THE BEST AND WORST MOVIES OF THE YEAR 2000

The year 2000 was a very interesting year for movies.  There was no movie that came out that seems to be automatically hailed as the best picture of the year.  This year had its fan favorites like Gladiator and X-Men, and its surprises like Scary Movie.  But the only high profile movie that was both critically and financially successful was Erin Brokovich.  Movies like Traffic and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon have not been released wide in the year 2000 so they can't even count even though they are getting all sorts of hype on critic best of the year lists.  What this movie is known for is its bombs like Battlefield Earth and What Planet are Your From and Little Nicky. Seven point seven BILLION dollars was spent on movie tickets this year and that is a record despite declining attendance.  That is an amazing figure.  The following is my best and worst lists for the year 2000.  I will pick five choices for each.   I will also show what were the top 10 grossing films of the year.  

JOHN L'S PICKS FOR BEST FILMS OF 2000

1.    MEET THE PARENTS - After much thought, this had to be my choice.  This movie was the perfect comedy.  It was outrageous enough to be edgy, but family friendly enough to appeal to almost all ages.  Ben Stiller and Robert Deniro had great chemistry together and every scene they were in was great.  My favorite part of the film was when they were drag racing down the street and caught every red light.  This is a definite buy on DVD and I will be there for the sequel when we get to meet Stiller's parents.  

2.    THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDY - The second funniest film of the year was this movie directed by Spike Lee.  It starred Steve Harvey, D. L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac doing their stand up act road show.  I actually laughed harder at this film than Meet the Parents, but MTP was a real movie and this was more like a documentary so I will put it here in second place.  People were afraid of its racial humor but it is no worse than any Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, or Chris Rock act. Bernie Mac's bus stop joke is one of the funniest routines of all time.  Everyone who is a fan of raunchy topical comedy should see this film.  It is definitely Lee's best work since he pretty much sets the camera down and lets the four guys do their thing.

3.    SCARY MOVIE - I was a fan of the comedies this year, much like I was in 1999.  This movie is the raunchy filthy disgusting comedy that offends a lot of people.  I love it.  It has the best love scene of the year between our heroine and boyfriend.  I own this movie on DVD now and enjoy it on a regular basis.  The film is a bit overrated and is not for everyone, but it is definitely the American Pie of 2000.

4.    GLADIATOR - I am not the biggest Gladiator fan, but after seeing it again on DVD and watching the making of material I have a better respect for it.  The drama and the action was put together perfectly.  It made Russell Crowe more famous, but he will need another hit before he can get the big bucks.  The best part of this movie is any of the stuff during Crowe's gladiator training before he gets to the Collosseum.

5.    FINAL DESTINATION - This is my favorite horror movie of the year.  It also has the biggest jump/scare in the last 10 years of film.  The bus accident may have been the most shocking moment of the year on film. Get the DVD just to watch the test screening footage of the audience reacting to the sudden jolt of a girl getting run over by a bus.  It comes out of nowhere and had everyone in the theater screaming.  The Death is Real premise gets silly, but I bought it.

JOHN L'S PICKS FOR WORST FILMS OF 2000

1.    HOLLOW MAN - I am proud to say I own this film in my DVD collection because it has a lot of extras and the special effects are quite good.  What is not good is the script that forgets to show any advantage to being invisible.  It also takes place almost entirely in the research facility limiting much of the action.  The slasher movie ending is okay action wise, but is pointless in terms of being relevant to the premise.  I also fell asleep in the theater the first time I saw this film and missed about 15 mintues, so I had to return to the theater the next day and see it again.  I fell aslseep again, but I managed to see the part I missed before so it ended up being okay in the end.  Kevin Bacon is very good and I respect him for all of the green and black he had to wear to stay off screen.

2.    BATTLEFIELD EARTH - What worst of list for 2000 would be complete without this John Travolta instant classic.  It was a mess all the way around from the special effects, acting, plot logic, and being based on a 1000 page book and barely touching on the first 400 pages.  This is a movie that should have been a Sci Fi channel mini series like Dune was to flesh out the story and fill in plot holes.  The whole part with the harrier jets is just stupid.  Oh, I will be buying this movie when it comes out on DVD.  It should be in everyone's collection.  Travolta has said that he is up for doing a sequel.  If it's made, I am there.

3.    NURSE BETTY - I am no Rene Zellwegger fan, and if you are not then this movie will suck for you too.  The premise of a lady going insane after her husband's murder and thinking she is married to a soap opera character never clicked with me.  Morgan Freeman is better than he should be in it and is the only reason you should sit through the thing.  Critics loved the movie, but audiences never supported it.  

4.    DINOSAUR - This was a huge disappointment for me.  The preview was spectacular where you follow the dinosaur egg all over the land until it lands in front of some monkeys.  The first half hour of this film is great. The next hour blows chunks.  Very boring and it looked like they let up on any fancy computer animation that was so great to look at in the beginning of the film.  This movie could have made $200 million if it was more about what happened in the first third of the movie.  The trek through the desert was awful.  This will not be joining my DVD collection unless I can get it for free.

5.    ALMOST FAMOUS - This movie gets the "I told you so" award for the year.  Everyone I talked to that saw AF, loved it.  Before it was released, every critic was sure that it would be another Jerry Maguire type hit for Cameron Crowe and make Kate Hudson and Billy Crudup superstars.  I said it was lacking in any type of dramatic tension that a movie like this needs to be interesting to people.  Any episode of VH1's Behind the Music is better and 10 times more interesting than this film.  The kid reporter was good, but a little too wide eyed for me.  Crudup was useless and did nothing the entire film.  I still don't get the Kate Hudson character.  Her purpose was never made clear.  Sorry people, this movie was not that good.

TOP 10 MOVIES OF THE YEAR 2000 BY BOX OFFICE GROSS

1.    DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

BOX OFFICE GROSS:  $253.4 MILLION

2.    MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2

BOX OFFICE GROSS:  $214.4 MILLION

3.    GLADIATOR

BOX OFFICE GROSS:  $186.7 MILLION

4.    THE PERFECT STORM

BOX OFFICE GROSS:  $182.6 MILLION

5.    MEET THE PARENTS

BOX OFFICE GROSS: $161.3 MILLION

6.    X-MEN

BOX OFFICE GROSS: $157.3 MILLION

7.    SCARY MOVIE:  $157 MILLION

8.    WHAT LIES BENEATH

BOX OFFICE GROSS:  $155.4 MILLION

9.    DINOSAUR:  $137.7 MILLION

10.    ERIN BROKOVICH

BOX OFFICE GROSS:  $125.6 MILLION

The year 2000 was okay, but nothing that great.  None of the movies released this year will make my all time best list.  The year 2001 is not looking all that great, but could sneak in some hits.  I am looking forward to the Mummy 2, Hannibal, Jurassic Park 3, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings.  However, it will be quite the task to beat 2000's total box office gross.  The year to look forward to is 2002 when Matrix 2, Spiderman, and a little film known as Star Wars Episode 2 come out.  That year should be insane.  Click the movie title in my best and worst of list to read my original reviews.  Bye for now and happy new year!!