Best Movie of the 2000s Update #5
We’re back! We’ve been pretty busy and while the writing has been a bit slower, the movie-watching is as consistent as ever. We have about 20 movies to tell you about! Here are the first ten, including a few B-movie (not Bee Movie) cult classics, an action blockbuster, and THE SINGLE WORST 2000s movie we’ve watched so far:
The Contender (2000)
Tom: Barack Obama said that Jeff Bridges’s role as President Jackson Evans in this movie is his favorite presidential portrayal on screen. Bridges is incredible. He orders food in every scene just to show people he can do it (but not even in like an intimidating way, he’s just awesome). Joan Allen is also great in this otherwise heavy-handed political drama aping the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal.
Erin: I had no clue this movie existed! Jeff Bridges in this is so so good. If it was nominated for Best Picture that year, it would have been so easy to come up with a dish for the Oscars-themed menu because all Prez JB does is order fancy grilled cheese sandwiches.
Ghost World (2001)
Tom: There are some things that are off about this movie, i.e. the relationship between the characters of then 43-year-old Steve Buscemi and then 18-year-old Thora Birch, but Buscemi plays his character as sufficiently pitiful and charming (as he typically does) to make it more disarming. Whether that’s good or bad, I’m not sure. But this movie was very funny, very cult, very counterculture. It gives off Mike Judge vibes. Birch, Buscemi, and 16-year-old Scarlett Johansson were great!
Erin: This freaked me out a little but I remember being REALLY freaked out by the girls’ looks on the poster when this first came out. They look dead behind the eyes…so like…that was a success. Also we watched this in Cape May because it’s very on brand for us to spend our vacations just watching movies.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Tom: It’s nothing against this movie, but I’ve now seen it twice and I’ve fallen asleep both times! I like it, I swear! It’s an interesting concept! I guess I just happen to watch it when I’m really tired. Matt Damon is cool! It’s very 2002!
Erin: We also watched this in Cape May! I liked it! I am not a big action movie gal, but this one was exciting and didn’t have too much back story. Matt Damon is super confused the whole time, so it’s fine if you are too! Love that.
Monster (2003)
Tom: Monster features a top-notch performance by Charlize Theron as serial killer Aileen Wuornos and not really much else of import. The movie switches back and forth from comedic to romantic to scary to empathetic toward Wuornos to condemning her, but it isn’t seamless and the tonal shifts have been done much more effectively in movies that came out later like I, Tonya and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Erin: Charlize is amazing of course, but this fell v flat for me. It was right in my Q Zone too…unfortunately the tonal shifts were weird and I didn’t get the purpose of the film—should we be sympathizing with this woman? Uhhhh no.
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Tom: This is a political…sci-fi…noir…psychological thriller murder mystery? There is SO much going on in this movie, and it’s so mid-2000s it hurts. Denzel, Meryl, Liev Schreiber, and Jeffrey Wright put in some really good performances in this, but it’s a little bit too out there to be effective as in 2021 because there are enough horrors in real politics to need to inject sci-fi elements. One thing it was prescient on is the idea of a nameless, faceless corporation as a political villain.
Erin: I didn’t like this one. Borrrrringgggggg! I have been loving Denzel and Meryl this past year and a half but this did not do it for me at all. It did make me curious about the original though!
Murderball (2005)
Tom: I’m a sucker for documentaries that just do what they set out to do. This is about wheelchair rugby and the rivalry between the U.S. and Canadian teams heading into the 2004 Paralympic Games. It doesn’t treat physically disabled people as monkeys or pity them, it accepts them for who they are and shows them as humans who, much like many non-disabled athletes, like to beat on each other in a physical sport. It is AWESOME.
Erin: I was really into documentaries in high school so I watched this growing up, and I just remember the Rated R parts, so I really liked getting a rewatch! This movie is so great and it makes me think of Rocky IV in that it feels sporty and patriotic haha.
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Tom: Usually, the great quotes and expressions have a degree of vagueness that allow them to apply in many contexts. “I am sick and tired of these mother-$#%!-in’ snakes on this mother-$#%!-in’ plane” is one of the iconic quotes of my adolescence, and it is VERY VERY specific to this scenario. And I hadn’t even seen this movie til now! But you can say it about whatever you want. Try it! You’ll feel great! This movie is fun!
Erin: I saw this in the theaters with a friend down the shore when I was too young and I loved it! It’s a classic! B Movie realness with an elevated cast!
The Savages (2007)
Tom: It takes rare acting talent like Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman to turn a story about siblings grappling with their abusive father’s dementia diagnosis into a heartfelt, funny pseudo-comedy. It’s not a super easy watch, but the screenplay and acting is so good, and the more 2000s movies we watch, the more I truly begin to understand how irreplaceable a talent Philip Seymour Hoffman was. Between this, Doubt, Capote, The Big Lebowski, The Master, and more, PSH was able to endow a wide spectrum of characters with humanity and relatability while making them all feel entirely different. Movies are worse off for not having him around to be in any more of them.
Erin: This is such a masterclass in acting. It’s an extremely relatable story of adult siblings having their lives turned upside down after their father is hospitalized. I would recommend it to everyone, but only if you aren’t looking for a raucous good time.
The Reader (2008)
Tom: Hoooooooly crap this is one of the worst movies we’ve watched for this project, 2010s included. There’s a way to write a good, complex, star-crossed lovers story. The wrong way to do that is by involving a LITERAL NAZI PEDOPHILE WHO BURNED 300 PEOPLE TO DEATH. SPOILERS. You cannot feel sympathy for that person — even if she’s portrayed by Kate Winslet and can’t read!
Erin: HARD PASS on this one! Offensive, strange Oscar-bait. Don’t watch it!
Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Tom: This movie rules. It’s very late aughts, but I think that works in this particular case. It has that Zombieland-Easy A-style narration by Needy (Amanda Seyfried), and a starring role for Megan Fox is as 2009 as it gets, but don’t get it twisted - she is great in this movie. So are Seyfried and Adam Brody and Johnny Simmons and J.K. Simmons. It’s hilarious, creepy, and MUCH more than just a movie for guys to ogle Megan Fox. In fact, it takes aim at those very viewers. It’s a subversive take on female friendships, the male gaze, and casual abuse of women. It fully checks out as a cult classic.
Erin: I loooooved this one omg. Did you know that the Bratz Twitter just did a scene from this? So weird. But this is what Promising Young Woman was trying to do. No need though, just watch Jennifer’s Body. The soundtrack could not slap more.