The Most Popular Movie Every Year Of The '00s, According To Letterboxd
Letterboxd users have an interesting blend of the most popular films of the 2000s from Oscar winners to superhero flicks to animated classics.
There is always something interesting in seeing which movies are the most popular on Letterboxd in any given year. After all, the users on that website aren't typically just casual moviegoers but major fans of cinema who often don't just gravitate towards the biggest blockbuster when it comes to the ones discussed and reviewed most often.
You're bound to find a unique blend of movies that did well at the box office and some that are cult classics. The 2000s features a fun mix of animated films, superhero fanfare, critically-acclaimed movies, and so much more among the site's favorite films of the decade.
It's fitting that Christian Bale stars in the most popular film of 2000 since he's actually at the forefront of several of the decade's top movies according to Letterboxd. American Psycho was, in many ways, the breakout role for Bale as it helped turn him into a star.
The movie sees him play Patrick Bateman, a yuppie investment banker who reveals himself to be an unhinged serial killer. Based on a novel of the same name, the film was a modest box office success and has become something of a cult classic since. Memento and Requiem for a Dream are the second and third films among the year's most popular.
When many fans think about the top animated movies, their minds will typically go to Pixar and Disney. However, those who have seen the work of Hayao Miyazaki understand just how special his films are and that's certainly the case with Spirited Away. In a lot of ways, Spirited Away is Miyazaki's best movie.
The film follows a girl who moves to a new neighborhood only to enter a world of spirits and she must work to save her parents, who have been turned into pigs. The premise might sound wacky but the film is considered an all-time great. It beat out Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Donnie Darko for the top 2001 slot.
It makes total sense that Spider-Man sits atop the list for 2002. The superhero movie was everywhere, breaking box office records and really establishing how dominant the franchise would be going forward. The Sam Raimi film is even relevant today thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Edging out Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Catch Me If You Can for the top spot of the year, Spider-Man tells the origin story of Peter Parker as he becomes the titular superhero and must fight off the threat of the Green Goblin. Some still consider this to be the best superhero origin ever put on screen.
One director who will likely rank high on almost any list throughout the '90s, '00s, and 2010s is Quentin Tarantino. His films have a remarkable cultural impact and become the stuff of legend, including Kill Bill Vol. 1 and even its sequel, Kill Bill Vol. 2.
Tarantino split the story into two parts and many believe the first installment is the better half. Focusing on a woman getting revenge on the man who tried to have her and her unborn child killed, the revenge tale is a modern classic with sharp dialogue and phenomenal action sequences. It ranks ahead of Oscar standout Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Lost in Translation.
Considering the ranking in 2002, it might come as a surprise that Spider-Man 2 didn't claim the top spot in 2004. That film actually ranks fourth in a loaded year behind The Incredibles, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Directed by Michael Gondry, this film is a sci-fi romance that centers on a couple (Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet) who chooses to have their memories of each other erased, only for one to realize that this isn't what they want at the last minute. It won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
If any superhero movie has a better origin story than Spider-Man, it's Batman Begins. The DC hero had become something campy thanks to some lackluster feature films but Christopher Nolan reimagined things in a darker way, starting his trilogy with Batman Begins.
This movie explains Bruce Wayne's path to becoming the caped crusader and his eventual battles with Ra's al Ghul and Scarecrow throughout Gotham. It helped usher in an iconic trilogy that remains the best-received iteration of the character on screen. The two films to rank behind it in 2005 are Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
For the third time, a year in the 2000s is topped by the incredible work of Christopher Nolan. The Prestige is one of his trademark creative films as it follows two rival magicians in the 1800s and the deadly lengths they go to in an attempt to best the other.
The film paired Nolan up with Bale once again and it also boasts a cast featuring Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, and Piper Perabo. It manages to rank higher than Academy Award favorites The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine, while further establishing Nolan as a force in the director's chair.
There's no question that Pixar is a studio that has dominated the animated world of film and that was clear in 2007. Following successes like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles, Pixar opted to try something that, on paper, probably sounded too ridiculous to work.
They released a movie about a rat who enters the kitchen and works with a busboy to become a great chef. Despite the idea of Ratatouille sounding odd, it proved to be both a critical and commercial darling. No Country for Old Men and Zodiac are slightly less popular and have a far different tone.
Despite 2008 being a strong year for films, it would be surprising if anything other than The Dark Knight topped it. The follow-up to Batman Begins proved to take the franchise to the next level, grossing over $1 billion and earning Heath Ledger a posthumous Academy Award.
Ledger shined as The Joker, the anarchist that Batman must stop in this film. However, the heart of the story is actually Harvey Dent/Two-Face, who has a fall from grace that captivates audiences. It set the bar for superhero films and arguably still does. Iron Man and WALL-E are next in line.
2009 saw the arrival of Avatar, which became the highest-grossing movie of all time. Despite that, it actually doesn't rank in the top three of Letterboxd's most popular films of the year (it comes in fourth). Ahead of it are Fantastic Mr. Fox, Up, and Inglorious Basterds.
The second movie directed by Quentin Tarantino to be the most popular of its year, Inglorious Basterds centers on a group of Jewish-American soldiers who are out to kill Nazis. There's also vicious Nazi colonel Hans Landa, played by Christoph Waltz in a role that won him an Oscar. It all added up to something special.