2001: a MOVIE odyssey!!!
Did cinema peak 20 years ago?
Victoria: Earlier this month, I was putting together the Gold-Plated Girls editorial calendar. I decided to Google around and see if any movies were having big anniversaries this year so we could cover them.
What I quickly learned is that a lot of iconic movies are turning 20 this year, because apparently 2001 was an amazing year for popular cinema. Movies that were released that year include Legally Blonde, The Princess Diaries, Zoolander, Bridget Jones' Diary, Monsters, Inc., Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone, Shrek, Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring and Hayley and Victoria favorite Ocean's 11.
Read that list again! Legally Blonde and The Princess Diaries were released two weeks apart!
2001 really had something for everyone. Indie buffs have Memento and The Royal Tenenbaums. Lovers of foreign film have Amelie and Monsoon Wedding and Lagaan. Musical lovers have Moulin Rouge! and Josie and the Pussycats and Glitter. Kids had Spy Kids and Osmosis Jones and also Zoolander, which my adult cousin gave us a bootleg VHS of and we watched once a week for months. Many teenage girls basked in Heath Ledger's good looks during A Knight's Tale.
I just love these movies so much! 2001 cinema feels like a perfect moment, when blockbuster franchises were just really getting off the ground (a lot of these movies would get sequels or threequels, and the first Fast & Furious was also a 2001 movie), but there were still the sort of "adult" movie that never gets made anymore, mid-budget flicks that still play on cable.
The only one of these movies I remember seeing at the movie theater in 2001 is The Princess Diaries. My grandma took me, and I remember the popcorn bucket had the photo of Anne Hathaway in her tiara with her headphones on it. Almost every other one, my family got from Blockbuster, or I got the DVD from Netflix in high school.
Hayley, is my nostalgia taking me away, or was 2001 just a really great movie year?!
Hayley: I cannot BELIEVE how many of the movies that I watch on repeat came out in 2001!! Funnily enough, I probably did not see them in 2001 unless they were rated PG or lower. My parents had a rule that they had to watch PG-13 movies before I could, a vetting process we came to as a compromise because I was only 11 in 2001 but loved movies and wanted to watch them all. I remember when they rented the DVD of Legally Blonde I laid down on my bedroom floor and tried to listen to them watching it in the family room below. Obviously they were like, “Yes you can watch this one” and I have been watching it approximately once a week for 20 years.
Everyone likes to talk about how good of a movie year 1999 was, which I am not disputing, but 2001 really gives 1999 a run for its money. Like you said, this was before tentpole blockbusters monopolized the industry and we had a wide range of mid-budget movies that were just medium good! There were just so many more movies you could watch and enjoy and live in that world and not expect a sequel? I miss watching standalone movies! 2001 feels like it marked a turning point because nearly *every* movie you've outlined above had a sequel or two. Obviously Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings kicked off these huge book-based blockbuster fantasy film franchises that paved the way for Twilight and The Hunger Games. Over the next decade, everything shifted completely. 2001 feels like the last breath of fresh air before we got pulled under by the incessant serialization of movies.
Something that is also worth noting is how the Internet did not exist as a part of my movie-going experience in 2001 as an 11-year-old, which I think made a huge impact on what it meant to go to the movie theater. I didn't have to worry about getting spoilers for Spy Kids or hearing about production issues on A Knight's Tale. I didn't hear about every casting choice in real time for Rat Race. (Fun fact: I did see Rat Race in theaters but my friend's dad bought our tickets and said it was okay for us to see the movie because it was PG-13. Was my friend's dad just paranoid or was it really that hard for two 11-year-olds to see a PG-13 movie back then?!?!) I mean I know that this is partially a me problem, because I am on (big sigh) Film Twitter and follow a lot of critics and culture writers, but I miss going into a movie as a completely blank slate. And I'm not trying to be like "when I was a kid we DIDN'T HAVE INTERNET and IT WAS BETTER!" But all of my little cousins have Instagrams and are on Twitch all day and I just feel like that has totally shifted everything, but especially how people learn about and talk about movies.
Okay I am taking off my grandma hat now, I promise. What are some of your favorite movies from 2001 to rewatch? I just glanced at my TV console and realized that I still have Legally Blonde, Bridget Jones' Diary, Moulin Rouge!, Amelie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and Zoolander on DVD. This feels important. Like, I know that I have gotten rid of many DVDs over the years but I have kept all of these. Do you still have DVDs of any 2001 movies?
Victoria: I don't think I have any 2001 DVDs left! We had the LOTR ones, but then my brother lent them to a friend who never gave them back. A fool's decision. I think a lot of these movies I mostly watched on cable (Legally Blonde, The Princess Diaries, Save the Last Dance, which came out this very week), or I rented it (how excited I was to finally watch Kate & Leopold when I was going through my Hugh Jackman phase). In fact, I've seen The Princess Diaries so many times on cable that if my mom catches it on TV and it's at my favorite scene (when Julie Andrew "knights" the trolley people), she will call me into the room.
Let me spend a moment on what I consider the hidden gems of the year. Early in quarantine, I watched Heartbreakers, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sigourney Weaver, for the first time, and it was a non-stop delight. In that movie, they are possibly the two most beautiful women in the world. Just last week, I streamed Monsoon Wedding on the Criterion Channel and it was really wonderful. I have an eternal soft spot for 61*, the movie Billy Crystal directed for HBO about Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle's chase for the single-season home run record. For some reason my parents bought that on VHS, and it quickly claimed a place in my brother and I's rotation of favorites.
2001 also introduced the world to a veritable smorgasbord of hot guys. Chris Evans debuted in Not Another Teen Movie (I have only ever caught snippets on cable, which was enough for me). Both Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down came out that year, which explains why I always confuse them in my brain. Pearl Harbor had Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett suffering handsomely, and BHD had Josh Hartnett (damn, he was really in both?), Ewan McGregor, Tom Hardy, Orlando Bloom, Eric Bana, Jeremy Piven, Lucius Malfoy, Mr. Fantastic, and my love, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
What are your under-appreciated 2001 films?
Hayley: I feel like I need to immediately watch Black Hawk Down??!?! How have I not seen this when it includes many hot faves of 2001 and today!?!?!? Mildly related: I don't know if Eric Bana has ever been very good in anything, but he is good to look at and imagine kissing, so really, what does "good" even mean? Sound off in the comments!
I *have* seen the entirety of Not Another Teen Movie because a couple of years ago I tried to watch every Chris Evans movie (it's easy, they're mostly Marvel ones and then a handful of mediocre other things) and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Does A Knight's Tale count as an under-appreciated film? Because I thoroughly enjoy that movie every time I watch it. Heath Ledger, one of the most beautiful men in the world (RIP) is great, but Alan Tudyk is inspired. My English friends maintain that he is the only American who has ever done a convincing enough English accent — they thought he was English. They said Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones is very good, but a little too breathy/frothy. I have previously (very briefly) reviewed Riding in Cars with Boys for Gold-Plated Girls (along with several of the movies we are discussing today), and I would say that is a movie that feels completely forgotten and overlooked by pop culture at large. It's a good movie! There are some parts that don't work but you could say that about any movie. Plus, Brittney Murphy is in it and she is a gem (RIP).
I know a lot of people like to hate on Moulin Rouge! but that movie is iconic and if you haven't spent a night driving around singing along to that soundtrack at the top of your lungs, have you even lived?!?!
Victoria: Moulin Rouge! is amazing, and haters will not prosper.
Three more 2001 things I don't want to ignore. Monster's Ball, which won Halle Berry her Oscar, was a 2001 film. Jennifer Lopez’s career as a rom com star was born this year with The Wedding Planner. And 2001 also saw a third Josh Hartnett movie, O, where Mekhi Phifer played Othello in a story set in a high school basketball team. I have actually never seen O, but I remember a lot of discussion of it when we read Othello in high school (though my teacher refused to screen it).
This is a good segue, because I have also not seen Riding In Cars With Boys. I made a list of 2001 movies I have not watched that I would like to, and it includes Rat Race, Ghost World, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Wet Hot American Summer and Y Tu Mamá También. It also has Josie and the Pussycats and Spirited Away, which I think I may have watched a long time ago but mostly forget and would like to give a second look. All in all, it has 17 movies, and I am pledging to try to watch all of them by December, and then I'll revisit here!
What Hayley Is Currently Into:
After listening to all the O.J. Simpson Trial episodes on “You’re Wrong About,” I’m finally watching The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (it’s on Netflix) and guess what? It’s very good!!! And I don’t even like true crime shit. Highly recommend.
I have recently become a fan of the Conscious Crop sports bras from Athleta, which use a size guide similar to the one at True&Co (my other fave) where you can select based on cup size (A-C or D-DD+).
I made this Buffalo Chickpea & Cauliflower Casserole last night and WOW is it good and deceptively easy to make. We ate it on its own, but it would really make a good filling for sandwiches, lettuce cups, wraps, or even stuffed peppers.
Come do yoga with me on Sunday night! Gentle, accessible, and relaxing — what better way to start your week?!
Stuff Victoria is Loving Right Now:
This article about Gaga and Beyoncé’s improbable “Telephone” was so so good.
More recipes: this parmesan oven risotto and this oven-roasted tomato sauce were both so easy and delicious.
Memorial by Bryan Washington was a very beautiful and sad novel that I recommend.
Enjoy this Spotify playlist: Main Character in a 2000s movie getting ready for the day that’ll change my life.
Hear me out... A watch-along for any of Victoria's 17 movies from 2001 to view?