Lifetime Movies: 2001

Getting to this year has certainly become an odyssey. Not that it didn't have enough to contend with already. You know, a certain aviation mishap in September. That's the one. And since all of this year's films were either in production or in the can when it all went down, this year is also the end of an era. Everything from here on out has to be viewed through soot-colored glasses.

Movie-wise, there was a lot to like (or at least a lot that I liked). A Beautiful Mind won the Oscar, and while it was good, I would have went with Moulin Rouge which I thought was a more daring, imaginative achievement. I'm not a big fan of traditional musicals, which I think made me enjoy this that much more.

Speaking of creative visions, Amelie gave us a beaucoup serving of charming French quirk, not to mention Audrey Tautou. Not to be outdone, we got two very good films from Mexico--Alfonso Cuaron's Y tu mama tambien and Guillermo Del Toro's The Devil's Backbone--that brought that country to the artistic forefront of the new decade.

Some really good small movies like Donnie Darko and Ghost World; a small movie director getting big in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tennenbaums; and a small movie director getting huge in Steven Soderburgh's incredibly cool and fun Ocean's Eleven.

But if 2001 is remembered for anything (again, movie-wise), it's that it kicked off two hugely successful book adaptations. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (hey, it wasn't called Philosopher's Stone where I saw it) actually lived up to fans' seemingly impossibly high expectations. And it was directed by mainstream what'sanotherwordforhack Chris Columbus no less. The whole series has been a spectacular success, particularly the consistency of look, tone, and quality. Which raises the question of how to handle a finite series such as this on a countdown such as this. It's hard to view each of the installments as a separate movie, so do I honor it here, later when it's more convenient, or at the end (2011)? I really am struggling with this one.

Ok, you got me. While I did like Harry Potter, my real dilemma is with a certain other epic, Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings trilogy as a whole is by far the cinematic gold medalist of the decade. But how to judge the individual films? I think one of the things I'm hesitant about is picking LotR for three different years. The truth is there wasn't a bigger or better film in any of the years in question. So, this is just me wanting to mix it up a little and continue my lifelong mission to promote diversity in all walks of life and all human endeavors. We'll give it '01 and then retire its number.

Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

But, wait, what about David Lynch's Mulholland Drive? This may well be the best movie of the year especially since it has topped several critics' Best of the Decade lists. I don't know. I'm sure Vinny Guns will let me know, but I think I need to revisit all of Lynch's films. I remember the film losing its way toward the end, but the first half (which was originally conceived as a TV pilot) was fascinating. Plus, it gave us Naomi Watts. But for now I'm sticking with the hobbits.