The 100 Project: Top 10 Movies of 2000

We've arrived at the turn of the century. While there was certainly some hope for what we could become as we arrive in the year many of us thought of as "the future," there was also plenty of cynicism to go around. There was even some nostalgia for things we just lost. For me, it was a year of gain as my family expanded with the birth of our second child (first daughter). There was a lot going on. Here's how it all shook out for me.

My Top 10 Movies of 2000

• According to my Letterboxd account, I've seen 69 movies that were released in the year 2000.
• I made it to theaters 9 times. 2 made the top 10. 3 are honorable mentions. One of those honorable mentions was the first non-English film I ever watched on the big screen.
• I've seen 4 of the 5 Best Picture nominees. None made my top 10, but all are honorable mentions.
• 2 of my top 10 were directed by women, 3 (including one of the women) by people of color.

10. Final Destination

By now, it should be apparent that I love slasher flicks. And the more creative the kills, the better. As morbid as it sounds, and as ridiculous as most of the scenarios play out, these deaths are hilariously inventive. If you want to knock this off and replace it with any of my honorable mentions I wouldn't argue with you. But since we're being honest, I'm a whole lot more likely to put this on again over any of those.

9. Nutty Professor II: The Klumps

In true sequel fashion, this movie takes everything from the first movie and turns it up to ten. You might not have liked the first movie. I did. More of the same might not appeal to me. It does to me. In other words, whenever I watch this I laugh. And I laugh a lot.

8. Almost Famous

I didn't watch this until nearly a decade after its release. I had heard all the hype and was prepared for a letdown. Thankfully, there was nothing of the sort. I had a blast with this group of amazing characters. They were people who did not feel like they created for a movie. They felt like we met them on this part of their journey. The writing, performances, and the music all come together to put us in the middle of the era that gave us the term sex, drugs, and rock & roll.

7. American Psycho

I grew up in 1980s New York City. Though I was never anywhere near Wall Street, the effects of the work that went on there and the tales of the depravity of the financial capital's most important people were all around me. Their arrogance, extravagance, and lack of regard for anyone who can't line their pockets with more cash is taken to absurd extremes in this film. And Christian Bale is simultaneously hypnotic, frightening, and hilarious. This is the movie that really opened me up to the charms of dark comedy.

6. Battle Royale

You know the setup. A bunch of kids are shipped off to an island for a few days and the last one alive is the winner. This movie did it first. I'm not saying The Hunger Games ripped it off, but I'm just sayin'. Even if it there was no plagiarism involved, Battle Royale is proof The Hunger Games is watered down, bloated, American, tripe.

5. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

If I knew beforehand that this was, more or less, Homer's Odyssey updated to fit a bunch of hillbillies who play country music, I would have been a lot less likely to watch it. As it was, I didn't watch it until about four or five years after it came out. It just wasn't on my radar. When I did see it, I laughed. I laughed. I laughed. And laughed some more. To this day, this is my favorite George Clooney performance.

4. Memento

Every now and again, I'll watch a movie that has a crazy premise, manages to hook me, keeps me engaged, and blows my head off my shoulders at the very end. This is one of those. My brain was working itself into a fit, characters left and right were pissing me off and then the big reveal happened. So I thought about it. Then I thought about it some more. I'm still thinking about it.

3. Requiem for a Dream

Speaking of movies that stick with me, there's this nightmare. Of course, I mean nightmare in the best possible way. It does all the things Memento does for me with the added treat of it absolutely terrifying me. For my money, this is the greatest public service announcement ever made. If it had come out when I was a kid, more of my peers really would've just said no.

2. Bamboozled

Full on satire trained on how African-Americans have been treated by and reacted within the television establishment. The premise is that the hottest show on TV is a minstrel show complete with Black actors in black face. Damon Wayans gives his best performance, as do most involved. And it's brilliant. I've heard some say that this is Spike Lee's best film. I disagree, but it's good enough that I'll listen to the argument.

1. Love & Basketball

This is another of those movies that Mrs. Dell and I wandered into the theater to see and both came out in love with what we just saw. Sanaa Lathan is better than she's ever been. She takes the material she's given and creates a dynamic and compelling character. She makes the predictable romance at its core far more intriguing and gut-wrenching than it has any right to be. And she is a convincing basketball player. This is the movie the wife and I have put on and cuddled to the most. I probably shouldn't say this, but normally, we don't make it through movies we cuddled to. With this one, we do. Usually.


Honorable Mentions (alphabetically): Amores Perros, Cast Away, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Gladiator, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Meet the Parents, Remember the Titans, Snatch, Traffic, Unbreakable, Vampire Hunter D, Way of the Gun, X-Men