April 10, 20205 yr 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 :lol: 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!
April 10, 20205 yr 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)
April 10, 20205 yr Author 'DVD sales exceeded VHS videotape sales for the first ever time' ooh this is interesting :o I can remember my first ever DVD being Bratz Rock Angelz :lol: that would've been around 2005, so I was clearly late to that switch! Bratz :wub: a classic *.* 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 :lol: 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! I love The Birds <3 <3 <3 ahh love hearing about cinema experiences from then *.* 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) two films I rly need to see so badly, both are at the top of my list!!!
April 10, 20205 yr Author 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 :o 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: mTACCgSWu8E O2mecmDFE-Q 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?
April 10, 20205 yr yassss the start of the Harry Potter franchise :wub: 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 :lol: 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 :wub: :wub: 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!
April 10, 20205 yr 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!
April 10, 20205 yr reading this all this is like attending an academy school Sam :wub: 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 :wub:
April 10, 20205 yr Author 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 :lol: Momento is one I need to watch and omg yesss Emperor's New Groove :wub: :wub: 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! same I'm pretty sure I've seen the Oceans film but icr any of them at all :lol: ikr I forgot just how massive Ben Stiller was! ew memories of Zoolander 2 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! the franchises rly did go mental kicking off in the early 2000's *.* reading this all this is like attending an academy school Sam :wub: 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 :wub: thx <3 I would've loved to have seen that moment live!! and I've been meaning to see catch me if you can for AGES now ahaha
April 10, 20205 yr 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 :lol:
April 10, 20205 yr Author 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 :o 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: wgbU7gfpxTw 7kSuas6mRpk 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 :heart: :heart: 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
April 10, 20205 yr 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' :lol:) 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. :heart: 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. :wub: 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' :wub: 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 :wub: '8 Mile' is surprisingly good. I was expecting to hate it, but I actually liked it a fair bit! Brittany Murphy :heart: 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. :lol: '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? :lol: </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! :wub:
April 11, 20205 yr Author 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: _CLzzUfDjUo 07-QBnEkgXU 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?
April 11, 20205 yr Author 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 *.*
April 11, 20205 yr 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.
April 11, 20205 yr 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?!
April 11, 20205 yr 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?! No, and it’s more dated than you think! The house phones have cords! Plus Blue are in it and so is chart presented Wes from 2003-5.
April 11, 20205 yr 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. :wub: 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 :heart: 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!!
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