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Posted by: Sharon 🍷 9th April 2020, 01:49 AM

guys, shocker that I'm coming into this forum with a movie related thread!

over the next few days, I will be exploring the film world from 2000 to 2009! I'll go through the biggest box office hits of the year, the iconic classics these years spawned, the oscars and notable events in each of these years!

I hope y'all enjoy and plz comment memories you have of films during this time, memorable cinema experiences, and your fave films of each year as we go through each year! <3

Posted by: Karen 🥂 9th April 2020, 06:49 AM

omg this is the decade for Harry Potter!!

I feel it was definitely the start the franchise era that has obviously just spiralised out of control in the next decade

Posted by: Jade 🐠 9th April 2020, 07:42 AM

I hope Mean Girls will pop up

Posted by: Karen 🥂 9th April 2020, 07:52 AM

Dodgeball is legit my fave comedy from the decade so I want that to appear

Also I’m one of 5 people in the world who stans the 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I watched it so many times, it’s probably my most watched film ever!! Also had A Series of Unfortunate Events on repeat - I actually love it in its own special world even now we have the full Netflix series!

Posted by: Jonjo 9th April 2020, 10:13 AM

Mid-late noughties is when I started getting into film, properly! Excited to read these Sam!

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 9th April 2020, 10:45 AM

I can’t wait for this! I didn’t go to then cinema as much in the 00s because I was constantly poor so when I did it was always a film that made a lasting impression on me!

Personal highlights:
Toy Story 2 (first cinema experience of the 00s)
The remaining Star Wars prequels
Shrek 1 and 2
All the Harry Potters
All of Lord Of The Rings
Spider-man 1 and 2
Tomb Raider (both of them)
Pirates of the Caribbean
Casino Royale
Batman: The Dark Knight
I, Robot
The Village
Signs
Meet the Parents/Fockers
Dodgeball
White Chicks
Mean Girls
Star Trek
The Grinch
Elf

Posted by: Sandra ❤️ 9th April 2020, 04:07 PM

I spent all of the 00s as a child so the films I'll have anything to say about will either be family films or ones that I saw after the 00s were over so Harry Potter and the Disney/Pixar cannon will hopefully feature here!

Posted by: dan.G* 9th April 2020, 04:13 PM

QUOTE(Karen 🥂 @ Apr 9 2020, 08:52 AM)

Posted by: Chez Wallago 🐠 9th April 2020, 04:35 PM

The decade was certainly defined by Pixar and Harry Potter for me, but there were a lot of great movies worth reminiscing about. I hope you're a fan of the Dark Knight x

Posted by: Jonjo 9th April 2020, 10:48 PM

Hurry up Shazza. I'm literally in this forum because of THIS!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 10th April 2020, 12:56 AM

sorry was gonna do a few tonight but other things came up aha! Imma do 2000 now and then we'll have

Friday: 2001, 2002, 2003
Saturday: 2004, 2005, 20069
Sunday: 2007, 2008, 2009

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 10th April 2020, 01:51 AM

2000


Box Office Hits
Big Momma's House - the start of Martin Lawrence's franchise, I loved this when I was younger but I doubt its holds up nowadays
Charlie's Angels - another iconic franchise with three killer lead actresses (Diaz, Barrymore and Liu) and an iconic Destiny's Child anthem to boot made this a big success
Chicken Run - an aardman classic, this became the highest grossing stop motion animated film ever!
Dinosaur - one of Disney's less appreciated films but still did solid business at the box office!
How The Grinch Stole Christmas - the biggest grossing film in America of 2000 (making a massive $260m!)
Meet The Parents - another franchise starter and big box office hit, with an all star ensemble
Mission Impossible: II - the biggest film worldwide of 2000 with $546m!
Scary Movie - another classic franchise making it's start in 2000! the cast is comedy gold in this classic spoof on horror movies
The Perfect Storm - one of those big summer blockbusters that tbh idk too much about!
What Lies Beneath - same with this one but ik it stars Michelle Pfeiffer *.*
What Women Want - what men want outsold.
X-Men - one of the biggest superhero franchises kicked off! where'd you rank this in the x-men canon?

This was a pretty big year at the box office! Paramount took the top grossing film with Mission Impossible 2 and only one Disney film made the top 10! (Dinosaur at 5), a change from the times nowadays! this year also saw Oscar contenders making serious bank, with Gladiator and Cast Away being the 2nd and 3rd highest grossing films of the year

Iconic Classics
American Psycho - thriller starring Christian Bale and Reese Witherspoon that is highly acclaimed and still remembered nowadays! Leo DiCaprio was originally up for the lead role of Patrick Bateman
Battlefield Earth - woo we love a disaster. John Travolta's adaptation of this famous scientology novel is heralded for being one of the worst films ever; sweeping both the razzies in 2000 and the end of decade razzies in 2009
Bring It On - Kirsten Dunst is amazing in this iconic cheerleading film! I can't believe this is 20 years old
Coyote Ugly - can't fight the moonlight still bangs
Final Destination - another iconic horror franchise starting!
High Fidelity - this was a minor hit worldwide with John Cusack leading and a script penned by Nick Hornby
Miss Congeniality - Sandra Bullock's comedy was big smash and features many iconic looks
O Brother, Where Art Thou? - one of Coen Brothers most known films, this won the Grammy for best album of the year in 2002!
Requiem for a Dream - Darren Aronofsky's 2nd film is seen as one of his best and a classic
Snatch - this is always on British tv and guy Ritchie's film features a fab turn by Brad Pitt and was a massive hit in the UK
Stuart Little - we stan Stuart, an icon (and also a box office hit)
The Beach - starring king Leo DiCaprio and spawned Pure Shores, one of the biggest songs of the year and one of the best movie songs ever
Unbreakable - M. Night Shylaman's 'superhero' film with Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, which is remembered even more nowadays after Shylaman's surprise return to success with Split/Glass

The Oscars & Awards Season
Gladiator swept through awards season, winning Best Picture at all the major precursors. This was a mini-surprise, considering it's original positioning as a summer blockbuster but rave reviews & box office success allowed this to explode and be remembered in awards season! Russell Crowe also took home Best Actor, but out of the four main precursors (Globes, BAFTA, SAG, Oscars), he only won the Oscar! The other best actor winners that season were; at the Globes, Tom Hanks won for drama in Cast Away, a film that started strongly in awards season but faded by the end and George Clooney won for O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Whereas at other award ceremonies, Jamie Bell became one of the youngest best actor winners ever for Billy Elliot, which racked up nominations throughout awards season but didn't win much else & Bell wasn't even nominated for the Oscar! and Benicio Del Toro won in lead actor at SAG for

Traffic, which brings us onto the year of Steven Soderbergh (who y'all probs best know rn for Contagion). Soderbergh had a rare year of two major Oscar hits released in the same time frame (the other film being Erin Brockovich). he managed to get a rare 2 nominations in Best Director! after campaigning convinced voters to vote for him to win for Traffic, that was the film he won best director for! interestingly his biggest competition was Ang Lee for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which was the Oscar 2nd most nominated film of the year and Lee won director at the Globes and BAFTA's. Interestingly despite winning picture and being a heavily directed film, Ridley Scott only won one award when looking at all award bodies that year, including minor award groups and critics. Anyway Soderbergh's two films picked up many wins this year; Traffic won best cast at SAG, Julia Roberts won the Oscar for Erin Brockovich (and swept everything that year, the only one of the four acting winners to sweep, Renee Zellweger won in musical or comedy at Globes for Nurse Betty) and Benicio Del Toro won the Globe, BAFTA and Oscar for Traffic, with his placing in lead allowing Albert Finney to win in supporting at SAG for Erin Brokovich. A very successful year for Soderbergh's films! Crouching Tiger won 4 Oscars in total, but none of the above line awards and received 0 acting nominations, despite Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi picking up BAFTA noms.

I'll finish this round-up with a look at one of the most crazy Oscar races of the decade, best supporting actress. This year was insane!! we had different winners at every precursors. Frances McDormand won the critics choice award and Kate Hudson (considered the frontrunner) won the Golden Globe, both for their turns in Almost Famous. Julie Walters took home a hometown BAFTA for Billy Elliot and Judi Dench won SAG for her turn in best-pic nominee Chocolat. These 4 were all locked for a nomination and were joined by Marcia Gay Harden in Pollock, who had barely been nominated anywhere (Zeta Jones in Traffic at Globes and Winslet in Quills at SAG were the other two acting nominees at the other precursors; BAFTA's saw Lena Olin for Chocolat and Yeoh for Dragon nominated, with Hudson nominated in lead there, who was also up against Hilary Swank for her Oscar winning turn in Boys Don't Cry, that was released in 2000 in the UK). And despite four different winners at the precursors, the Oscar actually ended up going to Harden for Pollock! one of the closest races of all time.

other key award winners were Almost Famous and Traffic picking up script awards at the Oscars, and Almost Famous also won the globe for Best Comedy/Musical! Things Have Changed from Wonder Boys took home best song.

Notable Events
here are some fun movie facts as can't find too many events not said above already:
- The most expensive shoes from a film sold at auction were Judy Garland's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz that were auctioned off by Christie's, New York in 2000 for $666,000
- Clint Eastwood's directing and acting project, Space Cowboys (2000) used high definition television (HDTV) technology for the first time in a Hollywood feature.
- The American Film Institute (AFI) released the second list in its continuing series, 100 Years...100 Laughs, to recognize the top 100 American films that were the funniest in cinematic history. Some Like It Hot (1959) was named the funniest film of all time.
- X-Men was the first major Marvel superhero comic ever adapted for screen
- The Matrix was the best selling DVD of all-time in 2000
- Julia Roberts was Forbes highest paid actress and was the first female to earn $20million for one film (EriN)
- The first live-action feature film to be entirely color-corrected (or color-graded) by digital means, giving the film a sepia-tinted tone, was the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). It was the first film in its entirety to be graded digitally on computer, by scanning in the whole film and then digitally coloring it.
- America Online purchased Time Warner, Inc
- audience participation version of The Sound of Music first happened in 2000!

Samantha Recommends:



and ofc we have to finish this off with some recommendations from me! and my two favourite movies of 2000 are Almost Famous and Requiem for a Dream, two films that are up there with my favourites ever for many dif reasons. Almost Famous follows a young music journalist going on the road with the band 'Stillwater'. Almost Famous just makes me feel in a peaceful and happy mood and is a masterpiece (esp. the longer version). The script is fantastic, the acting is superb (Kate Hudson as Penny Lane was ROBBED off the Oscar, one of my favourite performances of all time) and this films hits heavily on music and the industry, which ofc is a major love of mine. The Tiny Dancer sequence is an all-timer and made that song a classic for me <3 a masterpiece.

on the other end of the spectrum, Requiem for A Dream is one of the most brutal and hard hitting films I've ever seen. This follows 4 people who suffer different drug addictions and explores it through a bleak outlook. Ellen Burstyn is phenomenal here and deserved her Oscar nomination, I was shocked to see Martin Wayans in a serious role and he is surprisingly great, Jared Leto is also surprisingly good and not annoying. But my standout here is Jennifer Connelly who is incredible and her character arc is </3. She is sfg in the film and would win supporting actress most years for me in this decade, whew a performance! The direction is fantastic and this film is chilling and unforgettable.

I highly recommend both, Requiem for a Dream is currently available on Amazon Prime and Almost Famous is on Sky Movies!


What are your favourites? what are your movie memories of this year? what iconic movie song did you prefer, pure shores or can't fight the moonlight?

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 10th April 2020, 01:51 AM

hope you enjoy guys! whew that took a while aha, the only thing copy and pasted is half of the notable events section haha! will do 2001-2003 tomorrow <3

Posted by: Nancy 🍾 10th April 2020, 02:13 AM

Omg Sam

Good job girl...I promise I am going to have to do a proper respond to that tomorrow...so many classics and my faves are already in there

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 10th April 2020, 09:23 AM

Wow, Sam, this is amazing!

I remember going to see Chickenrun, Stuart Little and Dinosaur at the cinema.

But I think my favourite here is Unbreakable.

Posted by: Karen 🥂 10th April 2020, 09:52 AM

Chicken Run is actually incredible. Literally the most British film ever made and it was a childhood classic. I remember it was always put on when I was round my Nana and Grandads! Mrs Tweedy is one of the scariest villains ever and then you have the iconic 'but I don't like gravy'!

I love Meet the Parents, it was such a big hit but it seems really forgotten about now when people think of comedies! It feels a lot of Will Ferrell and Seth Rogan films more come to people's minds instead.

I've never really been a huge fan of the X-Men franchise in comparison to other superhero films and I find the original trilogy quite dated now. I didn't realise it was the first major Marvel superhero movie!

omg Stuart Little, another childhood fave. I miss those random children films that weren't intended to be big franchises and just focused on an ordinary American family.

I watched Erin Brockovich a few years back and really enjoyed it. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon looks visually incredible but I've never got round to seeing it. I've never seen Gladiator somehow either, although it was the focus of part of my GCSE English as we had to examine the trailer.

and omg, I don't see you mentioning one of the best Disney films of all THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE and ICONIC villain Yzma. I hope its to come in 2001!

in terms of movie song, Pure Shores >>>>

Posted by: Jonjo 10th April 2020, 09:57 AM

'Chicken Run' was the 2nd film I ever saw at the cinema. I haven't seen it for a long LONG time though.

2000 was a pretty decent year. 'Cast Away' is a fave, although I only saw that about 2 years ago for the first time The birth of the legendary 'Final Destination' franchise. which changed the game for a lot of horror. The franchise is solid with only 1 weak link for me (the 4th one which is truly diabolical). I saw 'Gladiator' for the first time not too long ago... it wasn't a fave. Ngl. The score though.. WOW <3 'The Beach' is very good and 'Unbreakable' is brilliant!

I saw 'Dinosaur' recently (like, literally a week or so ago)... A whole load of.. NOTHING. Like, nothing happens at all.

I haven't seen your 2 recommendations yet! 'Almost Famous' I'm pretty sure I'll like it, but a bit unsure on 'Requiem For A Dream'! I definitely want to see it, but I'm not sure if it's my thing.

One of my favourite films though is... 'Battle Royale'. So brutally fun. Definitely the inspiration for 'The Hunger Games'!

Also, we really wouldn't be where we are with Superhero movies if it wasn't for 'X-Men'. A true pioneer! 'Spider-Man' of course took it up a whole other level, but 'X-Men' started the revolution!

Amazing write-ups Sam I always learn so much from your posts! The awards stuff was v interesting this year. I didn't expect so many different winners for supporting actress!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 10th April 2020, 11:05 AM

ty guys <3 will do 2001 now (damn we gotta do quick gaps aha with the forum closing in a few days haha)

QUOTE(Karen 🥂 @ Apr 10 2020, 10:52 AM)

QUOTE(Jonjo @ Apr 10 2020, 10:57 AM)

I haven't seen your 2 recommendations yet! 'Almost Famous' I'm pretty sure I'll like it, but a bit unsure on 'Requiem For A Dream'! I definitely want to see it, but I'm not sure if it's my thing.

One of my favourite films though is... 'Battle Royale'. So brutally fun. Definitely the inspiration for 'The Hunger Games'!

Amazing write-ups Sam I always learn so much from your posts! The awards stuff was v interesting this year. I didn't expect so many different winners for supporting actress!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 10th April 2020, 11:55 AM

2001


Box Office Hits
American Pie 2 - the 2nd American Pie movie made big bank off the back of the first film, becoming the 9th highest grossing film in the UK and 13th highest in America of the year! where does this rank in the franchise for you?
Bridget Jones’s Diary - one of the best Rom-Com franchises of all time <3 this was a long-running hit in America (making $71m) but ofc the massive success came here in the UK, where it made a gigantic $60m and was the 3rd highest grossing film of the year!
Hannibal - coming off the back of The Silence of the Lambs, this film had massive expectations which it couldn't quite meet
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone - y'all know this one, starting the biggest franchise of the 21st century for with a bang! Anyway quite surprisingly; this was the biggest grossing film in America of the year with $317m but was 2nd in the UK! (with a massive $84m). I would've thought it'd be the other way round
Jurassic Park III - lol I didn't even realise this came out this decade until I started this
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - this was the best reviewed video adaptation for a long time, which says it all. Anyway this movie is iconic for Angelina Jolie's starring role and made big bank at the box office.
Legally Blonde - a classic that y'all know! This gifted us an all-time performance from Reese Witherspoon and is one of the best movies in its genre of all time *.* this did pretty well at the box office, finishing 22nd in the US and 31st in the UK for the year and did great against its budget!
Monsters Inc - a Pixar classic that hits America in November 2001 and made a massive $255m, becoming the 4th highest grossing film of the year. This was the 4th Pixar release to date.
Ocean’s Eleven - another franchise kicking off with an all-star ensemble and big numbers worldwide
Pearl Harbor - a massive running time, a classic movie song with There You'll Be, and a big blockbuster with dreadful reviews. That didn't stop everyone from knowing this film and becoming a box office smash.
Planet of the Apes - another big blockbuster with dreadful reviews that still pulled in big money. However it made 38.1% of its total money on opening weekend in America, making it the most front loaded film of the top 55 films of 2001
Rush Hour 2 - I didn't realise just how big this was this was the 5th highest grossing film of 2001 in America ($226m), this franchise does feel forgotten nowadays
Shrek - another classic franchise kicked off this year with everyone's (and BuzzJack's, and Jonjo's) fave animated film. Shrek was the 3rd highest grossing film in America ($267m) and 4th highest in the UK ($42m). this held on fantastically and is known for having one of the best 2nd weekends of all time in America (it actually increased from its opening weekend by +0.3%, which is basically unheard of for a big film unless its Xmas)
The Fast & The Furious - another very well-known franchise kicked off in 2001, which did well but not to the heights that this franchise would eventually hit
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - and more classic franchises! this was an immediate success, being the highest grossing film in the UK of the year ($90m) and 2nd in America ($313m).
The Mummy Returns - this sequel banked in big money, grossing over $200m in America!
The Princess Diaries - I didn't realise how well this did at the box office tbh, making over $100m in America. This ofc stars Anne Hathaway and is another teen classic!

This year saw an explosion of the box office. Harry Potter made $975m worldwide, giving Warner Bros the highest grossing film of the year, and Lord of the Rings wasn't too far behind with $871m. Harry Potter was the highest grossing film in the franchise until the final film and with both HP and LotR making over $800m, this was the first time two films in the same year passed the $800m mark! Animation also saw major successes with Monsters Inc and Shrek and the rest of the top 10 was mostly made up by the blockbusters with bad reviews!

Iconic Classics
Along came a Spider - this thriller with Morgan Freeman is ALWAYS on tv. it's also entertaining
Amelie - the French classic swooped hearts everywhere and became a big hit, that's always referenced whenever you think about a film that represents Paris
Atlantis: the Lost Empire - another Disney underperformance as we're hitting their rough period
Cats & Dogs - who couldn't love a film starring the two most iconic animals in the world
Donnie Darko - this was a gigantic bomb, so much that I nearly missed it when making this list! (it was like the 250th highest grossing film of the year). This came out in the wake of 9/11 and did dreadfully at the box office with little acclaim at the time. However time was kind to it and it has become an iconic cult classic over time. Such a good film <3
Glitter - another film that was impacted by 9/11, this was Mariah Carey's movie that also seems to have gained a cult following in her fanbase (+ the album) in recent times, with it topping the iTunes chart in the last couple of years!
Memento - Christopher Nolan's directorial debut acc came out in 2000 in the UK but US audiences had to wait until 2001! This mind-bending thriller has held up greatly and is often mentioned as one of Nolan's best for its narrative and twists.
Mulholland Drive - Heralded as one of the greatest films of the decade, David Lynch's film gives an all-time performance from Naomi Watts and this film is always at the top of decade lists.
Not Another Teen Movie - another classic teen movie with a promising young ensemble
Save the Last Dance - the days when Julia Stiles was a box office queen *.* a classic and was one of the first of many dance hits that would happen this decade
Scary Movie 2 - whilst not hitting the heights of the first movie last year, the sequel still did well!
Spy Kids - another franchise kicked off and this was iconic for kids my age growing up, I remember this being EVERYWHERE, even if it now feels forgotten.
The Emperor's New Groove - here's your mention! an underrated classic
The Others - this probs should've been in box office smashes but that was getting too crowded aha. this horror starring Nicole Kidman was a critically-acclaimed crowdpleaser and Kidman would have scored an Oscar nom if it wasn't for her other Oscar vehicle that year! recently it was announced that this is receiving a remake.
The Royal Tenenbaums - Wes Anderson's breakthrough film is still regarded as one of his best, with it ofc having Anderson's usual flair and style with an ensemble of so many recognisable actors.
The Wedding Planner - we love a J Lo film, an early 2000's box offfice queen *.* I think this might have been the film where she was the first person to have the number 1 film and number 1 single or album in the country at the same time!
Vanilla Sky - Cameron Crowe's follow-up to Almost Famous fell a bit flat in the end, with many expectations for a box office smash and Oscar vehicle not being reached. However it still has a kilelr cast of Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz, the latter nearly scoring her 1st Oscar nom for this but just missed again
Zoolander - this was released two weeks after 9/11 in America and also underperformed massively at the box office. However this gained a cult following and is a laugh out loud comedy with many iconic pop-culture moments (blue steel)

The Oscars & Awards Season
In the year 2001, there is only one place to start. With Denzel Washington winning best actor for Training Day and Halle Berry winning best actress for Monster's Ball, this was the first ever time African-Americans won both of these categories in the same year. Berry was the first ever African-American to win Best Actress in a historic win and her speech is incredible <3 this was such an important moment in history (I've literally written an essay on it before irl haha) so definitely explore more into this if you get a chance! Washington was also the first African-American actor to win more than one Oscar. Both of their wins were mini-surprises too, with Berry only winning SAG (that year was a v close race again with loads of different winners!!) and Washington winning nothing. Interestingly also, Ethan Hawke was nominated in best supporting for Training Day despite having over 60% of screentime! In Best Actress; previous Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek won the Golden Globe Drama for In The Bedroom, whilst Nicole Kidman took home Golden Globe Comedy/Musical for Moulin Rouge (both films were nominated for best picture and Moulin Rouge won picture at globes in its category!), and Judi Dench won the BAFTA this time round for Iris. Also can we talk about how iconic the Globes Comedy actress category was with Kidman, Witherspoon in legally blonde and Zellweger in Bridget Jones all nominated! (Zellweger was also nominated for the Oscar, we love to see it *.*). In best actor, Gene Hackman won the Globe Comedy for The Royal Tenenbaums but was snubbed at the Oscars and last year's winner Russell Crowe swept for A Beautiful Mind, winning the Globe, BAFTA and SAG. However a mixture of him winning these cos he won none of them for Gladiator and growing controversy around Crowe (the phone incident happening during this awards season) allowing him to end up losing to Washington.

However A Beautiful Mind was the big winner of the night, taking home Best Picture, Best Director for Ron Howard and Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Connelly, and did very well at the box office too. A Beautiful Mind's main competition came from the other two best pic nominees, Gosford Park and Lord of the Rings. Gosford Park was Robert Altman's third last film and features one of the biggest ensembles of all time with SO MANY British icons in the film, literally just look up the cast. Unsurprisingly it won SAG for Best Ensemble, Altman won director at the Globes and Helen Mirren stopped Connelly from completing a sweep by winning Supporting Actress at BAFTA's. Both Mirren and Maggie Smith earned Oscar nominations for their performances! Lord of the Rings took home the BAFTA for Picture and Director, whilst Ian McKellen won supporting actor at SAG. However it left empty handed in the above the line categories at the Oscars, leading up to the eventual sweep we will see in 2003. Jim Broadbent took the supporting actor win for Iris, having a banner year with appearances in this, Bridget Jones' Diary and Moulin Rouge! A Beautiful Mind def isn't seen as one of the better best picture winners nowadays, with most people thinking the rest of the line-up was stronger. And Jennifer Connelly's win was also seen as category fraud (she was nominated in lead at SAG), her performance and time is probably most comparable to Alicia Vikander winning supporting for The Danish Girl.

other key award winners were A Beautiful Mind and Gosford Park picking up script awards at the Oscars (the BAFTA's went VERY inspired this year, Shrek won original screenplay and Amelie won adapted screenplay!), and If I Didn't Have You from Monsters Inc took home best song. No Man's Land was the winner of best foreign language film, surprisingly beating Amelie. Amores Perros won international film at the BAFTA's. Also Shrek was the first ever winner of Best Animated Feature as this category was inaugurated this year, and in one of my favourite BAFTA (& awards full stop) nominations ever, Eddie Murphy was nominated in supporting actor for Shrek!!

also fun fact: Judi Dench and Kate Winslet were both nominated for playing Iris Murdoch, this was only the 2nd instance in which the same movie character was Oscar-nominated with the same film. The first instance, was Winslet again with Rose in Titanic. (Gloria Stuart also being nominated).

Notable Events
- Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman divorced
- Monsters Inc had the highest animated film opening of all time at this point
- Within a month of each other, two of the biggest franchises ever started; Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings
- In Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) trilogy, the large battle sequences involved more than 200,000 characters, created digitally by MASSIVE software (Multiple Agent Simulation System in Virtual Environment) developed by New Zealand's Weta Digital, a visual effects company. Artificial Intelligence (AI) (with MASSIVE) was first used to depict the independent movements of each of the characters (Orcs, Elves, Goblins and others) in the highly-realistic, massive battle scenes (with digitally-rendered armies).
- A potential strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over their contract threatened to cripple Hollywood.
- DVD sales exceeded VHS videotape sales for the first ever time
- The American Film Institute (AFI) released the third list in its continuing series, 100 Years...100 Thrills, to recognize the top 100 American films that were the most "heart-pounding" in cinematic history. Psycho (1960) was named the top "thrilling" film of all time.
- Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, Some Like It Hot) passed away </3
- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001), the first fully computer-generated feature film with photo-realistic characters, was premiered. The most complex CG human character ever created was Dr. Aki Ross, who was reported to have 60,000 individual strands of hair. The amount of detail rendered into hair, clothing, skin texture, eyes, and movement was astounding and impressive. The film also pioneered and successfully used full-motion capture (MoCap) technology. The film was inspired by a best-selling series of video games by the film's director, Hironobu Sakaguchi. At the time of its release, it was the most-expensive video-game-inspired film ever made. Its production budget was estimated to be $137 million. [It was surpassed nine years later by Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2010) at $200 million.] Its box-office was only $32 million gross income (domestic) and $53 million (foreign) - $85 million total. The massive losses caused the bankruptcy and closing of its production studio, Square Pictures.
- at the time, Amelie was the highest-grossing French-language film ever in the US

Samantha Recommends:



two obvious and very well known films are my picks for 2001, one of the best teen comedies of all time and one of the best animations of all time. Legally Blonde is laugh-out loud hillarious, Reese Witherspoon is absolutely fantastic and Elle Woods is immediately iconic <3 the restaurant scene at the start *.* such a GREAT performance and the film around her is fantastic and the themes are so good with so many quotable lines *.* a classic.

and y'all know Shrek so I'll keep this brief. It is probably the film I have seen the most times ever. The characters are amazing, the plot is fantastic and it's shaking up of the animation formula is groundbreaking, hilarious and iconic. And I'm A Believer is that bop. Just one of those classics that I could honestly still watch over and over again <3

Bridget Jones's Diary, Donnie Darko and Monsters Inc are my honourable mentions.

I highly recommend both, Legally Blonde is currently on Netflix and Shrek is on Netflix for ONE MORE DAY so you better get there quick for the latter! (tho I'm sure y'all seen both by now x)

What are your favourites? what are your movie memories of this year? what iconic movie song did you prefer, there you'll be or something else?

Posted by: Jade 🐠 10th April 2020, 12:00 PM

'DVD sales exceeded VHS videotape sales for the first ever time' ooh this is interesting

I can remember my first ever DVD being Bratz Rock Angelz that would've been around 2005, so I was clearly late to that switch!

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 10th April 2020, 12:01 PM

Shrek and Tomb Raider were my big Summer hits! Cats & Dogs too. I got the former two for Christmas 2001 on VHS! Soon replaced with DVDs

There was no escaping Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings, I loved both and went to see both twice in the cinema at the time (my mum is a LOTR nut as well)

Monsters Inc is iconic but my memory is from early 2002 when it came out in the UK. Me and my siblings were obsessed with it when we got the DVD. The Birds short is hilarious as well!

Posted by: Sandra ❤️ 10th April 2020, 01:26 PM

Mulholland Drive and Moulin Rouge <3 (I'm aware how that's totally two different ends on the film genre spectrum but I said what I said)

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 10th April 2020, 03:54 PM

QUOTE(Jade 🐠 @ Apr 10 2020, 01:00 PM)

'DVD sales exceeded VHS videotape sales for the first ever time' ooh this is interesting

I can remember my first ever DVD being Bratz Rock Angelz that would've been around 2005, so I was clearly late to that switch!

QUOTE(Leanne 🧘🏻‍ @ Apr 10 2020, 01:01 PM)

Shrek and Tomb Raider were my big Summer hits! Cats & Dogs too. I got the former two for Christmas 2001 on VHS! Soon replaced with DVDs

There was no escaping Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings, I loved both and went to see both twice in the cinema at the time (my mum is a LOTR nut as well)

Monsters Inc is iconic but my memory is from early 2002 when it came out in the UK. Me and my siblings were obsessed with it when we got the DVD. The Birds short is hilarious as well!

QUOTE(Sandra ❤️ @ Apr 10 2020, 02:26 PM)

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 10th April 2020, 04:47 PM

2002


Box Office Hits
8 Mile - Eminem's rap film was a big hit at the box office and ofc spawned his most iconic single Lose Yourself, which won the Oscar!
About a Boy - featuring Hugh Grant and a v. young Nicholas Hoult, the Nick Hornby adaptation. this did well in America but ofc its main market was the UK, where it was the 13th biggest film of the year
Austin Powers in Goldmember - this isn't the first Austin Powers right? anyway this saw the franchise explode at the box office and featured the first solo single by Beyonce!
Bend it like Beckham - a big box office hit in the UK, this film featured one of Keira Knightley's first performances and is a football classic
Catch Me If You Can - starring two of the biggest actors in the world; Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, the Steven Spielberg directed film was a big hit at the box office
Die Another Day - the last of Pierce Brosnan's films as James Bond, this received mediocre reviews and underperformed at the American box office. However it was the 3rd biggest film in the UK of the year!
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets - the 2nd Harry Potter feature continued to post massive numbers. The film grossed $88m in the UK to be the 2nd biggest film of the year (marginally behind LotR again) and was the 4th biggest film in America with $241m
Ice Age - the start of the classic animated franchise with icons such as Scrat started strongly out of the date and this film earned rave reviews!
Lilo & Stitch - this gave Disney a much needed hit and earned great reviews, as well as becoming a Disney fave over time for many fans. Stitch is an icon of life
Men In Black II - another underwhelming sequel here, MIBII still did well but underwhelmed at the box office and reviews
Minority Report - Tom Cruise sci-fi, we'll be seeing a lot of these over the course of this decade
My Big Fat Greek Wedding - one of the biggest sleeper hits of all time. This comedy only opened with $597k in America before going on to gross a gigantic $241m, meaning its opening weekend only made up 0.2% of its total gross! through word of mouth and rave reviews, this rom-com classic really exploded <3 this had one of the longest cinema runs of the decade!
Scooby Doo - another iconic franchise started and posted big numbers out the gate, starring a who's who of early 2000 icons
Signs - one of M Night Shylaman's last massive hits before his films started to get torn apart by critics, this was one of the biggest hits of the year.
Spider-Man - Another gigantic success and kickstarting one of the most iconic superhero franchises of all time, as well as the first of many Spider-Man films to show Uncle Ben's death. Spider-Man was by far the biggest film at the US box office, grossing over $400m!! (it was 5th in the UK with $45m)
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - another sequel that received underwhelming reviews and box office despite still posted massive numbers (with $302m in US and the 4th biggest film of the UK!). this was the middle of the prequel trilogy and the one that kinda feels the most forgotten
The Bourne Identity - the first of Matt Damon's spy-franchise, this received great reviews and did solid business at the box office
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - the middle of one of the biggest trilogies of all time, this earned more Oscars, was the highest grossing film in the UK with $92m and 2nd in America with $339m. a smash.
The Ring - one of the first massive horror smashes of this decade. Bucking the trend of front loaded horrors, this made $15m on opening weekend in America but grossed $130m in total, holding on fantastically for a horror film! this came out in 2003 in the UK and smashed there too

This year saw further explosions at the box office. The Two Towers was the highest grossing film of the year with $926m, and Harry Potter ($879m) and Spider-Man ($821m) weren't too far behind. This broke last years record with this year seeing three films to pass the $800m mark worldwide in the same year, as well as breaking the record for most ticket sales in a single year. Disney's only film in the top 10 was Signs at 7 and IFC films made a shock appearance with My Big Fat Greek Wedding at 9! the rest o the top 10 sees more sequels, Ice Age and Minority Report. Spider Man was the first film to make $100m+ during its opening weekend in the US. Attack of the Clones was the first Star Wars to not be the highest-grossing film of the year

Iconic Classics
28 Days Later - a horror-apocalypse film by Danny Boyle that presents London as it looks in current times x this is always on TV, received rave reviews and was a big box office hit in the UK
A Walk to Remember - This classic Mandy Moore film based on the Nicholas Sparks novel kick-started the noughties trend of his books becoming hit films! Only Hope is still a classic and Mandy is an icon <3
Ali G Indahouse - I lowkey didn't even realise this was a film (I thought it was just TV haha) but it was a big hit in the UK
Blade II - another sequel that did quite well
Crossroads - Britney Spears' iconic film. this is diabolical but iconic at the same time. we love to see it.
Insomnia - Nolan's follow-up to Memento continued to make waves
Jackass: The Movie - another movie franchise kicked off with help from the funny and obscene stunts from the Jackass team
Maid in Manhattan - we love another J-Lo rom-com, gimme back the early 2000's
Monsoon Wedding - this did rly well in the UK and earned rave reviews
Panic Room - Jodie Foster thriller with a v. young Kristen Stewart, directed by David Fincher. this film is SO good and was a big box office hit.
Punch-Drunk Love - Paul Thomas Anderson drama with Adam Sandler, earning the only great reviews of his career until Uncut Gems
Resident Evil - and onto Paul W.S. Anderson as his iconic video-game based franchise with Milla Jovovich kicked off in 2002.
Secretary - raved Maggie Gyllenhaal drama that was 50 shades before 50 shades existed
Snow Dogs - a family classic
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron - this was a big underperformance for DreamWorks at the time.
Spirited Away - Studio Ghibli's most iconic film, Spirited Away is regarded as one of the best animations of all time and made waves worldwide.
Spy Kids 2/Stuart Little 2- more family friendly sequels that didn't live up to their predecessors
Sweet Home Alabama - Reese Witherspoon comedy that was a big box office hit and continued to establish her as one of Hollywood's biggest stars
Swept Away - a Madonna film that bombed absolutely horrendously
The Adventures of Pluto Nash - one of the biggest movie bombs of all time starring Eddie Murphy, this lost so much money!
The Santa Clause 2 - an xmas classic was the middle of the trilogy
The Sweetest Thing - the Cameron Diaz led comedy is ALWAYS ON TV and tbh it is a great film, fab cast and some good funny moments <3 this did ok at the box office but seemed to pick up a following after
The Transporter/xXx - another couple action franchises that kicked off this year
Treasure Planet - this was a major bomb for Disney Animation at this time as they hit a further low
Two Weeks Notice - this rom-com with Hugh Grant & Sandra Bullock earned great reviews and did well at the box office, being another early 2000's rom-com hit!


The Oscars & Awards Season
Well 2002 was the year of Chicago. Though this year had categories all over the place so we're gonna look at each category individually. Chicago took the Globe for Musical or Comedy and SAG ensemble and was a MASSIVE box office success so its box office win wasn't too much of a surprise. However it faced much tough competition. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was surprisingly probably the weakest link amongst the BP line-up as people waited until ROTK to award the franchise, so TTT won zero-above the line precursors. However The Hours and The Pianist were big threats, with The Hours winning the Drama Globe and The Pianist winning the BAFTA. On the directors front, Martin Scorsese won director for Gangs of New York (which was the final BP nominee of 2002) at the Globes but the film famously went-home empty handed at the Oscars after the Weinstein campaign pissed off too many people in the industry (you should read into this if ur into movies!). however it was the pedophile who won the BAFTA and Oscar for best director. Go Hollywood.

Looking at the categories this year we had many two horse races. Catherine Zeta-Jones won supporting actress for Chicago at the Oscars, as well as the BAFTA's and SAG. However she faced some competition from golden globe winner Meryl Streep in Adaptation who was picking up steam as people were starting to accept/want to give her a 3rd Oscar when they could. However Meryl only won at Globes as Catherine went lead against Zellweger. However her co-star, Chris Cooper had better luck in winning Supporting Actor at the Oscars and Globes. This was a close two race between him and Christopher Walken for Catch Me If You Can, who won the BAFTA and SAG. A very close race. An even more insane race took off in Best Actress between Nicole Kidman in The Hours & Renee Zellweger in Chicago. Renee was the star and Nicole was seen as becoming incredibly overdue. Also Weinstein and Oscar politics saw Weinstein already prepping for Zellweger's performance in Cold Mountain the next day so Kidman was prioritised this year. Both actresses won the Globe (nobody else rly won this season, Julianne Moore earned career best reviews for Far From Heaven though and Diane Lane got an Oscar nom for fab thriller Unfaithful). Renee won at SAG but Nicole took home BAFTA and then the Oscar, giving her her first Oscar win!

And onto Best Actor, which along with best supporting actress in 2000 is one of the craziest Oscar races of all time. This was seen as a race of the legends between Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt, a film with great reviews that faltered towards the finish line, and Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York. This would've made both of them multiple Oscar winners, with DDL winning 1 at this point and Nicholson already having 3 Oscar wins (a win here would've meant he tied the record for most wins ever for acting with Katharine Hepburn). They tied at the Critics Choice, Jack took the Globe and Day-Lewis won BAFTA and SAG. Richard Gere won the Comedy/Musical Globe but didn't score an Oscar nom. However it turns out Nicholson/DDL split and lost enough steam for Adrien Brody to swoop in at the 11th hour and win for The Pianist. He became the youngest Best Actor winner of all time (and still is to date) and was a major shock win!

other key award winners were The Pianist and Talk To Her picking up script awards at the Oscars (original screenplay was competitive with Adaptation and The Hours winning precursors and About Schmidt winning the Golden Globe, whilst adapted was an unusual and surprising year with Pedro Almodovar becoming one of the first foreign language screenplays to win), and Lose Yourself from 8 Mile took home best song, making this the first Oscar winning rap/hip-hop song. Nowhere in Africa was the winner of best foreign language film, beating out bigger contenders such as Talk To Her & Y Tu Mama Tambien. And Spirited Away was the 2nd Oscar winner for animated feature, becoming the first anime film to win an Oscar.

also fun fact: John C. Reilly appeared in three of the five best picture nominations, appearing in Chicago, Gangs of New York and The Hours! and Chicago was the first musical to win best picture since Oliver in 1968.

Notable Events
- Treasure Planet was the first film to debut in both cinemas and IMAX on the same day!
- many films were postponed or changed in the wake of 9/11; Collateral Damage was delayed til February 2002 and Spider-Man removed the Twin Towers from the film
- The Ring kickstarted the trend of remaking Japanese horror films; these remakes usually earned meh reviews but were low cost to produce and attracted big name stars
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding was one of the most profitable films of all time, it only cost $5m to make and it was the highest grossing film in America to never reach #1
- The American Film Institute (AFI) released the fourth list in its continuing series, 100 Years...100 Passions, to recognize the top 100 American films that were the greatest love stories in cinematic history. Casablanca (1942) was named the top movie love story of all time.
- Meryl Streep became the most-nominated performer in Oscar history with her 13th Oscar nomination, whilst Jack Nicholson tied Katharine Hepburn's 12 nominees
- This year marked the last year of Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein's 11-year run of consecutive Best Picture nominees (from 1992-2002) - the longest streak for any studio since the Academy limited the number of Best Picture nominees to five in 1944. [The streak ended with no Best Picture nomination for Miramax's Cold Mountain (2003).
- Die Another Day opened almost exactly after Dr No. This was the first Bond film with an African-American as the lead Bond girl. Halle Berry got equal billing with Pierce Brosnan, a first for a Bond film
- Star Wars was the first big-budget Hollywood film shot entirely with digital video cameras
- In May 2002, director/writer/producer/star Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine (2002) was the first documentary to compete in the Cannes Film Festival's main competition in 46 years, and was the unanimous winner of the festival's 55th Anniversary Prize. It was also the first documentary film to be nominated and then win in 2003 the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for Best Original Screenplay. and was also the highest grossing documentary of all time at time of release
- Russian Ark, a 96 minute film, was shot in one single-shot with no edits & cuts. the longest single-shot feature-length narrative film in history
- Motion capture & CGI-imagery was used to create Gollum in The Two Towers
- this was the year of young singers going to films; Britney Spears was panned, Mandy Moore won the acting awards at the Teen Choice Awards & MTV for AWTR and more started to make debuts.
- The much anticipated online movies-on-demand venture formed by five major Hollywood studios (Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros.) was launched in 2002 with the establishment of MovieLink. This marked the first time a large supply of recent, popular films were available legally on the Internet via a broadband connection.
- The Rock received a record salary his performance in The Scorpion King

and a new mini section:
FILM DEBUTS: -> these actors made their debuts in film in 2002
Abigail Breslin in Signs
Anthony Mackie and Eminem - in 8 Mile
Ellen Page in Marion Bridge
Henry Cavill in The Count of Monte Cristo
Kevin Hart in Paper Soldiers
Jesse Eisenberg in Roger Dodger
Rachel McAdams in My Name is Tanino
Rosmaund Pike in Die Another Day
Sally Hawkins in All or Nothing
Tina Fey in Martin & Orloff


Samantha Recommends:



I prefer my 2000/2001 picks but for 2002 we have, one of my favourite horror films ever and an all-time classic comedy. The Ring was one of the first horror movies I ever loved. Effortlessly chilling, Samara is an icon of life and the film is beyond freaky and entertaining. Naomi Watts is fab in the lead role and this is a horror movie I can watch all over again. we love a well and videotape *.* shame the 2nd one was dreadful.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is SO perfectly laugh out loud. I'm always in the best mood when I watch this film and its so relatable. The massive ensemble are all fabulous and this always puts me in the good mood. My fave scene is in the telephone call-centre thing. SO good. Comedy gold <3

Ice Age, Two Weeks Notice and Panic Room are my honourable mentions.

afaik neither are on streaming but both could be hahaha?

What are your favourites? what are your movie memories of this year? what iconic movie song did you prefer, lose yourself or die another day or I'm not a girl, not yet a woman?

Posted by: Karen 🥂 10th April 2020, 04:52 PM

yassss the start of the Harry Potter franchise The first one establishes the whole world incredible well! Of course looking back the acting is a bit dodge and the tone is completely different from the others 3 onwards but I don't think I would change anything!

Monsters Inc, one of my absolute favourites <3 another fantastic world build!

I've been planning to rewatch the Ocean's films as I don't think I really understood them watching them at a younger age

omg Shrek was such a clever film to just subvert everything on its head! this really does seem the year that kick-started the world of franchises though!

Momento is one I need to watch and omg yesss Emperor's New Groove I enjoyed The Others, probably another I want to rewatch. I didn't realise Zoolander underperformed, I know it more from its cult following - feels bizarre it got a sequel though! As I said in my other post, it kinda feels the decade is summarised more by Will Ferrell & Seth Rogan comedies but actually the start was dominated by Ben Stiller ones!

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 10th April 2020, 04:59 PM

Obviously Star Wars was the big one for me in 2002. I was obsessed with it all Summer but also enjoyed Spider-Man. More Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings was also very welcome!

Posted by: Nancy 🍾 10th April 2020, 07:51 PM

reading this all this is like attending an academy school Sam I am learning so much about facts so well done <3

2002 beginning of many franchises Ice Age :wub, Bourne movies and of course Spider Man!!!

and I remember watching Oscars just like today when Adrien Brody took home golden statue for best actor!!

Catch Me If You Can is also another movie that belongs in my top 20 movies of the decade

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 10th April 2020, 09:16 PM

QUOTE(Karen 🥂 @ Apr 10 2020, 05:52 PM)

I've been planning to rewatch the Ocean's films as I don't think I really understood them watching them at a younger age

Momento is one I need to watch and omg yesss Emperor's New Groove I enjoyed The Others, probably another I want to rewatch. I didn't realise Zoolander underperformed, I know it more from its cult following - feels bizarre it got a sequel though! As I said in my other post, it kinda feels the decade is summarised more by Will Ferrell & Seth Rogan comedies but actually the start was dominated by Ben Stiller ones!

QUOTE(Leanne 🧘🏻‍ @ Apr 10 2020, 05:59 PM)

QUOTE(Nancy 🍾 @ Apr 10 2020, 08:51 PM)

reading this all this is like attending an academy school Sam I am learning so much about facts so well done <3

and I remember watching Oscars just like today when Adrien Brody took home golden statue for best actor!!

Catch Me If You Can is also another movie that belongs in my top 20 movies of the decade

Posted by: Chez Wallago 🐠 10th April 2020, 09:40 PM

Wow, these are extremely well written and informative, Sam, well done!

I was younger than 10 around this time so my main experience was kids films, but Chicken Run and Monsters Inc made a big impact on me and I still really love them now.

Harry Potter was ofc. very big though the earlier films haven't aged that well at all for me, it got better when it got less family-friendly. I didn't see The Lord of the Rings franchise until I was much older, but they were all worth it, stunning films, I don't think any fantasy film since has ever compared to the scale and story behind it.

Memento is excellent and I really need to see Requiem for a Dream, I adore the soundtrack to it, just picking the right moment as it seems a bit of a downer to say the least

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 10th April 2020, 10:37 PM

2003


Box Office Hits
2 Fast 2 Furious - the 2nd in the franchise did good numbers in US and quite good in the UK, still not close to hitting the franchises heights tho (and we won't be in this decade)
Anger Management - a comedy with Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson that was a big hit in Spring in America (12th for the year), whilst did solid in the UK (38th)
Bad Boys II - another big hit in America and recently I've seen more discussion of this film after the surprise success of the new one this year, which is the highest grossing film of 2020!
Bruce Almighty - the Jim Carrey comedy was a major success in 2003, finishing 5th in US and 6th in the UK for the year. I feel this actually feels quite forgotten nowadays lol, esp considering how big it was
Calendar Girls - a massive success in the UK, a $35m total and 7th for the year!! this features a killer cast of British Dames and legends and is regularly shown on TV and discussed when looking at the filmographies of the dames
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle - this did solid but underwhelmed compared to the first one. surprisingly this did better at the UK box office than the US! and no iconic anthem spawned this time
Cheaper By The Dozen - I knew this was big but didn't realise it reached the top 10 EOY in America! a big xmas success for Steve Martin
Elf - y'all know this one. An Xmas classic which was the kick off of Will Ferrell's future massive success this decade. The film finished 7th at the US box office with a gigantic $173m and is one of the biggest xmas films. This is a festive classic for anyone every single year and is always one of the most sought out movies of the festive season.
Finding Nemo - Pixar's 5th film became one of their biggest, best reviewed and most iconic films ever. A major win for the studio! FN grossed $340m (US) and $67m (UK), finishing 2nd for the year in both countries!
Freaky Friday - the Lindsay Lohan/Jamie Lee Curtis body-swap comedy remake was a major success and heralded a year of Lindsay domination. a comedy classic when I grew up *.*
Hulk - directed by Ang Lee, Hulk's first outing on-screen this decade was a bit of a disaster with dreadful reviews. The film only grossed $132m in America, despite opening to a big $62m which shows you what audiences thought about it, whilst failing to make the top 20 for the year in the UK despite being such a big project.
Johnny English - a UK based hit here and the start of Rowan Atkinson's franchise! The film was the 9th biggest of the year with $32m and was a nice surprise British hit, whilst gaining more popularity overtime through its sequels.
Kill Bill: Vol 1 - Tarantino's epic was a big hit in the UK ($20m, 16 for the year), whilst was 40 for the year in America! Kill Bill was famously split into two parts and features Uma Thurman in one of the best performances ever in a Tarantino flick.
Love Actually - and released just a week after Elf is another Xmas classic that y'all know and is on TV all the time during the Christmas season. Love Actually features an all-star British ensemble of recognisable massive stars and was the 49th biggest hit of the year in America, only the 3rd highest Xmas film of the year. However the British cast and feel meant that the Richard Curtis film did gangbusters for an original film in the UK, grossing a gigantic $62m to be the 3rd highest grossing film of the year!
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - most people actually expected this to bomb as we got closer to release However Disney scored an unexpected smash based on their ride and kickstarted one of the biggest franchises of the decade. The film was the 3rd biggest of the year in America ($305m) and 5th in UK ($47m). The film received rave reviews, depicted through it's legs, it's opening weekend in America only made up 15.3% of its final gross and 12.6% in the UK, a rarity for a movie positioned as a blockbuster.
Seabiscuit - The horse crowdpleaser with Tobey Maguire did okay in the UK (59th) but was a big summer hit in America (17th)
Something's Gotta Give - The Jack Nicholson-Diane Keaton comedy was also a massive US hit over the Xmas season
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - Another sequel doing meh business & reviews and then put on hiation for a few years. However this was the 8th highest grossing film in America and 10th in the UK, I always thought this bombed at the box office!
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - and ofc the closure of this franchise was by far the biggest film of the year. #1 for the year in both UK ($106m) and US ($377m) for the first time, this trilogy closer wrapped off incredibly successfully.
The Matrix Reloaded - in a rare move, the two Matrix sequels were filmed back to back and released within six months of each other! The hype was absolutely gigantic & Reloaded opened to $91m in America, the highest opening of the year! However lacklustre reviews for both saw a Dif outlook for the Matrix films by the end of 2003, with Revolutions only grossing half of Reloaded.
The Matrix Revolutions - see Matrix Reloaded
X2: X-Men United - Massive box office numbers (6th +200m in US and 8th in the UK) saw this franchise explode and become one to watch amongst the looming superhero takeover.

This year saw Return of the King gross $1.120b worldwide. This made it the 2nd highest-grossing film of all time at this point (just behind Titanic) and was only the 2nd film ever to pass this mark, a massive success and absolutely insane numbers for this part in time. Finding Nemo was the highest grossing animated film of all-time at this point with $871m in 2nd place. The Matrix Reloaded takes 3rd whilst its sequel is at 8 with $300m less. The Last Samurai must've been a big hit internationally cos I completely missed that, it finished 6th! Also in the top 10 is Pirates, Bruce Almighty, Terminator 3, X2 & Bad Boys II. Th sequels were taking over

Iconic Classics
A Guy Thing - a fave comedy of mine with legend Julia Stiles, this did lacklustre box office business but has a lil cult-following around ppl ik haha
Agent Cody Banks - The start of the kids franchise was a big hit
Bad Santa - Another Xmas classic released in 2003, the foul-mouthed Bad Santa became a classic for comedy lovers everywhere. This was released at Xmas 2004 in the UK!
Brother Bear - Another average hit for Disney, we're seeing a trend here.
Daddy Day Care - This family comedy was all over TV when I was younger
Daredevil - The Ben Affleck take on the superhero did solid numbers but wasted its high potential and was critically attacked
Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd - Talking of critically attacked, the dumb and dumberer sequel was a disaster and didn't do well at the box office
Final Destination 2 - Another set of solid returns saw this franchise start to grow in popularity and become noticed!
Freddy vs Jason - A horror team-up between two of the most iconic horror movie villains saw a big opening!
From Justin to Kelly - Kelly Clarkson's film debut which was... yeah a disaster.
Gigli - Continuing the theme of disasters, the Ben Affleck/J-Lo film was panned and attacked on release and swept the razzies. it has a lil cult following now tho
Good Boy - This film was everywhere when I was younger and I loved it, a childhood classic.
Holes - Another childhood classic with a cast of rising actors and did well at the box office
Honey - Jessica Alba dance movie with an iconic soundtrack *.*
How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days - The Kate Hudson/Matthew McCougnahey comedy did big numbers and became a Valentine Day's classic
Identity - This thriller was again on TV so much when I was younger
Kangaroo Jack - Another one on TV all the time when I was younger
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life - The sequel did pretty meh box office numbers and reviews were bad, killing the franchise until the reboot in 2018
Legally Blonde 2 - Another meh sequel, despite opening better than the first one it actually grossed less than the first one. This, Lara Croft & Terminator all opening the same weekend in America was a triple threat of franchise killers.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action - wow this bombed, only making $20m at the box office. I'm a sucker for Looney Tunes film
Mona Lisa Smile - another underperformer despite an all star cast and major Oscar buzz before it premiered
Old School - another comedy showing a look at some of the biggest comedy stars of the decade!
Piglet's Big Movie - We stan a Winnie the Pooh movie, this was a cute hit in the UK.
Scary Movie 3 - Doing v. similar business to the 2nd film, another hit for the franchise!
School of Rock - Jack Black's musical-comedy has held up really well over the years and is now known for the successful stage musical adaptation
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas - a Dreamworks BOMB. woo the early 2000's gave us some animations disaster
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over - This did better than the second one and was quietly a powerful trilogy in the early 2000's!
S.W.A.T. - this did big numbers and I remember seeing this around all the time when I was younger
The Cat in the Hat - Wow 2003 really had some disasters. This being up there with the biggest and being the first hit to Mike Myers career and was a disastrous Dr Seuss adaptation
The Haunted Mansion - Eddie Murphy's halloween flick has become a Halloween watch for quite a lot of Disney fans!
The Italian Job - the remake did successful business at the box office with an in-demand cast!
The Little Polar Bear - an animated classic that I forgot existed
The Lizzie McGuire Movie - Hilary Duff's icon got her movie outing in 2003, a classic that's still massive with the nostalgic Disney fans *.*
The Room - and a film most people in 2003 hadn't heard of is now arguably in the top 5 films released that year. We stan an absolute disaster, messT of a film that is the tagline for the worst movies ever and has earned a cult following for its complete ridiculousness.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - a major horror hit that started the success of the Platinum Dunes in the 2000's and kickstarted the trend of every single old horror getting remade. Unlike most of those ones to come though, this got a good reception.
Thirteen - Classic gritty teen drama that still holds up well today.
What a Girl Wants - Amanda Bynes comedy classic.


The Oscars & Awards Season
Well 2003 was obvious the year of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as the film took home the joint most wins of all time with 11 wins! These included Picture and Director. Picture was a full sweep, with fellow Oscar best pic nominee Lost in Translation winning the Globe for Musical/Comedy. Jackson also basically swept Director, the only place he didn't win was BAFTA, where Peter Weir won for Oscar pic nominee Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World. Also nominated at the Oscars for Best Picture were Mystic River and Seabiscuit, the latter which won't be covered again in this commentary but always felt like a random best pic nominee. LOTR swept this year everywhere apart from acting.

Exploring the acting categories this year, we had some v. random winners at the precursors that were inspired af. Starting with Best Supporting Actress, after a v. near win the previous year, Renee Zellweger swept EVERYTHING for Cold Mountain as despite the film underperforming in the end, her overdue narrative was too prevalent for her not to win. Best Actress also saw a near sweep for Charlize Theron in her mesmerising performance in Monster, where she won the Globe, SAG & Oscar. The other winners in Actress that year were Diane Keaton winning the Comedy/Musical Globe for Something's Gotta Give and a double nominated Scarlett Johansson won the BAFTA for Lost in Translation. Johansson was a surprise snub for LiT on the night (there was confusion whether she was lead or supporting, and she also had Girl With a Pearl Earring that year and she was never nominated for an Oscar until this year!!). Charlize competed for BAFTA the following year as Monster came out in 2004 in the UK.

The actor categories were slightly more competitive, best actor was a race but best supporting actor was pretty sealed. However Mystic River scored a pair of wins in this category with Sean Penn winning lead and Tim Robbins taking supporting. Tim Robbins won Supporting Actor at the Globes and SAG and was the overwhelming frontrunner. However he lost at BAFTA to Bill Nighy for Love Actually, such an inspired and deserving win and was great to see BAFTA recognise this performance! And Best Actor was a two horse race between Penn and Bill Murray for Lost in Translation. However Penn took home his first Oscar and the Globe, whilst Murray won the Globe for Musical/Comedy and the BAFTA (Penn was nominated for both 21 Grams and Mystic River in lead actor at BAFTA which probs caused vote splitting, but then again that didn't stop Scarlett winning) but remains Oscarless. However there was a wonder whether the situation last year in this category could repeat, as Johnny Depp picked up steam for summer blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, scoring an Oscar nomination and an SAG WIN in lead actor! I love some of these 2003 wins, they are acc so cool and random.

2003 was also a fabulously iconic year with the Oscars being pushed forward a month to the end of February. This led to SO MANY random acting nominations surprises and I really wish we have something like this again. At the Oscars we had; Keisha Castle-Hughes campaign for supporting being rejected and then getting nominated in lead for Whale Rider, one of the youngest winners ever. Naomi Watts for 21 Grams was expected I think but people were def predicting Scarlett and others in front of her and Samantha Morton & Djimon Hounsou for In America happened out of nowhere, same for Marcia Gay Harden (again) for Mystic River and Shohreh Aghdashloo for House of Sand & Fog and Holly Hunter for Thirteen was another fab nom. The precursors also threw up so many random nominations everywhere, with other Love Actually and Mystic River performances nominated, Big Fish fading as the season went on and so many random performances as solo noms. a v fun year.

other key award winners were Lost in Translation and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King picking up script awards at the Oscars (with LiT winning the Globe and LoTR winning at BAFTA, alongside The Station Agent), and Into The West from LoTR took home best song. The Barbarian Invasions was the winner of best foreign language film and Finding Nemo took home the animated film Oscar.

also fun fact: Sofia Coppola was the third women ever to best nominated for Best Director and the first American woman ever.

Notable Events
- Arnold Schwarzeneger became the governor of California
- By 2003, film studio revenues from home entertainment (i.e., the video market) were much more lucrative than from theatrical, box-office returns.
- By mid-March of 2003, DVD rentals and sales first topped those of VHS videotape rental revenues. Fox, Disney & Warner Bros had stopped or phased out VHS releases and major retail stores stopped selling VHS.
- Finding Nemo was the best selling DVD of all time up until January 2005, with 22 million copies sold worldwide!
- Disney announced that it would no longer be producing traditionally-hand-drawn animated feature films, but switching to the 3-D, full-CGI style originally popularized by Pixar. It announced that its feature-length theatrical film animation Brother Bear (2003) was to be the studio's last 2-D animated film. However, Disney's last release in the traditional 2-D animation style was Home on the Range (2004).
- The Matrix Reloaded debuted the VFX technique 'Universal Capture'
- Ghosts of the Abyss, a James Cameron documentary was Disney's first 3D picture and first full-length 3-D IMAX featured
- Katharine Hepburn and Gregory Peck passed away in June 2003
- this year highlighted many trends of the new millennium; including the traditional horror remakes fo '70s and '80s classics which were refashioned with an edge
- the Pentagon held an informational screening of The Battle of Algiers, 5 months after the Iraw War started
- The 'Slacker Pack' (Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Ben Still, Vince Vaughn and Owen & Luke Wilson) emerged
- Gigli did a grand slam sweep at the Razzies
- The American Film Institute (AFI) released the sixth list in its continuing series, 100 Heroes and Villains, to recognize the top 100 movie characters that were heroes or villains (with 50 for each category). The top hero chosen was Atticus Finch (portrayed by Gregory Peck) in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), and the top villain was Hannibal Lecter (portrayed by Anthony Hopkins) in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
- By the year 2003, Stallone had compiled a record number of nominations (30) and wins (10) - the actor with the largest number of Razzie nominations and wins.
- Director Bernardo Bertolucci's explicitly-rated NC-17 film of sexual discovery and intimacy The Dreamers (2003) was the first NC-17 rated film in 6 years
- LOTR had the highest body-count in a film to date at the time of release with 836 dead! the large battle sequences involved over 200k characters!

and a new mini section:
FILM DEBUTS: -> these actors made their debuts in film in 2003
Anna Kendrick in Camp
Benedict Cumberbatch in To Kill a King
Eva Green in The Dreamers
Josh Hutcherson in American Splendor
Kristen Wiig in Melvin Goes to Dinner
Mahershala Ali in Making Revolution
Selena Gomez in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Zac Efron in Melinda's World


Samantha Recommends:



This was actually tough to choose, the two Xmas films were JUST behind because I do really adore them. Piglet's Big Movie is probs not my favourite of the year but its always held such a special place in my heart and one that I have to highlight as it kickstarted my love for cinema, it was the first film in cinemas I ever fully sat through and it started my love for cinema I saw this film so many times growing up and it is adorable and cute, Piglet is the best and yeah its so special for me <3

On the complete other end of the spectrum, we have the bloody (quite literally) fantastic Kill Bill: Vol 1. Whew an utter masterpiece. Suspensful and chilling with Uma Thurman giving one of my favourite performances ever as the Bride and a killer supporting cast and fantastic Tarantino direction, what more could you want?! Thrilling and unexpected, I absolutely adored this when I saw it and I really need to see it again!

Lots of honourable mentions this time; Elf, Love Actually, (two of the best xmas films ever that I watch all the time) Finding Nemo, A Guy Thing, Good Boy, The Little Polar Bear & Holes (childhood classics), Brother Bear (the other film I remember distinctly seeing in cinemas), The Room (idec).

afaik neither are on streaming but both could be hahaha?

What are your favourites? what are your movie memories of this year? what iconic movie song did you prefer... um there weren't many iconic ones haha

Posted by: Jonjo 10th April 2020, 10:45 PM

2001:

Wow. A huge year for franchises! The killer franchises of LOTR & Harry Potter both starting out. It's amazing just seeing where everything is at now in terms of franchises. Especially as everything seems to have moved on to being a movie "universe" of some sort now.

What an amazing film 'Memento' is! I didn't realise that was Nolan's first. One of my favourite directors. I think the first film I saw of his was 'The Dark Knight' (yes I saw that before 'Batman Begins' ) I was very late to the Nolan game!

'American Pie 2'! I love all 4 of the main AP movies tbh. I need to rewatch them all as it's been a while, but they're so good! I saw 'Moulin Rouge' recently. Didn't like it much at all. Baz's Romeo + Juliet >>> The Great Gatsby >>>>>>>>>...>> This.

'Hannibal' was good I thought. Was it needed? Probably not, but it had some great moments! As a horror fan I am ashamed to say though, I have never seen 'The Others'. </3 I will change that v soon though. Is 'Along Came A Spider' the one that stars a very young Anton Yelchin? I enjoyed it!

Aww 'Atlantis'! It's cute and a bit underrated. 'Monster's Inc' though... WHAT A MOVIE. Never gets old, unlike... 'Shrek'. Believe it or not, I actually LOVED it at one point. Then my brother would watch it on repeat for months on end, so it drove me crazy. I recently tried to watch it again (well about 2 or 3 years ago) and I couldn't do it. The animation had aged really badly imo. Now it has a following... ugh. No thanks. (The Karaoke medley though *.*)

I need to see 'Pearl Harbor'! 'There You'll Be' is one of the greatest movie songs of all time.

'Donnie Darko' has gone on to be a huge cult hit! A GREAT film. 'Jurassic Park III' is awful, but I have such a soft spot for it *eyes* and then we have the classic 'Jeepers Creepers'! What a riot that is.

A couple of films I want to see but haven't gotten around to doing yet, from this year. 'Spirited Away' & 'The Devil's Backbone' being the main 2.

---

2002:

'Spider-Man' The movie that set the bar so high that Superhero movies struggled to keep up until 2008 when both 'Iron Man' and 'The Dark Knight' were released. 'Batman Begins' was the closest prior to those though.

I still need to see 'Catch Me If You Can'! I tried once, but it's one that needs my undivided attention, it seems! 'Austin Powers: Goldmember' was the 3rd (and last) in the franchise. It was funny when I was 12/13. But I imagine the "jokes" have aged horrendously.

'Lilo & Stitch' is so good! It was Disney's last "big" hit until 'Tangled' in 2010, right? A classic

'8 Mile' is surprisingly good. I was expecting to hate it, but I actually liked it a fair bit! Brittany Murphy Also, to touch on your J Lo being the first to have a Number 1 album and movie in the same week... this year was the year Eminem did that, but also had the number 1 single, with 'Lose Yourself'. Crazy that it hadn't happened for so long and then in the space of a year or so it happens twice.

'Signs' is shit. SO disappointing. 'The Ring' was good fun. I need to rewatch at some point! 'Scooby Doo' though *.* what a classic!! The screen play was done by James Gunn who ended up to doing bigger and better things with the 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' franchise!

'Harry Potter 2' was alright, but the next film is my favourite of the franchise and the moment it got darker! *.*

'28 Days Later' is so good. It has one of my favourite score pieces... 'In A House In A Heartbeat'... stunning. Not seen 'Insomnia' is it worth it?

'Crossroads' *.* A classic! I love that both Zoe and Taryn have both said they'd be up for doing a sequel! LMAO. Plus the QUEEN OF THE BOX OFFICE Zoe Saldana defends Britney a lot. So we HAVE to stan! <3

David Fincher is my favourite director. I need to see 'Panic Room' again as I can't remember much of it at all!

LMAO at that awards season! I wish I was into film to witness all that way back then lmao. I need to see 'Chicago' still and I have been told by my friend, several times, to watch 'The Pianist'.

'Treasure Planet' bombing despite being given an IMAX release too? </3 It's cute and doesn't deserve to have bombed like it did!

It's crazy seeing The Rock's journey from WWF/E to the movie juggernaut he is today! 'The Scorpion King' really launched him and he's very lucky too.

Amazing write ups again Sam!

Posted by: Jonjo 10th April 2020, 10:47 PM

I shall comment on 2003 when I wake up tomorrow

BUT WHAT A YEAR

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 11th April 2020, 05:22 AM

2004


wow 2004 had a lot of iconic hits!

Box Office Hits
50 First Dates - this was a big hit in America (15th, $120m) and was also a nice hit for Sandler in the UK (31st for the year). This film re-teams Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore together after The Wedding Singer and received good reviews for a Sandler flick and is a Valentine's Day classic.
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - with weak reviews, this underperformed in America with $40m total and 74th for the year. However that wasn't the case back here, where Bridget was the 3rd biggest film of the year with a gigantic $68m total, it's opening weekend in the UK of $19m being half of the US final total! Whilst this doesn't hold a candle to the first one, it makes a nice middle section in a trilogy watch. Also I forgot just how batshit crazy this one gets.
Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban - as many have already mentioned, this is where the series took a turn to get darker and serious, with Alfonso Cuaron's vision leading to greater acclaim. Once again this stumbled at #2 for the year at the UK box office with a massive $84m, whilst only placing 6th in America with $249m. ofc massive but def not the biggest in the franchise.
I, Robot - The Will Smith starrer earned big bucks, showing the power of name power in the mid 2000's. It grossed $144m in America (12th) and $33m in the UK (8th) to become one of the biggest original hits of the year.
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - This mess of a film underwhelmed critically with it jumbling far too many books into one messT despite a killer cast. However name alone allowed this to be massive in the UK with $25m (12th) whilst doing solid business in America $118m (18th). However this still wasn't strong enough for a sequel to be greenlit.
Mean Girls - Y'all know this film, highly regarded as the most iconic and one of the best teen movies of all time, quotable beyond imagination and an absolute killer cast with Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams shining. Whilst this was a nice hit and beat expectations (US - 28th $86m, UK - 45th $9.9m), it wasn't massive and it grew more and more in the upcoming years through VOD sales and word of mouth!
Meet The Fockers - whew I always forget just HOW big this was. This franchise was the bomb and its success is really slept on. It was the 4th biggest film of the year in the US with a gigantic $279m to make it the Xmas smash of the season, whilst in the UK, where it came out in January 2005, it did $54m to place 7th. Gigantic.
National Treasure - The Nicholas Cage flick made good bank for Disney with $173m (9th) in the US, whilst doing solid in the UK (32nd). This was another big Q4 hit in a very busy quarter!
Ocean's Twelve - Whilst not reaching the heights of the first film, this once again did solid numbers and became a successful middle entry.
Scooby-doo 2: Monsters Unleashed - another sequel! whilst underperforming in the US compared to the first ($84m, 31st), for some reason this was gigantic in the UK with $30m and being the 10th biggest film of the year! The UK rly was here for Scooby and Shaggy.
Shark Tale - The DreamWorks animation with a KILLER cast (Will Smith, Angelina Jolie AND Robert De Niro, whew *.*) and a banging soundtrack (Car Wash *.*) was a major success at the box office and was one of the biggest original animations at the start of the decade. ST earned $40m in the UK to place 7th for the year and took $160m in America, marginally missing out on a top 10 place.
Shrek 2 - One of the biggest animations of all time and possibly the biggest of this decade. Shrek 2 blew out all proportions of expectations placed on it, opening to rave reviews that were even better than the first whilst competing in competition in Cannes, to smashing many animated records and holding them for a long time. Shrek 2 was the biggest film of the year in both the UK and the US, earning $88m in the former and $441m in the latter. absolutely gigantic.
Spider-Man 2 - Another massive sequel was the 2nd of the original Spidey trilogy. Once again earning great reviews, this entryy earned $373m in the US (2nd for the year) and improved on the original in the UK with $49m (5th for the year)
The Bourne Supremacy - With goodwill & strong VOD sales from The Bourne Identity, the middle part of the original trilogy allowed the franchise to explode. TBS grossed $176m in the US to be 8th for the year and $21m in the UK whilst receiving great reviews.
The Day After Tomorrow - I always forget Jake Gyllenhaal is the lead in this and I always forget just how big this disaster blockbuster was, earning $186m in the US (7th) and $46m in the UK (6th).
The Grudge - One of the biggest horror hits of the year was another adaptation of a successful Japanese horror. The Sarah Michelle Gellar starrer earned $110m in the US and $14m in the UK, gigantic numbers for a film that's budget was only $10m.
The Incredibles - Another massive Pixar smash with $261m in the US (5th) and $62m in the UK (4th). Animation really had a strong year in 2004.
The Notebook - Another big Nicholas Sparks adaptation with the classic hate-to-real life romance for its leads Ryan Gosling & Rachel McAdams. The film grossed $81m in America, off the back of a $13m which shows its amazing legs at the box office through word of mouth. However this once again really exploded on DVD and became the romantic classic it is known as today. And surprisingly as I just found out, this bombed in the UK as only the 106th biggest film of the year with a meager $2.1m.
The Passion of the Christ - This broke records in the US for becoming the biggest R-rated film of all time, with an insane $370m in America (3rd for the year). This film received major controversy but that just helped drive box office numbers higher, whilst also making big business in the UK with over $20m.
The Polar Express - I knew this was big but always forget just how massive this Xmas flick was. TPE earned $162m in America (10th) after originally looking like a flop after a $23m opening weekend, thank f*** Xmas & good audience reactions allowed this to hold on great. This took nearly $20m in the UK. However despite these numbers, the massive budget of $165m made this look like an underperformer.
Troy - whilst a big hit ($32m, 9th in the UK and $133m, 13th in the US), I think the expectations were for this to do even bigger than expected and alongside lacklustre reviews, this underwhelmed. However it was def the biggest success of the swords-and-sandals genre in 2004 (King Arthur bombed and Alexander did 10x worse than KA).

Unsurprisingly mirroring its success in the UK and US, Shrek 2 won the year with a massive $919m. This was a good year for animations with The Incredibles (4th) and Shark Tale (9th) also placing. Harry Potter pips 2nd place by beating Spider-Man by $8m and originals such as Passion, Day After & Troy join sequels Meet the Fockers and Ocean's Twelve in the top 10! Shrek 2 became the highest grossing animated film of all time at this point, and remained so for the rest of the decade. SM2 reached $200m in the US in a record time of 8 days, and $300m in 19 days. Meet the Fockers became the highest grossing comedy film of all time, beating Bruce Almighty.

Iconic Classics - wow a lot
13 Going On 30 - this did solid business at the box office but the Jennifer Garner flick is now regarded as a Rom-Com fave & classic with it still receiving many references in pop culture history
A Cinderella Story - The Hilary Duff rom-com is a classic with Disney lovers and holds a place in the heart of many 2000's teens.
Alexander - The once surefire Oscar contender completely bombed with diabolical reviews and dreadful box office, shaking up many Oscar protagonists predictions.
Alien vs Predator - The team-up of two iconic characters resulted in box office success and surprisingly not terrible reviews and is regarded as a fun escape nowadays.
Along Came Polly - The Jennifer Aniston/Ben Stiller comedy is always on TV and was another hit for them this decade
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy - this did solid numbers at the box office but really took off on a life of it's own on DVD, with many pop culture references, massive cast & famous canoes and so many quotable lines entering the stratosphere to make this one of the most impactful movies of the decade.
Before Sunset - The middle of Linklater-Delpy-Hawke's trilogy earned more rave reviews and acclaim, seen as a classic franchise nowadays.
Birth - Nicole Kidman earned rave reviews for her role in this weird drama
Blade: Trinity - Plagued by production issues and Wesley Snipes going off the rails, + on set drama with Ryan Reynolds, the franchise closer was a disaster
Bride & Prejudice - The Bollywood film managed to crossover in the UK and become a success at the box office and a well known hit
Catwoman - the Halle Berry film was a disaster, winning razzies everywhere, critically attacked and bombing at the box office
Christmas With The Kranks - a Christmas classic. this unfairly received dreadful reviews but the fab cast made this a box office hit and its still remembered and always on TV each Xmas
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen - another iconic Lindsay Lohan hit
Dawn of the Dead - the zombie film earned good reviews and kickstarted Zack Snydeer's career
Dodgeball - another big comedy hit from Vince Vaughn and co that's still referenced quite a bit in today's culture
Ella Enchanted - a mini hit for Anne Hathaway as this film looked the same as about 5 others that came out that year
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - the Oscar-winning Jim Carrey/Kate Winslet film was a success at the box office in relation to its small budget and has earned a massive cult following and critical acclaim overtime, being regarded as one of the best films of the decade.
Fahrenheit 9/11 - The documentary smashed box office records in America (earning $119m) and won the Palme d'Or. This is one of the most known documentaries of all time
Garden State - the Zach Braff/Natalie Portman comedy-drama was a nice indie hit over the summer, with a killer soundtrack and acclaim at the time as being that 'cool-indie'
Garfield - Bill Murray as Garfield is iconic and remains relevant today. end of.
Hellboy - Del Toro's adaptation with Ron Perlman in the lead received great reactions from critics and audiences and is often regarded as an underrated fab superhero movie.
Hero - this was a major success in the US despite being released two years after its original release in South Korea
Home On The Range - another bomb for Disney, one of their worst yet. I have a soft spot for this though.
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - whilst receiving great reviews, Part 1 was more successful.
Layer Cake - a nice hit in the UK for future James Bond Daniel Craig.
Man On Fire - Another hit for Denzel Washington that is still always on TV
Napoleon Dynamite - another cult classic that really found a life of its own on DVD, the titular character is still in pop-culture & referenced occasionally and this is a film easily associated with the mid 2000's
Open Water - the horror flick made big money on a tiny budget and was seen as a major success story of the year
Saw - Kicking off one of the most successful and probably most iconic horror franchises of the year, the first Saw was a massive success of a tiny budget and ofc everyone knows this franchise, the concept and Jigsaw today.
Shaun of the Dead - I thought this was bigger in the UK at the time than it acc was (40th for the year) so I'm guessing this rly took off on DVD because everybody in the UK knows this zombie flick and it was the first movie teaming of Wright-Pegg-Frost. A classic that every British person knows and is always on TV.
Starsky & Hutch - the film remake of the original TV show was a big box office smash, even if it feels largely forgotten now.
Team America: World Police - Trey Parker & Matt Stone's follow-up to South Park underwhelmed at the box office & with reviews but the animation has developed a mini cult following over-time.
The Forgotten - The Julianne Moore thriller was a nice little hit at the box office
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou - another Wes Anderson film that many people still regard highly
The Phantom of the Opera - Along with Alexander, this shook Oscar protagonists after it significantly underperformed critically. it did well at the UK box office though.
The Prince & Me - a Julia Stiles classic and a staple of the 2000's *.* I thought this was massive at the box office, turns out I was wrong.
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement - I was also wrong in thinking this was bigger than the first 1 as this actually saw a slight decrease! However this film features Breakaway which makes it better than the first one.
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie - SpongeBob's first big screen outing was a big success and is still remembered today through the show and character still being iconic and highly prevalent in today's culture
The Terminal - the Tom Hanks/Catherine Zeta-Jones/Steven Spielberg film is also always on TV and has earned a little following over time.
The Village - M. Night Shylaman's film was a very frontloaded success at the box office but has earned fans overtime despite an original very negative response.
Thunderbirds - iconic *.* this did v. well in the UK unsurprisingly.
Two Brothers - this film was everywhere when I was younger, the tigers were adorable <3
Van Helsing - this had the iconic start of May summer opening weekend slot but mediocre reviews meant whilst still doing very well at the box office, it missed expectations.
White Chicks - this comedy is still incredibly well known and is always brought up all the time, y'all know it.
Wimbledon - the Kirsten Dunst starrer was a nice hit in the UK and is probs the most successful tennis movie.


The Oscars & Awards Season
2004 proved to be the year of the late breakers with early contenders Alexander, Kinsey and The Phantom of the Opera bombing, and Clint Eastwood releasing Million Dollar Baby last minute in December 2004 with no festivals shook up the race. MDB was the Best Picture winner of the year as it gained massive steam after its release and was a box office hit with over $100m at the US box office. unsurprisingly due to being such a late breaker, the Oscar was the only major Picture award Million Dollar Baby won. Sideways won the Globe for Comedy/Musical and SAG Ensemble and The Aviator took home the BAFTA and Globe Drama for Best Picture. Both were Oscar best picture nominees. The other nominees were Finding Neverland (which scored a nom for Johnny Depp but no major wins) and Ray Clint Eastwood also took home the Best Director award at this year's Oscars, a category he also won at the Globes. However despite Martin Scorsese being highly hyped to win as he was still Oscar-less at this point, the only other major director precursor winner was Mike Leigh for Vera Drake as the BAFTA's went wild for that film. However, Million Dollar Baby experienced a total shutout at the BAFTA nominations. idk if it wasn't submitted in time or too late breaking but something went wrong.

The acting categories were either tight races or done deals. Jamie Foxx was undeniable in Ray as he swept the Oscar, BAFTA, SAG & Globe Comedy/Musical for his performance as Ray Charles, as well as earning double Oscar nominations by getting nominated in supporting for Collateral! Leo DiCaprio was the only other actor to score a win this season with him winning the Globe Drama for The Aviator. Best Supporting Actress was also pretty much a done deal as Cate Blanchett took home the Oscar, BAFTA and SAG for her performance as Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator. Natalie Portman however won the Globe for Closer but that was another movie that lost steam as the race went on. The other acting categories were affected by MDB's late breakthrough. Best Supporting Actor was a two horse race between Morgan Freeman for MDB and Clive Owen for Closer; Owen won the Globe and BAFTA but Freeman's SAG win and Best-Pic starrer was enough for him to win another Oscar. And Best Actress saw round 2 of Hilary Swank vs Annette Bening after Swank narrowly beat Bening in 1999. And this year saw the same results as Swank's wins at the Globes Drama and SAG allowed her to take home a 2nd Oscar. Bening won the Globe Comedy for Being Julia whilst Imelda Staunton took a hometown victory at BAFTA for Vera Drake.

This year was good but nothing too unusual happened. The Globes name-checked Streep for another flop again, the BAFTA went crazy with acting nominations for The Motorcycle Diaries (Bernal in lead and Serna in supporting) and Vera Drake scoring 3 acting noms & their Best Actress category was insane; with Swank & Bening both missing at BAFTA, Staunton won against last year's winner Theron, Zhang Ziyi in House of Flying Daggers and a double nominated Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine & Finding Neverland. Mostly the big stars were nominated at the Oscars but I love the Best Actress noms for Winslet in Eternal Sunshine and Catalina Sandino Moreno in Maria Full of Grace. Ofc the shock of this season was Paul Giamatti being snubbed for Sideways after being an early favourite.

other key award winners were Sideways and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind picking up script awards at the Oscars (both swept screenplay awards this season), and Al Otto lady del rio from The Motorcycle Diaries took home best song. The Sea Inside was the winner of best foreign language film and The Incredibles took home the animated film Oscar.

also fun fact: Clint Eastwood became the oldest winner to date at the age of 74 in Best Director for Million Dollar Baby. This was his 2nd win.

less fun fact: Million Dollar Baby's picture win and Hilary Swank's actress win was the last-time to date that the Lead Actress winner was the same as the Best Picture winner. Apart from the one minute that La La Land won best picture.

Notable Events
- this year was known for being 'a banner year for actors'
- Biopics were everywhere this year
- Lindsay Lohan hosted the 2004 MTV Movie Awards *.*
- Marlon Brando passed away in July. Fay Wray and Ronald Reagan also passed away in 2004.
- Disney tried to stop Miramax from releasing Fahrenheit 9/11
- The Polar Express (2004) was the first completed - and entire film to use the 3-D Performance Capture technique, whereby the physical movements of the actors were digitally recorded and then translated into a computer animation. It was the "first all-digital capture" film, uniquely able to use all existing motion capture technology developed up to its time. It was also the first feature-length mainstream film to be released in both 35 mm and IMAX 3D
- More sequels, remakes, recycled TV shows, comic-book and superhero films were starting to be funded more often -> setting a precedent for the Hollywood that we know now as it is
- at the Razzies, Ben Stiller was nominated for Worst Actor for a record 5 films (Along Came Polly, Anchorman, Dodgeball, Envy and Starsky & Hutch) but lost to George W. Bush in Fahrenheit 9/11. Halle Berry turned up to the razzies to accept her award for Worst Actress in an iconic speech
- The innovative documentary film Voices of Iraq (2004) was made by distributing 150 inexpensive, lightweight, digital video-cameras to the people throughout Iraq - the film's subjects and participants. Over 400 hours of film footage was edited down to less than 80 minutes, and although presumably unbiased, it presented a fairly positive view of the US.
- The American Film Institute (AFI) released the seventh list in its continuing series, 100 Years...100 Songs, to recognize the top 100 songs in cinematic history. The top song was Judy Garland's rendition of "Over the Rainbow" in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
- Director Katsuhiro Ôtomo's anime Steamboy (2004, Jp.) (aka Suchîmubôi), set a new record as the most expensive film anime in Japanese history, to date, at $20 million. The retro sci-fi animation, eight years in the making, was set in the 1860s Victorian England and the steam age, was about the release of a powerful new energy source.
- Spider-Man 2 $200m production budgets equaled Titanic's record
- The Incredibles was the first computer-generated animation to successfully show believable human figures or characters, instead of the traditional animal, toy, and creature characters of previous animations. It was also the first Pixar computer-animated feature film to receive a PG-rating in the US.
- In 1994, a Harvard School of Public Health study showed that violence occurred just as frequently in PG, PG-13, and R-rated films. When this study was repeated in 2004, a decade later, it illustrated the existence of "ratings-creep", meaning that more risqué and violent scenes were being allowed in films rated G, PG, PG-13 and R than in the past. It was documented that current films had more sex, violence and profanity than similarly-rated films did a decade ago. Over the 11-year period, sex and violence in PG-rated films increased, as did sex, violence and profanity in PG-13-rated films, and sex and profanity in R-rated films. For example, PG-rated The Santa Clause (1994) had less sex and nudity, violence, gore and profanity than the G-rated The Santa Clause 2 (2002). And R-rated A Time to Kill (1996) had less sex and violence than the PG-13 rated The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). An additional finding was that more violence appeared in animated G-rated movies than in non-animated G-rated movies.
- The Passion of the Christ became; the highest grossing R-rated film of all time, subtitled film in history, record number of pre-ticket sales, highest grossing independent film and religious films roadside.


and a new mini section:
FILM DEBUTS: -> these actors made their debuts in film in 2003
Amanda Seyfried in Mean Girls
Amber Heard in Friday Night Lights
Brie Larson in 13 Going on 30
Chris Pine in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Emily Blunt in My Summer of Love
Jason Momoa in Johnson Family Vacation
Jon Heder in Napoleon Dynamite
Jonah Hill in I Heart Huckabees
Megan Fox in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Nick Frost in Shaun of the Dead

so many stars making debuts in iconic teen flicks!!


Samantha Recommends:



The two acclaimed adult dramas marginally beat out the rom-com and the most iconic teen flick of all time here for me. Garden State is a movie I've always loved with every single watch. I'm just so invested in the characters, Zach Braff does such a good job with the film and Natalie Portman illuminates in this, my fave performance of hers after Black Swan and she's probs my winner of the year here. Such a good cast with so many beautiful and tender moments that I'll always love <3

Eternal Sunshine is another masterpiece with a fantastic script and a career-best Jim Carrey, alongside a perfect Kate Winslet and a fab ensemble cast. A must recommend for anybody, with its intriguing plot, fantastic visuals and excellent execution. I'm glad that unlike Garden State, this is still highly loved by many people because it rly is one of the decade's best <3 the snow angels <3

Lots of honourable mentions this time; 50 First Dates (Drew Barrymore is perfect in this and is Sandler's career best, what a film), Mean Girls (whew this would've been #1 a few years ago but I've seen it just a few too many times now, still utterly amazing tho), Christmas With The Kranks, The Polar Express (two more Xmas faves), The Incredibles, Shark Tale

I don't believe either are currently available on streaming but I could be wrong!

What are your favourites? what are your movie memories of this year? what iconic movie song did you prefer, built this way or holding out for a hero fairy godmother version?

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 11th April 2020, 05:22 AM

woo and we're now half way through!! this means we can take the next couple of days more slowly now that I've just gotta do 5 years over 2 full days *.*

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 11th April 2020, 09:13 AM

2003- faves include Retun of the King, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Tomb Raider 2 and Love Actually.

2004-loads of cinema trips this year! My sister got chicken pox that Summer so we couldn’t do all of our plans but the cinema was something I could still do plenty of. Shrek 2, Mean Girls, Spider-Man 2, I, Robot, The Village, Dodgeball, White Chicks and Shark Tale were some of my highlights. There were some turkeys too like Scooby Doo 2, King Arthur (my mum was hyped for this but she was so disappointed) and Wimbledon.

Posted by: Brenda 💋 11th April 2020, 11:45 AM

omg Finding Nemo. I keep forgetting it is that OLD!. I have such fond memories of that movie.
Thoroughy enjoying this read, hit me with them facts Samantha

EDIT: Wait Love Actually ain't a 2010's movie?!

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 11th April 2020, 11:53 AM

QUOTE(Brenda 💋 @ Apr 11 2020, 12:45 PM)

Posted by: Brenda 💋 11th April 2020, 12:00 PM

I don't know who blue is

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 11th April 2020, 12:30 PM

QUOTE(Brenda 💋 @ Apr 11 2020, 01:00 PM)

Posted by: Karen 🥂 11th April 2020, 12:46 PM

2002
8 Mile is another one that I should put on a to-watch list. I remember it being massive at the time and it actually still intrigues me now! The Austin Power films completely have passed me by, I only saw the first a couple of years ago but I understand all the references to it

Bend It Like Beckham is a CLASSIC. Again, I wish we had more random films like this.

Ice Age was really good, ruined by unnecessary sequels but it definitely started off really good. Lilo & Stitch however is absolutely incredible, another absolute favourite and Stitch is just one best characters EVER.

Scooby Doo!!! I feel it gets berated but those live action films are actually way better than they need to be and I love the whole Spooky Island design. Another that I've seen so many times.

I remember Signs was massive talking point probably as it was a 12 so kids parents allowed their children to see it and so it was most people's first watching of a horror movie! Still so stupid that WATER defeats them. OMG i didn't realise it was a Disney film!!! The Ring is a much better horror movie, so so iconic.

I never really took to Treasure Planet, wasn't it really expensive??

2003

Bruce Almighty was absolutely huge at the time I remember, but it definitely feels forgotten now. Again, a lot of Jim Carey films have gone that way I feel.

Elf best Christmas film and I watch it religiously every year!! Finding Nemo, another absolutely incredible film for Pixar - they were on such a high! Dory is another classic character.

omg I loved Johnny English at the time, I guess I was the perfect target audience for it at the time! Never seen either of the sequels and not interested in them!

I remember seeing Pirates at the cinema and it was just by word of mouth I think! Crazy how much it exploded into a franchise. I think there had been a few previous water/pirate films that had bombed and I think those type of films are the most expensive to film? Isn't Dead Man's Chest still the most expensive film ever made (with inflation taken into account)?

I actually loved Looney Tunes: Back in Action too - I only realised it bombed a few years ago and was shocked! It felt like their big comeback at the time.

School of Rock is STILL so good, I agree! Amazing characters and really good songs!

Spy Kids 3D was when I was obsessed by the novelty of 3D and I've got it on DVD with the glasses. I just used to watch it only for the 3D aspect rather than it being a good film. It was similar to Journey to the Centre of the Earth a few years later.

The Cat in the Hat is an iconic film and y'all will deal. The visuals are so so good despite all the innuendos in it!

Lost in Translation is another film I need to add to my list!

I get why now, but I'm gutted that Disney dropped the 2D animation. Maybe its nostalgia but it made it feel so uniquely Disney. This is a weird time for them though as they had a lot of duds after Lilo & Stitch.

will catch up on 2004 later!!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 11th April 2020, 01:29 PM

QUOTE(Chez Wallago 🐠 @ Apr 10 2020, 10:40 PM)

Wow, these are extremely well written and informative, Sam, well done!

Memento is excellent and I really need to see Requiem for a Dream, I adore the soundtrack to it, just picking the right moment as it seems a bit of a downer to say the least

QUOTE(Jonjo @ Apr 10 2020, 11:45 PM)

2001:

Wow. A huge year for franchises! The killer franchises of LOTR & Harry Potter both starting out. It's amazing just seeing where everything is at now in terms of franchises. Especially as everything seems to have moved on to being a movie "universe" of some sort now.

What an amazing film 'Memento' is! I didn't realise that was Nolan's first. One of my favourite directors. I think the first film I saw of his was 'The Dark Knight' (yes I saw that before 'Batman Begins' ) I was very late to the Nolan game!

Is 'Along Came A Spider' the one that stars a very young Anton Yelchin? I enjoyed it!

I need to see 'Pearl Harbor'! 'There You'll Be' is one of the greatest movie songs of all time.

2002:

'Lilo & Stitch' is so good! It was Disney's last "big" hit until 'Tangled' in 2010, right? A classic

'Signs' is shit. SO disappointing. 'The Ring' was good fun. I need to rewatch at some point! 'Scooby Doo' though *.* what a classic!! The screen play was done by James Gunn who ended up to doing bigger and better things with the 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' franchise!

LMAO at that awards season! I wish I was into film to witness all that way back then lmao. I need to see 'Chicago' still and I have been told by my friend, several times, to watch 'The Pianist'.

Amazing write ups again Sam!

QUOTE(Leanne 🧘🏻‍ @ Apr 11 2020, 10:13 AM)

QUOTE(Brenda 💋 @ Apr 11 2020, 12:45 PM)

QUOTE(Brenda 💋 @ Apr 11 2020, 01:00 PM)

QUOTE(Karen 🥂 @ Apr 11 2020, 01:46 PM)

2002

I never really took to Treasure Planet, wasn't it really expensive??

2003

Elf best Christmas film and I watch it religiously every year!! Finding Nemo, another absolutely incredible film for Pixar - they were on such a high! Dory is another classic character.

I remember seeing Pirates at the cinema and it was just by word of mouth I think! Crazy how much it exploded into a franchise. I think there had been a few previous water/pirate films that had bombed and I think those type of films are the most expensive to film? Isn't Dead Man's Chest still the most expensive film ever made (with inflation taken into account)?

I actually loved Looney Tunes: Back in Action too - I only realised it bombed a few years ago and was shocked! It felt like their big comeback at the time.

Spy Kids 3D was when I was obsessed by the novelty of 3D and I've got it on DVD with the glasses. I just used to watch it only for the 3D aspect rather than it being a good film. It was similar to Journey to the Centre of the Earth a few years later.

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 11th April 2020, 01:53 PM

2005 is about half-typed up so expect that in the next couple of hours as I'm taking a break atm haha x then this is the aim:
2006 - around 10/11ish this evening
2007 - around 2/3am Sunday
2008 - around 2pm Sunday
2009 - around 7pm Sunday

let's see if this acc happens

Posted by: Nancy 🍾 11th April 2020, 03:28 PM

omg totally forgot how 2004 was full of iconic hits!


Bridget Jones, I, Robot, Mean Girls, Ocean's Twelve, Shark Tale, Spider-Man 2, The Bourne Supremacy, The Day After Tomorrow, The Incredibles, The Notebook, The Polar Express, Troy, White Chicks


and not so iconic but still very enjoyable and watchable Catwoman and Hellboy


The one that I need to watch is Anchorman...I've heard a lot about it but I never really put an effort and watch it. Perhaps finally I should just do it now since I have the time of the world!!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 11th April 2020, 03:51 PM

2005


Box Office Hits
Batman Begins - the first in the trilogy of one of the biggest and most acclaimed superhero franchises of all time. Batman Begins earned great reviews and brought Batman back to cinema and acclaim, wiping away the previous disaster of Batman & Robin. BB was 8th for the year in America with $205m and 11th in the UK with $30m, showing excellent legs in both countries as the opening weekend made up around 20% of both of its grosses, great legs for a superhero flick!
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory - The modern take on Road Dahl's childhood novel is a childhood classic and was one of the defining hits of Summer 2005. This was EVERYWHERE. A fantastic and well-known ensemble & embarked with Tim Burton's visuals, this was a big success; $206m for 7th place in US (which meant it wasn't actually the highest grossing film released on its weekend!) and a massive $65m in the UK to place 4th for the year.
Chicken Little - actually tbf despite meh reviews, this was a pretty big hit for Disney, grossing $135m in the US (14th) and $23m in the UK where it was released in 2006.
Fantastic Four - the first screen outing for the FF teams in the mid 2000's received meh reviews but got some nice audience reactions to gross $154m in America and $23m in the Uk and kickstarted another superhero franchise.
Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire - The 4th Harry entry to appear saw an uptick from Azkaban with $290m in the US (3rd) and was finally the first Harry film to be the biggest film in the UK that year with $85m clinching the top spot.
Hitch - I didn't realise just how big this was, Will Smith really was that box office draw movie star at this point! I knew this was massive in the US (179m, 11th) but I didn't realise how big it was in the UK, grossing $33m to be the 10th biggest film of the year! A rom-com and Valentine's Day classic.
King Kong - Peter Jackson's massive budgeted epic follow-up to LoTR was very successful but I think it slightly missed expectations. Still a gigantic hit with $52m in the UK (8th) and $218m in the US (5th). However it wasn't the biggest film of the Xmas season!
Madagascar - DreamWorks classic kicked off another iconic franchise in 2005 with the world being introduced to Alex, Marty, Melman & Gloria. 4 icons of life. The trailer and film was sag and unsurprisingly this was the biggest animation of the year, grossing $193m in America and $40m in the UK.
Mr & Mrs Smith - the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie movie is still iconic today, known for being Brangelina's first team up and the movie that started their relationship as one of the most known couples in Hollywood. Anyway on the back of their star power, this was a massive hit in America with $186m (10th for the year, also showed amazing legs with 27% of its opening weekend being its total) and 14th in the UK with $26m.
Nanny McPhee - A nice rare charge at this point in time as this didn't come out in the US until 2060! However Emma Thompson's Nanny was immediately iconic and every kid my age watched this about a thousand times when younger. that was a classic! Anyway this was a big box office hit with $29m in the UK, 12th for the year (great numbers in an incredibly saturated kids market, within 2 weeks released were; Wallace & Gromit, this, Corpse Bride, Sky High & Dreamer) and actually increased on its 2nd weekend! You can catch ITV2 showing this every 3 days nowadays.
Pride & Prejudice - The Jane Austen literary adaptation is one of the most famous and iconic ones and ofc made big bank in the UK with a $26m total.
Robots - a very nice animated hit for Sony Pictures (I think) despite not the greatest of reviews with $128m (15th) in America and $23m (17th) in the UK. Those Robots were everywhere when I was younger.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - The last part of the prequel trilogy received the best reviews of the trilogy and is the best well regarded one by fans nowadays. Heading towards an inevitable conclusion, this was by far the biggest film of the year in America with $380m, whilst settling for 3rd place in the UK with $72m
The 40 Year Old Virgin - The comedy that saw Steve Carell become a movie-star, this was highly successful and acclaimed and still holds up well today! This grossed over $100m in the US to finish as the 19th biggest movie and was a summer sleeper hit.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe - what an iconic moment in time. The first Narnia kicked off with gigantic numbers & was the biggest hit of Xmas season, and looked like at the time it could become one of the biggest franchises ever. This was the 2nd biggest film of the year in both the US ($291m) and UK ($77m), with a great audience reaction and fantastic legs over the Xmas period. It's a shame it feels like whilst still remembered, this has definitely faded in comparison to its massive box office at the time.
Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit - this did pretty solid in the US for a British property ($56m) but ofc the massive success for the UK cultural icons was back here. Wallace & Gromit's big screen debut grossed the same amount here as it did in the US and had the 3rd highest opening of the year! that was a classic. and received great critical acclaim again.
War of the Worlds - The Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise flick was your typical mid 2000's blockbuster with massive sets, star-power and big box office; grossing $55m in the UK (6th) and $234m in the US (4th). Again whilst still remembered, this does feel like its faded a bit from the world haha.
Wedding Crashers - The Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy was a surprise gigantic success and had a killer supporting cast (Bradley Cooper, Isla Fisher & Rachel McAdams *.*). This grossed a massive $209m in America to finish 6th for the year and was also a hit in the UK with $24m (15th). One of the biggest original comedies of the decade.

A bit more surprisingly this year, Harry Potter actually beat Star Wars for the #1 spot globally ($897m vs $848m), whilst Narnia took $745m for a massive start for the franchise. This was a good year for remakes (King Kong 5th, Charlie Chocolate Factory 8th), original films (War of the Worlds 4th, Mr & Mrs Smith 7th, Hitch 10th - me doing this and realising Hitch is the only non-remake I think haha) and franchise starters (Madagascar 6th, Batman Begins 9th). The top 6 all grossed over $500m globally! and once again Narnia was the only Disney film, wow how times changed.


Iconic Classics
Constantine - the Keanu Reeves starrer was meant to kick off a franchise but it didn't, slightly underperforming.
Corpse Bride - Tim Burton's halloween animation is still widely watched around that season nowadays and has held up well in pop culture
Downfall - One of the most famous films about the downfall of hitler
Elektra - the spin-off to Daredevil starring Jennifer Garner bombed big-time at the box office and put an end to any more Daredevil related stuff for BenJen in the future.
Elizabethtown - Cameron Crowe's next film underperformed both critically and at the box office but it deserved so much better, that was a classic.
Flightplan - A big box office hit for Jodie Foster, this thriller captivated audiences and is an iconic and good time mid 2000's throwback.
Herbie: Fully Loaded - another iconic Lindsay Lohan Disney film, this was the rage when I was 5 years old *.*
Howl's Moving Castle - another one of Studio Ghibli's most iconic films hit the UK and US in 2005
Kingdom of Heaven - this bombed at the box office as the swords-and-sandals genre started to die again in 2004/2005 after Gladiator revitalised it. This had the famous first week of May slot and was the last time an original movie opened in this slot!
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - the film that started the resurrection of Robert Downey Jr's career is a mini cult classic.
March of the Penguins - The documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman posted insane numbers at the box office, becoming one of the highest grossing documentaries ever and causing many to shed tears over the adorable Penguins.
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous - the sequel to the 2000 classic underwhelmed both critically and financially, putting an end to the franchise.
Monster-in-Law - This was Jane Fonda's first film appearance in like 14 years iirc, as she squares off against J-Lo in this box office hit and well remembered film!
Pooh's Heffalump Movie - another classic Winnie the Pooh film, I have such fond memories of seeing this in cinemas <3 legend Piglet is iconic and Heffalump <3 <3 <3 this underperformed at the box office.
Racing Stripes - we love a horse half-animated drama-comedy with a who's who of people that were famous in the mid 2000's.
Red Eye - The Rachel McAdams/Cillian Murphy thriller still feels well remembered nowadays, with a thrilling plot and fab cast driving this film forward *.*
Rent - the musical adaptation of one of Broadway's biggest hits underwhelmed at the box office and failed to reach the critical acclaim it aimed for. However it has legend Idina Menzel in it and ofc one of the best songs ever in Seasons of Love so what couldn't you love about it.
Sahara - this was famous for being one of the box office bombs ever, losing a significant amount of money at the box office.
Saw II - The 2nd in the Saw franchise saw a big increase at the box office as this placed the stepping stones for this to become probably the most iconic horror franchise of this decade.
Serenity - the firefly movie spin-off underwhelmed at the box office but earned a big cult following, just like the tv show it was based on.
Sin City - This was everywhere in 2005 with its infamous black-and-white style and massive ensemble of famous actors. It does feel a bit forgotten nowadays as it rly did seem to be the start of something new when it came out.
Son of the Mask - another kinda-sequel that nobody wanted that bombed disastrously at the box office, a trend that would happen a lot more in the 2010's.
The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl 3D - we love a 3D cash-in kids movie
The Amityville Horror - another horror remake that received lukewarm reviews from the critics but did well at the box office and had a cast that all ended up doing pretty well for themselves!
The Dukes of Hazzard - another tv-adpatation turned movie that made solid business with a very mid 2000's cast, style and feel.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose - this has actually held up pretty well with it still being referenced by Horror fans
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - this was a big box office hit in the UK ($20m) and was based off the classic novel and I remember that teaser trailer with What A Wonderful World was EVERYWHERE *.*
The Interpreter - The Nicole Kidman/Sean Penn thriller garnered good reviews and box office
The Longest Yard - The Adam Sandler comedy was one of his biggest hits ever in America but feels kinda forgotten now.
The Magic Roundabout - another British animation that made big bank here, with iconic characters and a charming British feel and voice cast making this a classic <3 I always wanted a sequel
The Pacifier - The Vin Diesel family film was another early 2000's worldwide box office hit
The Ring Two - This sequel opened big but plummeted after receiving dreadful reactions from audiences and critics, killing the horror franchise dead.
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - the teen comedy-drama with stars that would become way more famous over-time is nicely remembered and has a mini cult following
The Squid & The Whale - Noah Baumbach's family drama is regarded as one of his best
Valiant - Like the magic roundabout, another early 2005 UK family smash with a great voice cast and a fantastic plot!
Wolf Creek - the Australian horror received great reviews and is still looked upon fondly. by horror lovers, spawning sequels and a tv show
Zathura: A Space Adventure - the Jumanji sequel/prequel (idk I never saw it lol) underperformed heavily at the time.


The Oscars & Awards Season
Oh 2005. the year where homophobia won. One of the most infamous Oscar races and winners for all the wrong reasons. Brokeback Mountain won the Drama Globe and BAFTA for Picture. However SAG ensemble winner Crash ended up taking the win for best picture. Crash is highly regarded as one of the worst BP-winners of all time both at the time and nowadays and immediate controversy was sparked amongst the circumstances of winner. Crash was also released in May, making it a rare non-blockbuster non-Q4 BP winner in this millennium. The only other best pic winner was Walk the Line at the Globes Musical/Comedy, but was snubbed at the Oscars. Instead the other Oscar best pic nominees were Good Night & Good Luck, Munich (two films we won't be covering again) and Capote. However Ang Lee swept best director this time around, winning the award everywhere for Brokeback Mountain.

This year saw pretty much the expected frontrunners take home the awards. Phillip Seymour Hoffman won the Oscar, BAFTA, SAG & Globe for Capote in a full-sweep, with Joaquin Phoenix the only other winner for Walk The Line for Globes Comedy/Musical. Phoenix's co-star Reese Witherspoon went one step further than him and took home the Oscar for Best Actress, as well as also winning the BAFTA, SAG & Globe. Felicity Huffman won the Globe for Drama in Transamerica but remained 2nd place for the rest of the season. Rachel Weisz also won the Oscar, SAG & Globe for supporting actress in The Constant Gardener, another near sweep! However she was placed lead at the BAFTA's, which allowed Thandie Newton to pick up a win there for Crash, the film's only acting win at any of the precursors. The only tight category was best supporting actor. Jake Gyllenhaal won the BAFTA for Brokeback Mountain, Paul Giamatti (who was perceived as overdue after snubs for American Splendor & Sideways) took home SAG for Cinderella Man but George Clooney won the Globe and the Oscar for Syriana, in a banner year for him with this role and best pic nominee GN&GL being directed by him, allowing his year and Hollywood stardom status to win the Oscar.

Amongst other nominees and snubs we had; Maria Bello surprisingly missing at the Oscars for A History of Violence despite hitting the precursors, though there was confusion to whether she was lead or supporting, Russell Crowe nearly getting another Oscar nom for Cinderella Man, Ziyi Zhang scoring Globe/BAFTA/SAG noms for Memoirs of a Geisha but missed the Oscars in the end after the film faded and Globes Comedy actor category was random af with films such as The Producers, Breakfast on Pluto and The Matador scoring noms. Scarlett Johansson scored another globe nom for Match Point but went no further and Brenda Blethyn was the random British BAFTA nod of the year for Pride & Prejudice. In terms of who actually got noms; Keira Knightley surprisingly made it into Best Actress for Pride & Prejudice, becoming one of the youngest nominees, Matt Dillon was the Crash acting representative after him and Don Cheadle had split throughout the season and future Oscar nomination faves Amy Adams (Junebug) and Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) scored their first nom. And Jake Gyllenhaal scored his first and only Oscar nomination to date for BM.

other key award winners were Brokeback Mountain and Crash picking up script awards at the Oscars (both swept screenplay awards this season), and It's Hard out Here for a Pimp from Hustle & Flow took home best song. Tsosti was the winner of best foreign language film and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit took home the animated film Oscar, becoming Aardman's first winner!

also fun fact: Crash was the first Best Pic winner since Rocky in 1976 to only win 3 Oscars and all four acting winners were all first-time nominees! (I am shocked it was all of their first nominations apart from Weisz!!)

Notable Events - lots of facts for this year
- Pierce Brosnan officially announced Die Another Day as his last James Bond movie. In October, Daniel Craig was announced as the new Bond.
- Star Wars recorded a record high day at the US box office with $50m on opening day.
- L'enfant won the Palme D'or at Cannes. If you've ever studied French, you will know this film. we were forced to sit through it like 900 times
- Roger Ebert published his list of most hated films, which included 2005 releases like A Lot Like Love, Constantine & Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
- Semi-offensive R-rated comedies, including retooled romantic comedies and 'bromances' (guy-meets-guy romances) containing generous portions of profanity, sex and nudity, and debauchery, were shown to be popular - and appealing (see wedding crashers, 40 year old virgin)
- The action sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), the first Sony Pictures film, was also the first feature film to be released on Blu-Ray Disc
- The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 was introduced to Congress, designed to make technology available (legal filtering devices, such as DVD players provided by the ClearPlay company) to parents that will help shield children from unwanted violence, sex and profanity in movies. This bill made it legal to alter (or sanitize) a motion picture to edit out audio and video content that may not suit minors (i.e., CleanFlicks rents out edited DVDs). In addition, file sharing and movie piracy (i.e., camcordering films in theaters, pre-releasing pirated copies of copyrighted films, etc.) would be penalized. (remember THOSE DVD ADVERTS, ICONIC)
- The popularity of DVD had now doomed VHS. DVD sales were over $22 billion in 2005 compared to VHS $1.5 billion. JVC no longer made VHS from this year, despite introducing this format to the US in 1977.
- Marlon Brando's personal 173-page film script (annotated) from The Godfather (1972) sold for $312,800 to an anonymous bidder at Christie's in New York City on June 30, 2005. It was the world's most expensive script from a film.
- Director David Cronenberg's crime-thriller A History of Violence (2005) was the last major Hollywood feature film to be released (in early 2006) in the once-ubiquitous VHS videotape cassette format. The film also featured - purportedly - the first instance of reciprocal oral sex (69 or sixty-nine) ever performed in a non-pornographic (mainstream) American film, between a married couple (Maria Bello and Viggo Mortensen).
- Goblet of Fire was the first Harry Potter film to earn a PG-13 rating in the US
- George Lucas was criticized for merchandising toys and other related products to younger consumers, while denying them the ability to see the film. The first five Star Wars films made a staggering $9 billion in merchandise sales -- triple the franchise's box-office sales (of $3.4 billion). Regarding Episodes I-III, critics denounced the Jar Jar Binks digital character and the poor acting, but the films were universally praised for their digital film-making and special effects.
- Summer box-office was actually the lowest in Hollywood since 2001. It was suggested that the industry make better films, provide discounted tickets, make cheaper films, and eliminate various annoyances in movie theatres (i.e., commercials, use of cellphones, sticky environments, etc.)
- March of the Penguins cost only $8 million to make and earned almost $78 million - becoming the highest-grossing nature documentary, and marking the second-highest gross for a non-IMAX documentary.
- Michael Eisner stepped-down as Disney CEO after 21 years and was replaced by Bob Iger
- Serenity was the first full-resolution pirated downloaded of an HD DVD and marked the beginning of widespread HD-DVD pirating
- Buena Vista's and director Garth Jennings' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) was the only adaptation of one of writer Douglas Adams' five Hitchhiker's books, and it performed poorly. The adventure sci-fi comedy with a budget of $50 million took in only $51 million (domestic) and $104.5 million (worldwide), possibly insuring no more sequels.
- DreamWorks' and Rob Marshall's Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) (adapted from a novel by Arthur Golden), a film set in 1930s and 1940s Japan, was the first big-budget Hollywood film with Asian actors in every leading role. However, the film-makers received criticism regarding the casting decisions, since three of the major actresses were not Japanese but Chinese (and Malaysian). The producers and director argued in response that the casting took into account star power, acting ability, and physical traits - and the ability to speak English.
- Paramount acquired DreamWorks for $1.6billion. The stand-alone studio's demise marked the end of a Hollywood era.
- The year ended with studio executives worried about the overall slump in the industry, despite some bright spots throughout the year -- every Hollywood studio could claim at least one $100 million picture. Revenues were down over 5% from the previous year (the largest year-to-year decline since 1985), and attendance dropped more than 7% (the lowest figure since 1997). And it was the first year in almost a decade in which only 17 films made over $100 million. Weekend box-office gross results beginning in late February slid for a record 19 weeks in a row, when compared to the corresponding period in 2004.
- Wedding Crashes was the top R-rated comedy since There's Something About Mary
- King Kong was the most expensive movie, costing $207m in production costs. King Kong featured a computer-generated Kong and had the largest number of special/visual effects shots in a single film. The more than 3,200 final shots in the film were culled from 3 million feet of live-action footage and 2,510 visual effects shots.
- There was a significant commercial trend in the film industry to release 'unrated' versions of R-rated and PG 13-rated films on DVD and videocassette, often with additional racy content that would have undoubtedly changed the original MPAA ratings of these films.
- Independent films made outside the Hollywood system faced an uphill battle this year. This was the first year since 1995 that every $100 million hit came from a major studio.
- The Weinstein's split from Disney and Miramax and started the Weinstein Company
- The trend of developing a name-blend for a celebrity super-couple continued with the prominent media and tabloid obsession over Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, dubbed "Brangelina." Their secret real-life pairing was rumored when they co-starred together in the action film Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), leading afterwards to Pitt's separation and divorce from Jennifer Aniston in 2005 after five years of marriage.
- Horror films became one of the most lucrative genre franchises, due to the fact that they could be cheaply made, and were capable of attracting large audiences. For example, Saw (2004), Hostel (2005), and Saw II (2005) did tremendous box-office business, compared to their budget costs. A so-called "torture-porn" trend was inaugurated by these films and others, including Wolf Creek (2005, Aust.), The Devil's Rejects (2005), and Turistas (2006). The disturbing trend was highlighted by Eli Roth’s Hostel (2005), soundly condemned for its visceral excesses, and the detailed torture, dismemberment and mutilation suffered by a group of hedonistic American backpackers in Eastern Europe.
- The American Film Institute (AFI) released the eighth list in its continuing series, 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes, to recognize the top 100 movie quotes in cinematic history. The most memorable movie quote of all time that they selected was Clark Gable's retort to Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939): "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
- The stop-motion animation of Aardman Animation's comedy The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005, UK) used a record amount of Plasticine - the film required a massive 6,272 pounds of Plasticine in 42 colors. The film broke the earlier record of Chicken Run (2000, UK) which used 5,247 pounds of Plasticine.


and a new mini section:
FILM DEBUTS: -> these actors made their debuts in film in 2005
Carey Mulligan in Pride & Prejudice
Channing Tatum in Coach Carter
Chloe Grace Moretz in The Amityville Horror
Domnhall Gleeson in Boy Eats Girl
Justin Timberlake in Edison
Robert Pattinson in Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire


Samantha Recommends:



2005 was the year that I already became obsessed & in love with the cinema, films, film industry & everything so this has been a fun year to write about <3 And here we hark back to my childhood for two of my favourite films ever when I was growing up. Narnia is an absolute spectacle, the visuals are incredible, the cast is so good (Tilda Swinton rules this *.*), this is a perfect and faithful adaptation of the novel and the plot rules. This is low-key an Xmas classic for me that I could and have watched over and over again. The score is sfg too and the Trailer still gives me goosebumps, I remember having one of those trailer compilation DVD's the magazines used to release back then and I'd watch it all the time!

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory is one of my all time faves and I love seeing the love and appreciation for it in this thread already. This was a staple of my childhood, Johnny Depp slays and the rest of the cast is so good and memorable. Obviously Veruca Salt is the best, a living queen and icon who was probs my fave character when I was younger (and who I aspired to be like, woo 5 year old me was full of bright ideas x). The visuals are sfg, the songs and sequences are amazing, I literally know this movie off-by heart. a true classic. I actually prefer this by quite a lot to the original

Lots of honourable mentions again this time; Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit Madagascar & Nanny McPhee are all childhood classics that I've seen millions of times. Elizabethtown is so underrated & Kirsten Dunst is amazing in it, one of my all time faves. Red Eye is one of my favourite thrillers ever and I adore Flightplan too, the plane thrillers rocked in 2005. Valiant, March of the Penguins, Racing Stripes, Pooh's Heffalump Movie, Laura's Star & The Magic Roundabout were all childhood faves.

I don't believe either are currently available on streaming but I could be wrong!

What are your favourites? what are your movie memories of this year? what iconic movie song did you prefer, seasons of love or take me or leave me?

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 11th April 2020, 04:06 PM

More cinema memories for me in 2005! Revenge Of The Sith was the biggie but I also made trips for Oceans 12 (awful), Meet The Fockers, Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, War Of The Worlds and Goblet Of Fire!

Posted by: Janet 🙅🏼‍& 11th April 2020, 04:10 PM

Did anyone else like Johnny English? It got savaged, but I really liked it!

My other faves were Austin Powers, American Pie, LOTRs movies, Harry Potters, Kevin and Perry, ans Tomb Raider.

Also, I didn't realise Fockers was so old or that Hitchhikers even had a movie

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 11th April 2020, 10:17 PM

2006


Box Office Hits
Borat - the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy was a major hit and really took ahold of the zeitgeist to become one of the biggest hits of the year. Borat grossed a massive $128m in the US, with a $26m opening weekend despite only playing in around 1,000 theatres. (16th for the year). Whilst it was an even bigger hit here in the UK, grossing a gigantic $46m for 5th best of the year, a hit that's still referenced today and the character of Borat is iconic.
Cars - another box office hit for Pixar, even if it didn't quite hit the heights of the last few. It earned $244m in the US for a top 3 finish whilst doing $30m in the UK to be 9th. obvs a great performance still but the reviews were weaker than usual for Pixar, but it more than made up for it in merchandise sales.
Casino Royale - the return of James Bond with Daniel Craig now in the titular role did gangbusters at the box office and was critically acclaimed, returning the franchise to form. Unsurprisingly this was the biggest hit in the UK of 2006, with a massive $110m. It was also a success in America with $167m placing it 9th.
Click - Probably because all his recent films have been Netflix, I forget just how big Adam Sandler's drawing power was in America. This earned $137m in the US (13th), whilst still doing pretty well in the UK with $15m (26th). Another major comedy box office smash for Sandler with a killer concept.
Flushed Away - Aardman's next film was another success for the company. FA did $22m in the UK (17th) and made $64m in the US (41st). This is still referenced quite a lot nowadays and had a killer voice cast.
Happy Feet - One of the biggest animations of the year was this penguins-musical-comedy classic. Happy Feet grossed $198m in America (7th) and had great legs, whilst finishing in the same position in the UK with a $37m total. One of the biggest hits of winter and an iconic animation.
Ice Age: The Meltdown - Another animation hit saw the Ice Age franchise explode even more. It did $52m (4th) in the UK and $195m in the US (8th). This received the best reviews of the franchise and cemented Scrat as a pop culture icon.
Mission Impossible III - The third Mission Impossible film did okay box office but kinda underwhelmed, making it look like this franchise was on its way out. MI did $134m in the US (14th), where it opened on the infamous first week of May and $29m in the UK (11th).
Night at the Museum - One of the big original smashes of the year, this definitely feels like one of Ben Stiller's more remembered hits from the decade. NatM was an Xmas smash with $40m (6th) in the UK and was massive in the US with $250m (2nd for the year). This was the hit of the Xmas period and saw that original films could still thrive.
Over the Hedge - DreamWorks next film got average reviews, had a beyond random voice cast, and grossed $155m in the US (11th) and $26m (13th) in the UK. A solid hit but nothing to write home about and feels quite forgotten again.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - by far the biggest hit of the year, the 2nd Pirates film was a runaway smash despite weaker reviews than the first. Pirates opened to $135m and grossed $423m in America and took 2nd place for the year in the UK with a gigantic $98m. a smash.
Superman Returns - The return to the big screen for Superman couldn't reap the same acclaim that Batman did and was Brandon Routh's only outing as the titular character. This acc did better at the box office than I thought it did ($200m, 6th in US and $30m, 10th in the UK) but weak reviews killed it and it's not remembered too fondly at all.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - One of Will Ferrell's biggest comedies in this decade in the US with $148m gross (12th). However this underperformed in the UK with $6.2m (68th for the year). Probs why I don't feel like this is really remembered at all nowadays
The Da Vinci Code - Based on the Dan Brown novel and starring Tom Hanks, this was another original smash whilst facing lots of religious controversy. However that helped boost box office takings with $217m (5th) in US and $55m for a distant 3rd place finish in the UK. Again like with many of the films above, this received mediocre reviews and doesn't feel too fondly remembered now. 2006 really wasn't a banner year oops.
The Devil Wears Prada - The rom-com starring Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt was a massive sleeper success during summer in the US and autumn in the UK. DWP grossed $124m in the US (17th) and $26m in the UK (12th), showing major legs in both countries as audiences responded greatly to the film. I would actually put forward an argument that this is the most remembered 2006 film as it really has stood the test of time with audiences and pop culture a lot more than basically all the above.
The Holiday - another cute Christmas box office hit with a killer cast including Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. This was a big hit in the UK with $24m (15th), whilst slightly underperforming in the US with $63m (45th). It's yearly Christmas showings though has meant this film has stayed popular and appreciated.
X-Men: The Last Stand - And to finish this section, was another frontloaded sequel that earned a mediocre response from critics and isn't well regarded nowadays, often seen as one of the weakest X-Men films. Anyway that didn't deter its box office success; $234m (4th) in the US and $35m (8th) in the UK saw series bests but it was very front loaded though.

Unsurprisingly stomping on everything was Pirates 2 with $1.06b worldwide, which became the 3rd film at this point in time to gross over a billion. A gigantic success everywhere. 2006 saw the continued shifts towards sequels dominating the market place with many placing in the top 10 (Ice Age 3rd with a massive $660m for an animation at this time, Casino Royale 4th, X-Men 7th, Mission 3 8th, Superman 9th). However there were still some place for original flicks with Da Vinci Code being massive internationally and 2nd for the year with $758m, Night at the Museum 5th, Pixar's Cars 5th and Happy Feet 10th. All four of these films would receive sequels, the live-action ones we'll be covering in 2009 whilst the animated ones came out in 2011.


Iconic Classics
Barnyard - a fabulous Nickelodeon animated film which spawned the successful tv spin-off Back to the Barnyard, which I watched religiously. this was a solid box office hit both in the States and here and showed solid legs in both countries!
Basic Instinct 2 - for some reason they thought it was necessary to do a sequel to this like 15 years later. despite Sharon Stone returning, this bombed at the box office, but was successful at the Razzies.
Big Momma's House 2 - another sequel that improved upon the first and this was everywhere when I was younger.
Charlotte's Web - The classic book adaptation didn't hit the UK til 2007. It did solidly world-wide but I feel like expectations for this were higher and it feels completely forgotten about nowadays.
Children of Men - The Alfonso Cuaron film has gained a great reputation over the past decade and is highlighted as one of the decade's best and visually stunning.
Curious George - a classic animation based on the TV program. I always thought this was a big hit, esp in the UK, turns out it wasn't.
Date Movie - literally just iconic because it started the NEVER ENDING trend of spoof films that would hit cinemas for the next 3 years.
Deck the Halls - another Xmas classic that is basically shown on TV every single year. this didn't do great at the box office but who cares when I watch it every year <3
Eight Below - This was cute and also a cute box office hit
Eragon - Positioned as the Xmas blockbuster, this significantly underperformed and harmed any chance of this starting a successful franchise, also receiving mediocre reviews. a messT
Failure to Launch - the Sarah Jessica Parker comedy was another nice mid 2000's rom-com hit but feels slightly forgotten now
Final Destination 3 - The 3rd in the horror franchise saw a slight uptick in box office grosses and the franchise started to make a bigger name for itself.
Goal - One of the most famous football films, which says a lot.
Hoodwinked - The fairy-tale themed animation was another hit in this genre worldwide and feels quite remembered
Hostel - Mostly remembered for the wrong reasons and harrowing in the torture porn genre for the next few years.
Inside Man - Spike Lee's thriller which really doesn't feel like a Spike Lee film and features many A-listers, becoming one of Lee's biggest box office hits and this def feels remembered more than a lot of this list.
Jackass Number Two - the Jackass franchise continued to gain fans after a successful 2nd entry
Lady in the Water - This basically was the start of the end of M. Night Shylaman's career for the next decade with dreadful box office and even worse reviews.
Miami Vice - another TV adaptation turned movie with A-listers, wow these were the rage in the mid 2000's. again did solid but underperformed and isn't really remembered
Monster House - this has turned into a mini-halloween classic and is fondly remembered, unfortunately.
Pan's Labyrinth - Del Toro's Spanish-horror earned major critical acclaim and is still highly remembered nowadays, with a distinct visual style and a great plot & cast.
Poseidon - another blockbuster that was meant to be massive but bombed at the box office, 2006 really did love its misses.
Saw III - The 3rd in the franchise basically did the same as the 2nd at the box office and honestly couldn't rly tell them apart from this point.
Scary Movie 4 - This ended the franchise for a while but it still made good bank
She's The Man - the Amanda Bynes comedy has actually held up well and is often on lists of classic teen flicks
Silent Hill - The video game horror received mediocre reviews but good box office
Snakes on a Plane - another film with major hype to be a box office smash that did pretty badly in the end. reviews also weren't great and this ended up having a lot of hype at the time for a mediocre project that failed to deliver and ain't remembered anymore.
Step Up - Starting one of the most iconic dance franchises of all time, the first one was a solid hit and set the foundation in place for these movies to be everywhere towards the end of the decade.
Stormbreaker - The Alex icr the character's name and I used to love these books. anyway it did well in the UK but kinda underwhelmed everywhere else and this was another attempt to start a franchise that didn't take off.
The Break-Up - the Vince Vaughn-Jennifer Aniston rom-com-drama was a 2006 box office success and is one of there better remembered films.
The Descent - the chilling horror has a big reputation for being a horror classic of the noughties.
The Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift - this did dreadful at the box office and nearly killed the franchise for good. so close.
The Hills Have Eyes - another horror remake with mediocre reviews and solid box office, these were hitting their peak around 2006 with basically a new one every month
The History Boys - this did well in the UK and started the careers for many famous British actors and BBC2 is always showing it.
The Omen - basically see the hills have eyes, just slightly bigger and slightly worse reviews, with people only really remembering the original nowadays.
The Prestige - Nolan's film seems to be one of his most fondest received ones outside of his blockbusters.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause - also finishing a trilogy was the Santa Clause franchise which does feel like its impact has faded nowadays when it comes to discussing Xmas films
The Shaggy Dog - a massive bomb for the Disney remake
The Wicker Man - the horror remake is more known for one of the most ridiculous performances of all time from Nicholas Cage and is known today just for all the gifs it created (the BEES)
The Wild - another Disney bomb and one of their worst performing films ever, bad reviews, painfully unfunny and unfortunate timing making it look like a complete rip-off of Madagascar didn't help
United 93/World Trade Centre - The first two 9/11 films were released in multiplexes in 2006. United 93 earned stronger reviews whilst WTC was more successfully at the box office. Many people felt these films came too soon though.
V For Vendetta - this has become something of a cult classic overtime, despite once again also underwhelming at the box office.


The Oscars & Awards Season
2006 was the year of either full on sweeps, last minute shocks, and surprise snubs. Let's start with Best Director. After many nominations and an ever-growing narrative, Martin Scorsese pretty much swept director everywhere for The Departed, finally winning his first Oscar. (The only other winner this season was Paul Greengrass' shock win at BAFTA's for United 93). The Departed was a box office smash and with critical acclaim + its director sweep, it ended up winning Best Picture! However the other award ceremonies saw other winners. Oscar best picture nominees The Queen, Little Miss Sunshine and Babel all took home respective wins in picture at BAFTA, SAG ensemble and Globe Drama. Winning Globes Comedy/Musical was Dreamgirls, which despite leading the Oscar noms tally with 8 noms, was shockingly snubbed in Picture despite arguably being the frontrunner before nominations were announced. A surprise. The 5th best pic nominee was Clint Eastwood's late breaker Letters From Iwo Jima overperforming.

Acting mostly consisted of sweeps in 2006. Jennifer Hudson won everything for her debut role in supporting actress in Dreamgirls. Helen Mirren in The Queen and Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland also swept their categories everywhere in Best Actress & Best Actor. The only other winners in those categories came in the Globe Musical/Comedy category where Meryl Streep won actress for The Devil Wears Prada and Sacha Baron Cohen won actor for Borat. Two fabulous and inspired noms, Meryl going lead ended up paying off as she scored her 14th Oscar nom and Sacha was probs v. close to an Oscar nom for Borat, I'd say he was 6th. The one shock category where a sweep was stopped last minute was supporting actor. Eddie Murphy had all the hype, won the Globe and SAG for his killer performance in Dreamgirls. However he was unseated by Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine who took home the BAFTA and then the Oscar in a major shock.

Amongst other nominees and snubs we had; Leonardo DiCaprio getting nominated in lead for Blood Diamond and not receiving a nom for The Departed; the latter being a confused campaign whether he was lead or supporting in it. The Departed acting noms were all over the place actually; Jack Nicholson was surprisingly snubbed in supporting actor after looking like a lock all season and it was Mark Wahlberg who was the acting nominee from the film in the end! Beyonce got a globe nom for Dreamgirls and so did Chiwetel Ejiofor in Kinky Boots, both films would become smash-hit Broadway and West End musicals. Emily Blunt was unfortunately snubbed in supporting for The Devil Wears Prada despite hitting most precursors. Ryan Gosling snuck into best actor for small indie Half Nelson and Daniel Craig scored a BAFTA nom for Casino Royale. BAFTA's also loved The History Boys, with Richard Griffiths and Frances de la Tour getting noms in Actor and Supporting Actress. In more same film, same category competition this year, Abigail Breslin got the Oscar nom instead of Toni Collette for Little Miss Sunshine. Best actress was the same pretty much everywhere this year (Cruz/Dench/Mirren/Streep/Winslet) .and ofc we had Peter O'Toole nominated in Best Actor for Venus. This was his 8th nomination and 8th loss, holding the record alongside Glenn Close for most noms and no wins.

other key award winners were Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed picking up script awards at the Oscars (LMS swept screenplay awards this season whilst The Departed had only won WGA, losing the BAFTA to the Last King of Scotland), and I Need To Wake Up from An Inconvenient Truth took home best song, beating three songs from Dreamgirls!. The Lives of Others was the winner of best foreign language film (in a v. competitive year that also included Pan's Labyrinth & letters from Iwo Jima) and a tough two-way race this season led to Happy Feet taking home the animated film Oscar. Happy Feet won the Oscar and BAFTA whilst Cars won at the Globes and Critics Choice.

also fun fact: At the age of 25 (and 166 days), Jennifer Hudson became the youngest African-American actor (male or female) to win an Oscar - for her Best Supporting Actress-winning role in Dreamgirls (2006).

another fun fact: The Departed is the only remake to win Best Picture

Notable Events - lots of facts for this year
- Disney purchased Pixar
- Ant & Dec made their big screen debut with Alien Autopsy. yay.
- United 93 and World Trade Centre about 9/11, was one of filmdom's quickest responses to a disaster
- The optical disc format war began in 2006 with the release of Blu-ray Discs
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest opens grossing $55.8 million on its opening day, setting records for the largest opening day, the largest single day gross, and the largest Friday gross of all time. It broke more records with the largest opening weeknend ($135.6m) and meeting many box office milestones at a record pace.
- Pirates 2 was notable as the first film to combine digital CGI performances and live-physical actors together in the same composited shot (they no longer had to be filmed separately), due to ILM’s Imocap technology.
- Zyzzyx Road (2006) became the lowest-grossing Hollywood movie of all time, after a Dallas, Texas run of six days that made $30 at the box-office (although later reduced to $20 due to a refund). Its budget was $1.3 million, making it one of the biggest flops (percentage-wise) in film history.
- It was announced that actress Reese Witherspoon would attain the highest salary for a female for one film, becoming the highest paid actress of all time, for her $29 million deal to star/produce the horror thriller Our Family Trouble (2011). Her salary beat the previous record of $25 million held by Julia Roberts for Mona Lisa Smile (2003).
- Both Apple and Amazon began offering full-length on-demand movies on their websites
- Box office was up; dominated by CGI animations, comedy films with marquee comedians, franchises & sequels.
- In response to strong demand, LucasFilms finally released the long-awaited release of the unedited, uncut, and original theatrical versions of the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD (sold for the first-time as stand-alone films).
- The third film in the series, Mission: Impossible III (2006) failed to be the action-thriller blockbuster that it was destined to be - it had a $47.7 million opening weekend at U.S. theaters, below the $65 million to $70 million that had been projected by some box office trackers. Speculation arose that this was, in part, due to cocky mega-star Tom Cruise's erratic behavior and off-screen public relations disasters, evidenced on NBC's Today Show with Matt Lauer, and the couch-jumping incident on the Oprah Winfrey Show. His strident Scientology advocacy and his denouncements in May 2005 against Brooke Shields regarding her use of anti-depressants for post-partum depression were also the focus of criticisms. At one time, 44 year-old Cruise was the industry's most successful and best-paid actor, but in August was dropped by parent company Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone and by his film studio, Paramount Pictures for his "unacceptable conduct" - after a 14 year production pact.
- John Cameron Mitchell's second feature Shortbus (2006) was screened both at the Cannes Film Festival, and at the Toronto International Film Festival - where it was the "most explicit" or sexually-graphic hard-core film ever screened. To date, it had the widest release of any film showing actual unsimulated sex.
- The Disney Channel's TV movie High School Musical (2006) was their most successful original movie ever produced. The film's soundtrack was the best-selling album in the United States for the year. The plot combined elements of Grease and Romeo and Juliet in its tale of two high school junior sweethearts (portrayed by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens) who first met during vacation. They were brought together again when they both won lead parts in the high school musical, but trouble brewed since they were from rival cliques. -> I'm not rly including TV movies but this does need a mention ahaha
- The American Film Institute (AFI) released the ninth list in its continuing series, 100 Years...100 Cheers, to recognize 100 films as the most "inspirational" in cinematic history. Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946) was named the most "inspirational" film of all time.
- 70% of teens said that they get their information about sex from the media - mostly from films.
- Audrey Hepburn's black cocktail Givenchy-designed dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), according to Guinness World Records, was sold to an anonymous bidder by Christie's, London, UK for $807,000 in 2006. It was regarded as "the most expensive film costume from a film."
- Superman Returns was the first Hollywood film with sequences converted from 2D to Imax 3D. However it was bid budget flop with $270m.
- The traditional model of theatrical movie distribution was being challenged with a triple-release strategy -- normally, the progression went from theatres, to hotels, to in-flight showings, to DVD a few months later. Director Steven Soderbergh's experimental, independent, R-rated, 73 minute film Bubble (2005), shot on hi-definition video, was the first motion picture released in theatres, while simultaneously available on pay-per-view cable channel HDNet and on DVD (four days later). Likewise, the dramatic comedy 10 Items or Less (2006), the first feature film released by actor/producer Morgan Freeman's joint-venture broadband entertainment service called ClickStar, was the first film in film history to debut in theatres and then become legally and simultaneously available via broadband within two weeks of national theatrical release.
- The Godfather: The Game was released
- Al Gore's film about global warming titled An Inconvenient Truth (2006) grossed $24.1 million - setting a record as the third-highest grossing non-IMAX/concert political documentary ever made. It was nominated for two Oscars and won both: Best Original Song ("I Need to Wake Up" by Melissa Etheridge) (the first win in the category for a documentary), and Best Documentary Feature.
- Comedian Tyler Perry became the first African-American to own (or found) a major TV and film studio - he founded the Tyler Perry Studios (TPS) in southwest Atlanta, Georgia
- Clerks II has the longest credits of any films to date; includes 163,070 names (listing all of Kevin Smith's own MySapce friends)
- Robert Altman passed away in late 2006.

and a new mini section:
FILM DEBUTS: -> these actors made their debuts in film in 2006
Armie Hammer in Flicka
Eddie Redmayne in Like Minds
Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls - we stan an Oscar winning debut
Mia Wasikowska in Surburban Mayhem
Rami Malek in Night at the Museum
Rebecca Hall in Starter For 10


Samantha Recommends:



2006 was a pretty good year but outside of my top 4, it lacks absolute all-time favourites for me. Also whilst writing this, I didn't realise how many bombs there were or how many sequels were like the weakest of their franchise oops. Anyway back to me, Happy Feet is my fave of the year. Just simply joyous, amazing voice work by the cast, I was obsessed with the Penguins and would watch this all the time when I was younger and the music and choice of songs was SO good <3 It was fab to see this become a massive hit. However, and controversial opinion time, I actually love the 2nd one even more.

Pan's Labyrinth is such an epic and striking film. The cast is amazing in this and I'm glad this broke through at the Oscars in the visuals categories, because the production design, use of colour and visuals and characters in this film are so absolutely striking and incredible and makes you pay so much attention to the set detail. A great plot too packed with lots of historical events background for y'all that love that kinda stuff like me and this film really hit me hard, both emotionally and visually. a classic and for me, Del Toro's best.

quite a few honourable mentions but this years batch is definitely weaker than the last couple years and most wouldn't have made my top 5 the last two years anyway we have: Borat (absolutely hilarious), Barnyard (a major fave of mine and I watched this 24/7 when I was younger), Curious George, Charlotte's Web, Flushed Away (childhood faves), Deck the Halls and The Holiday (another year of two xmas classics), The Devil Wears Prada (Meryl and Emily are both Oscar-worthy in this), Children of Men

I don't believe either are currently available on streaming but I could be wrong!

What are your favourites? what are your movie memories of this year? what iconic movie song did you prefer from Happy Feet?

Posted by: Jonjo 11th April 2020, 11:38 PM

FFS Sam. LET ME CATCH UP

Posted by: Janet 🙅🏼‍& 12th April 2020, 12:07 AM

Scream 4 was 2006??

Posted by: Jonjo 12th April 2020, 12:26 AM

2003:

'Finding Nemo' is one of my all time favourite movies. Definitely top 3 with 'Avengers: Infinity War' and 'Se7en'. I rewatched it like a week ago and it holds up incredibly well. The attention to detail in the animation is astounding and revolutionary. I also love the small things like Marlin going to hold his breath before he pops out to look at the top of the ocean! It's the little things Smashing the DVD sales *.* S L A Y

'Elf' is another huge fave. Without fail, it's been my first Christmas movie of Christmas season, every year for the last 9 years or so (when I first watched it - yes I was late to that party! In fact, it wasn't until like 4 or 5 years ago I found out it was actually a film from as early as 2003!

I've still never seen 'Love Actually', oops! Also, 'Brother Bear' is cute! 'Lost In Translation' is very good. Scarlett is brilliant in it. I've never seen 'Monster' or 'Thirteen' though </3 Both are on my list!

'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' from this year craps all over the boring original. Probably my favourite remake of all time. I rewatched this recently too and it's still so good! 'Final Destination 2' is so much fun, too! A worthy sequel!

'Honey'!! 2nd to only 'Step Up 2: The Streets' as my favourite dance movie *.* Yolanda Adams - I Believe slaps SO HARD! WHAT A SONG!

'School Of Rock' is good fun. I've never seen 'The Room' but have always been meaning to :') I've seen 'The Disaster Artist' and I get an idea of what went off lmao!

I had NO IDEA Scarlett hadn't been nominated for Oscars up until this year (where she was double nommed no less *.*). Wow. That's crazy.

Ooh would you look at that, even Disney tried to forget 'Home On The Range' happened, before it even happened by announcing that 'Brother Bear' would be the last 2-D Disney movie :')

Gregory Peck getting mentioned a couple of times reminds me, I really need to see 'To Kill A Mockingbird'!

---
2004:

The year that my favourite Harry Potter movie was released Gary Oldman was PERFECT as Sirius Black. The movie that definitely took it from a PG to a 12A (which was introduced in 2002 ) SO good.

Speaking of favourites, the birth of my favourite horror franchise 'SAW' The first would be perfectly fine on it's own. It's got incredible twists in it. My jaw literally dropped to the floor when I first watched this. Amazing. 2 and 3 were SO good too. 4, 5, 6 & 7 all vary, but were still somewhat enjoyable.

'Mean Girls' is good fun! I saw it for the first time in 2012 though :') So, I was very late to that party loooool. 'The Notebook' is incredible. So beautiful!

'Shrek 2' was definitely huge. It's even more surprising (and kinda heart warming) to read that everyone had expected it to be panned/under perform slightly. But it ended up doing the complete opposite and was a huge smash which, as a huge film fan, is great to see. What over took this as the highest grossing animation? 'Toy Story 3'?

'Spider-Man 2' is enjoyable. I've only ever seen 'The Day After Tomorrow', once. I can't remember a single thing about it other than the DVD cover :') I shall rewatch at some point though. Jake

'The Incredibles' is really overrated! It's constantly in people's top 5 Pixar lists and it's bottom 5 for me. Not a lot happens at all and I just get underwhelmed by it every time I watch it Like, it's Pixar so it's a solid movie, just nowhere near as good as everyone likes to think it is

'Shaun Of The Dead'! One of my all time favourite movies. Just so watchable and quoteable! The same goes for 'Team America'. Incredible film and has the greatest sex scene of all time.

It seems that 2004 was the year for cult classics! 'Eternal Sunshine..' (good but overrated imo), 'Garden State', 'Napoleon Dynamite', 'Christmas With The Kranks', 'The Machinist', 'Anchorman', 'The Butterfly Effect', 'Mysterious Skin' & 'Dawn Of The Dead' (as well as 'Team America' ofc), all seemed to do ok, but are definitely thought of a lot more highly nowadays I think! A lot of people really like that version of DOTD! I rewatched CWTK over Christmas and I actually enjoyed it more now than I ever did when I first saw it (I hated it so didn't really watch it again until recently).

'The Butterfly Effect' is fantastic! Absolutely brilliant.

LOL 'Home On The Range' :')

'White Chicks' is insanely popular still. It's position in Pop culture rn is honestly up there with 'Mean Girls'. Especially as Terry Crews is in Brooklyn-99 now.

I need to see 'Mysterious Skin', 'Ray', 'Million Dollar Baby', 'The Polar Express' (TINASHE *.*), 'The Machinist' & 'Hotel Rwanda'. I haven't seen 'Crash' but I don't want to :') But maybe I should? I have 'Two Brothers' but have never seen it. Tbh, I daren't. I feel like my heart will be ripped to shreds.

Why did Disney try and stop Fahrenheit 9/11?

Halle Berry turning up at the Razzies *.*

---

So insightful again *.* We stan.

It's so late though, so if I get up early enough I'll do 2005, 2006 and 2007 tomorrow morning. If not. I have a LOOOOOONG night ahead of me :')

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 12th April 2020, 01:04 AM

QUOTE(Jonjo @ Apr 12 2020, 12:38 AM)

FFS Sam. LET ME CATCH UP

Posted by: Nancy 🍾 12th April 2020, 01:19 AM

The Prestige - OMG yes, this is the best movie of 00's for me I just loved it from start to finish. I discovered that Nolan did this one after I watched Dark Knight and Inception and then I was like 'No wonder I loved The Prestige'...apparently having a fave movie maker is a real thing after all!!!


FILM DEBUTS: -> these actors made their debuts in film in 2006
Armie Hammer in Flicka
Eddie Redmayne in Like Minds
Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls - we stan an Oscar winning debut
Mia Wasikowska in Surburban Mayhem
Rami Malek in Night at the Museum
Rebecca Hall in Starter For 10

So many talents in that list...4 of them already oscar winners...Armie was robbed of Oscar nom for Call Me By Your Name

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 12th April 2020, 04:44 AM

2007


Box Office Hits - so many I've acc had to demote some big big hits to the next section
300 - this was a massive hit in the fantasy/action genre, grossing $210m in the US (10th for the year) and $28m in the UK for 16th place.
Alvin & the Chipmunks - starting one of the most iconic and best franchises of all time, Alvin and the Chipmunks was immediately a massive hit over the Xmas franchise with $217m in America (9th) and $23m in the UK (22nd). catch this classic and the rest of the franchise on ITV2 atm. so many classic songs in this *.*
Bee Movie - this did solid enough at the box office; $18m (29th) in UK and $126m (21st) in US. But how could I not include this as its become absolutely iconic overtime and ubitiquous in pop culture for its LIFECHANGING script. iconic.
Disturbia - the Shia LaBeouf thriller marked the first of 3 hits in his breakthrough year and made $80m in the US, with great legs from a $22m opening. I rly want this to go on Netflix or something as I feel it'd gain more of a following again aha.
Enchanted - Amy Adams' Disney classic, which we are still waiting for the sequel for ffs. Enchanted was a much needed hit for Disney over the Thanksgiving period, earning $127m in America (20th) whilst being an even larger hit in the UK $33m (13th) which surprised me.
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer - This did slightly less than its predecessor ($132m, 18th in US and $24m, 19th in the UK), a massive budget, and once again weak reviews killed this iteration of this franchise.
Hairspray - a musical CLASSIC, based on the original non-musical film and the stage show, Hairspray had one of the buzziest ensembles of the year. Was also a big box office hit with $25m in the UK (18th) and $118m in the US (24th), big numbers for a musical!
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix - Harry was reaching new heights in the UK as we get to entry number five, grossing $101m in the UK to be the top film of the year and eked out Shrek 3 for the highest opening of the year by a mere $30,000! Despite box office improvements in the US for this entry ($292m), it could only place 5th for the year cos of tougher competition.
Hot Fuzz - the British comedy with the reteaming of Wright-Pegg-Frost did solid numbers in the US for a v. British property ($23m, 101st), it was a gigantic hit in the UK and smashed with $41m for 12th place! this is still seen as a classic nowadays and is ofc the middle entry of the Cornetto trilogy.
I Am Legend - once again showing the height of Will Smith's box office power in the mid 2000's, this did $51m in the UK (7th) and a massive $256m (6th) in the US. This was 2007's big Xmas hit and posted massive numbers for an original project. though this does feel slightly forgotten for how big it was nowadays.
Knocked Up - The film that sent Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen's career into the stratosphere as we get closer to the 2010's, whilst also being a massive career boost for Katherine Heigl for all of three years. Anyway this posted massive numbers for an original comedy; $148m (14th) in US and $16m (32nd) in the UK. This had great legs in both countries with OW making up 20% of total gross, showing the audience loved this film! It's still really well regarded today.
Live Free or Die Hard - the next entry in the Die Hard franchise came after a long break and did solid numbers; $28m (15th) in the UK and $134m (17th) in the US but was quite frontloaded. I think this is seen as one of the better entries in the franchise.
Mr Bean's Holiday - Like Hot Fuzz, this did solid numbers in America ($33m, 79th) but was a gigantic hit here in the UK as British audiences couldn't get enough of this classic character on-screen, grossing $44m to be the 11th biggest film of the year. Mr Bean ofc still remains an iconic character to date.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets - This actually improved on the first film in America with $220m (8th) so I'm always surprised this didn't turn into a trilogy. Probably why its success feels low-key forgotten nowadays.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Coming straight off the back of DMC, AWE was seen as one of 3 MONSTER films being released in May 2007 (the battle of the sequels of the biggest 2000's franchises; Spider-Man vs Shrek vs Pirates). In this battle, Pirates came 3rd (and 4th for the year) in America with $309m whilst being the highest in this battle in thee UK and 2nd in the year with $81m. Despite a massive budget and a decline from DMC, this was still a major hit for Disney.
Ratatouille - Another Pixar success, this was the 8th biggest film in the UK with $48m whilst it just missed the top 10 for the year in America with $206m, what a shame. This had great legs worldwide and is seen as top-tier Pixar for many people today and kickstarted their 2nd golden era of critically acclaimed smashes.
Shrek The Third - The biggest animation ofc goes to Shrek 3, showing how gigantic this franchise was at the times. Whilst also declining from Shrek 2, it made $322m (2nd) in the US and $78m (3rd) in the UK. Gigantic numbers but this marked the beginning of the end of the franchise with reviews starting to become more negative for the third outing.
Spider-Man 3 - Talking of negative reviews for the third outing, Tobey Maguire's final Spider-Man film received a pretty bad audience reaction. It was the highest grossing film of the year in the US with $336m, but was incredibly frontloaded considering it opened to $151m. SM3 was 5th for the year in the UK with $67m. Massive numbers but imagine how high this could've gone with good reactions. This also kickstarted the superhero May opening weekend trend which is still going on.
St Trinians - idek if this got a release in the US. anyway featuring a massive British cast with icons such as Sarah Harding, St Trinian's was a bit box office hit in the UK with $24m (20th) and was incredibly backloaded. However for a British film, this does feel forgotten about here nowadays and I always forget it got a sequel.
Stardust - whilst this bombed in the US ($38m, 71st), this was absolutely gigantic in the UK and really caught on here with $31m (14th), showing great legs from a $4.5m opening. I do not remember this being so big here and it doesn't feel like it was. However it spawned one of the biggest songs of 2007, Take That's Rule The World.
Superbad - Another comedy hit marking the shift in what would become the 2010's comedies occurred here. Superbad did solidly in the UK ($13m, 35th), but was a massive hit in the US with $121m, 22nd. This ofc broke Jonah Hill out, most of the cast went onto bigger and better things and marked the film debut of Emma Stone <3 this is still highly remembered today and seen as a comedy classic.
The Bourne Ultimatum - The third Bourne film saw the peak of the franchise; with $227m in the US (7th) and $47m in the UK (10th). This was a major late summer hit and was the highest critically acclaimed entry in the franchise, and is still seen as the best nowadays.
The Golden Compass - Another film that bombed in the US ($70m, 39th) but was actually a major hit in the UK ($53m, 6th). However it's UK success wasn't enough to make up for this being a disaster worldwide, with it bankrupting New Line and making a loss and killing any chance of a potential franchise/Narnia like hit. a messT. the film received meh reviews but the book/project is still remembered today.
The Simpsons Movie - It's 13 years since American's favourite family made their one film outing!! and what an iconic film. This so nearly took the title of the biggest animation of the year in the UK with $78m (4th), whilst also posting massive numbers in the US ($183m, 12th). It was unusually frontloaded for an animation in the US with 40% of it's total occurring on opening weekend. However this is still seen as a classic nowadays and one of the Simpsons highest highs.
Transformers - the start of one of the biggest franchises of the decade kicked off with a bang as the Michael Bay-Shia LaBeouf-Megan Fox Hasbro-toy based film was the biggest original project of the year; with $319m in the US (3rd, only $17m away from the top spot) and $48m in the UK (9th and $16,000 from beating Rat), making this a gigantic box office smash that annihilated even the highest of expectations. This is definitely seen as the best and most fun of the Bay Transformers movies, even if that's not saying much.
Wild Hogs - I don't actually think anyone remembers this exists. It did okay in the UK ($12m, 40th) but this made $168m (13th) in the US?!!!! Idek how.

With so many massive sequels, 2007 saw a very close race at the top for the franchises at the global box office. Pirates 3 won out with $963m, Harry 5 not far behind with $940M and was followed by Spidey 3 ($890m) and Shrek 3 ($813m). However the only other sequel was National Treasure 2 with $457m in 9th (this rly was massive!). Despite this, Ratatouille and I Am Legend were the only original films in 6th and 7th. Also placing were Transformers in 5th ($709m), The Simpsons Movie in 8th and 300 in 10th. a nice and varied year and the first time this decade Disney had 3 films top 10! this was the last year to date where no film has grossed $1b worldwide (I would say this probs won't ever lose this stat, but 2020 is coming for its money)


Iconic Classics
28 Weeks Later - the Zombie sequel was a mini-success but earned less acclaim and money than its predecessor and only the first one really feels remembered.
1408 - a nice mini-hit Stephen King adaptation that feels more remembered than it should be.
Beowulf - this had big expectations which it couldn't quite meet
Blades of Glory - another Will Ferrel comedy smash this decade, and one of the most famous winter sports films
Bratz: The Movie - ICONIC. WHEN WILL UR FAVS. Bratz got an iconic big screen outing and should be remembered by everybody <3
Bridge to Terabithia - this has kind of turned into a mini dark childhood classic over the years and did very well at the box office
Epic Movie - my fave of the spoof movies before they became oversaturated. this was frontloaded but a box office hit.
Evan Almighty - the sequel to Bruce Almighty, replacing Jim Carrey with Steve Carell, bombed big time and killed this franchise off for good. It also received dreadful reviews and is pretty much forgotten nowadays.
Fred Claus - a big Xmas box office hit (bigger than the likes of Christmas with the Kranks, Love Actually and Bad Santa in the states) but thankfully feels forgotten now and Vince Vaughn has a way better Xmas film next year.
Ghost Rider - Nicholas Cage's comic book adaptation received lots of hype and did solidly at the box office, whilst receiving average reviews.
Grindhouse - the Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez joint project is probs the least impactful thing Tarantino has ever done but is still remembered just cos of his name.
Halloween - 2007 got another Halloween remake cos that was what was really needed. this however did good at the box office despite poor reviews.
Hannibal Rising - something else that was really needed, a prequel for Hannibal. Audiences had completely had enough of him by this point and rejected this, like critics did too.
Hitman - another video-game adaptation in the mid 2000's that missed the mark it aimed for. Does feel more remembered than most of the video-game failures this decade though
Hostel: Part II/The Hills Have Eyes 2 - 2007 was the quick-cash-in sequels of 2006 horror hits that then bombed unsurprisingly as the cheap horrors were starting to fade and always get critically attacked with the genre in desperate need of a resurrection as the torture-porn horror started to decline.
I Know Who Killed Me - an iconic Lindsay Lohan film in a dual performance. Need I say more? Ofc this was successful at the Razzies
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry - another big Adam Sandler box office hit this decade, whilst receiving one of the worst reviews of his output which says a lot.
Meet The Robinsons - another minor hit for Disney, didn't do awfully but didn't set the box office on fire either and def is nowhere near highly remembered amongst the Disney canon
Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium - This was such a cute Xmas hit but feels so forgotten nowadays that even I forgot that it existed despite watching it all the time when I was younger. I feel this isn't rly on tv that much over Xmas anymore.
Music & Lyrics - the Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore rom-com was another hit in the genre that year and is a fab film that is kinda remembered!
Norbit - Eddie Murphy's diabolical comedy, that was so bad people think it contributed to his shock Oscar loss for Dreamgirls. Kinda remembered nowadays tho for how bad it was
Ocean's Thirteen - did similar business to the first two again, but declined slightly and was the end of the franchise. doesn't get the hit status like the first two cos 2007 was PACKED.
Once - the small-budget musical made a name for itself through the iconic song Falling Slowly and the future broadway/London production of the musical
P.S. I Love You - the Hilary Swank romantic drama was a big box office hit in the UK and did well in the US, based off a romantic novel this is big amongst the soccer moms circles and the Karen's.
Run, Fat Boy, Run - this was a really big hit here in the UK for Simon Pegg but couldn't be put in hits cos of about 5 more solely British films/hits smashing even bigger. this feels completely forgotten nowadays though.
Rush Hour 3 - the franchise had died by this point, it still did well at the box office but it had become a bit of a no1curr.
Saw IV - the 4th sequel was the start of the decline in reviews and box office but was still going strong
Surf's Up - the animation with a fab voice cast did solid box office business and still feels quite well regarded nowadays!
Sunshine - Danny Boyle's sci-fi received mixed reviews and is often either loved or hated
The Darjeeling Limited - another mini mid-hit for Wes Anderson this decade
The Game Plan - the start of Dwayne Johnson's ascent to full movie stardom with this sports movie becoming a surprise box office hit
The Mist - the Stephen King adaptation has gained a cult following over the year
The Orphanage - the foreign-language horror was highly acclaimed and is still passionately raved by horror fans
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising - One of the biggest bombs at the US box office ever.
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep - literally just including this cos I loved it. I'm probs the only person that remembers its existence. Stunning visually too.
Waitress - a mini hit in 2007 that's since become best known through the highly successful Broadway/UK musical and also was a great role for Keri Russell *.*
Zodiac - the David Fincher thriller with an all star ensemble earned fantastic reviews and has held up well nowadays


The Oscars & Awards Season
Wow 2007. a year defined by the Writers Strike, with the Globes not even having an awards ceremony as the winners were announced at a news conference. This year was CRAZY, every precursor had random nominations EVERYWHERE and led to some of the most shocking Oscar noms for a while. However No Country For Old Men was the predominant film of the season. It was the Oscar Best Picture winner and also won the SAG for Best Ensemble. Also winning a Best Pic award this season was Oscar BP nominee Atonement in Globes Drama and Sweeney Todd in Globes Comedy. The other Oscar best pic nominees were Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood and Juno. Joel & Ethan Coen also won the award for Director at the Oscars and BAFTA's. However in a complete shock, Julian Schnabel took home best director for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly at the Globes.

Acting was weird. We had two runaway winners, one two horse race and one of the tightest 5-way races of the decade. Javier Bardem won basically every possible award in Supporting Actor for No Country For Old Men and Daniel Day-Lewis swept everything as well in lead on his way two win a 2nd Best Actor Oscar for There Will Be Blood. Johnny Depp was the winner at the Globes Comedy/Musical for Sweeney Todd. The best actress race was between French newcomer Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose and British veteran Julie Christie for Away From Her. Both won at the Globes, whilst Christie took SAG, but it was Cotillard who won the BAFTA and her first Oscar for her turn as Edith Piaf.

And then we have best supporting actress, wow this was a race. Amy Ryan took home the critics choice for Gone Baby Gone, Cate Blanchett won the globe for her turn as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There and then out of nowhere, American legend Ruby Dee wins SAG for her small turn in American Gangster. All three were nominated for the Oscar and were the only Oscar noms their films received, making it a rarity of three lone nominees. They were joined by Saoirse Ronan who became one of the youngest ever nominees for Atonement and Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton, who took home the BAFTA and Oscar win in the end. such a close race!

And I told you this year was crazy, we gonna break this down by ceremony, amongst other nominees and snubs we had;
Golden Globes - 7 nominees in Best Picture Drama, including Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters getting a completely random lone nom here. Jodie Foster was nommed in Actress for the panned The Brave One. McAvoy and Knightley hit the Globes for Atonement but didn't make it further. The legend herself, Nikki Blonsky, was nominated for Hairspray. John Travolta also scored a supporting actor nom for Hairspray (I never knew this!), Julia Roberts popped up in supporting for Charlie Wilson's War and Bee Movie was a golden globe nominee
SAG - more craziness kicked off. a youthful looking year for once looked set to happen in best actor with Ryan Gosling (Lars & The Real Girl) and Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild) both scoring noms here. Angelina Jolie for a Mighty Heart got both Globes & SAG noms and looked to be a safe nominee. SAG went crazy for Into The Wild, nominating it in ensemble, actor, supporting actor (Hal Holbrook) and supporting actress (Catherine Keener). Tommy Lee Jones got a supporting nom for No Country for Old Men. Ensemble was so random with 3:10 to Yuma randomly getting in here and one of my fave ever noms being Hairspray making it into this category!
BAFTA - and ofc we can rely on BAFTA to bring even more craziness during this decade. American Gangster somehow made best pic despite no acting representation. They went crazy for The Lives of Others, which hit film, director & Actor (Ulrich Muhe). Paul Greengrass was nommed in director for Bourne Ultimatum. McAvoy & Knightley were nominated again. Whilst Kelly Macdonald (who deserved so much better that season) for No Country for Old Men and Samantha Morton scored supporting actress noms for Control. and Shia LaBeouf took home the rising star award *.*

and onto Oscars itself - Joe Wright missed director for Atonement, Tommy Lee Jones in In The Valley of Elah and Laura Linney in the Savages score actor & actress noms despite hitting zero precursors. Despite TLJ being in best pic winner, he was actually snubbed at the Oscars for No Country For Old Men. all three of the young Best Actor contenders (McAvoy/Gosling/Hirsch) ALL missed despite everyone predicting at least one of them, Angelina Jolie missed shockingly.
in terms of secure noms not already mentioned in this section were - Clooney and Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton, Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age (she actually made the razzie longlust for the same performance!!!), Ellen Page for Juno, Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises and Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James... and Phillip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilson's War, one of three films he was in contention for that year.

damn we need another year like this badly!!

other key award winners were No Country For Old Men and Juno picking up script awards at the Oscars (Juno swept screenplay awards this season whilst Diving Bell won BAFTA), and Falling Slowly from Once took home best song in a shock, beating three songs from Enchanted!. The Counterfeiters was the winner of best foreign language film (Diving Bell won the Globe and last years Oscar winner The Lives of Others won BAFTA) and Ratatouille swept animated film everywhere.

also fun fact: Ellen Page became the first under-21 American actress to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar nomination, for her role in Juno (2007). The only other three non-US actresses nominated before her who were also under 21 were Isabelle Adjani (for The Story of Adele H. (1975)), Keisha Castle-Hughes (for Whale Rider (2003)), and Keira Knightley (for Pride & Prejudice (2005).

another fun fact: Joel and Ethan Coen won the Best Director Oscar for No Country for Old Men (2007), marking only the second time in Oscar history that two individuals shared the directing honor. It had first occurred when Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins shared the Best Director win for West Side Story (1961).

Notable Events -
- The Tribeca Film Festival saw big premieres such as Spider-Man 3 and Surf's Up
- 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days won the Palme d'Or - it was known as the Romanian Abortion Film
- The Writer's Guild of America (WGA) went on strike in early November 2007 after a stalemate in negotiations occurred with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Issues included increased compensation for the film and TV writers for DVD residuals and compensation for "new media" distribution (content distributed through emerging digital technologies, such as the Internet, including downloads, streaming, smart phones, and video on demand, etc.). When the 3-month strike ended in mid-February 2008, it was estimated that it resulted in a total loss of $2.5 billion show-business. The 100-day, industry-wide Writers Guild of America strike was resolved 12 days before the Academy Awards ceremony was scheduled to take place in 2008, leaving it unaffected. -> one of the biggest events of the decade, causing major production delays and hits and saw many changes in the film industry in this time; the Golden Globe winners were read out in a press conference! fascinating times.
- The American Film Institute (AFI) held its 10 year anniversary of 100 Years...100 Movies series begun in 1998, and revised its 100 Greatest American Films listing, retaining Citizen Kane (1941) as its number one choice.
- The film magazine Premiere, which first began publishing in the US in the pre-Internet world of 1987, issued its final print publication with its April 2007 issue.
- Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni passed away on July 30th 2007
- The film magazine Premiere, which first began publishing in the US in the pre-Internet world of 1987, issued its final print publication with its April 2007 issue.
- At the Razzies, Eddie Murphy received a single-year record five nominations for one film: Norbit (2007): three acting nominations (one for each character he played: Norbit, Mr. Wong, and Rasputia), one for Worst Screen Couple (for his multiple characters again) and one for Worst Screenplay.
- The highest-grossing movie series of all-time, up to this date, was the Harry Potter films, five films from 2001 to 2007, grossing $4.69 billion (worldwide). Next closest were the 21 Bond films, beginning with Dr. No (1962) through Casino Royale (2006), grossing $4.355 billion (worldwide).
- The MPAA, formed in 1922, had long warred with filmmakers and studios over the content of films and its voluntary ratings system. Everything came to head with director/producer Kirby Dick's documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006), which demonstrated how difficult it was to learn who served on the MPAA board and how it made ratings decisions. A film's rating could often seriously impact a film's success, and often dictated that a filmmaker's vision had to be edited or revised in order to avoid an NC-17 rating. The MPAA met with independent filmmakers and studio executives at the Sundance Film Festival, and discussed changes and revisions that the organization intended to make - for example, make ratings rules and regulations public, describe the standards for each rating and the appeals process, reveal more about the board's members, and allow a filmmaker to cite scenes in another film when appealing a harsh rating.
- In late February of 2007, Netflix (a subscription service launched in September 1999) announced the delivery of its billionth DVD. It took the DVD rental company about seven and a half years to reach that milestone. Netflix claimed it was less time than it took McDonald's to sell one billion hamburgers. In April of 2009, only a little over two years later, it again announced its 2 billionth DVD delivery. -> a company you may have heard of this decade
- Director Adam Rifkin's fictional feature film titled Look (2007), with interweaving story-lines, was the first U.S. mainstream movie to depict events solely through the "eyes" and point-of-view of surveillance devices and video cameras
- From Russia With Love (1963, UK) became the first James Bond film to be broadcast on BBC-TV.
- Superbad became the highest grossing teen comedy of all time
- Beowulf used advanced motion-capture technology to transform live action into digital animation, it received the biggest 3D rollout of any film in history at this point.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) opened at 4,362 theaters on its opening weekend - an all-time record. The film also set the record as the most expensive film ever made (not adjusted for inflation), setting a new bar at $300 million budgeted for production costs. (If adjusted for inflation to 2010, it would be $315 million. Cleopatra (1963) at $44 million in 1963 equated to $310 million in 2010 dollars.)
- I Know Who Killed Me also broke Razzie records with 9 noms and 8 wins.
- Spider-Man 3 had the biggest US opening weekend of all time
- Hollywood experienced its first-ever $4billion summer


and a new mini section:
FILM DEBUTS: -> these actors made their debuts in film in 2007
Andrew Garfield in Lions for Lambs
Andy Samberg in Hot Rod
Christopher Mintz-Plasse in Superbad
Legend Emma Stone in Superbad *.*
Gemma Arterton in St Trinian's
Katherine Waterston in Michael Clayton
Michael Fassbender in 300
Legend Saoirse Ronan in Atonement and I Could Never Be Your Woman
Tom Hiddleston in Unrelated
Zoe Kravitz in No Reservations


Samantha Recommends:



2007 was a good year. However the top 2 was runaway, with only Atonement coming close. Hairspray is one of my favourite musicals of all time. The ensemble is INCREDIBLE (Amanda Bynes & John Travolta are personal highlights and Zac Efron serves one of the best he's ever looked, everyone else is fab too), the colours and visual style are amazing, the soundtrack is KILLER (so much so that I've accidentally brought it 4 times cos I kept forgetting I owned it). You Can't Stop The Beat is the perfect end musical number and others like Without Love/The Nicest Kids in Town/Ladies Choice/Run & Tell That are all perfect <3 I literally know all the lyrics and I've seen this so many times. Just perfection <3

The Simpsons Movie is another all time favourite that I watched 24/7 when I was a kid. the motel scene with Close To You and the dome over Springfield <3. The characters are ofc iconic and amazing in this and ALL get their moment to shine. The plot is great and this doesn't ever feel like a rip-off movie. Laugh out loud moments with all the heart of the best of the Simpsons makes this an absolute triumph and one of the year's best.

this years batch is definitely weaker in terms of big highlights than the last few years and most wouldn't have made my top 5 the last few years: the only film that came rly close to my top 2 was Alvin & the Chipmunks but I preferred the 2nd one so it was a quite comfortable 3rd here. (EDIT: actually Atonement as well, I keep forgetting to include Oscar films cos I do that writeup last aha. I adore Atonement, the ensemble and plot is incredible. Also Dreamgirls would've been in my top 2 for 2006 but I forgot about it oops). This year had loads of films I really really liked but didn't absolutely love haha but I thought I'll give them a shoutout anyway (Mr Bean's Holiday, Epic Movie, Music & Lyrics, Once, Surf's Up, The Game Plan, The Water Horse, Mr Magorium's Wonderful Emporium - another fab xmas flick, Hot Fuzz, Shrek the Third, Bratz: The Movie - iconic and so fun idec)

I don't believe either are currently available on streaming but I could be wrong!

What are your favourites? what are your movie memories of this year? what iconic movie song did you prefer, Rule the World or You Can't Stop The Beat?

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 12th April 2020, 04:45 AM

and we will round up with 2008 and 2009 tomorrow!!

Posted by: dan.G* 12th April 2020, 07:55 AM

great read! here's what I've seen from the list:

2000:
Chicken Run [didn't like]
X Men [I think it was this one, I do remember watching one of the earlier ones that was on Netflix]

2001:
Monsters Inc
Shrek [iconic!]
LOTR [loved this whole trilogy, I should make an effort to watch it again sometime this year]
Spy Kids [loved this trilogy as a kid but I get the feeling it would age badly if I ever give it a rewatch]

2002:
About a Boy
Austin Powers [can't remember if it was this exact one but I did see a fair few of them I think it was about 10 years ago]
Ice Age
Spiderman
Star Wars 2
LOTR 2
Spy Kids 2

2003:
Elf [I only finally watched it about 2 years ago I think it was, it did somewhat live up to the hype]
Finding Nemo [fave of the year - it may even be my all time fave kids film]
Johnny English
Love Actually [didn't enjoy it oops]
LOTR 3
Terminator 3
School of Rock [this was also a fave way back in the day]
Spy Kids 3

2004:
Mean Girls [this was as a Buzzjack watch along! probs wouldn't have seen it otherwise]
Shark Tale
Shrek 2 [fave of the year, though Incredibles comes close - never got round to Shrek 3 surprisingly considering how much I liked the first 2 but apparently it's not half as good as those anyway]
Incredibles
Polar Express [didn't like]
Dodgeball

2005:
Charlie and the Chocolate
Fantastic 4
Madagascar [fave of the year - loved this but never bothered to watch the sequels]
Star Wars 3
Narnia
Wallace & Gromit

2006:
Cars [didn't like]
Happy Feet
Ice Age
Night at the Museum [fave of the year]
Step Up
Charlottes Web [we were made to see this at school, wouldn't have bothered otherwise]

2007:
Alvin & the Chipmunks
Bee Movie
Fantastic 4
Hot Fuzz [fave of the year]
The Golden Compass

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 12th April 2020, 09:18 AM

2006 was a slow year in terms of me going to the cinema. I went to see Casino Royale and Stormbreaker and that’s all I can think of!

2007 had so many more moments! Simpson’s Movie, Harry Potter, Shrek the Third (this was proper disappointing for me) Die Hard 4, Stardust, so many memories!

Posted by: Jonjo 12th April 2020, 02:22 PM

2005:

Seemed to be a pretty decent year, if unspectacular. 'War Of The Worlds' was good I thought! I feel like a lot of people give it a hard time nowadays but I recently rewatched it and I really enjoyed it again! I also think 'Goblet Of Fire' gets a hard time too. But I think that's more from the fans of the books as this seemed to be the movie that differentiated more from the book than any of the other movies.

'Walk The Line' is one of my favourite movies of all time. My favourite music biopic. Incredible performances and I'm absolutely GUTTED it didn't get a Best Pic nomination at the Oscars, despite being one of the big favourites!

I didn't realise 'Chicken Little' was that much of a hit! Maybe it's just seen as a dip in quality in general as opposed to box office takings. It's a cute enough movie. I enjoyed it more on my rewatch recently than I did when I saw it 10+ years ago!

'Fantastic Four' is another movie I hadn't seen before but I recently watched it and the sequel and actually enjoyed them both! They're extremely cheesy and corny but they have a charm to them.

The less said about that AWFUL 'Charlie & The Chocolate Factory', the better. I didn't love 'King Kong' either. SO long for that film when it didn't need to be :\

'Batman Begins' *.* Another movie (well the whole trilogy) I rewatched recently and it holds up really well. One of the best Superhero origin movies.

'The 40 Year Old Virgin' is good fun! So funny. Especially name checking the Queen in an ICONIC scene *.* "AHHH KELLY CLARKSON!" I didn't realise just how big 'Wedding Crashers' was, that's insane! It has some good moments tbh. Like the dinner table scene!

I didn't like 'The Exorcism Of Emily Rose' much, ngl. Maybe I need to rewatch it. 'The Amityville Horror' remake is good. I enjoyed it iirc. However, one of my favourite ever horror movies was released this year, 'Wolf Creek'. Such a brilliant, tense and nerve wracking horror movie. The 2nd one is appalling though. But thankfully this holds up on it's own so I just watch that now. Not seen it for a while actually, gonna rewatch it. 'Saw 2' is excellent too! I think it's the first time we saw "the game" in motio and played out! Again, excellent twists.

'Hostel' is another horror movie that I really love. The "torture-porn" genre is very hit and miss, but when they get it right it's one of the most harrowing and "fun" (?) movie experiences.

'Howl's Moving Castle' is very good. One of just a couple of Ghibli films I've actually seen! Ugh 'Rent'. So boring. I really don't get the hype. Although I saw an amateur production of it last year and it was a lot better, so maybe it works better as a stage show instead?

I've not seen any of the best picture nominess this year. I should watch 'Crash' (I don't want to - but it's too iconic of a win for me to ignore lol) and 'Brokeback Mountain' at least. Jake Gyllenhaal deserves so much more recognition as an actor. One of the finest actors today imo. So under appreciated.

I really need to see 'A History Of Violence'.

OMG just got to the part where you recommended C&TCF! LMAO! Sorry, but I hated it! </3 (I grew up on the original though, so maybe I'm biased - I daren't watch it again lmao)

2006 & 2007 will come later when I've charged my laptop

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 12th April 2020, 04:41 PM

2008


Box Office Hits -
Bolt - Another solid but not massive hit for Disney this decade with just fine reviews. Bolt made $114m in the US to finish 22nd for the year and I stan the dog & cat in this film *.* however this def feels forgotten amongst the Disney canon nowadays.
Four Christmases - The modern-day Christmas classic with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn and a big ensemble of famous movie stars is always on TV nowadays and does feel pretty well remembered! It was also a big box office hit with $120m in the US (21st) and $16m in the UK (24th), one of the bigger box office Christmas hits of the year!
Eagle Eye - The Shia LaBeouf thriller was a big hit in the US with $101m (27th) for the year and this was always on TV when I was younger. This isn't one of the defining hits of 2008 but doesn't feel like its completely disappeared.
Hancock - I actually forgot just how big Will Smith was as a box office draw in this decade until this.Hancock grossed $227m in the US (4th) and $49m in the UK (6th), a massive box office hit for an original blockbuster. This does feel like it has faded a bit nowadays though from the mainstream & never received a sequel.
High School Musical 3 - This was the first film in one of the biggest trilogies of the decade to receive a cinema release. Shame it's the only bad one of the trilogy and most people disregard it, with 1 remaining the classic and 2 also remaining a classic and has the most iconic songs bar Breaking Free. #3 on the other hand has a weak soundtrack (bar I Want It All and High School Musical) and messy plot. However it was a major box office smash with $42m in the UK (7th) and $90m in the US (33rd). It was very frontloaded however, it's opening weekend in America made up 46.4% of its total!!
Horton Hears a Who - The Dr Seuss adaptation posted great numbers in the US $154m (10th) whilst was less successful here with $17m (21st). Still pretty good numbers but this doesn't feel like one of the first movies that comes to mind when talking about Dr Seuss cinema adaptations.
Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Another classic trilogy received a sequel in 2008 with Harrison Ford returning as Indy and Shia LaBeouf and Cate Blanchett joining the franchise. This received the weakest reviews of the franchise (it was actually quite acclaimed by critics at the time but audiences weren't massive on it) but ofc on name alone it was one of the biggest hits of the year; Indy grossed $79m in the UK (4th) and $317m in the US (3rd). A major hit.
Iron Man - Y'all know this one, the start of Marvel's dominance occurred towards the end of the decade and was massive in showing what the next trend and shift would be at the box office, as the first Avengers film changed the game forever. Iron Man received great reviews and grossed $318m in the US to just take the 2nd spot and $34m in the UK (11th). This ofc harrowed in the usual Avengers first week-of-May opening weekend and is still one of the best in the franchise to date.
Kung Fu Panda - Another massive DreamWorks franchise kicked off this year, with Po the Panda being instantly iconic worldwide and grossing $39m in the UK (9th) and $215m in the US (6th). A major animated hit that is still widely loved today.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - The 2nd Madagascar film is seen as the weakest of the trilogy and is also the lowest grossing; however it still made big bank with $180m in the US (8th) and $35m in the UK (9th).
Mamma Mia - We love and stan Abba *.* This an all-time classic with a killer ensemble of famous stars, led by Meryl Streep, and many classic Abba songs featured. Mamma Mia was a major hit in the States with $144m (13th), becoming one of the biggest musical hits ever. However the real talking part is ofc the UK, where with £69m/$132m gross, it became the HIGHEST GROSSING film of all time at this point in date. An absolute phenomenon that lasted in the top 2 at the box office forever and just didn't ever stop raking in the money. Truly incredible just how big this smashed. And it still remains widely known today, one of 2008's defining films.
Marley & Me - I always associate this with 2009 (it came out in the UK in mid-March) but was one of the big hits over the Xmas period in 2008 in America, defying expectations for a $143m gross (14th). This is one of the most known dog films and literally everybody talked about Marley when I was younger, a classic <3 also the saddest film of 2008.
Quantum of Solace - Daniel Craig's 2nd entry in the Bond franchise underwhelmed critically and grossed less than Casino Royale in the States, earning $168m (9th). However it still did amazing in the UK with $90m and took 2nd place for the year. This def isn't seen as a Bond classic, as much as ITV1 like to show it.
Sex & The City - The big screen adaptation of the hit American series was a massive success on the screen. S&TC grossed a massive $52m in the UK (5th) and did $152m in the US (11th). One of the defining TV/film franchises of this decade and is often seen as a 2000's classic. Also one of the biggest successes of TV to film crossover this decade.
Step Brothers - Another Will Ferrell comedy, another success (with $100m in the US, 28th) and $12m in the UK (35th). This is seen as one of his best nowadays and has held up really well over time, and is seen as a 2000's comedy-staple classic.
Step Up 2: The Streets - This is the film that box office numbers most surprised me whilst doing this. It wasn't anywhere as near as big in the US as I thought it was ($58m, 53rd) but it was about 5x bigger in the UK than I thought ($21m, 15th). Probs explains why this franchise was so popular here in the late 2000's! A dance movie classic that's a staple of the genre.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - The 2nd Narnia film underwhelmed massively, with worse reviews and a sharp decline in box office as the franchise moved to summer. Narnia made $21m in the UK (14th) and $141m in the US (15th), good numbers but a sharp cry from its predecessor and it showed very weak legs due to mediocre audience reactions. It was a mess moving this to summer, the first had such a perfect winter feel and was perfect for that time of year.
The Dark Knight - The most acclaimed superhero movie of all time debuted in theatres in 2008 as the middle part of Nolan's/Bale's Batman trilogy shattered box office records and was critically acclaimed massively. TDK was the biggest film of the year in the US with $533m, whilst it settled for 3rd place in the UK with $89m. Gigantic numbers and this was the start of superhero's dominance coming into place.
The Incredible Hulk - However not all superhero films were hits, as the 2nd entry in the Marvel franchise did okay numbers ($15m, 27th in the UK and $134m, 17th in the US) and is mostly forgotten nowadays and regarded as one of the worst in the Avengers canon, with casting replacements for future entries and weak reviews for this one.
Tropic Thunder - the Ben Stiller comedy brought its ensemble cast major success and was a box office smash ($110m, 23rd in the US and $15m, 26th in the UK) and was critically acclaimed. This is still fondly remembered as another comedy-classic from this decade.
Twilight - Another franchise made it's big screen debut this year and would define the late 2000's/early 2010's as Twilight-mania took over. The first film received week reviews but did very well at the box office ($192m, 7th in US and $16m, 23rd in the UK), before doing even better on DVD and exploding with future entries and starting fandom wars forever. A shit film but an iconic one that is certainly still remembered.
WALL.E - Pixar's masterpiece. WALL.E received some of the best reviews ever for an animation and did big business at the box office with $223m in the US (5th) and $41m in the UK (7th). This is still regarded as one of the best animations of all time and one of Pixar's best, the titular character and EVE remain iconic and the film's themes are still relevant today. A 2008 defining film.
Wanted - The James McAvoy/Angelina Jolie action thriller was a big hit at the box office ($19m, 17th in the UK and $134m, 18th in the US) and was always on TV when I grew up. This received solid reviews and is still well remembered, despite never getting a sequel after plans fell through.

Unsurprisingly, The Dark Knight won the year with just over a billion, which it passed with an IMAX reissue in 2009. The Dark Knight reached $400m in the US in record time (18 days) and was only the 2nd film after Titanic to pass the $500m mark in the US. The rest of the top 10 consisted of 3 superhero films (Hancock 4th & Iron Man 8th), three animations (Kung Fu Panda 3rd, Madagascar 2 6th, WALL.E 9th), iconic franchises action sequels (Indiana Jones 2nd with $790m, Quantum of Solace 7th, Narnia 10th) and ofc Mamma Mia with $609m in 5th, which as mentioned earlier became the highest grossing film in UK history until Avatar's release. 2008's box office gross was just $30m under 2007 so it didn't become the highest grossing year. However a big success with six films over $600m worldwide and the top 9 all over $530m.


Iconic Classics
21 - the poker film was a nice box office hit and is a very late 2000's film, including controversial castings.
27 Dresses - The Katherine Heigl comedy was another nice rom-com hit this decade and is fondly remembered amongst rom-com fans
Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging - This was a big British hit and is still referenced quite a bit today surprisingly.
Australia - The Baz Luhrmann epic with Hugh Jackman & Nicole Kidman completely missed expectations at the box office and with reviews and feels forgotten nowadays.
Bedtime Stories - Another major Adam Sandler hit this decade which was more aimed at a younger audience.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua - A Disney classic and box office hit, who couldn't love a film about chihuahua's. This spawned many direct-to-dvd sequels
Body of Lies/Righteous Kill - some iconic team ups (Ridley Scott-Russell Crowe-Leo DiCaprio and Al Pacino-Robert De Niro reunion) that floundered in reviews and box office and made little impact.
Cloverfield - a big box office success (despite being very frontloaded) and ushered in a shift in horror towards success in the found footage genre. This probs should've been in the top category oops. Whilst receiving bad reviews, this flick is iconic and is known for making audiences at the time feel sick when watching this in cinema's.
Get Smart - Another nice hit for Steve Carell & Anne Hathaway this decade, based off the TV.
Fly Me to the Moon 3D - Another one of the IMAX/animation hits that stook around for ages cos of the IMAX appeal.
Fool's Gold - 2008 was full of rom-com hits, this one feels a bit forgotten now but was a big hit for the reteaming of Kate Hudson & Matthew McCounaghey at the time.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - The Jason Segal-Mila Kunis comedy is always on British TV which has probs help keeps its relevance and being remembered in culture. Another very 2000's comedy classic.
Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert - The Disney icon shattered US box office records, opening to $30m despite playing in very limited theatres. This highlighted just how big Disney's success was becoming through its TV properties towards the end of the decade.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Great reviews once again for the sequel but underperformed at the box office because of the stupid stupid decision to release this a week before The Dark Knight (and they didn't learn through releasing the reboot 2 weeks before Endgame). this is still highly regarded though!
Igor - This animation was big when I was younger but I feel like everyone forgets it exists now.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth - This capitalised on the 3D trend early which allowed it to be a big hit.
Jumper - an early 2008 box office hit but failed to start a franchise & feels forgotten now.
Made of Honor - Another 2000's rom-com hit that's always on TV
Meet the Spartans/Superhero Movie/Disaster Movie - The beginning of the end of the spoof films as they began to be oversaturated and each one got worse reviews and worse box office as times went on, with Spartans being the only box office hit.
Mirrors - 2008 really was the year of solidly performing horrors and rom-coms that are kinda remembered amongst their niche's.
Nim's Island - Another children's film that I stanned heavily at the time that feels low-key forgotten about nowadays
Pineapple Express - Another big 2008 stoner-comedy hit that's still remembered pretty well today tbh.
Prom Night - The horror remake did well at the box office but received weak reviews. Good cast tho.
Quarantine - the US remake of REC is relevant today for it's title
Saw V - The Saw franchise started to become oversaturated as this decreased at both the box office and in reviews.
Space Chimps - Another animation classic, that I stanned like crazy.
Speed Racer - The big-budget Wachowski's follow-up to The Matrix BOMBED gigantically at the box office, becoming one of the biggest money losers ever. It has developed a cult following overtime though.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Star Wars animation live-screen outing did well but yeah I don't even think Star Wars fans really remember this.
The Day the Earth Stood Still - The big-budget blockbuster for Keanu Reeves did average and received poor reviews.
The Eye - Another horror remake starring Jessica Alba that did solid business.
The Happening - A further collapse into M. Night Shylaman's career with career-worst reviews for Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel. those f***ing trees. this still remains known and iconic for all the wrong reasons and its beyond stupid plot.
The House Bunny - a late comedy classic with Anna Faros & Emma Stone that does feel like its picked up a following over the last decade.
The Love Guru - The end of Mike Myers career and a massive dominater at the Razzies, a messT.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - did solid business but couldn't reach the highs of the two previous entries as this trilogy died out after a long break.
The Spiderwick Chronicles - A pretty nice hit in the UK was this children's franchise, but it didn't fully take off and never received a sequel and kinda disappeared.
The Spirit - This kind of Sin-City spin-off bombed big time and was a disaster.
The Strangers - Another low-budget 2008 horror hit that's got a good reputation amongst horror fans.
The Tale of Despereaux - Another 2008 animation that is only here cos I stanned it as I feel nobody else remembers its existence.
The X Files: I Want to Believe - Unlike Sex & The City, this popular TV show failed to translate to the big screen and underperformed massively at the box office.
What Happened in Vegas - another 2008 rom-com smash (like Cloverfield this probs should've been in the 1st section) and was another big hit for Cameron Diaz and is still loved by rom-com fans today <3
Wild Child - Emma Roberts' best role & performance by far, this never received a proper release in the US but was a big smash in the UK and was iconic for all teens during this period. It's faded a bit overtime but still gets referenced quite a bit!
Yes Man - Another Jim Carrey comedy hit that feels totally forgotten nowadays
You Don't Mess with the Zohan - Another Adam Sandler comedy hit that is seen as one of his better films and ofc smashed at the box office.


The Oscars & Awards Season
2008 saw a more return to normal after the crazy year of 2007, with many sweeps or two-horse races. However we will start with this year being a game changer in Oscars history. The shock snub of acclaimed superhero flick The Dark Knight for typical Oscar-bait caused a widespread outcry (also added through WALL.E being snubbed too which was likely in 7th place). This led to the Oscars expanding the best picture lineup to 10 films from 2009! Anyway onto this season and Slumdog Millionaire was a gigantic box office hit and swept best picture everywhere, deserved tbh. The only other winner was Vicky Christina Barcelona at the Globes musical/comedy. Danny Boyle also swept for Best Director for Slumdog Millionaire everywhere and the film won 8 out of its 10 Oscar noms, making it one of the biggest Oscar successes of the decade. Also nominated for Picture were The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader, the latter causing the controversy by beating TDK to the nom.

The male actor categories saw two very different races. In Best Supporting Actor, Heath Ledger swept for his iconic supporting turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight and he won the Oscar posthousmly after passing away in late January </3 Best Actor was a very strong two-horse race between Sean Penn for Milk and Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler. The former was aiming for his 2nd Oscar whilst the latter was making a big Hollywood career comeback. Rourke won the Globe Drama and BAFTA, but it was Sean Penn who took home SAG and his 2nd Oscar win. The other winner that year was Colin Farrell in Globes Comedy/Musical for In Bruges, who deserved an Oscar nom. Oscar nominations this year saw Brad Pitt for The Curious case of Benjamin Button and Robert Downey Jr returning to acclaim through a rare comedy Oscar nom in supporting for Tropic Thunder. Michael Shannon was a surprise nom in supporting for Revolutionary Road, people certainly weren't expecting him to be the only acting representation from this film at the start of awards season! other nominees were Richard Jenkins in The Visitor, Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon, Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt and Josh Brolin in Milk. Amongst snubs were Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire, who suffered category confusion as got a lead nom at BAFTA but supporting at SAG as they tried to fraud him there. This really was the year of category fraud failures. Brendan Gleeson scored a lead nom at Globes & supporting nom for In Bruges and Brad Pitt was double-nommed at BAFTA for Burn after Reading. James Franco also got a surprise globe nom for Pineapple Express in actor comedy/musical and Tropic Thunder scored double supporting noms with Downey Jr and also Tom Cruise, they really loved their comedies that year. Tbh though there were no major snubs in any of the acting categories this year, and the only surprise of the whole season was Kate's category changing placements throughout the season.

Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress was the year of Kate Winslet, as it was finally her turn to be overdue and win her Oscar on her 5th nomination (iirc, it might've been 6th). She had two massive contenders in lead roles in Revolutionary Road and The Reader. In Oscar campaign fashion, she went lead for RR and supporting for The Reader. She won two Golden Globes (Lead in Drama for RR and Supporting for The Reader) and won SAG supporting for The Reader. However the BAFTA's rejected this category fraud by nominating both Winslet performances in lead, where she won for The Reader. And as only one performance can be nominated per category at the Oscars, Kate Winslet was nominated in lead and won for The Reader whilst being snubbed in Revolutionary Road as the supporting category fraud of The Reader was also rejected by the Oscars. (She def would've had enough votes to get both nominated in lead if allowed). So Kate basically had an Oscar-sweep this year across two categories. This allowed Penelope Cruz to win the Oscar and SAG in supporting for Vicky Christina Barcelona as she was the clear alternative to Winslet. Other best actress winners included Meryl Streep taking home the SAG for Doubt and an Oscar-snubbed Sally Hawkins winning the Globes Comedy/Musical for Happy-Go-Lucky. Other nominees at the Oscars included; Anne Hathaway scoring her 1st Oscar nom in lead actress for Rachel Getting Married, a surprise nom for Melissa Leo in Frozen River and Angelina Jolie making the line-up this year for Changeling after her snub last year. In supporting we had double noms for Doubt with Viola Davis and Amy Adams, Marisa Tomei scoring another nom for The Wrestler and Taraji P. Henson sneaking into this category off the strength of her film for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Amongst snubs and other noms at other ceremonies, we had: Kristin Scott Thomas got a lead actress BAFTA and Globe Drama nom for I've Loved You So Long, BAFTA's stanned the acting in Slumdog Millionaire & Burn After Reading with Freida Pinto and Tilda Swinton picking up noms there. Meryl Streep got a Golden Globe nom for Mamma Mia *.*

other key award winners were Slumdog Millionaire and Milk picking up script awards at the Oscars (Slumdog swept screenplay awards this season whilst In Bruges won BAFTA), and Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire took home best song, one of the best winners of the decade. Departures was the winner of best foreign language film (Waltz With Bashir won Globes and I've Loved You So Long won BAFTA) and WALL.E deservedly swept animated film everywhere.

also fun fact: Waltz with Bashir (2008, Israel) was the first animated film to be nominated in the Best Foreign Film Oscar category.


Notable Events -
- 2008 is one of the biggest years ever for movies, comic book films hit the zenith & gained critical respectability, animations were highly lauded, Marvel laid the groundwork and iconic characters returned to the screen.
- Forbes reported that 23 year-old actress Keira Knightley became the second highest-paid Hollywood actress with earnings of $32 million in 2007 for her roles in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and Atonement (2007), behind Cameron Diaz with earnings of $50 million for her roles in the Shrek films and What Happens in Vegas (2008). Will Smith was the highest-paid Hollywood actor earning $80 million, while second place went to Johnny Depp with earnings of $72 million. Will Smith was the first actor to have eight straight movies take in more than $100 million at the box office.
- Heath Ledger passed away in January 2008 <//3 He was the second performer to win a posthumous acting Oscar.
- The WGA strike ends in February
- Indiana Jones had the 2nd highest grossing Memorial Day weekend debut of all time at the time
- A massive fire destroys portions of facilities at Universal Studios in Universal City near Los Angeles, California.
- As a result of the Disney's Channel wildly popular and wholesome telepic High School Musical (2006) that was popular with a new demographic of 'tweens' or 'tweenagers' (early teens between childhood and pubescence), a spinoff was released titled High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) - the first 'High School Musical' to open in cinemas and broke the record for the highest-scoring musical opening of all time.
- The Wachowski Brothers' live-action cartoon Speed Racer (2008), an adaptation of the Japanese anime of the same name, was a big flop, with a total domestic gross of only $43.9 million (and $93.9 million worldwide), way below expectations since the film's production costs were over $120 million.
- Actor Will Smith scored his eighth straight $100 million hit movie (his fifth for a July 4th release), with the release of Hancock (2008). He became the only actor in history to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office. His wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith had the most consecutive $100 million gross movies for an actress: 4 films. Her seven $100+ million films included: The Nutty Professor (1996), Scream 2 (1997), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), Collateral (2004), Madagascar (2005), and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008).
- The American Film Institute (AFI) another list in its continuing series, 100 Years...100 Movies, this one titled AFI's 10 Top 10, to recognize the top 10 greatest American films in cinematic history in ten major film genres.
- In the Italian film, Cartoline da Roma (2008, It.) (aka Postcards From Rome), Guinness World Records claimed that a record was set for the longest time spent running in a film by one character. It marked "the longest run in movie history." Giulio Base, an actor playing himself, ran (while jogging with his dog) for 1 hr, 14 min, and 10 sec.
- According to the top 100 Celebrity List on Forbes, film producer Jerry Bruckheimer's earnings of $145 million for the year put him in 4th place, one step ahead of Steven Spielberg (at $130 million). The prolific producer's ranking was partially due to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), the third and final installment in the series that was the top-grossing movie in 2007.
- Activity of film criticism started to move from print form to online.
- Summer of 2008 (defined as the first Friday in May through Labor Day Weekend) was a record-setting, box-office season, with $4.2 billion in US box-office. Super-heroes contributed about 30% of the $4.2 billion gross. The top five films of the entire year, with plots about comic-book and other super-heroes or other-worldly figures, were all released in the summer.
- Director John Woo's epic historical war drama Red Cliff (2008, China/HK) became the most expensive movie ever made in Asia - at $80 million.
- Director Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna (2008) was the first Hollywood feature film about African-American soldiers (portrayed by four black actors) who fought during World War II in the US Army (the all-black 92nd Infantry Division of Buffalo Soldiers) in the European theater.
- The romantic comedy Sex and the City (2008), based upon HBO's 1998-2004 cable TV series, was the biggest 'chick flick' on record at $153 million (domestic) and $415 million (worldwide).
- Co-writer/director Sean Anders' raunchy, R-rated sex comedy Sex Drive (2008) was probably the first US film to depict 'texting' (aka text message) on-screen as a pop-up.
- Saw surpassed Friday the 13th as the highest-grossing horror series in film history at this point.
- Female director Catherine Hardwicke's vampire romance Twilight (2008) earned $70.6 million in its opening weekend box-office, breaking the record for the biggest opening for a female director. At the time, it was the highest-grossing film (domestic) by a female director. Also, A record was established with Phyllida Lloyd’s Mamma Mia! (2008) - highest-grossing film (worldwide) directed by a woman, at $609.8 million (worldwide), yet only $144 million (domestic). This record would be surpassed in 2011.
- Sydney Pollack and Paul Newman passed away in 2008 </3
- The 22nd official Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008) reached the $100 million mark faster than any other film in the 47 year-old 007 franchise - in only 9 days
- From 1986 to 2008, actor Tom Cruise appeared in the most $100 million dollar-grossing films (15 blockbusters), making him the most 'over-paid' actor in big-budget movies.
- DreamWorks, which had been acquired by Viacom's Paramount in 2005, ended its troubled 2 1/2 year partnership with the studio in late 2008. A few months later in early 2009, DreamWorks realized its intentions to reinvent itself as an independent company. It signed a long-term, 30-picture distribution deal with the Disney Company for five-years. Future films would be released by Disney's Touchstone Pictures division.
- 20th Century Fox announced that it would produce a sequel to its hit film Wall Street (1987), with both Oliver Stone back as director and Best Actor-winning Michael Douglas reprising his role as greedy Gordon Gekko. It was speculated it would be titled Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (2010). The announcement occurred in October of 2008 during the country's major financial crisis, a week after the Dow suffered its worst weekly drop ever - a five-day 1,874-point decline (or 18% of its value), ending at a new five-year low of 8,451.19.


and a new mini section:
FILM DEBUTS: -> these actors made their debuts in film in 2008
Chadwick Boseman in The Express: The Ernie Davis Story
Felicity Jones in Flashbacks of a Fool
Jennifer Lawrence in Garden Party
Jessica Chastain in Jolene
Margot Robbie in Vigilante
Rooney Mara in Dream Boy

Felicity's film is the only one I have ever heard of, oops.


Samantha Recommends:



2008 is the best. So many utter classics. But we do have a runaway top 2. WALL.E is my favourite film of the decade I have seen it a million times, WALL.E is the best character of the decade, WALL.E & EVE are the best couple of the decade, the animation is absolutely stunning and all the sequences are BEAUTIFUL, the most perfect and beautiful atmosphere is created, the themes are relevant to today's society and explored wonderfully, the plot is fantastic and the music & score are stunning. Pixar and animation at its absolute best and an all-time classic and fave for me. A wonderful, amazing, incredible, quite honestly perfect film <3

Mamma Mia is another film I watched about 5,000 times when growing up. Ugh this ensemble is just PERFECTLY casted, with Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Julie Walters and Christine Baranski and basically everyone just giving iconic life-giving turns and performances. This film is so much fun, the songs are ofc amazing and I have listened to the soundtrack about a billion times (Lay All Your Love On Me is the best song and sequence, other highlights are Honey, Honey, Mamma Mia, The Winner Takes It All and SOS and Gimme Gimme Gimme) but quite honestly every song choice works perfectly. The post-credits sequence with Waterloo is amaze cos that was always my fave Abba song at that time *.* This film makes the best with the iconic material of one of the best ever bands and is an amazing adaptation of the hit stage show, another all time sing-a-long classic. and the sets and cinematography are stunning, and the outfits give me life.

what a year!!! potentially the strongest yet, films I absolutely loved and my honourable mentions are: Four Christmases (one of my favourite rom-com's and xmas films ever, watch this every year without failure), Marley & Me (another all time fave that I associate with 2009 and Marley is the best dong ever), Space Chimps (animation classic), What Happened in Vegas (rom-com classic, Diaz is sfg in this), Eagle Eye (I LOVED this), Wanted (SO good), 27 Dresses (rom-com classic), Revolutionary Road (Kate & Leo should've won Oscars for this), Wild Child (a classic), In Bruges (Colin should've won an Oscar too), Slumdog Millionaire, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, The Dark Knight, The House Bunny, The Tale of Despereaux, Nim's Island, Step Up 2: The Streets,

I don't believe either are currently available on streaming but I could be wrong!

What are your favourites? what are your movie memories of this year? what iconic movie song did you prefer, Mamma Mia or I Want It All or Jai Ho?

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 12th April 2020, 04:42 PM

whew, 2009 probs around midnight and then that's wrap!! we're getting there

Posted by: Hauspital* 12th April 2020, 04:50 PM

Catching up - oops!

My favourite film from each year's 'box office hits' / Iconic classics

2000 ~ Chicken Run / American Psycho
2001 ~ Monsters Inc / Amelie
2002 ~ Bend It Like Beckham / Spirited Away
2003 ~ Finding Nemo / School of Rock
2004 ~ Mean Girls / Anchorman
2005 ~ Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit / Howl's Moving Castle
2006 ~ Borat / Pan's Labyrinth
2007 ~ Superbad / The Orphanage
2008 ~ The Dark Knight / Cloverfield

What a great thread! So informative and detailed <3

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 12th April 2020, 05:02 PM

2008-poor student me had barely any money but I did discover a cinema in Aberystwyth where you could go to a film for £2 if you were a student.

Saw Clone Wars, Madagascar 2 and Quantum of Solace.

Interesting to see Margot Robbie making her debut then. I was watching her debut in Neighbours at the time!

Posted by: Jonjo 12th April 2020, 06:00 PM

2006:

A solid year for 2006! 'The Host' is so much fun. If you enjoyed 'Parasite' and want to check more of Bong Joon Ho's films, I recommend that one. I want to see more of his myself. 'Mother' looks like it could be good!

'Little Miss Sunshine'... I can't recommend this enough. One of my absolute favourite movies and everyone in it are flawless. There is not one weak link and the story is beautiful!

Ooh this was the year both 'The Prestige' & 'The Illusionist' came out. I often mix them up myself, but 'The Prestige' is my favourite. Brilliant performances all round! The one time I saw 'Da Vinci Code' (at the cinema lol) I really liked it. I just can't be bothered to bring myself to watch it again lol oops.

I only saw 'Half Nelson' in the last year and a half or so, but it's brilliant. One of Gosling's best performances. Top 4 anyway (with 'Lars & The Real Girl', 'Drive' & 'La La Land'). Such a good indie drama movie.

'Saw III' is my favourite of the 'Saw' sequels. Some really grim scenes like the surgery on his head and again the twist was executed nicely! Also, this is my bad bitch moment as I saw this at the cinema... I was only 17 *.*

'Final Destination 3' was the first of them I saw at the cinema and it's still the most "fun" and genuinely good of the 5! The reason why everyone is scared of sun beds!!!! ICONIC. Oops I wrote about 'Hostel'in 2005, but love that film x

'Slither' I keep meaning to give another go. I remember going to the cinema to watch this and I wasn't expecting it to be what it was... but my film taste has developed a lot over the years after this that I think I'd "get" it's humour and understand it more now than I did back then.

'Superman Returns' is fun. It also has one of the best visual moments in cinema history, imo. The bullet hitting his eye scene... stunning.

'Blood Diamonds' is brilliant. One of Leo's most underrated imo. I REALLY need to see 'The Last King Of Scotland'. James McAvoy is a great actor! 'Casino Royale'... not into Bond films, but this is alright.

'Cars' is a lot of fun. I think it gets bashed on a lot and although it's bottom of the pack of Pixar for me, it's just a testament to how strong Pixar animations are. Yes, super controversial opinion alert... I preferred this to 'The Incredibles'. Lol. OMG 'The Wild'... absolutely ABYSMAL.

'Pan's Labyrinth'... what a movie. I've only seen it the once, but it made an impact and although there are better movies not in the English language, this is definitely recommended for people looking for a quirky foreign language movie recommendation.

'Children Of Men' I want to see. I've heard really great things about it in the last couple of years. 'The Departed' is alright. Solid but not memorable.

'United 93' is actually a decent film! I really liked it, although I do think it was a bit too soon. I never saw WTC but I never had the desire too.

'The Descent' was "decent". Overrated but it's alright. 'Snakes On A Plane' is so bad it's actually good. LOVE it. 'She's The Man' is great fun too!

We've spoke about this already, but 'Dreamgirls'... good Lord. Thank God that didn't get the Oscar for anything other than J Hud! (But 'Listen' losing Best Original Song? Pfft - disgusting).

Alan Arkin completely deserved his Oscar WHAT a performance

I didn't realise Blu-Rays were released so soon after the DVD format!

L M A O at 'Zyzzyx Road'!!! $30 but then changed to $20 coz of a refund! SCREAMING!

---

2007:

A great year for me. 2 of my favourite foreign language movies were released. '[REC]' & 'The Orphanage'! 'The Orphanage' is the first "creepy"/horror film to ever make me cry (due to it's emotional value not coz it was that scary necessarily lmao). '[REC]' is top 10 favourite films of all time that got a Hollywood remake just one year later called 'Quarantine' - it was a shot for shot remake more or less, but nowhere near as fulfilling.

'Lars And The Real Girl' is a fantastic movie and one of Gosling's very best. So under appreciated! The concept is a bit strange, but the heart of the movie is so warm and wholesome. It's impossible not to love.

'Zodiac' is one of my favourite movies. David Fincher is my favourite director so seeing him work with Iron Man & Hulk along with Jake Gyllenhaal all in one movie?! My mind is blown! (I saw this for the first time about 2013) Very underrated and underlooked.

It's so weird that 'Paranormal Activity' is considered a 2007 film, to me. I can't believe it didn't take off/get a release over here until 2009! SO good! I enjoyed them all, but this was a real pioneer in horror movies for me. SO unique and genuinely terrifying! 'The Mist'.. I remember watching this for the first time and hating it because of the ending... I have saw it again recently-ish and I liked it a lot. The ending is still depressing af and probably the bleakest ending in a horror movie of all time, but w/e!

'Ratatouille' is SO good and one of Pixar's most underrated, imo. 'Meet The Robinsons' is under appreciated! It's such good fun.

'I Am Legend' is very good! As are '30 Days Of Night' and 'Sweeney Todd'. 'Sweeney Todd' was one of the first full on musicals I ever saw (as in singing all the way through with little to no dialogue).

'Hairspray' is so much fun! The songs are catchy too. However, 'Enchanted' is so magical! I love that movie

The less said about 'Sunshine' the better! VOM. Although, I will say that the version of 'Adagio For Strings' that is used in this movie, is my favourite piece of score music of all time. Breathtaking.

'Hot Fuzz'... I have a love/hate relationship with this. I like it, but the run time puts me off from watching it and it drags far too much for a comedy. A step down from 'Shaun Of The Dead' for me. I didn't realise 'Mr Bean's Holiday' was as late as 2007! One of the greatest fictional characters ever! The movie was good fun, too!

'Stardust' is cute! I enjoyed it more than I expected to. 'St. Trinians' was a lot of fun the one time I saw it at the cinema. I'd definitely say it was largely forgotten about nowadays though.

'Hostel 2' feels very "straight to DVD", but it's enjoyable and has one of the most memorable scenes in the franchise. We'll pretend this was the last film in the series.

I haven't seen 'There Will Be Blood' OR 'No Country For Old Men'! Both of which I will at some point though. NCFOM feels more recent than 2007 though!

Amazing tidbit about Netflix!

Posted by: Jonjo 12th April 2020, 06:31 PM

2008: (The year I worked at Cineworld *.*)

I saw 'Wall-E' 5 times. A personal record for me, which wasn't beaten or matched until I saw the first Avengers movie 5 times in 2012. Such a fantastic film and it's 2nd to FN as my favourite Pixar movie. Top 10 all time

'The Dark Knight' is a masterpiece. I think Heath's performance is my favourite movie performance of all time. 'Iron Man' is incredible and was the start of a VERY special universe that I hold so very near and dear to my heart! Incredible. 'The Incredible Hulk' is a good movie. Often slated/comes bottom when people talk about the MCU but it's unfairly treated I think.

The devastating 'The Boy In Striped Pyjamas'... MY GOD. One of my favourite movies but absolutely heartbreaking. Speaking of heartbreaking... 'Marley & Me'.. never gonna watch that again.. ever.

'Step Up 2: The Streets' was huge and sold out every "Orange Wednesday" for about 5 weeks! My favourite dance movie, the best "final dance" scene and the KILLA soundtrack which helmed Flo-Rida - Low, Cherish - Killa & Cassie - Is It You?. One of my favourite soundtracks!

2008 was also the year the most beautifully disturbing movie I have ever seen was released. 'Martyrs'. SO hard to watch but you just can't stop watching. One of my all time faves.

The comedies were largely decent this year! 'Pineapple Express', 'Get Smart', 'Role Models' & Downey Jr's Oscar nominated role in 'Tropic Thunder' *_* are all pretty funny. 'Step Brothers' is my favourite though SO good.

'In Bruges' is excellent too! Didn't realise 'Bronson' was this year. Brilliant film. I wanna see 'Hunger' coz Michael is one of my favourite actors who I first saw appear this very year in the excellent (and one of my horror favourites) 'Eden Lake'. I talked about 'The Mist' being the bleakest ending in horror but this movie is the one that leaves me feeling the angriest. GRRRRRR!!!

'The Wrestler' is fantastic! Especially coming from a wrestling fan. 'Bolt' is cute and about middle for Disney I think for me. 'Speed Racer' is cute! I think kids would love it.

'Cloverfield' was a huge surprise for me. LOVED it. I actually think it holds up surprisingly well too!

The juggernaut of 'Mamma Mia'! This was still selling out weeks after the DVD release where I worked. It was insane.

I forgot all about 'Jumper'. It's a decent film tbh. I haven't seen it since, but it was fun iirc!

'Slumdog Millionaire' is good, but I never get the urge to watch it again. 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button' is good, but definitely low-tier David Fincher, for me. 'Revolutionary Road' underwhelmed me. I expected more from that cast. Also, is it you that keeps telling me to watch 'Doubt'? I will.. one day x

Heath's death was and still is a HUGE deal. Gone way before his time

WHAT A YEAR.

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 12th April 2020, 11:18 PM

2009


time to round off the decade!

Box Office Hits -
2012 - the film chronicled into people's fears of the world ending in December 2012 and made a blockbuster out of it. This made big money at the box office with $31m in the UK and $166m in the US, finishing 15th for the year in both territories. this doesn't feel too remembered nowadays as obvs the world didn't end and it feels like this can go hand and hand with The Day After Tomorrow as pretty forgotten big budget disaster movies from the 2000's.
A Christmas Carol - the 988th adaptation of this novel came in the form of a darker turn in Disney's animation. This did quite well at the box office but I think expectations were higher iirc. It did a big $32m in the UK (14th), showing amazing legs after a lacklustre $3m opening, whilst was 21st for the year with $137m in US. This is still remembered because ofc the characters/plot is one of the most adapted ever but other adaptations are better remembered and more respected.
Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel - another smash franchise getting a sequel in 2009 *.* Alvin 2 just outgrossed the first one in the US with a massive $219m (9th) and $36m in the UK was enough for a top 10 finish. A big hit and my fave of the franchise. I forgot just how massive these movies were in the late 2000's.
Avatar - And we have arrived at the biggest movie of the decade. After 12 years since Titanic, James Cameron returned with his follow-up, which like Titanic, had a budget that had exploded to massive levels, was kept on being pushed around the schedule and expectations were for a likely underperformer relative to its budget. However Avatar just exploded and epitomised the 3D craze that became massive this year and would grow even more in 2010. This was marketed as a visual masterpiece and a film to see on the big screen, and it sure was with $147m in the UK and $749m in the US, obviously the biggest film in both markets and the highest grossing film of all time in both territories too. A massive win for originality. The film isn't that loved nowadays but ofc everybody remembers its existence and the visuals and it will forever have a place in pop culture. Now we just wait about 30 years for Avatar 2, which has so far been scheduled to come out in December 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - another original animation hit starting a franchise for Sony Animation! This did really well at the box office ($124m, 24th in the US and $10m, 51st in the UK) -> okay ngl I thought it was a lot bigger than that in the UK oops. Though this still feels fondly remembered nowadays.
District 9 - the original Sci-Fi was raved and started many careers, as well as being a big box office hit with $14m (30th) in the UK and $115m (27th) in the US. This had a very strong and iconic marketing campaign that made it a must see at the time, but feels largely forgotten now despite its success & Best Picture nom at the Oscars.
Fast & Furious - The film that marked the beginning of this franchise exploding as the original cast returned and took it to new heights ($155m, 17th in the US and $20m, 23rd in the UK). However we'd have to wait until the next decade before this franchise reached the extreme levels and popularity it now has.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Aiming to start a new franchise, this did solidly enough at the box office in the US ($150m, 18th) but underperformed in the UK ($10m, 52nd). This received a sequel and is now being rebooted again. Also received weak reviews.
Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince - And our final Harry Potter film of the decade comes with the penultimate book! This was once again a box office smash with $302m in the US (3rd) and another 2nd place finish in the UK with $84m as we headed to wards the conclusion of one of the biggest franchises of all time.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - With good reviews and more love for the characters, this smashed down records internationally and was a major success worldwide, making Ice Age one of the biggest money earning franchises at this point. Ice Age 3 did $56m in the UK, to be 3rd for the year & the top animation, whilst doing $196m (12th) in the US, the highpoint of the franchise there iirc.
Inglorious bast*rds - Tarantino's first proper film since the Kill Bill's did big money at the box office ($120m, 25th in the US and $16m, 27th in the UK) and is seen as one of his most iconic films.
Monsters vs Aliens - Another big animation hit at the end of the decade which now feels slightly forgotten, MvA did $35m in the UK (12th) and $198m (11th) in the US to become a major box office smash.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - This was one of the underperforming sequels of the year as disappointing reviews, lack of hype, and making the same mistake of Narnia by moving out of Xmas to summer (both franchises returned to Xmas for their 3rd films and significantly underperformed, killing their franchises). This still did big numbers tho with $177m (14th) in the US and $33m (13th) in the UK. It's just not fondly remembered at all.
Paranormal Activity - One of the most impactful films of the decade, this was made in 2007 but didn't impact in 2009. However this became a worldwide phenomenom and changed the shape and direction of the horror genre. This was the halloween horror hit of the year with $16m (29th) in the UK and $108m (30th) in the US. A massive success that ushered in the new era of horror and new trend of found footage horror films.
Sherlock Holmes - I forget just how big the Downey Jr-Law take on this franchise is. This was another major hit of the Xmas season alongside Alvin 2 and ofc Avatar (this was a gigantic xmas season full of hits all over performing!!), doing $210m in the US (10th) and just under $40m in the UK (8th). Sherlock is such an iconic character and is still everywhere but this is the best known film in the franchise!
Star Trek - Another franchise-reboot (damn these really started becoming a trend in the late 2000's) received a great reaction from fans and critics alike and performed v. well at the box office ($35m, 11th in the UK and $257m, 7th in the US), and is perceived as one of the best Star Trek films nowadays.
Taken - This was a nice box office hit in the UK in September 2008 but its January 2009 release became a surprise smash, with excellent legs for an action film and grossing $145m for 20th of the year in the US. This became one of Liam Neeson's career defining roles and kicked off a v. successful franchise, with the 'I will find you & I will kill you' line becoming iconic in pop culture.
The Blind Side - (2010 uk release). Another surprise smash, this opened to $34m in the US and had terrific legs to gross $256m and finish 8th for the year, one of the biggest sports movies ever.
The Hangover - This was a surprise comedy success smash and kicked off fantastic careers for both its cast and director. Once again this received fantastic audience reactions and had amazing legs at the box office, grossing $277m (6th) in the US and $36m (9th) in the UK, making it one of the biggest comedy hits of all time. This is definitely one of 2009's biggest and most iconic hits and is still well remembered today and many scenes are referenced throughout pop culture, despite awfully reviewed follow-ups. Also in 2009, who would've said that its lead star would have 8 Oscar nominations (4 for acting) and its director would be an Oscar nominated director for an acclaimed Joker adaptation 10 years later.
The Proposal - The Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds rom-com was another massive hit and one of the last big rom-com smashes as the genre started to unfortunately fade as we entered the new decade. This grossed $19m in the UK (25th) and $164m in the US (16th) and is still seen as a rom-com classic to date, with audiences loving this film.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon - The second part of this iconic franchise saw the film explode at the box office with a $296m total in the US (4th, it was ofc v. frontloaded with an $142m opening, highest of the year) and 7th in the UK with $43m (2nd highest opening of the year). This became famed for midnight screenings and fanbases rushing out to see this and really saw Edward vs Jacob kick off. an iconic film and one of the last big blockbusters of the decade, before ushering in the trend of young-adult adaptations that would dominant the first half of the 2010's.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - The Transformers sequel saw its peak at the box office occur with the 2nd film, as reviews worsened and audiences weren't a fan. Transformers 2 did $44m (6th) in the UK whilst smashing in the US with $402m to be by far the 2nd biggest film of the year. The cast & Transformers were still everywhere at this point and this was a major blockbuster, that's still remembered nowadays but not for great releases.
Up - and Pixar really were in a spot of gigantic box office and critical success as this point in time. Up made a massive $293m in the US (5th) and $55m in the UK (4th), and received major acclaim as a film with its opening sequence highlighted for being literally perfect. also the short film before Up (Partly Cloudy) was adorable. These were also the days the UK had to wait forever with Pixar films, this was released in the US in May and the UK in October!!! (same with Ratatouille & Finding Nemo & Monsters Inc, whilst we got WALL.E (tf), The Incredibles and Cars only a couple weeks after the US)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Now the original trilogy was over, it was time to start making prequels and spin-offs, a trend that really kicked off in the next decade.. This opened really strongly with $85m in the US (3rd highest of the year) but was incredibly frontloaded with a beyond negative reaction from fans and critics and finished 13th for the year with $180m. In the UK it grossed $26m for 17th place. a bad end to the decade for a franchise that started so promising.

well... obviously winning the year and the decade was Avatar, grossing $2.74b worldwide, shattering basically every record in existence possible and becoming the biggest film ever. A smash. following it was Harry Potter 6 with $934m and Ice Age 3 did gigantic numbers in Europe and Asia, snatching third place with $886m. Sequels started to make more appearances with Transformers 2 (4th, $836m), Twilight 2 (7th, $709m) and Angels & Demons (9th, $485m, oops at me not putting this in hits!!). Whilst original properties still thrived with 2012 (5th, $769m, I did not realise this made so much world-wide!!!!!), Up (6th, $735m), Sherlock Holmes (8th, $524m) and The Hangover (10th, $467m) all being massive successes. Up was the only Disney film in the top 10 for the year, so we've had quite a change in the next 10 years where they were fully dominating by 2019.

Iconic Classics
17 Again - the Zac Efron comedy was his first hit outside of High School Musical and is remembered amongst pre-teens & teens still today.
(500) Days of Summer - This was a quirky little indie hit at the time that really developed a cult following back in 2009, but feels slightly forgotten about nowadays.
Aliens in the Attic - A hit for Ashley Tisdale, this was a nice hit in the UK and was a great family flick.
All About Steve - the Sandra Bullock film is iconic for one reason only, THAT RAZZIES SPEECH *.* iconic. queen accepting the razzie the day before the Oscar, we love to see it *.*
Angels & Demons - The sequel to The Da Vinci Code didn't have the appeal of heavy controversy and therefore grossed significantly less than the last one (esp in the US) and received weak reviews once again, basically killing the franchise (Inferno was released 7 years later and bombed). This feels completely forgotten.
Bride Wars - an iconic rom-com with Kate Hudson & Anne Hathaway that was a nice box office hit and more ppl still talk about and remember this film than I thought would!
Bruno - The Sacha Baron Cohen comedy was another big hit in the UK but was a frontloaded underperfomer in the States, with many publicity stunts surrounding the character making him an iconic face of 2009.
Confessions of a Shopaholic - Another nice rom-com hit for Isla Fisher that has held up well today and features the iconic Shontelle-Akon duet Stuck With Each Other *.*
Coraline - this has become a mini classic overtime and was the start of LAIKA animation studios. This is still their biggest hit and was big at the box office ($82m in the US off a $13m opening), showing how well it was received by audiences. The film is pretty dark for an animation but that makes it all the better. Still acclaimed and loved today.
Couples Retreat - Another Vince Vaughn comedy hit, its the 2000's, not much else to say (it's an ITV2 fave).
Dance Flick - The spoofs trend was really dying by this point and this flopped. Vampire's Suck would basically be its last hurrah in 2010 before this trend remained a late 2000's fad.
Drag Me to Hell - the Sam Raimi horror received excellent reviews and is still highly regarded amongst horror fans today
Fame - This music remake was a messT. Receiving deservedly awful reviews and bombing at the box office, this mess is mostly forgotten today. I legit expected this to be my favourite film of all time, I was so hyped, and whew was I disappointed. However Naturi Naughton's version of Fame absolutely SLAPS and is better than the original, idec.
Fantastic Mr Fox - Wes Anderson turned to animation for the Roald Dahl classic that received excellent reviews, and is seen as one of the best Dahl adaptations but many ppl forget this is a Wes movie. It has an all-star voice cast ensemble ofc and was a big hit in the UK.
Final Destination 4 - This was the biggest box office success of the franchise (finishing 24th for the year in the UK) and was unlucky not to make the hits section cos that was just a bit too competitive. Another horror success for the slowly under the radar, becoming iconic horror franchise.
Friday the 13th - This was heavily hyped and was ofc released on Friday the 13th, the day before Valentine's Day. This opened to massive opening weekend numbers ofc but completely plummeted everywhere after its first two days and no one really remembers this reboot now. (it made 65% of its final US total in its first three days!!!!)
Funny People - the Adam Sandler-Judd Apatow comedy was a more serious fare than we'd expect from these names, probably contributing to its box office underperformance.
G-Force - Another box office smash, the Disney guinea pigs were everywhere in late Summer 2009 and was iconic. This deserved to start a franchise and feels under appreciated nowadays. Also includes the Flo Rida-Nelly Furtado bop Jump
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - Another successful rom-com with a great cast that some went on to be Oscar winners in the next decade.
Hannah Montana: The Movie - Hannah's biggest on-screen outing and the biggest success, this really was peak Hannah Montana period and another successful Tv-to-film release for Disney. Also features Crazier by Taylor Swift, that was a classic <3
He's Just Not That Into You - One of the massive cast-ensemble projects that was a major hit arounds Valentine's Day, but next years even bigger ensemble named cast Valentine's Day kind of stole this films success and ability in being remembered.
Hotel for Dogs - Gotta love a dog family film, still remembered by dog lovers today.
In The Loop - the Armando Ianucci's film is still highly appreciated today
It's Complicated - Another hit for Meryl Streep and another rom-com success to round the decade off
Jennifer's Body - The Megan Fox/Amanda Seyfried horror-comedy has earned a big cult following overtime after bombing on original release.
Knowing - the 2000's was a period where Nicholas Cage acc led successful box office hits, before the direct-to-dvd spell hit next decade
Land of the Lost - a rare flop for Will Ferrel and co, and one of their worst reviewed output.
Let the Right One In - Swedish horror that has become a classic in the genre overtime
Lesbian Vampire Killers - Matthew Horne & James Cordon's big-screen outing after Gavin & Stacey bombed at the box office and was critically attacked. that name for the film I can't even...it says it all.
Michael Jackson: This Is It - After MJ's death in 2009, a concert movie based on his upcoming tour was given a limited release in October and did massive numbers worldwide as millions of fans flocked to see this in cinemas. (honestly when I saw this, I think it was the biggest queue ever at my cinema to get into a film). obviously nowadays, not as nicely thought of.
My Sister's Keeper - based on the Jodi Piccoult book, the Cameron Diaz film received good reviews and did quite well at the box office.
Nativity! - the final Christmas classic released in the 2000's, whew this decade brought lots of them. This started quite slowly before building really well at the UK box office throughout December and became an even bigger hit and classic on DVD, kicking off another big franchise in the next decade.
Obsessed - The Beyonce-Idris Elba thriller was panned heavily by critics.
Orphan - Another horror that appreciation for has grown over time, this was a good box office performer but feels like it became more loved & appreciated overtime.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop - A major box office hit for Kevin Smith, esp in the US where it was gigantic and never stopped earning money with excellent legs. Shame the reviews were pretty mediocre and it spawned us that horrible sequel in the next decade. this does feel forgotten nowadays.
Ponyo - another fab Studio Ghibli film hit UK and US cinemas in 2009, rounding off an excellent decade for them.
Saw VI - and Paranormal Activity put the final nail in the coffin of the Saw franchise, as the sixth film disastrously bombed at the box office and only just made the top 100 for the year in the US, ouch. however we have since had a final closing sequel in 2010, a reboot in like 2017 and another reboot that was meant to be out next month so ofc this franchise never died
St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold - after the success of the first one, the sequel came out in late 2009 and got weaker reviews and did worse at the box office, but still pulled okay numbers that could've been worse. this one feels completely forgotten though.
Terminator: Salvation - More remembered for the off-screen outbursts and arguments when filming, the first of three Terminator reboots over 10 years underperformed at the box office as audiences weren't here for mediocre entries in this franchise anymore.
The Boat That Rocked - Richard Curtis finally followed up his directorial debut Love Actually, with this comedy hit that was a cute success in the UK.
The Damned United - Tom Hooper's directional debut is seen as one of the best football teams of all time. He then went on to win an Oscar 2 years later and had one of the biggest career implosions of all time by the end of the next decade with the most iconic film ever, Cats.
The Invention of Lying - another Ricky Gervais comedy that pulled in solid numbers but isn't remembered and didn't receive great reviews.
The Princess & The Frog - TP&TF started a mini-recovery for Disney. Box office numbers were solid, but not spectacular, still but this saw Disney returning to focus on Princess movies. TP&TF received great acclaim and its heroine is iconic and a well remembered Disney Princess today. This was released in the UK in 2010 and set the groundwork for Tangled to be massive the next year and for Disney Animation to be back in action after a pretty dreadful decade. And Almost There is a classic <3
The Time Traveler's Wife - this year saw Rachel McAdams return to big screen in this, State of Play and Sherlock Holmes after a 4 year career hiatus since The Family Stone. This was another nice romantic hit, damn there were so many of these in the 2000's.
The Ugly Truth - Another rom-com hit for ultimate late 2000's rom-com stars Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. these were the days.
The Uninvited - a cute horror hit with a great rising cast, but does feel forgotten nowadays.
Toy Story 3D - This 3D re-release didn't do much but ofc it is important in highlighting the start of the 3D trend of re-issuing old films, which exploded the following year and went on for a good 3/4 years of classics returning to the cinema in 3D. a true trend.
Watchmen - This superhero adaptation was massively hyped but failed to meet expectations, and ended up being incredibly frontloaded at the box office (making over 50% of its total in opening week) and not being too fondly remembered.
Where the Wild Things Are - this was a cute Xmas hit at the box office and was a beautiful adaptation, that unfortunately feels forgotten nowadays.
Zombieland - And we round off this year and the decade with probs one of the most iconic films of 2009. Zombieland saw a strong ensemble of rising actors (including future Oscar-nominee Jesse Eisenberg and future Oscar-winner Emma Stone) and made good bank for a zom-com at the box office. However this gained a way larger audience on DVD and is now seen as a classic of the genre, an iconic zombie film and one that is certainly still remembered. a classic <3


The Oscars & Awards Season
2009. Of course this is the year in Academy history that marked significant change with 10 films nominated for Best Picture. and Film/Director were the race for this year as acting saw 3 sweeps and a race that seemed obvious which way it was heading. This and 2010 were the only two years that saw a requirement of a set 10 films to be nominated for Best Picture, which allowed big blockbuster hits to get into this category. Therefore best picture nominees included massive sports hit The Blind Side, original sci-fi District 9 and Up being the first animation BP movie since Beauty & The Beast. Also sneaking in were the Coen brothers A Serious Man and small-indie An Education. This seems quite an obvious year of the split with these being the five films that would've missed in a 5-nominee race (maybe Up could've sneaked in, the other 4 zero chance). Anyway that meant the big tier-nominees were Inglorious Basterds, Precious and Up in the Air. However the race boiled down to two contenders The Hurt Locker vs Avatar as ex husband and wife Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron competed against each other in this year. However it was the victory for the small film as The Hurt Locker took home both picture and director, with Bigelow becoming the first ever female director winner! The Hurt Locker beat Avatar's in their head-to-heads in pic & director at BAFTA and the Oscars, whilst Avatar took picture and director at the Globes. Inglorious Basterds won SAG ensemble that year, whilst The Hangover was victorious in Musical/Comedy at the Globes (I'm kinda surprised that didn't make the Oscar BP line-up).

The acting categories this year were pretty much foregone conclusions. Newcomers Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) and Mo'Nique (Precious), completely swept the supporting categories by winning these awards at every single ceremony. Best Actor was also a near sweep for Jeff Bridges, winning the Globe, SAG & Oscar for Crazy Heart. However Colin Firth pipped him for the win at BAFTA's for A Single Man and Robert Downey Jr won the Globe Comedy/Musical for Sherlock Holmes, two performances that I had no clue won a major award until this! Best actress on the other hand was a mini race between Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) and Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia. However Bullock pretty much also swept, winning the Globe, SAG & Oscar, whilst Meryl just won the Globe Comedy/Musical. However in hindsight, many feel this should've been Meryl's 3rd Oscar but are glad Sandra won at least one Oscar despite people not stanning the performance. However both were beaten by Carey Mulligan at the BAFTA's for An Education, Bullock wasn't eligible as The Blind Side came out at the end of March in the UK.

Amongst other nominees this season we had: George Clooney (Up in the Air), Morgan Freeman (Invictus) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) in Best Actor and Matt Damon (Invictus), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Christopher Plummer (The Last Station) and Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones), damn most of these films feel forgotton-> Clooney turned up everywhere, whilst Freeman, Damon, Tucci & Penelope Cruz (Nine) managed to hold onto noms despite their films receiving weaker reviews than accepted and faded fast. Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Helen Mirren (The Last Station) were the other nominees in Best Actress, whilst Maggie Gyllenhaal coat-tailed Jeff Bridges in supporting for Crazy Heart, alongside double Oscar noms for Up in the Air for Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick! I always forget Kendrick was nominated for an Oscar in the 2000's (and never received an Oscar nom in the 2010's), despite the latter being by far a more successful decade for her.

Nominees amongst other ceremonies included:
BAFTA's - Andy Serkis for Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll in lead, a very random best actress nom for Audrey Tautou in Coco Before Chanel, as well as Saoirse Ronan in The Lovely Bones, Alec Baldwin (It's Complicated), Christian McKay (Me & Orson Welles) and Alfred Molina (An Education) in a very open supporting actor race and Nowhere Boy randomly scoring double BAFTA noms in supporting actress for Anne-Marie Duff & Kristin Scott Thomas. damn BAFTA were really on one of their random selections years this year, hopefully this happens again sometime.
SAG - however SAG were on full Oscar form this year, their acting nominations matched 19/20 with the Oscars!!!! The only difference was Maggie Gyllenhaal missing for Diane Kruger in Inglorious Basterds, who deserved more awards noms than she got
Globes - Tobey Maguire (Brothers) and Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria) were the only drama nominees to miss at the Oscars, with the comedy categories having two Meryl noms (also for It's Complicated), another Sandra nom (The Proposal), the indie hits (500 Days of Summer), the Oscar flops (the informant, nine) and name-checking Julia Roberts for Duplicity (ofc name-checking hit its peak the next year with The Tourist, Alice in Wonderland, Burlesque and that MESS of a comedy category nearly ruining their reputation). Supporting once again matched 9/10, with Julianne Moore for A Single Man getting nommed over Gyllenhaal once again. Damn most of these categories were locked and loaded by Oscar morning.

other key award winners were The Hurt Locker & Precious picking up script awards at the Oscars. These were probs the tightest screenplay races of the year; original screenplay was a two horse race between Inglorious Basterds and The Hurt Locker, whilst Precious' win in adapted was one of the biggest shocks of the decade as Up In The Air had swept everything (Critics Choice, Globe, BAFTA, WGA) so it's loss was unprecedented. The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart won best song. The Secret in Their Eyes was the winner of best foreign language film (in a v. competitive year, A Prophet won BAFTA, The White Ribbon took the Globe & Broken Embraces won critics) and Up marked another Pixar film sweeping animated film everywhere, as well as sweeping for its score.

also fun fact: In the Loop (2009) - marked the first instance that a film that premiered on VOD (video-on-demand) concurrent with its theatrical release was nominated for a major Oscar (Best Adapted Screenplay).

another fun fact: Precious Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (2009) was the first-ever Best Picture nominee to be directed by an African-American filmmaker, Lee Daniels, who received his first Best Director nomination for the film. Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar-winner Geoffrey Fletcher was the first African-American to win Best Screenplay

a third fun fact: Bigelow became the first female recipient of an Academy Award for best directing.

want another one: The Hurt Locker (2009) was the fifth consecutive R-rated Best Picture winner, and also notable as the lowest-grossing winner of all time, with a domestic box office of only $14.7 million (8th place among the ten Best Picture nominees of the year). Since the R-rated film was released in June of 2009, it was long since removed from theatres, and available on DVD since January 12, 2010 (with currently over 700,000 sold). Because of its Oscar nomination, it was re-released to almost 300 theatres, and increased its take by about $2 million, about 14% of its total revenue.

and a final one to round off Oscar trivia: Disney's/Pixar's animated film Up (2009), the second animated film ever nominated for Best Picture (following Beauty and the Beast (1991)), won two Oscar awards: Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Score, and was one of the top moneymakers of the year (at $293 million (domestic) and $731 million (worldwide) to date). It was the first CG-animated Best Picture nominee, and the first to receive a Best Picture nomination since animated films received their own category in 2001.


Notable Events -
- we gotta start with a certain film: Visionary director James Cameron's monumental work Avatar (2009), his first feature film since Titanic (1997), was a futuristic, epic 3-D live-action film, with ground-breaking special effects, and an estimated budget of $300 million (much of it spent on CGI). It was the first 3-D film to win the Best Cinematography Oscar. Avatar pioneered the use of live virtual rendering AND facial performance capture during the filming of unprecedented, large-scale set pieces. He also demonstrated for the first time the playback of real-time feedback of the final CGI product. Many sequences demonstrated the completely believable, fully-integrated intermeshing of 3-D and life-action worlds. It passed $1b worldwide in under three weeks.
- The DreamWorks sci-fi spoof of 50s monster movies, Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) was the first computer-animated feature film to be shot directly in stereoscopic 3-D -- dubbed the Ultimate 3-D. Previously, 3-D CGI films were made in a non 3-D version and then dimensionalized. (further 2009 films Avatar, Ice Age 3, A Christmas Carol also followed this). A Christmas Carol used performance capture and was Robert Zemeckis first film with Disney since Who Framed Roger Rabbit. To date, it was the most expensive 3D animation film ever made, budgeted at a production cost of $200 million.
- Director Patrick Lussier's 100% live-action film My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009) was the first R-rated film to be projected in Real D technology and Friday the 13th had the largest slasher/horror movie opening at the time with $41m.
- The Hangover was the fasted R-rated comedy to reach $200m at the time (30 days)
- The latest movie gimmick was the D-Box, a vibrating movie theater chair, invented by a Montreal-based company. The first major theatrical release to use the system was Universal's Fast & Furious, with the Motion-Code technology written into it.
- Hollywood studios realized that they could leverage the popularity of social networking sites (such as Facebook and Twitter) to market films, encourage positive word-of-mouth, raise awareness and stimulate ticket sales. Warner Bros. and director Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are (2009), adapted from Maurice Sendak's classic children's tale, had more than 1.5 million devotees on its Facebook page as it was first debuting in theatres. The movie's website also offered an iPhone app. Millions of Facebook fans also signed on to be followers of the Twilight sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), and an official Twitter page was also established for the film. The first screening of director Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009) from Universal Pictures at the annual Comicon convention in San Diego was packed by people who won admission via Twitter.
- The breakout independent horror film hit of the year, writer/director Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity (2009) was budgeted at only $15,000 and filmed in 2007 in only ten days. It was first shown in limited release, in college towns at midnight shows. The studio launched a campaign using the Eventful feature developed by a San Diego company known for promoting concerts. With the Internet feature called "Demand It," Paramount asked fans and would-be watchers to help determine the film's fate and see if it warranted a potential wide-release. When one million frenzied fans demanded to see it, the film was expanded to 160 screens, and grossed $7.9 million in box-office revenue, breaking the record for highest grossing weekend ever for a film playing in less than 200 theaters. Part of the reason for the film's financial success was a grassroots Internet campaign that included a "Tweet Your Scream" promotion using social-networking site Twitter.
- 100+ year-old Portuguese auteur director Manoel de Oliveira released his 15th feature of the 21st century - a doomed romance entitled Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl (2009). Reportedly, since the decade's start in 2001, Oliveira was the oldest movie director still making films. This was undoubtedly the first film made by a hundred year-old director.
- The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), the werewolves/vampire romance sequel following Twilight (2008) and based upon Stephenie Meyer's teenage vampire books, claimed the North American box-office record for the biggest single-day and opening-day grosses at almost $72.7 million
- According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest grossing actress of the 2000s decade was Emma Watson, for her six live-action Harry Potter films (2001-2009), which earned $1.7 billion (domestic), or $5.4 billion (worldwide) - or roughly $900 million per film (worldwide). Likewise, her lead co-star Daniel Radcliffe was the highest average-grossing box-office star in a leading role in the decade, averaging about $285 million (domestic) per film.
- The decade of the 2000s saw advancements in 3D and an explosion of releases of both 3-D films and IMAX films. And with many more theatres converted to the 3D format, that meant increased demand and bookings (and ticket prices) for 3D films.
- For the first time since 2002, domestic movie ticket sales surpassed revenue from the purchase of DVDs. The recessionary economy and the current transitionary stage from DVDs to Blue-Ray and to video-on-demand digital downloads through Internet-enabled televisions, were partially accountable for the reversal.
- the most popular (top-grossing) film genres from 1995 to 2009 were Comedy (24%), Adventure (20%), Drama (19%), Action (17%), Thriller/Suspense (7%), Romantic Comedy (6%), Horror (5%), Documentary (1%), Musical (1%).
- The merge of the decade, between AOL and Time Warner, instituted in 2000, ended -- at the end of 2009, Time Warner announced that it would spin off AOL as a separate independent company.
- In late August of 2009, Walt Disney Co. announced that it had agreed to purchase comic book and action hero company Marvel Entertainment for $3.9 billion -> how this ended up shaping the next decade
- The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) decided to return to featuring an expanded field of nominees for Best Picture. From now on, there would be ten films nominated in the Best Picture category - the last time this happened was 1943 (66 years ago). The Academy was hoping for a possible increase in TV ratings for the awards ceremony (held two weeks later than the previous year), and a broader range of films. As hoped, the fact that Avatar was a nominee and the biggest blockbuster of all time did boost the ratings. Preliminary indications were that the TV ratings were up to 41.3 million viewers, much better than the previous year's 36.3 million (a 14% jump). It was the most watched show in five years -- a definite improvement over 2007's all-time low of 32 million viewers, the year the Best Picture win went, predictably, to No Country for Old Men (2007).
- The Best Picture-nominated sports-film The Blind Side (2009), a heart-warming drama starring Sandra Bullock, became the highest-grossing football (sports-related) film of all time. Due to her successes in both The Blind Side (2009) and The Proposal (2009), Bullock became the highest paid actress of the year ($56 million). Bullock won her first Oscar, Best Actress, for her role as a Southern belle foster mom. She also became the first (and only) performer (until 2018) to be nominated for both a 'Best Actress' Oscar and a 'Worst Actress' Razzie Award (for All About Steve (2009)) in the same year - and she won both honors.
- Disney's animated The Princess and the Frog (2009), a modern day retelling of the classic story The Frog Prince, was the studio's first traditional 2-D animated film in 5 years, since Home on the Range (2004). It also featured the studio's first-ever black female protagonist, an African-American princess named Tiana (voice of Anika Noni Rose).
- The highest-grossing (domestic) film of all-time on Christmas Day was Sherlock Holmes (2009), at $24.6 million. December 25th was also its opening day, when it just surpassed the 2nd highest film, Avatar (2009). It retained that milestone for many years.
- John Hughes passed away in August 2009
- Although women remained in the minority in terms of film-making (as directors, writers, and producers), 2009 was a watershed year. In addition to Kathryn Bigelow's Best Director win for The Hurt Locker (2009), and Betty Thomas' milestone as the most successful woman director ever at the box office (domestic) for Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), there were these other developments: (1) director Anne Fletcher's The Proposal (2009) (starring Sandra Bullock) was a tremendous hit, scoring $164 million (domestic) at the box-office, (2) It's Complicated (2009), directed and written by Nancy Meyers and starring Meryl Streep, made $112 million (domestic) at the box-office, (3) Best Actress Oscar-winning Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side (2009) and veteran actress Meryl Streep outperformed their male counterparts fairly consistently. Streep competed against Bullock and was Oscar-nominated for her lead role in writer/director Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia (2009), which made $94 million (domestic) at the box-office. Betty Thomas became the most successful female director, measured by the domestic box-office take for her Christmas hit Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009). It was the first female-directed picture to gross (domestically) more than $200 million (at approx $220 million), and $443 million (worldwide).
- At the end of 2009, the domestic yearly box-office gross hit almost $10.6 billion, based upon US and Canadian ticket sales - it was a milestone year, besting the 2008 total of $9.63 billion and 2007 total of $9.66 billion


and a new mini section:
FILM DEBUTS: -> these actors made their debuts in film in 2009
Chris Hemsworth in Star Trek
Gabby Sidibe in Precious
Gal Gadot in Fast & Furious

a busy selection to finish the decade x all big films tho!

Samantha Recommends:



2009 had a runaway winner and then honestly the race for 2nd place is basically equal between about eight films. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (can we appreciate what an ICONIC title that is for a moment) was def my favourite film of the year. I watched the shit out of this film so many times when I was younger. The song selection for this film was genius and filled with so many bangers (You Really Got Me, Right Round, Hot 'n' Cold & We Are Family), the chipmunks were amazing and the introduction of the Chipettes were perfect, my three fave icons. The school bits were sfg and damn I loved the plot of this so much. This film always puts me in a good mood and ngl I can still watch it again and again.

For my 2nd pick in a v. tight race, I went for a film that sums up one of my fave franchises of the decade and was my favourite entry in that franchise, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Scrat, Manny and Diego remain icons, I absolutely adored the introduction of new characters such as Peaches and Buck and this film was so much fun. A great adventure and track to place the franchise on and it still felt fresh and funny. An animated classic that once again, I watched a billion times when I was younger. So good <3 and ugh I love the visuals of this franchise.

another really strong year and my honourable mentions are: Inglorious Basterds (a classic), Coraline (the best freaky animation ever), The Proposal (rom-com classic & Sandra Bullock is sfg in this), Bride Wars (I love this film so much), The Hangover, Fantastic Mr Fox, G-Force, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatbaalls, Monsters vs Aliens, Up (that opening montage is still the best), Nativity (xmas classic), Zombieland

Others films I loved: The Princess & The Frog, Hotel for Dogs, Where the Wild Things Are, My Sister's Keeper, Final Destination 4, Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Blind Side, Aliens in the Attic, Avatar

I don't believe either are currently available on streaming but I could be wrong! (Alvin 2 is always on iTV2 atm though and ngl probs is Ice Age 3).

What are your favourites? what are your movie memories of this year? what iconic movie song did you prefer, I See You (I can't at Leona flopping with a song from the biggest movie ever, how did they f*** this up so badly??), the Chipettes version of Hot 'n' Cold or something else?

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 12th April 2020, 11:20 PM

and that's a wrap.
WE HAVE MADE IT. whew, I can't believe we acc did it Damn these have been so fun to write, even if they got more and more time consuming as we got to the years I knew better hahaha Gonna be such a good guide to look back on and thx guys for all your interactions <3

and now that everything is written up, we've got 24 hours to catch up on everything, I can reply to y'all comments later and plz continue to discuss iconic moments and favourite films of the noughties and your fave facts from these guides!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 12th April 2020, 11:24 PM

also in the movies forum, we are currently doing throwback Buzzjack Oscars (as well as revealing 2018 winners and 2019 nominations). 2004 and 2003 will be starting soon so if you have an interest in noughties film, please check them out over the next couple weeks and vote in them when voting opens!

Posted by: Hauspital* 12th April 2020, 11:32 PM

Not a vintage year for me. Drag Me to Hell probably my favourite! Up is fantastic too and continued Pixar's winning formula streak.

Posted by: Jonjo 13th April 2020, 01:20 AM

2009:

The BEAST 'Avatar' revolutionised the 3D model. Went on to be the highest grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation) and kept it for almost 10 years! It also knocked off James Cameron's own 'Titanic' (which held that title for 11 years or so!). Imagine a James Cameron 'Star Wars' or 'Avengers'!? LMAO. Zoe Saldana having 3 of the top 5 highest grossing films of all time

'Up' is a masterpiece and the 3rd film of the Pixar holy trinity for me. Pixar still have about 3 other films that are near perfect, but 'Finding Nemo', 'Wall-E' & 'Up' are just... so wonderful! I think it also holds the record for quickest time it takes for you to become attached to and be destroyed by a film. DEVASTATING.

'Inglorious Basterds' is Quentin's best, for me. Stellar cast. Incredible story. Brilliant directing... I love it so much. '(500) Days Of Summer' is another of my favourite movies. A film that literally takes you through every human emotion possible. Stunning work.

'District 9' and 'Moon' are both fantastic movies, especially the latter. Sam Rockwell really captivates in that role! 'The Time Travellers Wife' is so good. Really lovely! 'The Blind Side' was my favourite Sandra Bullock role since 'Speed'. Stunning performance. 'My Sisters Keeper' is beautiful.

'Watchmen' was decent enough I think. I need to watch the TV series! 'Zombieland' is really good. Very unexpected too. 'Star Trek' was actually a pretty decent reboot and 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' is a bit of a guilty pleasure. Except for what they do to Deadpool's character in the movie, I actually lowkey enjoyed it lol.

'Sherlock Holmes' is good fun and one of Guy Ritchies better efforts. 'The Proposal' is cute fun and 'Princess & The Frog' I only saw for the first time v recently, but I'd say it's very underrated! I loved the 2D animation coming back <3 and the song 'Almost There' is amazing.

Also, I recommend 'Orphan' to people just because of how BAT SHIT CRAZY it is! LMAO. It's so absurd! 'Drag Me To Hell' I've seen twice now (the last time as recently as about 5 months ago) and I hated it both times. Just AWFUL. I've spoken about 'Paranormal Activity' in 2007 (coz I saw it on the picture before reading your post aha) and I love it and that franchise so much. 'Final Destination 4' is so bad and it the weakest of the franchise, for sure!

Surprisingly this 'Fast & The Furious' movie and the following 2 are actually very solid! They should've been their own self contained trilogy tbh. I was late to 'Taken' I think. Well only a couple of years, but I really enjoyed it. The less said about 2 the better. It was so bad I avoided #3

'Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs' is definitely remembered I think, but I hated it. I was really disappointed in it and the script was just unfunny puns... The 2nd was worse though.

'The Hurt Locker' is good, but Oscar worthy? Nah. I think I preferred nearly every other Best Picture nominee, oops (not seen 'Precious' (ugh - IK), 'A Serious Man' & 'An Education). 'The Hangover' is really overrated. Maybe I need to watch it again, but I wasn't impressed the first time I saw it.

'Up' being the 2nd animation to be nominated for Best Picture is a fact I didn't know! 'Toy Story 3' followed the year after, right? And was the last time an animation film was up for Best Picture?




---

Amazing work Sam! I've loved following this. I kinda want you to keep it up and post 2010's in the movie forum But I appreciate the amount of work and effort it must take! Absolutely brilliant work. Thank you so much! (and for doing it all and so detailed in such a short space of time... WHEW. WBK!)

Posted by: tuberculotita* 13th April 2020, 08:12 AM

oh my god sam this is insane!!!!! Please keep going in the movies forum on this

short comment here but flicking through I think my favourite film from the whole decade would have to be pans labyrinth!

Posted by: Leanne 🧘🏻‍ 13th April 2020, 09:06 AM

Again, I only went to the cinema a couple of times this year to see Watchmen and Harry Potter but I do have other memories. Loved Star Trek and Up! I really didn’t like District 9!

I actually only watched Avatar last week for the first time and, I’m guessing it looked amazing in 3D, but everything else about it I found really BORING.

Posted by: Karen 🥂 13th April 2020, 09:48 AM

2004

Lemony Snicket <3 I've said elsewhere in this forum but I've watched the film so many times and it holds a special place in my heart despite its random deviations from the books. I love its wacky style and the leads are all great! The music is incredible too. A shame we never got a sequel but I really, really don't mind now we have the Netflix series which is such a faithful adaptation.

doesn't need to be said but Mean Girls is one of course one of the most iconic films of all time!

omg i was so hyped for Shark Tale as a kid (maybe I wanted my new Finding Nemo) but it really is a random mess of a film and showed the difference between Pixar and Dreamworks really. However, Shrek 2 is one of those sequels that possible is better than the first! I'm always change my mind over that - makes it more bizarre that the two that followed are so dreadful. The Incredibles though manages to eclipse even Shrek 2 - one of the best superhero movies of all time! It strikes it so well and continues the glory years for Pixar. The Polar Express though brings the quality back down, more because of the failed animation technology - it makes everything look so creepy and wooden!

I was a sucker for those big disaster films as a kid, just for all the special effects and action. i therefore loved The Day After Tomorrow and then 2012 that followed, which would be the last before I lost interest.

Dodgeball is a complete fave, one of the absolute best comedies <3 I watched Eternal Sunshine maybe a couple or so years after it came out but I think its the scene in the library where someone won't turn round so it just shows the back of their head - and that freaked me out. I did watch it again last year or so where I properly appreciated it - so good.

Shaun of the Dead is one of the pinnacles of British comedy - don't know how anyone can't love it!

Team America is just a BIZARRE movie, particularly the puking part. White Chicks can also go in the bizarre category despite loving it.

What a year though! Not because it was a year of GOOD films, but it brings lots of memories back - perhaps because it was the start of moving away more from just watching kids films

2005

Batmin Begins completely passed me by when it first came out, as did The Dark Knight oops. I soon caught up with both soon afterwards though after the huge hype for The Dark Knight.

omg Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, will never stop expressing my love for that film. It is visually stunning!!!

This really was the peak for Will Smith as a bankable movie star!!

I think King Kong might have performed better had it not be soo long. It's not the same as Lord of the Rings and doesn't really need to be that long. I have lots of memories of it but its length puts me off rewatching.

The first Madagascar is so good but again, its spoilt by unnecessary sequels!

Narnia is the perfect family film - I remember all the promo and the style of the film made it feel so magical and a perfect escapism. It's a shame the follow-ups didn't reach the same highs but they didn't have the benefit of being the most well-known in popular culture. I think they're adapting the Narnia series again for Netflix!

LOVE Curse of the Were Rabbit. Again, another quintessentially British film with a plot about a vegetable growing contest. Hutch is another of my favourite characters ever, makes me laugh every time.

I love that adaptation of War of the Worlds, I feel it gets a lot of hate but it has a special place in my heart. Particularly the scene in the basement.

This is definitely the year I was moving away from watching all the kids movies because I remember all those being released but I've never seen any of them. although being a sucker for 3D i actually wanted to watch that Sharkboy film just for the 3Dness, thank goodness I was never taken to see it cos I'm sure it was abysmal!

Walk the Line is the one I've watched from the Awards season!

2006

Cars is the start of where Pixar starts to falter. Still so annoyed its got 3 movies and the second and third are the only Pixar films I've never seen.

Casino Royale is really good and sets a brilliant tone for a perfect reboot of the series. Just a shame its another of those films repeated every week on ITV!

Flushed Away is another bonkers British film, not reaching the same heights as Wallace & Gromit at all. Love Night at the Museum though, another special family film concept that of course has to sadly start a franchise!

Hoodwinked is INCREDIBLE. It is such an amazing and clever concept, I love it so much! Again though, not sure why it has a sequel even though I've never watched it. I LOVE Monster House too - it's nice to have a horror movie for kids and that was done perfectly in terms of balancing the scares. This is clearly the era for animations away from the bigger studios.

Pan's Labyrinth is so good as well, a beautifully made film.

Loved the Alex Rider books as a kid, never saw Stormbreaker until a few years later though. I see they're rebooting it as a TV series, starting with the second book!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 13th April 2020, 12:43 PM

time to start catching up with y'all! <3

QUOTE(Nancy 🍾 @ Apr 11 2020, 04:28 PM)

omg totally forgot how 2004 was full of iconic hits!
Bridget Jones, I, Robot, Mean Girls, Ocean's Twelve, Shark Tale, Spider-Man 2, The Bourne Supremacy, The Day After Tomorrow, The Incredibles, The Notebook, The Polar Express, Troy, White Chicks
and not so iconic but still very enjoyable and watchable Catwoman and Hellboy
The one that I need to watch is Anchorman...I've heard a lot about it but I never really put an effort and watch it. Perhaps finally I should just do it now since I have the time of the world!!

QUOTE(Leanne 🧘🏻‍ @ Apr 11 2020, 05:06 PM)

QUOTE(Janet 🙅🏼‍& @ Apr 11 2020, 05:10 PM)

Did anyone else like Johnny English? It got savaged, but I really liked it!

My other faves were Austin Powers, American Pie, LOTRs movies, Harry Potters, Kevin and Perry, ans Tomb Raider.

Also, I didn't realise Fockers was so old or that Hitchhikers even had a movie

QUOTE(Janet 🙅🏼‍& @ Apr 12 2020, 01:07 AM)

QUOTE(Jonjo @ Apr 12 2020, 01:26 AM)

2003:


'Elf' is another huge fave. Without fail, it's been my first Christmas movie of Christmas season, every year for the last 9 years or so (when I first watched it - yes I was late to that party! In fact, it wasn't until like 4 or 5 years ago I found out it was actually a film from as early as 2003!

I've still never seen 'Love Actually', oops! Also, 'Brother Bear' is cute! 'Lost In Translation' is very good. Scarlett is brilliant in it. I've never seen 'Monster' or 'Thirteen' though </3 Both are on my list!

'Honey'!! 2nd to only 'Step Up 2: The Streets' as my favourite dance movie *.* Yolanda Adams - I Believe slaps SO HARD! WHAT A SONG!

I had NO IDEA Scarlett hadn't been nominated for Oscars up until this year (where she was double nommed no less *.*). Wow. That's crazy.

Gregory Peck getting mentioned a couple of times reminds me, I really need to see 'To Kill A Mockingbird'!

---
2004:


What over took Shrek 2 as the highest grossing animation? 'Toy Story 3'?

'Spider-Man 2' is enjoyable. I've only ever seen 'The Day After Tomorrow', once. I can't remember a single thing about it other than the DVD cover :') I shall rewatch at some point though. Jake

'The Incredibles' is really overrated! It's constantly in people's top 5 Pixar lists and it's bottom 5 for me.

It seems that 2004 was the year for cult classics! 'Eternal Sunshine..' (good but overrated imo), 'Garden State', 'Napoleon Dynamite', 'Christmas With The Kranks', 'The Machinist', 'Anchorman', 'The Butterfly Effect', 'Mysterious Skin' & 'Dawn Of The Dead' (as well as 'Team America' ofc), all seemed to do ok, but are definitely thought of a lot more highly nowadays I think! A lot of people really like that version of DOTD! I rewatched CWTK over Christmas and I actually enjoyed it more now than I ever did when I first saw it (I hated it so didn't really watch it again until recently).

I need to see 'Mysterious Skin', 'Ray', 'Million Dollar Baby', 'The Polar Express' (TINASHE *.*), 'The Machinist' & 'Hotel Rwanda'. I have 'Two Brothers' but have never seen it. Tbh, I daren't. I feel like my heart will be ripped to shreds.

Why did Disney try and stop Fahrenheit 9/11?

Halle Berry turning up at the Razzies *.*

Posted by: Brenda 💋 13th April 2020, 02:52 PM

Honestly the 00's were such an iconic decade for the film industry. Some of my favourite moments came from this decade.

Like the damn Harry Potter franchise was birthed
It does NOT get more iconic

Posted by: Karen 🥂 13th April 2020, 03:25 PM

2007

i love Bee Movie's place in history now, so deserved by how BIZARRE the whole thing is! Enchanted is a great idea but a film I've never seen!

Love I Am Legend, again perhaps more than most others!

I've always been confused when I look back at Stardust's box office taking - it really did feel massive over here so I'm glad I'm not being delusional! I wonder why it failed to take off in the US.

never read the books but The Golden Compass is probably another one that's good that it bombed as it allowed the fantastic TV show to be produced!

I LOVE The Simpsons Movie, it really allowed itself to excel and the higher stakes concept managed to work for the show where it maybe fails in other movies of TV animations.

omg Transformers - a M E S S but the original trilogy still holds a special place in my heart - the perfect switch your brain off films.

yeahh Evan Almighty was completely unnecessary

2008

Iron Man of course kick-started a franchise that probably no one saw coming. I remember the film completely passed me by on release! The Incredible Hulk is the only MCU film I've not seen :')

omg literally re ITV and Quantam of Solace. Every other day either that or Casino Royale are showing. ITV are actually terrible with films, it's the same ones over and over. There was literally a period where Despicable Me was on every. single. weekend.

i do agree re the seasons for Narnia. I know they can't help it due to it being an adaptation but I wonder if Prince Caspian might have done better if it still had the wintry setting and was released in winter. The summary feel kinda made it the complete opposite of the first.

The Dark Knight is of course one of the best superhero films ever. Its been said multiple times but a brilliant portrayal of the Joker and its great to have actual consequences happen for Batman.

WALL-E I overlooked on release but it is actually a beautiful piece of film-making <3

I remember watching Get Smart... and that's it! and yep, as mentioned, the 3D suckered me in for Journey to the Centre

omg The Happening, I love it - featuring the best acting from Mark Whalberg of course

The Spiderwick Chronicles always confused me because I knew it starred Freddie Highmore but I could never work out which boy he played because they both looked like him and it really annoyed me. I found out a few years later he played both

WAIT.... Dreamworks is technically Disney?????

2009

as I said before, I was a sucker for disaster movies and so loved 2012 and I actually watched it on the day that the world was meant to end :')

A lot can be said about Avatar's not exactly unique plot and its unobtanium (wow) but the visual effects are stunning and it certainly is the best 3D film I've seen. it was a perfect cinema moment for those reasons which is why I understand that's sort of forgotten about now as it was more for cinema rather than home release. maybe, for those reasons, they can replicate it for the sequels but, I'd be surprised. A very big gamble for the studio!

I personally don't understand Paranormal Activity as much as others and prefer a couple of the sequels. Perhaps its another though that was destined for the cinema experience and the mystique around the film. It's similar to The Blair Witch Project really for me.

Up is Pixar perfection again. that first 10 minutes is one of the best in cinematic history and you feel emotionally exhausted before the film has even began!

Origins: Wolverine is HORRENDOUS

Coraline is perfection again on the other hand LOVE the style and have been able to catch the other LAIKA films too.

omg Nativity is one of the best Christmas films! Sparkle and Shine is the Christmas classic that never was

love Zombieland too, especially the Bill Murray appearance. Need to check out the sequel!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 13th April 2020, 03:38 PM

QUOTE(Nancy 🍾 @ Apr 12 2020, 02:19 AM)

FILM DEBUTS: -> these actors made their debuts in film in 2006
Armie Hammer in Flicka
Eddie Redmayne in Like Minds
Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls - we stan an Oscar winning debut
Mia Wasikowska in Surburban Mayhem
Rami Malek in Night at the Museum
Rebecca Hall in Starter For 10

So many talents in that list...4 of them already oscar winners...Armie was robbed of Oscar nom for Call Me By Your Name

QUOTE(dan.G* @ Apr 12 2020, 08:55 AM)

QUOTE(Leanne 🧘🏻‍ @ Apr 12 2020, 10:18 AM)

QUOTE(Jonjo @ Apr 12 2020, 03:22 PM)

2005:

'Fantastic Four' is another movie I hadn't seen before but I recently watched it and the sequel and actually enjoyed them both! They're extremely cheesy and corny but they have a charm to them.


'The 40 Year Old Virgin' is good fun! So funny. Especially name checking the Queen in an ICONIC scene *.* "AHHH KELLY CLARKSON!" I didn't realise just how big 'Wedding Crashers' was, that's insane! It has some good moments tbh. Like the dinner table scene!

'Howl's Moving Castle' is very good. One of just a couple of Ghibli films I've actually seen! Ugh 'Rent'. So boring. I really don't get the hype. Although I saw an amateur production of it last year and it was a lot better, so maybe it works better as a stage show instead?

I've not seen any of the best picture nominess this year. I should watch 'Crash' (I don't want to - but it's too iconic of a win for me to ignore lol) and 'Brokeback Mountain' at least. Jake Gyllenhaal deserves so much more recognition as an actor. One of the finest actors today imo. So under appreciated.

I really need to see 'A History Of Violence'.

OMG just got to the part where you recommended C&TCF! LMAO! Sorry, but I hated it! </3 (I grew up on the original though, so maybe I'm biased - I daren't watch it again lmao)

2006 & 2007 will come later when I've charged my laptop

QUOTE(Hauspital* @ Apr 12 2020, 05:50 PM)

Posted by: Nancy 🍾 13th April 2020, 04:17 PM

Oops

Why the hell did I think Rebecca Hall is Regina King...I guess it was late at night lol.

Posted by: Nancy 🍾 13th April 2020, 04:18 PM

and Sam this thread deserves a standing ovation...it was so fun reading it but also so informative well done

Posted by: Karen 🥂 13th April 2020, 04:21 PM

It is a fantastic thread, so so informative and a brilliant reference point if I want to revisit any films!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 13th April 2020, 04:28 PM

QUOTE(Leanne 🧘🏻‍ @ Apr 12 2020, 06:02 PM)

QUOTE(Hauspital* @ Apr 13 2020, 12:32 AM)

Not a vintage year for me. Drag Me to Hell probably my favourite! Up is fantastic too and continued Pixar's winning formula streak.

QUOTE(Jonjo @ Apr 12 2020, 07:00 PM)

2006:

A solid year for 2006! 'The Host' is so much fun. If you enjoyed 'Parasite' and want to check more of Bong Joon Ho's films, I recommend that one. I want to see more of his myself. 'Mother' looks like it could be good!

Ooh this was the year both 'The Prestige' & 'The Illusionist' came out. I often mix them up myself, but 'The Prestige' is my favourite. Brilliant performances all round!

I only saw 'Half Nelson' in the last year and a half or so, but it's brilliant. One of Gosling's best performances. Top 4 anyway (with 'Lars & The Real Girl', 'Drive' & 'La La Land'). Such a good indie drama movie.

'Saw III' is my favourite of the 'Saw' sequels. Some really grim scenes like the surgery on his head and again the twist was executed nicely! Also, this is my bad bitch moment as I saw this at the cinema... I was only 17 *.*

'Blood Diamonds' is brilliant. One of Leo's most underrated imo. I REALLY need to see 'The Last King Of Scotland'. James McAvoy is a great actor! 'Casino Royale'... not into Bond films, but this is alright.

'Cars' is a lot of fun. I think it gets bashed on a lot and although it's bottom of the pack of Pixar for me, it's just a testament to how strong Pixar animations are. Yes, super controversial opinion alert... I preferred this to 'The Incredibles'. Lol. OMG 'The Wild'... absolutely ABYSMAL.

'Pan's Labyrinth'... what a movie. I've only seen it the once, but it made an impact and although there are better movies not in the English language, this is definitely recommended for people looking for a quirky foreign language movie recommendation.

'Children Of Men' I want to see. I've heard really great things about it in the last couple of years. 'The Departed' is alright. Solid but not memorable.

We've spoke about this already, but 'Dreamgirls'... good Lord. Thank God that didn't get the Oscar for anything other than J Hud! (But 'Listen' losing Best Original Song? Pfft - disgusting).

L M A O at 'Zyzzyx Road'!!! $30 but then changed to $20 coz of a refund! SCREAMING!

---

2007:

'Zodiac' is one of my favourite movies. David Fincher is my favourite director so seeing him work with Iron Man & Hulk along with Jake Gyllenhaal all in one movie?! My mind is blown! (I saw this for the first time about 2013) Very underrated and underlooked.

It's so weird that 'Paranormal Activity' is considered a 2007 film, to me. I can't believe it didn't take off/get a release over here until 2009!

'Ratatouille' is SO good and one of Pixar's most underrated, imo. Meet the Robinsons is underrated too.

'Hairspray' is so much fun! The songs are catchy too. However, 'Enchanted' is so magical! I love that movie

The less said about 'Sunshine' the better! VOM. Although, I will say that the version of 'Adagio For Strings' that is used in this movie, is my favourite piece of score music of all time. Breathtaking.

'St. Trinians' was a lot of fun the one time I saw it at the cinema. I'd definitely say it was largely forgotten about nowadays though.

'Hostel 2' feels very "straight to DVD", but it's enjoyable and has one of the most memorable scenes in the franchise. We'll pretend this was the last film in the series.

Amazing tidbit about Netflix!

QUOTE(Jonjo @ Apr 12 2020, 07:31 PM)

2008: (The year I worked at Cineworld *.*)

I saw 'Wall-E' 5 times. A personal record for me, which wasn't beaten or matched until I saw the first Avengers movie 5 times in 2012. Such a fantastic film and it's 2nd to FN as my favourite Pixar movie. Top 10 all time

'The Incredible Hulk' is a good movie. Often slated/comes bottom when people talk about the MCU but it's unfairly treated I think.

The devastating 'The Boy In Striped Pyjamas'... MY GOD. One of my favourite movies but absolutely heartbreaking. Speaking of heartbreaking... 'Marley & Me'.. never gonna watch that again.. ever.

'Step Up 2: The Streets' was huge and sold out every "Orange Wednesday" for about 5 weeks! My favourite dance movie, the best "final dance" scene and the KILLA soundtrack which helmed Flo-Rida - Low, Cherish - Killa & Cassie - Is It You?. One of my favourite soundtracks!

2008 was also the year the most beautifully disturbing movie I have ever seen was released. 'Martyrs'. SO hard to watch but you just can't stop watching. One of my all time faves.

'In Bruges' is excellent too! Didn't realise 'Bronson' was this year. Brilliant film.

The juggernaut of 'Mamma Mia'! This was still selling out weeks after the DVD release where I worked. It was insane.

Also, is it you that keeps telling me to watch 'Doubt'? I will.. one day x

Heath's death was and still is a HUGE deal. Gone way before his time

WHAT A YEAR.

2009:
'Up' is a masterpiece and the 3rd film of the Pixar holy trinity for me. Pixar still have about 3 other films that are near perfect, but 'Finding Nemo', 'Wall-E' & 'Up' are just... so wonderful! I think it also holds the record for quickest time it takes for you to become attached to and be destroyed by a film. DEVASTATING.

'Watchmen' was decent enough I think. I need to watch the TV series! 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' is a bit of a guilty pleasure. Except for what they do to Deadpool's character in the movie, I actually lowkey enjoyed it lol.

Also, I recommend 'Orphan' to people just because of how BAT SHIT CRAZY it is! LMAO. It's so absurd! 'Drag Me To Hell' I've seen twice now (the last time as recently as about 5 months ago) and I hated it both times. Just AWFUL. I've spoken about 'Paranormal Activity' in 2007 (coz I saw it on the picture before reading your post aha) and I love it and that franchise so much. 'Final Destination 4' is so bad and it the weakest of the franchise, for sure!

'Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs' is definitely remembered I think, but I hated it. I was really disappointed in it and the script was just unfunny puns... The 2nd was worse though.

'The Hurt Locker' is good, but Oscar worthy? Nah. I think I preferred nearly every other Best Picture nominee, oops (not seen 'Precious' (ugh - IK), 'A Serious Man' & 'An Education).

'Up' being the 2nd animation to be nominated for Best Picture is a fact I didn't know! 'Toy Story 3' followed the year after, right? And was the last time an animation film was up for Best Picture?
---

Amazing work Sam! I've loved following this. I kinda want you to keep it up and post 2010's in the movie forum But I appreciate the amount of work and effort it must take! Absolutely brilliant work. Thank you so much! (and for doing it all and so detailed in such a short space of time... WHEW. WBK!)

QUOTE(tuberculotita* @ Apr 13 2020, 09:12 AM)

oh my god sam this is insane!!!!! Please keep going in the movies forum on this

short comment here but flicking through I think my favourite film from the whole decade would have to be pans labyrinth!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 13th April 2020, 04:28 PM

tysm guys <3 I'll finish off replying to comments a bit later as in a shocker, I'm off to watch a movie x

Posted by: Jonjo 13th April 2020, 06:57 PM

I'll reply properly later but, if 'Orphan' is on Netflix I'll try and arrange a netflix party for it on Wed/Thurs about 915pm?

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 13th April 2020, 09:17 PM

QUOTE(Leanne 🧘🏻‍ @ Apr 13 2020, 10:06 AM)

QUOTE(Karen 🥂 @ Apr 13 2020, 10:48 AM)

QUOTE(Brenda 💋 @ Apr 13 2020, 03:52 PM)

Honestly the 00's were such an iconic decade for the film industry. Some of my favourite moments came from this decade.

Like the damn Harry Potter franchise was birthed
It does NOT get more iconic

QUOTE(Karen 🥂 @ Apr 13 2020, 04:25 PM)

2007

i love Bee Movie's place in history now, so deserved by how BIZARRE the whole thing is! Enchanted is a great idea but a film I've never seen!

Love I Am Legend, again perhaps more than most others!

I've always been confused when I look back at Stardust's box office taking - it really did feel massive over here so I'm glad I'm not being delusional! I wonder why it failed to take off in the US.

never read the books but The Golden Compass is probably another one that's good that it bombed as it allowed the fantastic TV show to be produced!

I LOVE The Simpsons Movie, it really allowed itself to excel and the higher stakes concept managed to work for the show where it maybe fails in other movies of TV animations.

omg Transformers - a M E S S but the original trilogy still holds a special place in my heart - the perfect switch your brain off films.

yeahh Evan Almighty was completely unnecessary

2008

Iron Man of course kick-started a franchise that probably no one saw coming. I remember the film completely passed me by on release! The Incredible Hulk is the only MCU film I've not seen :')

omg literally re ITV and Quantam of Solace. Every other day either that or Casino Royale are showing. ITV are actually terrible with films, it's the same ones over and over. There was literally a period where Despicable Me was on every. single. weekend.

i do agree re the seasons for Narnia. I know they can't help it due to it being an adaptation but I wonder if Prince Caspian might have done better if it still had the wintry setting and was released in winter. The summary feel kinda made it the complete opposite of the first.

The Dark Knight is of course one of the best superhero films ever. Its been said multiple times but a brilliant portrayal of the Joker and its great to have actual consequences happen for Batman.

WALL-E I overlooked on release but it is actually a beautiful piece of film-making <3

I remember watching Get Smart... and that's it! and yep, as mentioned, the 3D suckered me in for Journey to the Centre

omg The Happening, I love it - featuring the best acting from Mark Whalberg of course

The Spiderwick Chronicles always confused me because I knew it starred Freddie Highmore but I could never work out which boy he played because they both looked like him and it really annoyed me. I found out a few years later he played both

WAIT.... Dreamworks is technically Disney?????

2009

as I said before, I was a sucker for disaster movies and so loved 2012 and I actually watched it on the day that the world was meant to end :')

A lot can be said about Avatar's not exactly unique plot and its unobtanium (wow) but the visual effects are stunning and it certainly is the best 3D film I've seen. it was a perfect cinema moment for those reasons which is why I understand that's sort of forgotten about now as it was more for cinema rather than home release. maybe, for those reasons, they can replicate it for the sequels but, I'd be surprised. A very big gamble for the studio!

I personally don't understand Paranormal Activity as much as others and prefer a couple of the sequels. Perhaps its another though that was destined for the cinema experience and the mystique around the film. It's similar to The Blair Witch Project really for me.

Up is Pixar perfection again. that first 10 minutes is one of the best in cinematic history and you feel emotionally exhausted before the film has even began!

Origins: Wolverine is HORRENDOUS

Coraline is perfection again on the other hand LOVE the style and have been able to catch the other LAIKA films too.

omg Nativity is one of the best Christmas films! Sparkle and Shine is the Christmas classic that never was

love Zombieland too, especially the Bill Murray appearance. Need to check out the sequel!

It is a fantastic thread, so so informative and a brilliant reference point if I want to revisit any films!

QUOTE(Nancy 🍾 @ Apr 13 2020, 05:17 PM)

Oops

Why the hell did I think Rebecca Hall is Regina King...I guess it was late at night lol.

and Sam this thread deserves a standing ovation...it was so fun reading it but also so informative well done

QUOTE(Jonjo @ Apr 13 2020, 07:57 PM)

Posted by: Brenda 💋 13th April 2020, 09:28 PM

QUOTE(Jonjo @ Apr 13 2020, 06:57 PM)

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 13th April 2020, 10:56 PM

just before this closes for the time being, thx so much again for all your contributions as we looked back on an iconic decade of film!

Posted by: Sharon 🍷 14th April 2020, 08:37 PM

and we are back if any of y'all want to catch up! <3

Posted by: Jonjo 14th April 2020, 09:49 PM

A THREAD.

A thread of the year contender. Wbk.

Will look into doing Orphan tomorrow at about 9.15/9.30 if people are still up for it?