2004 - Million Dollar Baby: "Mo cushle means my darling, my blood"

2004 Best Picture

Premiered December 15, 2004

Budget $30 Million

Gross $100 Million

Clint Eastwood did everything in this movie but cook the catering and he did a great job. It is slow but very thought provoking. He tackles issues like God, life and death. It is a movie that sticks with the viewer. Eastwood and Morgan Freeman were gold as usual. Also, Hillary Swank had one of the best performances of any actress so far. 

Callie

Favorite: The relationship between Swank's character and Eastwood's character.

Least Favorite: The sympanthy for assisted suicide.

Joel 

Favorite: I thought that the boxing scenes were well scripted and executed. 

Least Favorite: I did not like the choice that Frankie made in the end. He felt the need to play God and chose poorly. 

2003 - The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King: "The ring is mine!"

2003 Best Picture

Premiered December 17, 2003

Budget $94 Million

Gross $378 Million

This was the toughest movie to evaluate so far because we were trying to judge just a piece of a much larger pie. The trilogy is really a 9 and a half hour movie that happened to be released in different years. It was also hard to judge because we were both very familiar with this movie.

We tried to watch it with an open mind and with fresh eyes. We were blown away by this movie. The scenes were gorgeous and the effects and battle scenes were the best of any movie so far. The musical score is one of the best. 

Callie

Favorite: There are so many spiritual lessons to pull from it.

Least Favorite: It is not a stand alone movie so I felt lost.

Joel

Favorite: So many of the shots are big and beautiful. I never realized how stunning so many of the scenes were.

Least Favorite: This is where it is tough to evaluate this movie away from the other two in the trilogy. When you watch it on its own, the ending seems to drag on way too long. The epilogue continues for about 30 minutes. However, in the context of the other two films the ending makes sense.

2002 - Chicago: "The trial...the whole world...it's all...show business"

2002 Best Picture

Premiered December 10, 2002

Budget $45 Million

Gross $171 Million

We could not help but compare this movie to Moulin Rouge that came out the year before. Chicago has more star power but Moulin Rouge is a better movie. The music in Chicago is good but not great. The acting is good but not great and the story is average at best. 

Callie

Favorite: I liked some of the songs.

Least Favorite: The movie was very shallow.

Dr rJoel

Favorite: I liked the song "Mister Cellophane". It was one of the few highlights for me.

Least Favorite: It was such a sexual movie. It was sexual just to be sexual and for no other reason.  

2001 - A Beautiful Mind: "Nash, who's winning - you or you?"

2001 Best Picture

Premiered December 13, 2001 in Beverly Hills

Budget $60 Million

Gross $171 Million

We had both seen this movie but neither of us remembered this movie so we went in with low expectations. We were blown away! The story was so compelling and Russell Crowe was even better in this movie than he was in Gladiator. This is a movie that you need to have on your must see list.

Callie

Favorite: I liked getting into the mind of a schizophrenic person.

Least Favorite: The movie was a little boring some of the time.

Joel

Favorite: I liked Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly in this movie. They were great working together.

Least Favorite: Some scenes were a little slow and could have been tightened up. 

2000 - Gladiator: "Strength and Honor"

2000 Best Picture

Premiered May 1, 2000 in Los Angeles

Budget $103 Million

Gross $188 Million

Gladiator is as close to the perfect movie as any Oscar winning Best Pictures have gotten so far. This is a beautiful film with great sets and a superb use of color. The acting was tremendous and the stunts and special effects were the best of any movie we've seen so far on our journey. 

The heart of the movie is the great story. Maximus is the most courageous and honorable character of any we've watching so far. Unlike William Wallace who gets sidetracked, Maximus never loses focus. He is the ultimate protagonist. 

Callie

Favorite: I liked the honor portrayed by Maximus.

Least Favorite: I thought the after life scenes were weird.

Joel

Favorite: The honor and courage showed by Maximus. He is a character that ever man can look up to.

Least Favorite: The actress who played "Lucilla" was a little wooden. They could have cast a little better for that character.

1990s wrap up

Since the 70s we are seeing decade long themes in the Best Picture winners. The 90s seem to be the decade of romance (and sex and nudity). Most of the movies had a very strong love story. Even the ultimate guy movie - Braveheart has a huge love story component to it.

The movies were not as raw as the movies in the 70s but they touched on basic human needs and some of the movies went to disturbing and/or heart wrenching lengths to prove their point. The 90s also stand out because almost all of the movie stayed with us for at least a few days. Gone are the days when a Best Picture would just be an entertaining movie (like Marty, Out of Africa or Mutiny on the Bounty).

Also, all of movies in this decade caused us to reflect on the movies and the themes they represented. Some movies were haunting (Schindler's List, Silence of the Lambs), some were inspirational (Forest Gump and Braveheart), some were sad (Dances with Wolves and the English Patient) and some were disturbing (America Beauty).

In conclusion, it was an interesting decade for movies. Some were terrible and some were great. There weren't too many movies that were in between.

1999 - American Beauty: "Welcome to American's weirdest home videos"

1999 Best Picture

Premiered September 8, 1999 in Los Angeles

Budget $15 Million

Gross $130 Million

American Beauty is great at accomplishing its goal: to be a film that obscene, creepy, disturbing and gross. It scores an A+ in each of those categories. I remember that many spoke out against the movie went it came out calling it child pornography. 

All of that aside, it is actually a very hopeless movie. All of the characters are searching for fulfillment, purpose and happiness. They look for it in sex, drugs, a successful career and even in taking a life. It ends poorly because the characters realize that those things don't bring happiness. Only God fills that void and no one in the movie even explores in that direction.

We are also not fans of movies that remind us of other movies. This one reminded us of the sad family dynamics of Ordinary People, the fascination on sex contained in Terms of Endearment and the creepiness of Gigi. The story could have been more original.

Callie

Favorite: I really didn't have a favorite part of the movie.

Least Favorite: I hated that the movie was so sexual.

Joel 

Favorite: The story did engage me enough to want to see what happens to Lester.

Least Favorite: The movie was super creepy.

1998 - Shakespeare in Love: "Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter."

1998 Best Picture

Premiered December 3, 1998 in New York

Budget $25 Million

Gross $100 Million

This turned out to be a decent movie. By decent we mean, the story is interesting and the dialog is well written. The morality of the film was lacking and this seems to be a theme in the 90s. More on that in our summary of the 90s but now back to our thoughts on the movie itself: So many Oscar winners are so heavy and Shakespeare in Love is a nice change of pace and was the closest movie to a comedy that we have many in decades. Overall, it was good movie and a worthy winner.

Joel 

Favorite: I liked the climax and the ending of the movie. It was fun and wrapped up the story nicely. I also liked Judi Dench in the movie as the Queen.

Least Favorite: The filmmakers seemed to work hard to add nudity into the film. It could have been an even better movie without it.