The 2000s are a wildly distinct yet often overlooked era when it comes to filmmaking, largely due to the massive shifts being made to the industry during this period. Massive buyouts and franchises were setting the stage for the major corporatization of later decades, while the early years of the decade were defined by rising digital media and technology. There are many exceptional films that people associate with this decade, although the era as a whole is largely perceived as having aged poorly.
However, perceptions are not a hard and guaranteed rule that applies to every film that was released in the decade, as there are a wide array of largely forgotten yet exceptionally well-aged films that released during this time period. Between films that were ahead of the curve in terms of humor and filmmaking style or films whose strengths are more heavily appreciated nowadays, these films are even better in a modern context than they were when they first released.
10
‘Incident at Loch Ness’ (2004)
Werner Herzog is one of the most striking and exceptionally celebrated visionaries in filmmaking history, with his mixture of striking directorial offerings and exceptional documentary work making him an absolute icon with a dedicated audience. Incident at Loch Ness utilizes the brand and repertoire that the creator has set up for himself over the years to create a wild, over-the-top mockumentary that satires his style and is a must-watch for fans of his work.
The film sees Herzog playing a fictionalized version of himself, setting off to explore the legend of Scotland’s Loch Ness monster, getting into all sorts of unexpected danger when they discover much more than they expected. The thrill of discovery ends up getting Herzog more and more excited about the prospect of recording the legendary mythical creature, as various unexplained sightings and chaos among the crew create distrust and anger amidst the small crew.
9
‘Teacher’s Pet’ (2004)
The Disney animated offerings of the 2000s have a wild variety of memorability and icon status, as while Pixar reached meteoric highs creating masterpiece after masterpiece, nearly every other animated film that Disney’s other studios released was largely overlooked and forgotten. One of the most notably forgotten is Teacher’s Pet, a feature-length theatrical adaptation of a similarly forgotten Disney Channel show that ran for 2 seasons. However, this unlikely musical is a wildly fun time, massively amplified by its unlikely themes and some great singing by Nathan Lane.
The film follows the friendship between Leonard (Shaun Fleming) and his dog, Spot (Nathan Lane), with Spot having big dreams of becoming a real boy. When Spot learns about a chaotic mad scientist living that can make his dreams come true, Spot and Leonard travel across the country to turn Spot into a real human. The film works surprisingly well for those unfamiliar with the series, standing on its own as a musical with fun animation, memorable songs, and extremely well-aged messaging on identity.
8
‘I’m Not There’ (2007)
Musician biopics have proven to be one of the most lucrative and wildly successful trends of recent memory, with every year having its own selection of biopics following beloved musical icons with hopes of being a hit during awards season. However, this recent trend has largely resulted in many musician biopics of the previous era having been forgotten, especially the non-traditional biopics like I’m Not There. This Bob Dylan biopic is about as strange and inaccessible as biopics get, following six different eras and personas of Dylan’s life, where he is portrayed by a different actor.
Especially when compared to the much more traditional Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, I’m Not There is much more experimental and non-traditional in its storytelling. However, this original approach makes the film that much more dynamic and engaging as a biopic, especially when modern-day musician biopics feel increasingly generic and predictable. The film even managed to be nominated for an Academy Award, with Cate Blanchett being nominated for Best Supporting Actress for the Dylan persona “Jude Quinn”.
7
‘Real Women Have Curves’ (2002)
Considering just how many Hollywood films largely center their focus on the perspective of impossible beautiful women, especially in the 2000s, it makes the earnest story of relearned self-worth and growth of Real Women Have Curves that much more effective. The film sees America Ferrera as a teenage girl struggling with balancing her ambitions of wanting to go to college with the crippling hurdles of her mother wanting her to stay home, get married, and oversee their rundown family business.
The film proves to be much more intelligent and insightful towards the topic of body positivity than the vast majority of films from the 2000s, with layered and dynamic characters that are complete with narrative strengths and depth. While the film has received some recognition and praise for these strengths, as well as being one of the rare films focusing primarily on the struggles of Latina women, it is still massively overlooked compared to the many other coming-of-age movies of the 2000s.
6
‘The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle’ (2000)
Bringing cartoon characters into the real world became an inescapable trend in 2000s family movies, with films like Alvin and the Chipmunks landing with audiences but failing to leave a legacy beyond the kids who grew up with them. However, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle was not only one of the earliest films of this trend, but is leagues better than its competition, thanks to some genuinely great writing and respect for the original cartoon.
This underrated family movie uses its wit and distinct satirical charm to appeal to a broader audience, even those who are familiar with the original classic cartoon. However, it never strays away from what made the original cartoon so effective, leaning into its strengths to create a fun, self-aware comedy that has aged with a considerable amount of grace. However, marketing failed to truly sell the appeal of the film, treating it as yet another run-of-the-mill family movie IP grab and setting it up for failure and obscurity.
5
‘Shattered Glass’ (2003)
Real-life stories about the ethics and difficulties of journalism have found multitudes of success over the years, yet Shattered Glass is massively overlooked in terms of all-time great movies about journalism. The film sees Hayden Christensen as infamous journalist Stephen Glass, who rose to meteoric heights as a young writer in his 20s before being revealed to have been faking his sources, quotes, and even entire stories out of nowhere.
Because Christensen was largely considered a laughingstock in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones just a year prior, it isn’t exactly surprising that audiences largely ignored the prospects of him being a leading star in a historical drama. However, Christensen’s strengths as an actor are fine-tuned in Shattered Glass to not only create a career-best performance but also amplify the themes and dramatic strengths of the entire film around him. Even outside of Christensen’s performance, the entire film is striking and engaging from start to finish, doing exactly what one wants out of a true story brought to film.
4
‘Cutie Honey’ (2004)
One of the greatest difficulties that arises from adapting a stylish, high-energy animated show to live-action is not being able to effectively recreate such manic, over-the-top energy in the new visual style. However, this limitation is entirely nonexistent in Cutie Honey, a wild, high-energy live-action anime adaptation that proves to be a masterpiece of the superhero genre. This style makes the film an absolute blast to enjoy, with its characters being stretched and amplified as if they were cartoon characters themselves.
It’s a style of wild, cartoonish action that could only truly be accomplished in the digital era, providing a campy, over-the-top energy that aligns perfectly with the 2000s as a whole but has largely gone overlooked due to being an obscure adaptation of an already obscure anime. However, especially as superhero movies and grounded, realistic action continue to be the norm, this manic, unrestrained style of action proves to be that much more effective and entertaining.
3
‘Baghead’ (2008)
One of the prominent films in the underground subgenre of independent films known as mumblecore, Baghead is a quirky horror comedy that largely utilizes the chemistry and conversation between its characters as the primary strength and driving force of the film. It follows a quartet of actors who travel to a cabin in the woods to create a low-budget horror film meant to jump-start their careers about a man with a bag over his head. However, when it seems like the murderer from their film has come to life, the actors will have to fight for their lives.
Baghead almost feels like an anti-horror comedy in its approach, not necessarily focusing on gore or scares and instead utilizing the tone and concepts of a horror film as a jumping-off point for its own, mellow comedy. The horror elements are certainly there, but they act as supplementary elements to the undeniable strength and charm that come from these goofy characters bouncing off one another. It’s also fun to see Greta Gerwig in one of her first acting roles, long before she became a household name.
2
‘MirrorMask’ (2005)
A wild, otherworldly fantasy film that utilized overwhelming CGI and a distinct gothic tone to create a strange, macabre world that oozes personality and charm in every scene, MirrorMask is severely underappreciated and deserves recognition in the modern era. The forgotten fantasy film follows a 15-year-old girl being transported to a mysterious fantasy world, tasked with uncovering the fabled MirrorMask if she ever hopes to save their kingdom and return home.
The film acts as a strange combination of Coraline and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, being the type of wild, personality-fueled fever dream that doesn’t take any reservations toward its distinct gothic vision. However, with so much creativity and entertaining visuals being presented, the abstract, strange nature of the 2000s CGI only amplifies the energy of the film as a whole. The blending of escapist fantasy with the real familial struggles that the main character is facing makes the film surprisingly effective with its emotional core and incredibly memorable in its execution.
1
‘Josie and the Pussycats’ (2001)
When Josie and the Pussycats was first released, many wrote the film off as being little more than a strange, raunchy adaptation of a beloved children’s property. However, time has been incredibly kind to the brilliant filmmaking of Josie and the Pussycats, as more and more people are coming to realize that the film is a hilarious satire of commercialization and corporatization in the music industry. The comedy is top-notch as it fully commits to the absurdity and all-encompassing inevitability of commercialization in art, it itself being aware of its own existence as a cheap Hollywood reboot.
The film tells a traditional story of the titular girl group band making the big leagues with a record deal that makes them the biggest stars in the world. However, as difficulties begin to split the band apart, they soon realize that the label is using their music as a tool to brainwash the teens of the world with subliminal messaging. The hilarious subliminal messaging even goes beyond the plot, as almost every scene in the film is filled with over-the-top product placement that further adds to the satirical edge and comedy of the film. Especially in a social climate more culturally aware of the difficulties of capitalism and corporate meddling, Josie and the Pussycats is a comedy goldmine.