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Author	Topic: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- July/Aug '02
The2ndQuest Title: Manager: -Literature -LACWAC -Games Registered: Jan '00	Date Posted: 8/1 6:55pm Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- Mar/Apr '01 - Date Edited: 8/2 2:25pm (1 edits total) Edited By: The2ndQuest
	May & June 2001 Notable releases: (listed in release order) May: -The Mummy Returns -A Knight's Tale -Shrek -Pearl Harbor June: -The Animal -Cats & Dogs -Moulin Rouge! -What's the Worst That Could Happen? -Evolution -Swordfish -Atlantis: The Lost Empire -Lara Croft: Tomb Raider -Dr Doolittle 2 -The Fast and the Furious -AI: Artificial Intelligence -Baby Boy -Crazy/Beautiful T2Q Comments: -The Mummy Returns: I know not everyone shares this opinion, but I've always felt that this was a clear case of a sequel outclassing it's original in just every way. The campy tone that they had a horrendous time trying to balance properly in the first film? Nailed. The annoyingly useless sidekick brother-in-law character? Actually somewhat useful and funny. The uselessly awful and dumb pilot character that had to literally fade into the scenery because he was so pointless? Replaced with an amusing pilot character that actually does something to help the characters. Evy being a clumsy object? Replaced with Evy given a backstory relevant to the mythology and some sweet action scenes. Plus they threw in awesome pygmy mummies and a score that was thirty billion times more memorable and amazing to just amp the whole franchise up to new levels. Even the Scorpion King prologue was pretty epic and awesome. The only thing really sucked was the CGI Scorpion King at the end and the cliched resurrection of Evy. -A Knight's Tale: I'm still surprised this concept was ever turned into a film. "Let's base this on a story in Canterbury Tales, but play it as a comedy/musical where medievl characetrs sing and dance to modern songs from the 70's, 80's and 90's! The lead will be played by a teen comedy actor and the bad guy will be played by that guy from Dark City! It'll be awesome!". And you know what? It kinda is. I really liked this one. The actor who plays Chauncer is also awesome in the role (he also voices JARVIS in Iron Man). Before he did Dark Knight, this was probably the role Heath was best known for. -Shrek: A surprise smash, and though I think Shrek 2 remains the strongest of the series, this had a good start. John Lithgow as Lord Farquad was great. -Pearl Harbor: Crappy movie, but spectacular action sequences and visuals. I think it suffered from trying to fit in too many parts of the war- Battle of Britain, Pearl Harbor and the china thing, etc. I also give it's second trailer (in it's theatrical version, not the version that was posted online with different music for whatever reason) tremendous credit for being one of the few theatrical experiences that was so emotionally overwhelming that it moved me to tears. -The Animal: This came out this long ago? It's seems like only yesterday that people were mocking the cliche of Rob Schneider movie concepts this stood as an example to ("Rob Schneider is- The Stapler!"). Never saw it, but never cared to. -Cats & Dogs: Amusing family film. -Moulin Rouge!: Another strange, strange film with music set out of time, but visually spectacular. The musical decision works in it's favor, as I usually don't like musicals much since their enjoyment is as dependent on the quality of the songs as it is the plot and acting (thus why I feel, say, Chicago loses steam halfway through). -Evolution: This almost could have been the next Ghostbusters, but it falls short of the mark. It's still very funny with a great sense of quirkiness to it. I used to use that 3-eyed smily face as an AIM icon for a long time, as I recall. Trailers were very fun too. -Swordfish: Not a top=notch action/thriller but I think it gets a bad rap. The ball-bearing bullet-time explosion is still spectacular, and both Hugh Jackman and Travolta are good in it. Also has a couple other memorable scenes in it. -Atlantis: The Lost Empire: One of Disney's better modern efforts, though some of the ending when the inevitable villain betrayal occurs hurts it (in many ways, it's not that dissimilar from Titan A.E., both attempts at mature animated action features whose plot are harmed but late game betrayals, resulting in midlevel performing films that hurt the chances of more such films). Great, epic score, too. -Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: Meh. They advertised the where-the-heck-did-that-come-from robot more than even Jolie as Croft. -The Fast and the Furious: It's always hard to judge what the better installments of this series are, since msot of them have individual strengths, but this was the first and, as we saw earlier this year, it had the ingredient people apparently want to see. -AI: Artificial Intelligence: There'll always be a lot of debate over this one. I think it meanders too long and suffers from having too many endings that squashes any redeemable options it might have built up. Points though for some of the FX work and cretive design. The hot air balloon that looks like the moon is a wild image, and the walking teddy bear effects in this film are quite possibly (shy one scene) the only CGI effect I've ever seen that looks absolutely flawless and indistinguishable from reality. Overall Trends: These months built a lot of franchises. The Mummy Returns salvaged a weak hit into a momentary franchise with spinoffs and sequels. Sadly we never got the same Chauncer back for A Knights' Tale spinoffs. Shrek would be the only major competitor in performance and popularity to a Pixar movie in the 3D realm. Lara Croft would get a second chance in an improved sequel down the road. Fast & The Furious would build Vin's second big franchise (even if he sits out the middle) and would eventually lead to Universal's biggest opening weekend gross ever, and A.I. would end up on my DVD shelf only to complete my Spielberg Shelf. -----signature----- "When your future self tells you to do something, YOU DO IT." K'Kruhk, 140 ABY:"Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker? Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..."
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solojones Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 8/1 11:21pm Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	The only of these I saw in theatres were Shrek, The Mummy Returns, and AI. I could never watch Shrek again. I tried. It's just not that funny. It's a very predictable and puerile kind of comedy. Nothing at all like the brilliant cleverness and heart of Monsters Inc, which somehow lost to Shrek for Best Animated Film?! I will never, ever as long as I live understand the love for the Shrek films. I should watch the Mummy films again, because I find them quite fun. And you're right, this one's better than the first. I am fond of some camp where it can be had, especially in this genre (see the Librarian film series on TNT). AI, I love. I have never really been able to figure out what people didn't like about it, save that tacked on ending. If you turn the TV off when David is under water wishing to the Blue Fairy, IMHO it's a perfect film. And I don't hate the ending as much as some anyway, but I do feel it was quite perfect without it. All I hear people say against this film is that it's "weird" and "creepy". I felt the sci-fi, sociology, and fairy tale combination turned out brilliantly. It is a little creepy, but it's supposed to be. I avoided Moulin Rouge! in theatres and for a while afterward due to the fact that its main audience seemed to be screaming girls. When I did see it, I realized this film is far too good for them. A masterpiece in the true sense of the word. Definitely one of my top 10 of all time. This film makes right all the things I dislike about most old musicals. Not just in its modernity, but in not presenting things like they were on stage. In realising this is film. And in having realistic characters with real souls. It's one I absolutely hope to see at some kind of theatre showing, because I bet it was even more amazing then. -sj loves kevin spacey -----signature----- 6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation My short films: http://www.youtube.com/solojones1138
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Jan_Wahlor Registered: Jul '09	Date Posted: 8/1 11:35pm Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	Pearl Harbor Worst movie ever.
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Obi Anne Title: FanForce RSA Europe Registered: Nov '98	Date Posted: 8/2 12:53am Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	Here's my comments on the films that I've seen, together with when it came to cinemas here. May: -A Knight's Tale - it came in the summer. This I think is one of these films where you can't just place it i a trend, it was just a creation of its own. It hasn't even spawned any imitation, that I know of, which shows how unique it was. -Shrek - (September)I don't think anyone can deny how successful Shrek has been. It was the first "grown-up" animated feature that I saw, a big change from the Disney film I was used to. -Pearl Harbor - (summer) I remember liking this film when I first saw it, I think I was dazzled by the battle scenes, and the fact that the Dolittle raid was included. June: -Moulin Rouge! - (September/October) This was the first time, after TPM, that I had heard about a film and waited for it for several months. I love it, even if the plot isn't perfect. -Evolution - (summer) saw it on DVD years later. It was decent nothing more or less. -Atlantis: The Lost Empire - (November) I thought that the basis for the story was silly so I didn't see it until my nephew got it on DVD a couple of years ago. I was definitely pleasantly surprised, and think this is one of the few good Disney animations of the last 10 years. -AI: Artificial Intelligence - saw it on DVD, just can't understand it all, I just think it's boring. When talking about trends there are as was said a couple of franchise builders here, Shrek, Fast and the Furious. It's a bit strange that A Knight's tale didn't spawn anything, on the other hand I think the interest in medieval films would be totally drowned in epic storytelling after LOTR. Moulin Rouge! was definitely a trendsetter, but the trend was pretty shortlived sinced it wasn't followed by any particularly good films, every person I've heard talking about Chicago always says that it got the Oscars that MR should have had. -----signature----- "That is the beauty of grand opera; you can do anything...as long as you sing it" Anna Russell
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solojones Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 8/2 2:00am Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	I absolutely think Chicago got an Oscar boost from MR, but I still think Chicago is a very good film. And I couldn't think of another film in its year that deserved Best Picture more. It's just that MR was better. -sj loves kevin spacey -----signature----- 6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation My short films: http://www.youtube.com/solojones1138
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The2ndQuest Title: Manager: -Literature -LACWAC -Games Registered: Jan '00	Date Posted: 8/2 7:01am Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	solojones posted: AI, I love. I have never really been able to figure out what people didn't like about it, save that tacked on ending. If you turn the TV off when David is under water wishing to the Blue Fairy, IMHO it's a perfect film. That's pretty much what I thought to a degree- in theaters I wasn't sure how much I was really digging the movie, but when they started to pull back from him wishing to the fairy, I was like "Oh, if they end it here, that's great enough to maybe justify the rest of the film", but alas, the movie kept going and going... Though, in it's defense, the endings weren't "tacked on"- AFAIK it was always meant to end with the other two endings. They just feel out of place. Obi Anne posted: -Atlantis: The Lost Empire - (November) I thought that the basis for the story was silly so I didn't see it until my nephew got it on DVD a couple of years ago. I was definitely pleasantly surprised, and think this is one of the few good Disney animations of the last 10 years. I think the premise had a solid hook- I mean, they basically ripped off Stargate. It also had one the coolest, most un-Disney-like teaser trailers ever, and even a couple of the other trailers were creepy-cool. -----signature----- "When your future self tells you to do something, YOU DO IT." K'Kruhk, 140 ABY:"Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker? Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..."
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darth_frared Registered: Jun '05	Date Posted: 8/2 8:48am Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	that is a splendid teaser! all i seem to remember from the screening was the ice age teaser tho. i loved scrat. didn't see many of the films in the list, apart from moulin rouge, which i adore. and you are making me a bit itchy to see a knight's tail actually -----signature----- are you out of your vulcan mind?
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Katana_Geldar Title: Former CR Tasmania, AU' Registered: Mar '03	Date Posted: 8/2 11:27pm Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	Dreamworks' 3D animation is like Pixar's red-haired stepchild. The only time IMHO they beat Pixar was with Antz, and that year Pixar had a similar film "A Bug's Life" which would have been good had their not been the inevitable comparison. Dreamworks lacks a heart, whereas you find one in pretty much every Pixar film. I thought Shrek was funny and a lot of fun to watch, but there's more to making a movie than to have a series of pop culture references. I'd be interested to see a pop up video of this film. Moulin Rogue I didn't see until afterwards, and it's HUGE in a Baz Lurhman way. Ewan is so good in it, particularly when he sings "The sound of music". "He's the one Toulouse is shaking a hanky at!" The Mummy Returns was good, but I didn't get the movie projector on Alex's wrist. -----signature----- Jacen and the two Vergeres http://gmgeldar.wordpress.com/vergere-essay/ Now, if you don't mind, I am somewhat preoccoupied telling the laws of physics to shut up and sit down.
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Mar17swgirl Registered: Dec '00	Date Posted: 8/3 2:43am Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	Um, shouldn't someone change the thread title so it would say "Noughties" properly? The way it is sort of implies there's something dirty in this thread... -----signature----- "He was caught in Alicante with a sheep." "Flagrante, Chris, in flagrante." "Yeah... flagrante."
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The2ndQuest Title: Manager: -Literature -LACWAC -Games Registered: Jan '00	Date Posted: 8/3 9:47am Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	"Naughties" is the correct spelling. "Aughties" is a similar, alternative name too. -----signature----- "When your future self tells you to do something, YOU DO IT." K'Kruhk, 140 ABY:"Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker? Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..."
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Sith_Sensei__Prime Registered: May '00	Date Posted: 8/3 12:56pm Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	-The Mummy Returns: Evy's getting all sex-kitten like in the film was a definite thumbs up. And the girlfight was way better than the Scorpion King brawl. -A Knight's Tale: Cool to see the lead singer of Cold Play get a movie rolls . Actually, a nice film with get pop music, which is a better idea than turning this into some type of musical. Nice heart felt touches with "William's" father storyline. -Shrek: One of Mike Myer's better character and probably Eddie Murphy's best performance since the 80's. It's a cute film that has wonderful twists on the classic fairy tales. Although I think I've only watched this movie once, which is totally enough. -Pearl Harbor: I remember great anticipation for this movie. The premiere of the film was held on an aircraft carrier in Pearl Harbor. However, the veterans of the actual event were put off by the film. I personally didn't think it was a disaster all together. Just the bizarre love triangle. If the love story was just between Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale, it would have played alot better. -Evolution: Lame. I forgot this movie existed. -Swordfish: I love the monologue by John Travolta in the beginning of the film, but it falls flat after that, except of Halle Berry's bare chesties. -Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: Hoping to be closer to Indiana Jones, but fell way short of that. I remember that Roger Ebert loving the film and Ropoer sayin it was because of the fanfare of Jolie. I thought the movie was okay at best, but I love films with sexy female action heroes. -AI: Artificial Intelligence: Ya know, the A.I. was more endearing than the actual son. I remember actually feeling sympathy for the android, David. I thought it was interesting to have the Jude Law character, a male Gigalow, enter the movie as it would have be easy to throw-in a female prostitute as sort of a mother figure for David. I thought it was an interesting movie that further explores possiblility of A.I. being sentient forms of life and of course a modern twist on Pinacchio. Probably the best film on that I've listed. -----signature----- Dubbed "Paige I have More Porn Than Hustler" of the Knights of the JCC Sarcasm Table Mod Edit [Previous word deemed inappropriate] I will have my Sarcasm in this life or the next.
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Rogue1-and-a-half Title: Manager: Amphitheatre Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 8/7 2:13pm Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	A.I. was pretty brilliant; it's flawed, but a masterpiece, none the less. Moulin Rouge is my favorite musical. -----signature----- Don't be a fool, don't be blind Heart of mine If you can't do the time, don't do the crime Heart of mine
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Mar17swgirl Registered: Dec '00	Date Posted: 8/7 3:02pm Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01
	The2ndQuest posted: "Naughties" is the correct spelling. "Aughties" is a similar, alternative name too. Ah. My mistake, sorry. You learn something new every day... -----signature----- "He was caught in Alicante with a sheep." "Flagrante, Chris, in flagrante." "Yeah... flagrante."
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The2ndQuest Title: Manager: -Literature -LACWAC -Games Registered: Jan '00	Date Posted: 8/9 8:39pm Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- May/June '01 - Date Edited: 8/9 8:40pm (1 edits total) Edited By: The2ndQuest
	July & August 2001 Notable releases: (listed in release order) July: -Kiss of the Dragon -Scary Movie 2 -Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within -Legally Blonde -The Score -America's Sweethearts -Jurassic Park III -Planet of the Apes August: -Original Sin -The Princess Diaries -American Pie 2 -Osmosis Jones -The Others -American Outlaws -Captain Corelli's Mandolin -Rat Race -Bubble Boy -Ghosts of Mars -Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back -Summer Catch -Rush Hour 2 -Jeepers Creepers -O T2Q Comments: Kiss of the Dragon: Been meaning to see this one since Jet Lit made it in response to fans wanting less wirework and CG fights. Scary Movie 2: Possibly the best of the series, before it was tamed down for 3+ Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within: Good CG, but disappointing story. Legally Blonde: Admittedly amusing. The Score: Great cast, but never managed to see it. Jurassic Park III: Dissapointing. Has it's moments. But the slapdash feeling of events reflects the movie actually being written on the set, particularly the cheesy ra-ra ending that was just so damn corny. Plane crash/attack is a great sequence, though. Planet of the Apes: Great visuals, amazing makeup work, good cast, and a general vision that made the idea of POTA appealing. Sadly the overall execution and need to try and out-twist the original's twist ending (can we blame M. Night for that?) just flattened the whole movie. I recall it being too long as well. Original Sin: This was ok. Nothing to rave about but Banderas is always awesome and any movie where Jolie gets naked can't be bad. American Pie 2: I actually think this was my favorite of the series. The first didn't blow me away like most people, and though the third was better than the first, I still liked the second better. The Others: I recall this being decent too but it's been awhile. Rat Race: fun manic comedy, great cast Bubble Boy: starring future academy award winning actor, Jake Gyllenhaal. Ghosts of Mars: A big bomb from Carpenter Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back: Intended to be the true conclusion to the Jersey series (thus the number of cameos) by being fully comedic instead of the dramedy of Chasing Amy and Dogma, Smith would eventually "really" end the "comedy" series with the-admittedly superior Clerks 2. But while Clerks 2 endcaps specific characters, Jay & Silent Bob I think is a fitting conclusion to the crazy universe. And then there's Mark Hamill's "Don't **** with the Jedi Master, son." Rush Hour 2: Another sequel that, IMO, outdoes the original. It reverses the fish out of water story ala Toy Story 2, but does it very well. -Jeepers Creepers: I know Rogue 1.5 disagrees with me greatly on this film, but suffice it to say, I really loathed this film and it was painful to watch. It had some initially good horror moments like the cave and the "Duel"-inspired truck, but the rest of the movie, as far as I recall, is basically...well, you know how every horror movie has that moment or two where the characters do something completely stupid that no actual person would logically do in that situation? (ie: "Let's watch the bad guy regenerate and wait for him to start coming after us again before we try to flee, instead of fleeing as soon as we see him beginning to regenerate". Well, the majority of Jeepers Creepers is filled with those stupid "WTH are you thinking?!" moments constantly. I was squirming in my seat at how awful it was. Overall Trends: Kiss of the Dragons relatively high profile release seems to be a continuation of the Romeo Must Die trend. Final Fantasy bombed so hard it shut down the animation studio. Legally Blonde gave Reese Witherspoon serious box office pull and influence. Burton's rep was probably hurt somewhat by this as well. Mostly good success with sequels, minus JP3. -----signature----- "When your future self tells you to do something, YOU DO IT." K'Kruhk, 140 ABY:"Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker? Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..."
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Champion of the Force Registered: Dec '99	Date Posted: 8/9 9:28pm Subject: Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Naughties- July/Aug '01
	posted: Planet of the Apes: Great visuals, amazing makeup work, good cast, and a general vision that made the idea of POTA appealing. Sadly the overall execution and need to try and out-twist the original's twist ending (can we blame M. Night for that?) just flattened the whole movie. I recall it being too long as well. Actually, the original novel itself had a twist ending which the remake sticks to fairly closely (in both the novel and the remake the action takes place on another planet - the hero in the end gets off and gets back to Earth but finds it has also been taken over by apes). The Heston film is really the odd one out - the ending was changed to the now famous twist with the Statue of Liberty and the revelation he was on Earth all along. The original author apparently hated this twist and preferred his original one. I haven't seen many of the films on this list, but what few I have: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - nice visuals for the time, blah story. And Ebert was right - the main guy does look an awful lot like Ben Affleck. Legally Blonde - pretty much launched Reece Witherspoon into a headlining star. Film itself on its own merits was good, harmless fun. Planet of the Apes - not bad but I prefer the Heston version. The Princess Diaries - launched Anne Hathaway to future stardom. American Pie 2 - not as good as the original, but some laughs here. The Others - Nicole Kidman film that more or less copies the twist of The Sixth Sense. Still enjoyable. -----signature----- Without my ignorance your knowledge would be useless.
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