Previously, in 2001...

 2001: A Look Back

2001 is next up in our Oscar Viewing Project, and is our 22nd season of this series.  For many of you, this might actually be getting far enough back that you don't remember the ceremony, but we aren't quite there yet for me.  I was still a teenager in 2001, but I remember rushing to read Entertainment Weekly coverage of this race, watching it live, and this is the first contest where I got a lot of my information about it on the internet.  After this, I'm still deciding if we go beyond my memory of the Oscars (I have two years already finished one from my era and one from before I was born), but for now, when it comes to discussing the dynamics of the race, I still know first-hand what I'm talking about.

With that housekeeping in place, let's go back.  Back to a time of national tragedy, of a Republican holding the office after losing the popular vote, and of Apple changing the face of music with the iPod.  And of course, let's remember the movies...

Box Office

This is what the Top 10 at the (Domestic) Box Office looked like:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

3. Shrek

4. Monsters, Inc.

5. Rush Hour 2

6. The Mummy Returns

7. Pearl Harbor

8. Ocean's Eleven

9. Jurassic Park III

10. Planet of the Apes

It's not entirely this Top 10's fault that it reads today like a bunch of franchises, given that this list was the first installment in three films that would forever change the face of modern movies (the top three), but two remakes and three sequels on a list where only one (Pearl Harbor) stands apart as being the sole entry in its series makes this feel like a retread.  Despite being too young to see R-Rated movies by myself in 2001, not only have I seen all of these movies, but I believe I saw them all in theaters (my brother reads this blog and will keep me honest if we saw Rush Hour 2 and Ocean's Eleven in theaters or if those were rentals, but the other eight for sure I saw in theaters).  There were 20 domestic films in 2001 that cleared $100 million including a couple we'll talk about a lot in the coming weeks (A Beautiful Mind, Black Hawk Down) and two that I have never seen (Dr. Dolittle 2, American Pie 2), and at this point likely never will as I have no interest.

The Films I Missed

While I've seen all of the Oscar nominees, I haven't seen every film in 2001...but I've seen most of the ones of any importance.  Looking at the precursor awards, the only major nominee that Oscar skipped that I haven't seen is The Shipping News, which I have every intention of catching before we get to My Ballot (or even Supporting Actress, where it got the most play).  So unlike most years, I'm not going to solicit any unseen gems & am going to go with my gut.  With that, while I will be out of town most of the upcoming week, I will make a point of getting at least one article out so I can say with confidence we'll be diving into 2001 this week, and hit a regular schedule when I get back from vacation next week!