CineDrunk: Favorite Films of 2000

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y2k

Remember the New Year that fueled our fears of end-of-the-world-caused-by-computer-glitch destruction? The New Year that outsmarted all the math machines on Earth because... math?

Those were innocent times.

Sixteen years later, we're taking a look back at Y2K. We're not quite ready to unveil our list of the best films and performances for the current year (though we're well on our way, with 80 films under our belt).

(Our first thought was to continue with our 2005 retrospective, until we decided we weren't the biggest fans of the films of 2005.)

So instead, we're rolling out our 15th-anniversary celebration of the films of 2000! The first year of this century brought us some great cinema, both popular and indie alike, and we had drunken fun trying to recall our memories from that crop of films.

Y2K Cocktail

  • 2 oz cold espresso (we used super-concentrated Vietnamese coffee)
  • 1/2 oz Cognac
  • 1/2 oz Grand Marnier
  • 1/2 oz simple syrup

Stir, strain, and garnish with a twist of orange peel.

The Defining Film of the 2000s

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1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

This Wednesday, March 19, marks the 10-year anniversary of the release of one of the greatest films in the history of humans, and, for me, the film that most defines the first decade of this century. It's almost unfair how perfectly every element of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes together to create one of the most profound, stimulating, and moving pieces of art I'm likely ever to experience. From the mind of known genius Charlie Kaufman, the script alone would rank as one of mankind's greatest achievements, but when visionary director Michel Gondry put those words to the screen (with an incomparable cast led by two of my favorite actors of all-time, Jim Carrey & Kate Winslet), it was transcendent. I could never erase this film, these images, those characters, that music from my mind - Eternal Sunshine is a part of me.

So: Happy Eternal Sunshine Week! We'll keep the celebration going all week long with various features and commemorations, so stick around and cancel that appointment at Lacuna, Inc. 

Catch #10-#2 of the decade here.

My Top 10 Defining Films of 2000-2009

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My Top 10 Defining Films of 2000-2009

By the end of the year we'll be halfway through the second decade of the 21st century, so it's the perfect time to look back on the first decade, yes? Well, I'm going to anyway. Humor me. This list does not necessarily comprise what I think are the 10 greatest films of the decade, but rather the ten (plus) movies I think of when I think of the years 2000-2009. It was a defining decade for me: At its start, I was a freshman in high school; by its end, I had moved to New York City with the guy I would eventually marry (hey, Munch!). The films I saw in those ten years proved just as influential as my out-of-theater experiences and deepened my love of the cinema (and, for better or often worse, the Oscars). 

Again, if I were to compile a ranking of the "best" films of the aughts (have we decided that's what we're calling that decade or is this still up for debate? the 2000s?), it would look slightly different than the following in both the movies included and their placement on the list. And full disclosure that I'm totally cheating with numbers six, eight, and nine...but, my list, my rules.

First, several honorable mentions:

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