Top Ten Films Of 2000!

Well we have made it all the back to the beginning of the decade.

Looking back on the movies of 2000 it all seems so innocent. It was a pre-9/11 world. We didn't interpret movies as commentaries on George W. Bush, the War on Terror or Iraq. There was no mention of Osama bin Laden or  Al-Qaeda. We lived in blissful ignorance. The events at Columbine High School (April 1999) shocked us. Mass public shootings were not part of our "new normal". Though the beginning of the year did bring great panic. How would computers be able to process the double 00 in 2000! For a brief period of time we worried if we had become too reliant upon technology and the i-phone wasn't even released yet!

Just as the year began in uncertainty it ended that way too. Who was the next president?! Who won Florida? What in tarnation was a "hanging chad"?

I don't know how well some of you remember the films of 2000 but I do. Boy was it a bad year for cinema (this year may be worst!). I remember racking my brain trying to find ten films that I could put on my list for best of the year. Nearly every movie proved to be a disappointment.

In 2000 a lot of good films were the ones which no one saw. This still applies today. They were American independent films and international movies. Many of the Hollywood big budget films didn't work. Of course you are thinking how can I say that and place "Gladiator" on my list. I'll explain later.

What also made 2000 such a disappointing year was how good 1999 was and the 90s in general. It was too bad cinema couldn't keep up.

Here are my choices for the top ten films of 2000!

1. GLADIATOR (Dir. Ridley Scott; U.K./U.S.) - Much like "Titanic" before it, "Gladiator" was the year's defining movie.

There are those that view Ridley Scott's movie as nothing more than a blood thirsty picture. A brainless Hollywood big budget special effects spectacle. A  kind of poor man's "Spartacus". "Gladiator" is unquestionably violent but I think it may be more than that.

"Gladiator" could be seen as making various commentaries on global power - how many times has  America been compared to the Roman Empire? And how many times has it been said America's Empire will fall as well? - greed, politics and its deceitful nature and the ways our leaders manipulate the public with bread and circuses.

At the end of the day however I think "Gladiator" wants to be thought of as the story of a man's journey to return to that magical place called home

The performances across the board are quite good ranging from heavyweights like Richard Harris and Oliver Reed to Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix and Connie Nielsen. Phoenix (an Oscar nominee) in particular is good as the villain, playing a character Freud would be proud of.  A character with clear daddy issues and an incestuous streak (why does every Roman epic have to include incest?) in him.

Despite being the director of "Alien" and "Blade Runner", Scott had actually fallen on some hard times. Nothing he directed in the 80s and 90s had much lasting prominence. Yes, "Thelma & Louise" was a hit but all the attention went to the movie's stars not Scott. It wasn't until "Gladiator" his career received a second wind.

The movie would go on to earn 12 Academy Award nominations and win five, including best picture.

2. THE CONTENDER (Dir. Rod Lurie; U.S.) - Rod Lurie, a movie critic turned filmmaker, made quite the impact with this controversial political drama. Starring Joan Allen, in a role she should have won an Academy  Award for, it is the female version of the Lewinsky - Clinton scandal. Sen. Laine Hanson (Joan Allen) has been selected as a possible new Vice-President. A conformation hearing will be led by a Republican senator (Gary Oldman in a knockout performance) who brings up the senator's sex life and a college sorority orgy she may have participated in.

Clearly this is filmmaking with a liberal bent but it is fascinating storytelling which remains relevant today. Its lack of award recognition is what began my bitterness towards the Academy Awards.

3. ERIN BROCKOVICH (Dir. Steven Soderbergh; U.S.) - The year 2000 could be summed up by one name; Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh really hit the mainstream with two massively popular films released. This one, a Frank Capra-ish tale of corporate greed, provided Julia Roberts with one of her all-time great roles. The ever insightful movie critic Michael Wilmington wrote in his Chicago Tribune review, "Roberts may never find another part as perfect." Being the huge sentimental favorite of the year, she won her first  (and only)  Academy Award.

Nominated for five Academy Awards the movie also revitalized Albert Finney's career, securing him an Academy Award nomination as well. Like "The Contender", this is also a relevant story. Corporate greed never goes out of fashion.

4. SUNSHINE (Dir. Istvan Szabo; Hungary/U.S.) - "Sunshine" is perhaps Istvan Szabo's greatest film. The film he was born to make. When you look back to his earlier films in the 1970s, this is where it was all leading up to. Ralph Fiennes plays three generations of Hungarian Jews trying to hide their Jewish blood while society will not let them. It creates an absorbing argument against assimilation.

Why Fiennes did not get an Oscar nomination is beyond me. This was the best performance of 2000. The only down side to the film is it is spoken in English. Szabo should have made the film in Hungary with Hungarian actors but then we would have missed out on Fiennes' amazing performance.

5. THE CELL (Dir. Tarsem; U.S.) - The feature-length directorial debut of Tarsem is visually spellbinding. Few directors leave such a visual stamp on their films. Although critically panned upon release, its influence can be seen today. Much like "Gladiator" here is a movie operating on multiple levels. Yes it is violent but it is also suspenseful, and emotional. The inventive plot involves a social worker (Jennifer Lopez) assisting the F.B.I. to find a serial killer's (Vincent D' Onofrio) latest kidnapping victim.  Lopez works for a company that will allow her to enter the mind of the killer, searching for clues.

6. WONDER BOYS (Dir. Curtis Hanson; U.S.) - Hanson's follow-up film to "L.A. Confidential" stars Michael Douglas in one of his best roles as an English professor in a downward slump. Scoring three Academy Award nominations the movie also stars Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire and Katie Holmes.

7. CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (Dir. Ang Lee; Taiwan) - A movie that popularized the martial art film to modern audiences, creating a trend of movies being released in the following years (among them, the great films by Zhang Yimou). But it also has a message commenting on the role of women and their place in society, as it undergoes a generational change. The younger generation would like to leave tradition behind and embrace a "modern world". While most people vividly recall the fight scenes  (which are masterfully choreographed) it is the social message that I found most appealing. The movie would go on to earn 10 Academy Award nominations and become one of the highest grossing international movies in the U.S.

8. AN AFFAIR OF LOVE (Dir. Frederic Fonteyne; France) - This French gem is about men and women, dating, dating rules, desires and our inability to communicate with one another. Especially regarding matters of the heart.

Nathalie Baye and Sergi Lopez star as "She" and "He", two middle-aged people who respond to a personal ad for a weekly sexual encounter. What are they each after? Are they brave enough to admit it to themselves and one another?

9. TRAFFIC (Dir. Steven Soderbergh; U.S.) - Soderbergh's adaptation of the British miniseries, "Traffik", was a gritty look at the "war on drugs", suggesting it may not be a winnable war.

In a perfect world this would have been my choice for the best picture Academy Award. Starring Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro (in a career defining performance) it was actually newcomer Erika Christensen that impressed me most. She had all the makings of a major actress but unfortunately never found a role quite as good.

10. GOYA IN BORDEAUX (Dir. Carlos Saura; Spain) - Carlos Saura's film was one of the most beautiful of the year! The cinematrography by the legendary Vittorio Storaro has rarely been better, matching the beauty of the great painter, Goya.

Kind of forgotten today and ignored at the time, the movie is more than a general bio-pic on Goya's life. Instead its commentating on social class, politics and art. Important subject matters from one of Spain's great directors.