contains no complaining whatsoever. Here are my picks for the best and most enjoyable movies of 2000.
January
The year started out nicely with a couple of critically acclaimed films - The Talented Mr. Ripley and Girl, Interrupted. Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow turned in good performances in the former, and Angelina Jolie stole the show from Winona Ryder (and snagged a best supporting actress Oscar) for her role as a mental patient in the latter. I don’t know - I was happy that she won, but I don’t think she deserved that Oscar. I mean, that role wasn’t really much of a stretch for her, was it? Ripley also looked amazing, with its Italian scenery and lavishly decorated sets. And I liked it because I like Gwyneth Paltrow, and I think Matt Damon is cute, no matter what Elinor says.
February
My birth month boasted two enjoyable films as well - The Beach and Scream 3. Leonardo DiCraprio was actually pretty enjoyable in The Beach; he managed to shake his teenybopper sex-god image and actually act at the same time - for most of the film, anyway. The scene in which he envisioned himself as a video-game character was completely unnecessary, badly acted, and frankly, kind of stupid. Leo’s acting (and the actual story) were second to the beautiful scenery, however. The final chapter of Wes Craven’s Scream trilogy was a lot of fun, calling upon Arlington Road writer Ehren Krueger to wrap up the popular franchise with a more darkly comic touch. The ending was sappy and cliched, but the movie in general was good. Parker Posey was, as usual, really cool, and Jay and Silent Bob’s cameo was great.
March
Julia Roberts is getting well-deserved Oscar buzz (and a lot of comments about her horrible wardrobe) for her role in Erin Brockovich, an entertaining, funny (and true!) story about a single-mom lawyer (this is also one of the American Film Institute’s top 10 movies of 2000). There is no such buzz for Devon Sawa and Final Destination, but I enjoyed the film anyway. It had an original concept, at least (Death stalking the wrongful survivors of a plane crash), which is more than can be said for most teen horror flicks. Too bad I spent much of the movie disgusted by Sawa’s bad makeup job, which barely covered an ugly outbreak of acne (try watching that on the big screen). High Fidelity, a funny (although overlong) John Cusack movie also came out this month, offering its slightly skewed view of relationships and also making it onto the AFI’s prestigious list.
April
April was a fairly good month for movies. American Psycho, starring Christian Bale and based on the controversial book by Bret Easton Ellis, avoided an NC-17 rating by cutting some of the graphic sex and violence - but still managed to retain enough of both to shock viewers. Luke and I, however, just found it funny. Sandra Bullock turned in a (what else) cute and funny performance as an alcoholic in the comedy 28 Days, a fluffy but not altogether bad movie. I can’t remember much about the actual storyline, but I remember liking the film. Gossip, starring Kate Hudson, was an entertaining, original teen movie in a year of bad teen movies (um, Loser, anyone?). But Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides was the movie of the month. Stars Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, James Woods and Kathleen Turner were all wonderful, as was the rest of the cast, and Coppola’s overall faithful adaption of Jeffery Eugenides’ novel drew audiences into the haunting and melancholy story.
May Frequency, the male equivalent of a feel-good “chick flick,” opened in theaters this month. It starred Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel as a father/son pair who communicated through time and space, saving each other’s lives and male-bonding in the process. Frequency earned the distinction of being the only 2000 movie that made theater-going males cry - in a good way. Disney’s Dinosaur, a blatant rip-off of 1988's The Land before Time, was fun, nevertheless, and the realistic-looking computer animation was incredibly well done. The little lemurs got annoying fast, but at least they didn’t sing. Another enjoyable May movie (and one I’m kind of embarrassed to admit I liked) was Center Stage, a badly-acted, predictable, but highly entertaining ballet/teen movie. Its nicely choreographed dance sequences made up for the lackluster plot, and I’ll forgive the acting since all the main characters were dancers, not “real” actors. John Woo’s Mission: Impossible 2 also came out this month, and was, as would be expected, full of explosions, doves, and slow motion. It was unremarkable, but enjoyable.
June
Sadly, I did not see a single good movie in June of 2000. I guess this is proof that the summer really DID suck. Believe me, I mourned the sad state of cinema this month.
July
This month saw a successful thriller, a more successful comedy, and an even more successful action movie - What Lies Beneath, Scary Movie, and X-Men, respectively. All three of these movies were good. I’m not usually a Harrison Ford fan, but I thought he did a wonderful job in What Lies Beneath, and I didn’t even mind Michelle Pfeiffer. X-Men was a big, flashy, fun adaption of the comic book series (Wolverine was really cool), and Scary Movie was really funny, if a bit disgusting in places. Oh, who am I kidding - it was disgusting all the way through. And crude. And tasteless. And pointless. But I still liked it.
August The Cell was an okay movie. The plot was bad, the acting was bad (what can you expect from Jennifer Lopez?), but the visual effects were pretty amazing - and that made watching it worthwhile, at least for me. I even managed to suspend my disbelief (barely) to accept Lopez as a psychotherapist. I also saw Coyote Ugly this month, a movie I expected to hate but ended up liking quite a lot, probably because the bar looked like such a cool place to work. Newcomer Piper Perabo was pretty cool, too. I want to be a Coyote. So does Luke, but that’s another article entirely.
September
September was my cheerleader movie month, and my friends all teased me about it. I saw one mainstream cheerleader movie, Bring it On, and one film-festival cheerleader film, But I’m a Cheerleader. Both were funny, smart and highly entertaining. Kirsten Dunst was a perfect lead for the former (and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Eliza Dushku was surprisingly well-suited to her role as fellow cheerleader Missy), and Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall made a really cute lesbian couple in But I’m a Cheerleader, a comedic, sweet love story. I saw Bring it On twice, I liked it so much (I couldn’t hate any movie starring Kirsten Dunst... well, besides Jumanji... or Toy Soldiers... or... okay, I’ll shut up). I would have seen But I’m a Cheerleader again, too, but it didn’t stay in Halifax. Damn those “selected cities” films.
October
Elizabeth Hurley made a funny (and, my male friends say, sexy) Devil in Bedazzled, a remake of the 1967 movie of the same name. The movie was predictable, but fun. I liked seeing all the different (and equally terrible) versions of Brendan Fraser, and Liz Hurley’s outfits were really cool. The Contender was neither predictable nor fun, although it had its funny moments and a good story. The acting, especially by lead actress Joan Allen as Senator Laine Hanson, was top-notch. I think people who actually care about politics would like this movie more than I did, but it didn’t suck, so I’m just going to pretend I thought it was really good.
November Bounce, a romantic comedy starring ex-couple Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow, turned out to be better than I thought it would. Those two may be broken up, but they still have great chemistry. The story was good, too - not too sappy, not too predictable. And there were shirtless Ben scenes, which is always good. Charlie’s Angels also opened this month. Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu kicked ass as Dylan and Alex, but Cameron Diaz’s Natalie stole the show. She had the funniest scenes, if not the most screen time. I still laugh when I think of her “Soul Train” scene. The fights were cool, the jokes were funny, and, while the movie was no cinematic masterpiece, it was a great diversion.
December
The last month of the year boasted two funny films, Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove (starring the voice of David Spade) and the Sandra Bullock comedy Miss Congeniality. Disney had its funniest original animated film in years, and Sandra turned in her funniest performance in years as an FBI-agent turned Miss America contestant. Critics didn’t really like this movie, but they, of course, are all wrong. It was good.
And that brings me up to date. I am missing a few movies I’m pretty sure I’d like if I saw them - namely, Best in Show, State and Main and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - but the above was a pretty comprehensive list, as far as I’m concerned. Now, run out and rent the ones you haven’t seen! Quick! What are you waiting for?
