The Captain's Top Ten Films of 2001
Oct 27 '06 (Updated Oct 09 '07)
The Bottom Line My Top Ten Films of 2001... no prizes for guessing my no.1!
Top Ten Films of 2001
1 - A Beautiful Mind
I don’t suppose anyone who knows me will remotely surprised by my choice of number one film for this year. Ron Howard’s film based on the life story of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician Jonathon Nash was nothing short of extraordinary. Russell Crowe plays the talented Nash, whose search for a new defining principal in mathematics and then work for the government runs alongside his battle with paranoid schizophrenia. Crowe’s acting in this film is truly amazing, and he’s backed up by real talent in the form of Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connely, and Christopher Plummer, Ed Harris, and Adam Goldberg. An impressive film not only for its capacity to grip the viewer but also opening peoples’ eyes on a terrible disease. Deservedly won 4 Oscars, including Best Picture.
2 - Riding in Cars with Boys
Based on a book by Beverly D’Onofrio and directed by Penny Marshall, this was a film I watched with no expectation of liking it much (despite it having Drew Barrymore in it). In the end I was thoroughly fascinated by this tale of a writer whose life was totally changed by an event that occurred during her teenage years. Handled with skill and sensitivity, this was compelling viewing. Also stars Steve Zahn, Adam Garcia, Brittney Murphy, and James Wood.
3 - Serendipity
Starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsdale as people who meet by chance and then part, coming together again only by chance / fate / whatever you want to call it, this was a very funny movie with plenty to like about it. Cusack and Beckinsdale were perfect in the lead roles (probably the last film with Beckinsdale that I really liked her in), and there were plenty of good performances in the supporting cast. John Corbett is hilarious and trust me, you’ll have never seen him in quite the same light before… Some of the family reunions were quite painful – or painfully funny, depending on the scene.
The same year’s “American Sweathearts” which starred Cusack as well was also quite funny, but I much preferred Serendipity.
4 - Spy Kids
One or Director Robert Rodriquz’s finest hours, the first Spy Kids film was full of wit and inventiveness, with an excellent cast including Antion Banderas and Alan Cumming (when he was really good) and Tony Shaloub. Great special effects backed up a rip-roaring plot involving two children finding out that their parents are in fact spies – and then having to turn spies themselves to save them. Great dialogue, too. Followed up by two vastly inferior sequels, though the second Spy Kids film was still enjoyable in its own right. The genre has of course alraedy become hackneyed in the few years since this was released!
5 - Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring
The journey began for Gandalf and friends in 2001 with the first part oft eh Lord of the Rings trilogy. Handling with skill what personally I find to be the least enjoyable of the trilogy, Peter Jackson helped this to have a real sense of being epic as well as being a classic adventure story. The creatures were recreated superbly, the FX were excellent, the music stirring, locations were lovingly envisaged, and a great cast really brought the characters to live. This really built anticipation for the films to come and, as the ultimate tribute, most fans of Tolkein’s book were extremely happy with it. (There were some who complained about minor changes from the book or things not being quite as they pictured them, but there always are!)
6 - Osmosis Jones
Part live-action, mostly animation, this has Bill Murray finding out exactly why his "10 second rule" shouldn’t be obeyed. (If you drop food on the floor, it’s all right to eat it as long as you pick it up within 10 seconds.) The internal battle inside his body is the animated part, with evil virus Thrax (Laurence Fishbourne) battling it out with super-drug Drix (wonderfully voiced by David Hyde-Pierce) and unconventional police cell (or something) Osmosis (Chris Rock). Consistently funny and inventive, a real surprise to me as I had never heard of it and only saw it by sheer chance. Re-watching it while on a mission of mercy (getting someone’s kids away from them so they could get a little peace) didn’t diminish my enjoyment of it at all.
7 - Gosford Park
Robert Altman’s murder mystery in which the question was not so much “who did it?” as “who did what?”. There were so many sub-plots going on in the background that it could be difficult to keep up and it really enquired more than one viewing to work everything out. What also made it special was the period detail and the superb cast – Richard E Grant easily stole the honours but there were some great performances by Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Kirsten Scott Thomas, and Tom Hollander.
8 - Legally Blonde
Reese Witherspoon is a blonde bimbo, but decides to go to Harvard because her boyfriend has just gone there and broken up with her. She does of course discover that he’s not worth having got in such a state about, but not before she turns Harvard on its head and graduates. An endearing performance by Witherspoon is 80% of this movie’s appeal, but there are plenty of other little comic moments and good performances to make this well worth watching. Don’t go near the sequel though, it’s awful.
9 - A Knight's Tale
Okay, this is an extremely silly movie about a Page who becomes a Knight when his master pops his clogs, but I found it to be funny enough to make up for its ridiculousness. Sometimes you want a movie that doesn’t take itself at all seriously, and this is it. Heath Ledger is pretty good as the newbie Knight, while Paul Bettany as Chaucer waffles on affably while trying to stop money (and clothing) slipping from his grasp. Rufus Sewell simmers as the evil Black Knight. Some truly bizarre scenes but somehow they work.
10 - Moulin Rouge
Only Baz Luhrmann could have got away with this wonderful, lavish musical extravaganza with such style, though it lacks the hilarious bizarreness of his earlier “Strictly Ballroom”. However, leads Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman are good and even acquit themselves fairly well in the singing department, while Jim Broadbent is wonderful as ever as the Moulin Rouge’s owner. A bit over the top, but still great entertainment.
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I wasn't quite sure where Spirited Away should go - it would definitely be high on the list, but it was originally released in 2001 in Japan, then in 2003 for the UK... so which top ten list should it go in, 2001 or 2003? In the end I decided neither list, but to give it this special mention in both. It's a wonderful anime, very surreal and absolutely brilliant.
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Other Top Tens
Top Ten Movies of 2002
Top Ten Movies of 2003
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Top Ten Movies of 2005
Top Ten Movies of All Time
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Top Ten Animated Movies
Top Ten Children's Movies
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Top Ten Musicals
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