The Decade Remembered will be my series of pieces where I will do a top ten for each year from 2000 – 2009 with it ending with the complete Top Ten of the Decade to come.  So now onto 2001.

TEN – Vanilla Sky

Who Directed it? Cameron Crowe

Did It Win Anything? nope

Why Do I Love It? Other than the fact that it introduced me to the sexy that is Penelope Cruz?  I remember loving this story that made me think for the first time that not every movie filled with Hollywood pedigree like Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz had to be the normal everyday drivell.  I think this is one of those visually dazzling movies that are completely underrated due to a lot of people’s hating on specific actors/actresses.  If you happen to be one of these people, give it a second shot I say.

NINE – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Who Directed it? Peter Jackson

Did It Win Anything? 4 Academy Awards (Best Cinematography: Andrew Lesnie, Best Effects/Visual Effects, Best Makeup: Peter Owen & Richard Taylor, & Best Music/Original Score: Howard Shore),  3 BAFTA Awards (Best Make Up/Hair: Peter King, Peter Owen & Richard Taylor, Best Film & Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects)

Why Do I Love It? To this day I can never get moments like Gandalf going “You Shall Not PASS!!!!” and Frodo and his friends in the inn.  This movie is technically brilliant and though it may not be as good as it’s sequels that is only because it is the base from which those sequels were able to ground themselves with.  I love it because it introduced so many characters that I wish I could just spend a night in a pub and a few pints just joking around talking with and I’m sure I’m not alone in that regard.

EIGHT – Heist

Who Directed it? David Mamet

Did it Win Anthing? nope

Why Do I Love It? I love a good heist story and this was one of those few heist movies which knows it’s smarter than you and you will continually be guessing until the last minute as to how he’s going to pull this off.  Along with the great characters and dialogue provided by Mamet it is a great movie that everyone needs to give a shot.  If you love films like Ocean’s Eleven and you haven’t given this a shot then check it out.

SEVEN – The Royal Tenenbaums

Who Directed it? Wes Anderson

Did It Win Anything? 1 Golden Globe (Best Performance by an actor in a Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy: Gene Hackman)

Why Do I Love It? As I’ve said, I’m always iffy with Wes Anderson’s filmmaking.  He tends to make some of the oddest hipster quirky comedies that are just so hard to enjoy and laugh at sometimes.  However, I believe this is his best film (haven’t seen Fantastic Mr. Fox yet) that I’ve seen so far.  Genuinely funny and a lot of characters that you root for and hate throughout the movie.

SIX – Shrek

Who Directed it? Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson

Did It Win Anything? 1 Academy Award (Best Animated Feature), 1 BAFTA Award (Best Screenplay – Adapted: Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman & Roger S. H. Schulman).

Why Do I Love It? Seriously was Shrek this long ago?  I loved this movie because it brought back the family movie that everyone enjoyed.  Children laughed at kid jokes and parents laughed at big people jokes.  Mike Myers starred as a character that you actually rooted for.  The story actually reminds me of a comic book I’ve recently discovered (Fables) since it took all the fairytales we all knew and loved and made the characters real and interact with each other.  If you haven’t seen this you’re missing out.

FIVE – Training Day

Who Directed It? Antoine Fuqua

Did It Win Anything? 1 Academy Award (Best Actor in a Leading Role: Denzel Washington)

Why Do I Love It? “King Kong ain’t got shit on me!!!” is all I need to say.  Here is the first time I saw a movie and thought that Ethan Hawke could really act.  I loved the whole idea of a movie where it’s all about this one day where not only is Ethan Hawke on his best behaviour trying to get into this other division in the police, but Denzel is more or less using this opportunity to use this new recruit to fix all of his problems and do a few dirty deeds.  This way he can sink Ethan’s character into the job with guilt and secrets and it e ds up backfiring since Ethan’s character is really a boyscout (i.e. a goody two shoes).  The story is great and there are some great action set-pieces and even better dialogue.

FOUR – A Beautiful Mind

Who Directed It? Ron Howard

Did It Win Anything? 4 Academy Awards (Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Jennifer Connelly, Best Director: Ron Howard, Best Picture,  Best Writing/Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: Akiva Goldsman), 2 BAFTA Awards (Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Russel Crowe, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Jennifer Connelly) 4 Golden Globes (Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama: Russell Crowe,
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Jennifer Connelly, Best Screenplay – Motion Picture: Akiva Goldsman)

Why Do I Love It? How can you not love the romantic tale of a crazy brilliant mathematician and Jennifer Connelly?  Yes it is a bit creepy after you realize she’s his student, but that’s college so it’s all good in the end.  Russell Crowe reminds us why he’s one of the best actors of the new generation and we learn why 1 + 1 = 2 and the same time, while how to get all the ladies in the bar at the same time :P.

THREE – Monsters, Inc.

Who Directed it? Pete Docter

Did It Win Anything? 1 Academy Award (Best Music/Original Song: Randy Newman)

Why Do I Love It? It’s from Pixar, enter bias.  I love this movie for so many reasons.  One of the best thoughts is that this movie was a technical achievement for digital animation.  It was the first time we were give such real seeming characters and we were able to see weather effects so well realised and just the fur on characters made us realise that this was the future of animation.  There was no going back after this movie (animation-wise).  The story tells a great tale of children overcoming there fears and at the same time entertaining the hell out of you.  I recently listened the the commentary with the director and he claimed that something which helped make the movie even funnier was that anytime a character needed to laugh in the movie he continually made it so that that character would never be laughing at a joke that the audience didn’t find funny, which is so true.  The voice acting from Billy Crystal, John Goodman and James Coburn will live forever and the door storage chase sequence will always be remembered as on of those special sequences that you can never top.

TWO – Spirited Away

Who Directed It? Hayao Miyazaki

Did It Win Anything? 1 Academy Award (Best Animated Feature), 1 BAFTA Award (Best Film not in the English Langauge) [NB. this film was released in 2002 in the USA and 2003 in the UK therefore that is the year it was awarded there, but was released 2001 in Japan]

Why Do I Love It? The story of children doing what her parents couldn’t, show some basic manners.  After her parents decide to consume some food without permission they are changed into pigs and she must work in this world of spirits to try and free them from their fate of being eaten.  Not many films are able to completely transport it’s viewers into a whole new world like Miyazaki can, and this movie is definitely no different than his others.  As Pixar is coming to the forefront of American animation we are reminded of what a few years back we were treated to every year from Disney, stunning hand-drawn animated tales that keep us intrigued by what else about this whole new setting can offer us.

ONE – Amelie

Who Directed it? Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Did It Win Anything? 2 BAFTA Awards (Best Production Design: Aline Bonetto, Best Screenplay – Original: Guillaume Laurant & Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

Why Do I Love It? I never knew before only a couple of years ago that someone could put this much happy quirk into a movie with such an individual style.  It is very evident that this is one of those few films (non-animated) that are made about children, for adults, and told as if told by a child.  All the fantastical things are accentuated and there is always a silver-lining or some revenge for any act that deserves it.  If you haven’t seen this movie and you like highly stylized movies that you will probably never forget after you see it then check this out NOW.