A Dose of Reelality - My Views and Ramblings on the year 2000 in movies

(I figured I should get this posted before the Oscar nominations came out tomorrow, so at least I can get my 2 cents worth in.  I’m working on a deeper analysis which I will post at a later date)

It was the beginning of a new decade, and arguably the beginning of a new century and millennium.  The promise for hope sprung eternal in every aspect of life.  For my purposes, the promise that Hollywood would take note of past successes and failures and subsequently learn something.  Alas, I was to be disappointed again.  By years end, the trail taken through the calendar heeded little to be proud of, or to hold above any other.  There were disturbing trends that continued, such as films with a big budget, and low intelligence, the use of cute kids (mostly with Bruce Willis), and worst of all, copycats and sequels of past successes that failed miserably.  But through it all, there were some shining moments.  Animation took new strides forward, with Disney, and Nick Park showing that genre’s bright future, while a few films showed that a script really does matter.  Without further adieu, my dose of reel-ality, a look at 2K in retrospect.

 Worst of Year 2000 –

Bottom 10: (not worth putting in any particular order)

 Worst Performances –

Actor – Garry Shandling (What Planet Are You From?) Christian Slater (The Contender), the entire male cast of Blair Witch 2

Actress – Charlize Theron (Reindeer Games), Elizabeth Shue (Hollow Man), the entire female cast of Blair Witch 2

Most blantantly cheap prostitution to draw audiences – Gone in 60 Seconds (using Angelina Jolie in the trailers, then wasting her talents and focusing on her attributes)

Worst Trend – Trips to Mars  

Mission To Mars, Red Planet

(runner up) – Capitalizing on Blair Witch

Book of Shadows;Blair Witch 2, The St Francisville Experiment, The Last Broadcast

Worst Ending – The Ninth Gate – For about an hour and 10 minutes, this was a curiously intriguing supernatural thriller.  Then Roman Polanski fell asleep, and an oversexed gothic film student took over.  Hence the ridiculous climax to what could have been

Best of Year 2000 

 Top 10

 Honorable Mentions: 

Guilty Pleasures:

Actor 

Christian Bale (American Psycho)

Russell Crowe (Gladiator)

John Cusack (High Fidelity)

Tom Hanks (Cast Away)

Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot)

Honorable Mentions – Mike White (Chuck and Buck), Stephen Dorff (Cecil B. Demented), Robert Brown and Sean Connery (Finding Forrester)

Supporting Actor:

Danny DeVito (Big Kahuna)

James Caan (Way of The Gun)

Benecio Del Toro (Way of The Gun and Traffic)

Albert Finney (Erin Brockovich)

Fred Willard (Best in Show)

Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator) (this is payback for not being nominated in his most deserving role in Return to Paradise)

Actress

Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich)

Sanaa Lathon (Love and Basketball)

Joan Allen (The Contender)

Renee Zellweger (Nurse Betty)

Cate Blanchett (The Gift)

Supporting Actress 

Kate Hudson (Almost Famous)

Frances McDormand (Almost Famous)

Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream)

Lena Olin (Chocolat)

Julie Walters (Billy Elliot)