Club 50 Wrap-Up: 2000

Years Completed:
1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 
1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 
2007 | 2008 | 2010 | 2009 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014

I'm officially exhausted. I know these Delayed Reactions and Wrap-Ups have been coming out at a slowish rate, but, without getting too much into how the sausage is made, I've been doing nothing but writing these Wrap Ups for a few weeks now*. I'm finally on the last one I'll be doing for at least a month or so.

*"Now" actually being sometime in February, because I can do these posts ahead of time and I watch too many movies  for this "one post a day" strategy to not get backed up.

It's appropriate that I end this phase on 2000. I discussed this before, but 2000 always struck me as a transition year. Just looking at the top grossing movies of the years before and after sums it up well. Before 2000, it was movies like Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, and Star Wars. Huge movies. Epic historical and fantasy stories. After 2000, it was Harry Potter, Spider-Man, and Lord of the Rings. Similarly huge movies. 2000's highest grossing movie was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. That's a head scratcher. It's not a bad movie, but it isn't even considered a Christmas classic these days. I still find it most notable for how long Taylor Momsen has been around (but that's just me).

That's not to say it was a lost year. It's just a quieter year. There were six sequels in the top 50 (There's been at least 9 in every year since). These weren't impressive movies though. We're talking about the unneeded Nutty Professor sequel. Scream 3, which took the air out of the franchise entirely. Rugrats in Paris felt excessive and Mission Impossible II is easily the weakest installment in the series. There's been a fairly average number of sequels to the movies released in 2000 (13). Most have been comedies though, with Scary Movie, Big Momma's House, Miss Congeniality, and The Whole Nine Yards getting sequels among others.

This is the rare year in which all the Oscar nominees made the top 50 in the box office. In fact, four of them were in the top 15 (Gladiator #4, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon #12, Erin Brockovich #13, Traffic #15). Even Chocolat at #32 was safely in there.

To wind down each year as I complete them, I'm going to hand out a few superlatives or anecdotal awards to highlight some of the highs and lows of the year's top 50 box office earners.

First Seen: X-Men

This is one of my favorite memories seeing a movie. I saw it with my dad (which I don't do often anymore. I should change that). I was still young enough for it to feel like an event. And it was a late showing. At least 9, but probably closer to 10. I have the feeling like it was a spur of the moment idea. My dad liked Marvel comics from when he was younger. We had no idea what to expect, because superhero movies were still a DC thing. Beyond being impressed by the final product, it was the first time I remembered being "sequeled at". It was so obvious that they were gunning for a sequel with all the loose ends that they even pointed them out.

Last Seen: The Cell

That was a weird movie. I can't say I avoided seeing it. I also won't say I went out of my way to find it.

Happiest Surprise: Disney's The Kid

This is exactly the kind of movie that I have a soft spot for. For the same reasons that I liked The Kid, I almost put The Family Man here instead. There's something about the moment at the end when Bruce Willis and Spencer Breslin meet their future self and say "we're gonna be a pilot" that is so incredibly sweet.

Biggest Disappointment: Scream 3

This series certainly limped to the end. That is, until it came back with Scream 4 a decade later, which was better than I expected.

Looked Better Then: What Women Want

I'm tempted to choose Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for the rate at which it went from visual marvel to parodied. At this point, most people remember it more as a joke than a movie, which is a shame. I'll stick with What Women Want for the Mel Gibson/scorched Earth of it all. I don't know. He just doesn't seem as sweet anymore.

Looks Better Now: Remember the Titans

X-Men is probably the most influential movie in that its success arguably accounted for at least one top 13 movie in the box office every year from 2002 to the present*. Before that, there was what, Blade? I also strongly considered Bring It On and Miss Congeniality since both are comedies that I've watched countless times and still love. Remember the Titans is the easy pick though. The way people talk about that these days, you'd think it made $200 million, and swept the Oscars, not that it did slightly worse than Big Momma's House and it lost that Black Reel Award for Best Film.

*In case you were wondering, I'm referring to:
2002: Spider-Man (#1)
2003: X2: X-Men United (#6), Hulk (#14)
2004: Spider-Man 2 (#2)
2005: Fantastic Four (#13)
2006: X-Men: The Last Stand (#4)
2007: Spider-Man 3 (#1)
2008: Iron Man (#2)
2009: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (#13)
2010: Iron Man 2 (#3)
2011: Thor (#10), Captain America: The First Avenger (#12)
2012: Marvel's The Avengers (#1), The Amazing Spider-Man (#7)
2013: Iron Man 3 (#2), Thor: The Dark World (#12)
2014: Guardians of the Galaxy (#3), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (#4), X-Men: Days of Future Past (#9), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (#12)
2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron (#3), Ant-Man (#13)

Favorite: Bring It On

I wasn't kidding. I love this movie. USA Network used to always do the double feature of Bring It On and Ten Things I Hate About You and I called it "my afternoon killer". If those were on, it was automatic.

2nd Favorite: Gladiator

I love a good historical sword and shield epic. I'll take Maximus fighting with lions and an insane Joaquin Phoenix, before we knew that he actually might be insane, over just about anything.

3rd Favorite: The Patriot

I like The Patriot for a lot of the same reasons I like Gladiator. Throw in Heath Ledger and I'm not actually sure why I have this below Gladiator. I must really love Roman architecture.

Honorable Mention:

X-Men

The more I learn about the development of this movie, the more interesting it is. Brian Singer had to fight to get it made the way he wanted and didn't win all those battles. The final result is still pretty impressive. And it gave us all Hugh Jackman.

Miss Congeniality

Sandra Bullock is delightful. That is all.

Remember the Titans

Whenever I complain about a historical inspirational sports movie being formulaic, what I'm really saying is "Remember the Titans did this better".

Least Favorite: Scary Movie

I realize this is the best movie in the franchise. Even still, I loathe it. It's lazy comedy that I don't find funny.