Lifetime Movies: 2000

*How do you think we scored such a sweet deal on the SMC bunker?

But when I think back to great movies I have seen--movies that I knew were special as I was watching them--Memento is always one of the first few to come to mind. It revolves around a gimmick, sure, but like The Usual Suspects, the story itself (and the direction and acting) creates something bigger than the novelty. In fact, these films are great despite the distraction of the showy trickery. Memento made me appreciate the power of storytelling and the promise it can hold. (Check out Nolan's first feature, The Following, to see a lot of the ideas at play here in their concept stage.)

And then there were the two underdog indies (combined budget: under $15 million): Christopher Nolan's Memento and Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream. While Nolan has since become the rare blockbuster auteur, Aronofsky remains the darker visionary, content with exploring humanity from the underbelly up. Requiem is a hard film to watch, but in the best possible way. It's haunting, Aronofsky not only capturing the viewer's attention, but encapsulating it in an almost tangible mood that doesn't go away with the end credits. It's a really impressive accomplishment.

Towering above all were the two sword-wielding heavyweights, Ridley Scott's Best Picture-winning Gladiator and Ang Lee's Best Foreign Film-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I remember getting caught up in the rah-rah power of Gladiator and thinking it had to be one of the best films I ever saw. Everything about it is big, from Russell Crowe's epic hero to Joaquin Phoenix's detestable villain. It was made to overwhelm your emotions and it certainly did, like a Maximus punch right between the eyes. Crouching Tiger had the same effect, but with a less-Hollywood subtlety. The word that always comes to mind when I think of this film is magical, like an art house Matrix fairy tale. It's grander in scale than Gladiator, more ambitious, and probably the bigger achievement.

There was quality across the board, from science fiction (Pitch Black, Frequency) to comedy (High Fidelity, Best in Show), to Elizabeth Hurley in Bedazzled, to the original X-Men movie. There was Almost Famous, an ode to the power and romance of rock 'n' roll and Cameron Crowe's best film to date. Which, speaking as a fan and someone who has a lot of respect for him as a writer, is saying a lot.

I was expecting a big drop off from '99 what with everyone hunkering down* and stockpiling Spam, but it appears the producers cracked the whip to get their films done before the town began unplugging their AVID machines so they wouldn't go all Y2k and bring down the stock market, but 2000 came out swinging at everyone ready to close the decade a year early.