Top 5 2001 Films
By Austin Johnson
I put a bunch of years into a randomizer on the internet and I chose the one that came up first so here’s 5 films that I love from 2001.
5.) Training Day
“I've been planning this all week, son. You talk that crazy shit, I'll make sure that blood gets to the lab. You wanna walk your baby nuts around the block, you won't make it to the corner, but if you're cool, if you're cool... then you're a hero. You're a virgin shooter above suspicion.”
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I remember watching Training Day for the first time with my mom when I was like thirteen and she totally forgot the content within this action-packed piece of pure entertainment. Denzel shreds his role as Alonzo to pieces, an extremely twisted cop who is training the straightlaced Jake Hoyt, played by Ethan Hawke. Hawke will go under the radar forever, and he may get outshined in Training Day but he kicks ass as Hoyt and gets the win in the end. Training Day is still my favorite Antoine Fuqua directed film and it’s still my favorite David Ayer screenplay with End of Watch as a close second. This is a film you simply cannot forget and it’s always coming up when discussing Denzel’s best work or cop films in general.
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4.) Donnie Darko
“If the sky were to suddenly open up, there would be no law, there
would be no rule. There would only be you and your memories.” |
Just like a lot of people, I have to thank my older sibling for showing me Donnie Darko. For me, it was my older brother, Jeremy who showed it to me and I kind of went wild with it after that, watching it with as many people as I could. It’s got the Gyllenhaal siblings, a killer soundtrack, and fucking time travel in it. What more could a person ask for? Jake Gyllenhaal is one of my personal favorite performers to watch and I think we have to thank his involvement in Donnie Darko for all the weird roles that would follow. Jake can do the big blockbuster or the wacky time travel film and I’m all in, unless it’s Prince of Persia. Writer/Director Richard Kelly hasn’t done much since Darko but I’ll never forget his name because he created this cult classic.
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3.) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
“You cannot pass! I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun! Go back to the shadow. You shall not pass!”
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The Lord of the Rings franchise is quite possibly my favorite of all time and Fellowship set the bar extremely high as the first of six Middle Earth films. Regrettably, I didn’t see the films in theaters because I was six, seven, and eight when they got released. My parents were both big fans and then my two older brothers got really into it as Return of the King was coming out, but it wasn’t until the summer of 2005 that I watched them all in a row. Peter Jackson gave us three films in three years that have gotten better over time and I feel like it’s just right to watch all three in a row. Fellowship introduces us to so many wonderful characters and has these monumental moments that I will never be able to get out of my head. Boromir’s dramatic death and Gandalf facing the Balrog still stand out to me after watching this epic film at least fifty times.
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2.) The Royal Tenenbaums
“I don't know, Jim. There's obviously something wrong with him. He's taken off his shoes and one of his socks and... actually, I think he's crying.”
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Wes Anderson is definitely one of my favorite directors in the game right now and I feel this sense of pride when it comes to my fandom for his work. My oldest brother, Adam, is also a big fan of his but it was his really good friend, Matt, who pushed us both to watch his stuff. I remember reading a review that Matt wrote for Moonrise Kingdom back in 2012 and I immediately desired to understand his style of filmmaking more. I watched Moonrise and Fantastic Mr. Fox in the summer of 2012 but then I didn’t totally have access to all of his other stuff. Some time went by and then I decided to just do what I had to do to watch his entire filmography. It was a wonderful journey that hurt my wallet at times, but now I own all of his shit and The Royal Tenenbaums is one I got really lucky with. I snagged the Criterion Collection edition at DVD Exchange and celebrated in the parking lot. It completed my collection at the time and is a piece of art that I will cherish forever. Every actor is doing some of the very best work of their career and the soundtrack is jaw dropping. I really like when films make my stomach hurt from laughter and then make me cry, which is exactly what Anderson did with his third film. He obviously has his way of doing things and it’s not for everyone nor do I expect it to be, but if his shit is for you then The Royal Tenenbaums is bound to be a favorite.
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1.) Mulholland Drive
“It'll be just like in the movies. Pretending to be somebody else.”
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I can’t say that anyone influenced my first viewing of David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr. other than my own wandering mind. After I watched Twin Peaks for the first time back in 2016, I had to see everything attached to Lynch and Mulholland Dr. is one of the easier things to find. Bonus 23 on our Filmgazm Podcast features Connor and I talking about our Top 10 2000’s films, and this was my number one. It sticks out like a sore thumb compared to other films I’ve seen and I just simply can’t get enough of it. The cast is random and the story goes beyond reality, leaving you just as confused as the characters. I know the aimless plot style that Lynch specializes in isn’t for everyone, because there aren’t straight up black and white answers. Mulholland Dr. is very strange and very grey the whole way through. When I think about Mulholland Dr., I think about the ultimate escape into a reality that is foreign and familiar at the same time. It’s like that scratch you can’t itch. It’s like that perfume you can’t get enough of even though it smells rotten. It’s totally out there but it remains humane somehow. That’s typically what I’m looking for as a fan and Mulholland Dr. does it just about as good as I’ve ever seen.
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