High Fidelity, Almost Famous and other movies from the year 2000

Posted by Jason Ihle | 1 Comment

A few days ago I posted a list of 6 films that are on my list of the decade’s favorites. Here I continue with another 5, all of which were released in the year 2000, which seems to have produced many of my favorite films. Could that be because it was the first year since I was 6 that I was not a student for a single day?

Again, there’s no particular order to this list, except I did single these out for this posting because they all come from the same year.

High Fidelity (2000) – dir. Stephen Frears – Here’s a movie that was made specifically for me. That was my exact thought when I first saw this wonderful movie that I still watch at least once a year. John Cusack’s Rob is basically like me, but fixated on music instead of movies. He’s obsessed with lists and arcane trivia, but most importantly he’s torn apart by women and relationships. He loves deeply and gets badly hurt by breakups. His self-evaluation process to determine why he’s doomed to be rejected by women eventually reveals that all his relationships have been variations on a 3 day relationship he had when he was 12 and that really he’s sort of been looking at things the wrong way. Phenomenal soundtrack and the movie that put Jack Black on my radar.

Wonder Boys (2000) – dir. Curtis Hanson – Hanson’s highly-anticipated follow-up to L.A. Confidential (on my list of 50 favorite films of the 90s) shows what range he has. Instead of a period-set noir thriller, this is a literary gem about writers. Michael Douglas is washed up novelist and creative writing professor Grady Tripp. Robert Downey Jr. is his desperate editor. Frances McDormand is his lover. Tobey Maguire is his troubled, albeit brilliant, writing student. Katie Holmes (adorable as ever) is another student who rents a room in his house. The whole film takes place over the course of a weekend as Grady’s life starts spiraling out of control. This is a really well-written and directed (not too) dark comedy.

State and Main (2000) – dir. David Mamet – There’s just…it’s something so…it’s…can’t you…I mean, can you see it? – Yes. No one writes dialogue like Mamet. His writing style has made him one of the most important playwrights and filmmakers of the last 25 years. This is my favorite Mamet film because it’s really the most fun. For once he sheds his dour mood and focuses on a right skewering of Hollywood. No one is protected from his barbs except the writer, of course (a wonderful Philip Seymour Hoffman). The whole cast is worth mentioning: William H. Macy; Clark Gregg; Charles Durning; Patti LuPone; Julia Stiles; Ricky Jay; Alec Baldwin; Sarah Jessica Parker; David Paymer

Almost Famous (2000) – dir. Cameron Crowe – Really what is not to love about this semi-autobiographical movie about a teenage boy who follows his dream to be a music critic by tagging along with a 1970s rock band on a tour around the country? On his way he’ll fall in love, lose his virginity, take drugs and grow up faster than he had ever hoped. He’s also possibly the most mature and grounded person on the road. Billy Crudup and Jason Lee are just great as lead guitarist Russell Hammond and front man Jeff Bebe of the fictional band Stillwater. And what an awesome soundtrack!

Thirteen Days (2000) – dir. Roger Donaldson – A painstaking recreation of the political intrigue surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis based on a book by Ernest May and Philip Zelikow. Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp are just fantastic as President John Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy. Kevin Costner is less memorable as their childhood friend and close adviser Kenny O’Donnell. The film is fraught with tension and moments you simply cannot believe really happened that way, although much of the situation room dialogue is lifted directly from recordings President Kennedy made. A great companion piece to this film is Errol Morris’s documentary The Fog of War which will also feature on my list of 50 favorite films from the decade.

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