The 2000s gave way to funky fashion trends, Y2K, expanding internet, and a gateway of great and terrible films. Some, however, are true masterpieces for their time. Many great films of this decade can be attributed to their casting, direction, themes, and overall whimsy. Movies such as the teen comedy Mean Girls and the fruitful fantasy Avatar hold open a glimpse to later generations of the variety that is offered when a vision can be achieved.
The current zeitgeist finds many films from previous decades, including the 2000s, being remade, requeled, and rebooted. Here are some of the greatest films of the 2000s, considered to be so golden and definitive, they simply couldn’t be remade again.
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15 Fantastic Mr. Fox
20th Century Fox
Fantastic Mr. Fox is a stop-motion animated film directed by Wes Anderson and adapted from Roald Dahl’s novel of the same name. It follows the whimsical story of the intelligent Mr. Fox, as he devises plans to provide for his family while simultaneously outwitting his enemies.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
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MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Wes Anderson’s aesthetic expertly meshes well with the creative world of Roald Dahl which makes this animated film criminally underrated. Undercut by other phenomenal animated films from the same year, Fantastic Mr. Fox still stands as a beloved film by both fans of Dahl and Anderson and has gained a large following over the years. Moreover, the commingling of source material and creative choices make it a must-watch for those familiar with the novel and others who missed out on this instant classic.
14 The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada stars Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep immersed in the toxic world of the fashion industry. Andy Sachs is an aspiring journalist who takes up a position as junior personal assistant to the editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, Miranda Priestly. Initially, she struggles to hold up but then learns the ropes of the industry, quickly becoming more and more like the people she once prejudiced.
What makes the film iconic to so many, other than the impeccable casting, is the engaging story of a character transforming into a destructive version of themself. The Devil Wears Prada is not only an aspirational vision of fashion but a cautionary tale that sets up why being a GirlBoss may not be as enticing as it may seem. The film, overall, is groundbreaking for its relevant themes that have pervaded the past 16 years of its cultural following.
13 Inglourious Basterds
Universal Pictures
Inglourious Basterds, along with Kill Bill, is a definitive Quentin Tarantino film of its decade. The movie follows an alternate history of World War II, recounted in two plots to assassinate the leadership of Nazi Germany. Ultimately, First Lieutenant Aldo Raine, played by Brad Pitt, leads the operation backed by a team of Jewish American soldiers.
Inglourious Basterds was positively by audiences and critics alike, however, it met some criticism for its creative liberties with the history it portrays. Regardless, what makes it popular, and the quite possibly untouchable film is the style that is unique to Tarantino’s direction and storytelling. Perhaps the liberties taken in the film may not have passed in more recent years but is memorable for the overall story it has shaped and the spectacular performances it has brought forth. It is truly a film molded by a complex history and a storyteller’s vision.
12 Donnie Darko
Arrow Films
Donnie Darko stars a young Jake Gyllenhaal, following his iconic breakout performance, as the troubled titular character, Donnie Darko. Set in 1988, Donnie avoids a grave tragedy through his habit of sleepwalking, which sparks a series of confusing and enthralling events that are still analyzed continuously to this day.
The indie film didn’t take to audiences on its initial release, due to the subject of the crashing plane holding so close to the September 11 attacks. In spite of this, Donnie Darko has received critical praise for Gyllenhaal’s performance in its day and has spawned a large cult following. Moreover, what makes the film so golden is its unique nature to the obscure and strange, the story of a young teenager grappling with the unknown threshold of mental stability and reality. Although there are talks of an impending new installment, the inclination to rewatch Donnie Darko makes it a top-tier independent film for the ages.
11 Pineapple Express
Sony Pictures Releasing
Pineapple Express is a stoner comedy unlike any other. The story follows Seth Rogen’s Dale Denton, who witnesses a murder unfold and attempts to flee the city along with his laid-back drug dealer, Saul, portrayed by James Franco. The film then follows the duo’s antics amidst violence and comedic one-liners that make the movie incredibly memorable.
Inspired by a stoned Brad Pitt in True Romance, Judd Apatow struggled to get teen comedy Superbad off the ground as Rogen and Evan Goldberg worked on the script for the pivotal Pineapple Express. Although stoner films have been done in the past, Pineapple Express is set apart by its praiseworthy cinematography and its ambition in a year of flourishing comedic films. Moreover, the film’s bombastic hijinks and pot-smoking culture almost prevented it from being produced in the first place, making it a trailblazer for the “weed genre” as audiences know and love it.
10 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Focus Features
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a film that follows the relationship of Joel Barish and Clementine Kruczynski, played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet respectively. The movie starts with their quirky meet-cute and proceeds to lead into their broken history as a couple, amounting to a procedure in which their memories of each other and their dating is permanently erased.
The movie, although considered an indie film, is well-known for its melancholic tone and philosophical depth. Moreover, Eternal Sunshine could very well be considered an untouchable film on the very basis of how humans deal with complex relationships and the pain associated with them. Furthermore, the film packs in a plethora of themes and lessons that leave the mind thinking of them over and over again. Plus, the beauty of the hurt and the ambiguous ending is enough to leave one in awe and tears.
9 Almost Famous
Columbia Pictures
Almost Famous is a semi-autobiographical film loosely based on Cameron Crowe’s experience working for Rolling Stone magazine. Set in the 1970s, adolescent journalist William Miller is assigned to follow rock band, Stillwater, on their band tour all the while falling for the self-proclaimed “band aid” Penny Lane.
The film, while technically a box office bomb, has been praised by critics for various reasons. Its wonderful cinematography lives up to the rock aesthetic of its portrayed age and the soundtrack is award-winning. What truly makes this film, however, is its multifaceted depiction of the youth and culture of the 70s. William’s naive love for Penny Lane, her amiss affair with Russell, the band’s misconceived notion of passion for fame—everything a coming-of-age story should be and more. It is, as Roger Ebert says, a movie in which Crowe surpasses even himself.
8 The Notebook
New Line Cinema
The Notebook is based on the Nicholas Sparks romance novel of the same name that is beloved years after its initial release. Following a past and present storyline, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton, fall in love over the course of a summer and are separated tragically due to their social class differences. Family, war and the passage of time keep them apart until they are ultimately reunited later in life.
For its time, The Notebook was easily and still is, considered to be the love story of a lifetime. Much like Romeo and Juliet was to Shakespeare’s audiences of his age, Noah and Allie’s relationship and unconditional love was an aspiration for hopeless romantics and movie-goers in general. Not only is the pairing of Gosling and McAdams chock-full of chemistry but the overall film live up to the classic union of heartbreak and the happily-ever-after.
7 Atonement
Relativity Media
Much like The Notebook, Atonement is considered to be an instant classic. Based on the Ian McEwan novel of the same name, the story follows the separation of two lovers, Keira Knightley’s Cecilia and James McAvoy’s Robbie, due to a false conviction that sends the latter to prison and eventual war. Unlike the happy-ever-after of Nicholas Sparks’ famous romance, the film follows a false promise of hope for the couple, but their reality ends in tragedy.
The story’s misdirection was done artfully for its time and couldn’t be replicated now without being all the more predictable. Furthermore, Atonement rings as a top-tier film not only for its famous Dunkirk long-take, and even greater fame of the iconic green dress, but its weighing theme of an irreconcilable mistake that destroys the lives of three people simultaneously. A definitive plus is an early and artful performance given by the talented Saoirse Ronan.
6 (500) Days of Summer
Searchlight Pictures
Even though the film premiered more than 13 years ago, (500) Days of Summer is still open to passionate debate. Tom Hansen, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a hopeless romantic who is infatuated with the enigmatic Summer Finn, played by Zooey Deschanel. The course of the film entails how their relationship began and ended, with Tom obsessively piecing together what doomed the couple.
Heated debate has taken over the film, as some viewers find Tom in the right, and others find him toxically unaware of himself. Moreover, (500) Days of Summer opens the audience to a movie that perpetuates the art and reality of the unreliable narrator. It is a golden film for challenging what perspective looks like from different ends of a story and how it’s more common in life to have felt loss than to claim a happy ending. Additionally, Deschanel’s take on the manic pixie dream girl is as essential to the film as its breakdown of understanding love (and self-love) outside of one’s own meaning of life.
5 Tropic Thunder
DreamWorks Pictures
Tropic Thunder is a lightning rod of a comedic film. Pulling together the talents of Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, and others, the film is a satire of the Hollywood film industry, encompassing stars obsessed with awards, exaggerated investment in method acting, and the need for an Oscar-winning film.
The film’s cult following is well-founded on the powerhouse talents involved. Part of its overall charm can be attributed to the ensemble at hand, but Tropic Thunder also defined the comedic atmosphere for the year 2008. Furthermore, much of the film’s ambition and devil-may-care parody would be near impossible to be done again, as attitudes towards its exact approach to black comedy have changed with the times and sociopolitical tides. Nevertheless, it is a time capsule of 2000s humor and Les Grossman’s best material.
4 Nacho Libre
Paramount Pictures
Nacho Libre, along with School of Rock and Tenacious D, is Jack Black at his best. Set in Oaxaca, Mexico, Black stars as Ignacio, a Catholic friar who works as a cook for an impoverished orphanage. As a fan of lucha libre, he begins to work secretly as a luchador, alongside the street thief Esqueleto, to provide money and food for the monastery.
Nacho Libre received mixed reviews upon release but has garnered a strong cult following. Black’s adoration of Napoleon Dynamite and director, Jared Hess, led to their collaboration and creation of the film. It stands out to those who especially love Jack Black, as it clings to a more endearingly ridiculous replication of its original inspiration all the while poking satirical fun at the grandiose fanaticism of lucha libre culture. Its approach to portraying Mexican culture while infusing its own vision and humor certainly couldn’t be replicated again.
3 The Replacements
Bel Air Entertainment
The Replacements is a 2000s sports film inspired by the 1987 NFL players’ strike. After the original team of the Washington Sentinels go on strike with four games left in the season, Gene Hackman’s Jimmy McGinty pulls together a team of replacement players from various backgrounds comprising quirky talents. To lead the team to victory, he brings back disgraced player, Keanu Reeves’ Shane Falco, as quarterback.
Although the film wasn’t favored in its initial release, more recent films starring Reeves have prompted fans of his work to return to this earlier comedy. The driving force of the film, hands down, is the casting of the replacement players and key roles of the movie. Natural chemistry ensues between characters like McGinty and Falco, or Falco and Annabelle, whereas the dynamics between the replacements players grow within the story as well as in the audience. Without the talents of these comedic actors, or the lighthearted direction of Howard Deutch, this underdog story remains too golden to be redone.
2 Closer
Closer is a romantic drama based on an award-winning play of the same name. Two couples, four people, played by Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Julie Roberts, and Clive Owen, have their lives intertwined by being in and out of relationships with one another, often testing the boundaries of love and infidelity.
The award-winning ensemble alone makes this a near-perfect film. From the start of its jarring interaction between Law and Portman to watching each couple fall into one affair after another, what makes Closer golden is its deconstruction of understanding romantic relationships at the hands of selfish and self-destructive behavior. It sets itself apart from other romance films as it follows characters who are difficult to root for as they take their own pain and woefulness only to channel it into hurting others. It challenges the sought-after comfort of finding love and stability in every unpredictable turn of the story. Moreover, the difficult task of translating this play into a successful film took dedication and resulted in a complex, cinematic masterpiece.
1 Napoleon Dynamite
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Jared Hess’ Napoleon Dynamite is a quirky, awkward, and fantastic film. Starring Jon Heder in the titular role, Napoleon is a young teenager who befriends new student Pedro, and shy girl Debbie as they collectively navigate high school and the dry, small-town life in Idaho. Often, he butts heads with the obstacles of his brother, uncle, and grandmother but still finds the energy to embrace his own unique identity.
Quite possibly the best movie of the early 2000s, Napoleon Dynamite is wrapped in wonderful messages and lessons for any viewer to appreciate. What’s more, each character is definitely well-rounded by the way they are written, directed, and portrayed by their natural talents. The actors, as well as the movie’s setting, define this movie and couldn’t be done in any other way. The dialogue makes for unending quotable fun and the references made iconic by this film make it to the modern day. Napoleon Dynamite stands as a golden, top-tier film for its unique, slice-of-life story, its dry comedy, and its embrace of the unorthodox and eccentricities.
