This post originally appeared on the DVD Netflix blog “Inside the Envelope.” That company folded in 2023, and the blog was shut down.
Few decades in world history have seen as much upheaval and chaos as the 2000s. Just as we wiped our brows in relief after getting through Y2K successfully, the unthinkable occurred when terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and another plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field as heroes tried to overtake the hijackers. Other terrorists detonated bombs in London and Mumbai. Meanwhile, natural forces nearly destroyed the city of New Orleans in the form of Hurricane Katrina, and a southeast Asian tsunami consumed nearly 300,000 lives. As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, the “great recession” figuratively drowned countless households whose property was “underwater” in debt.
Just as in other tumultuous decades, the action, drama, and comedy found in movies provided a welcome escape from the chaos outside the theater walls. Let’s take a look at some of the Oscar winners from the 2000s that are well worth renting.
2000
In a daring role for the times, Hilary Swank’s portrayal of a transgender person in Boys Don’t Cry won her the best-actress in 2000. Based on actual events, Swank’s character, Brandon, enjoys life and love in a small Nebraska town until his true identity is discovered. Chloë Sevigny (American Horror Story, Bloodline) won best supporting actress for her role as Brandon’s love interest.
2001
At the 2001 Academy Awards, best-picture Gladiator took home five Oscars in 2001, including best actor for Russell Crowe. As Maximus, a powerful Roman general, Crowe shed the 40 pounds he had gained for his previous role in The Insider.
2002
Russell Crowe exchanged his gladiator armor for a suit and tie in the best picture for 2002. A Beautiful Mind has all the intrigue and suspense of a spy movie, with a Princeton mathematician (Crowe) at the center. This film is based on the true story of John Nash, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994.
2003
Nicole Kidman won best actress at the 2003 Academy Awards for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours. The skillfully intertwined stories of three 20th-century women in different time periods are all connected with the novel, Mrs. Dalloway. One is writing the novel, one is reading it, and one is living it.
2004
Finding Nemo won best animated film in 2004. Watch this one, starring the voices of Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres, and you’ll never look at a goldfish bowl the same way again. Set underwater with the main characters being colorful, lovable fish, two of them set off to find a third who has been scooped up to inhabit the four walls of an aquarium.
2005
In 2005, the idea of a procedure that would wipe out all memories of a specific, unpleasant part of one’s life was probably appealing to more than a few people. That’s what Kate Winslet’s character did in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. She won best actress in 2005 for her portrayal of a woman who decides to erase all memories of her ex-boyfriend (Jim Carrey). He decides to do the same, but then changes his mind. Is it too late?
2006
Penguins like we had never seen them before! Turns out, these creatures deserve some respect, because they’re awfully smart. Winning best feature documentary in 2006, March of the Penguins follows a year in the life of emperor penguins living in the Antarctic. In addition to being rather intelligent, it seems these creatures can teach us a thing or two about monogamy.
2007
Strong, loyal families don’t always look pretty, do they? That’s evident in Little Miss Sunshine, which won Oscars for best supporting actor (Alan Arkin) and writing. When a little girl (Abigail Breslin) has a dream of winning a beauty contest, her parents and extended family pile into a van and head to California. The passengers include a heartbroken uncle, a self-imposed mute brother, and a patriarch who sells heroin at his retirement home. In the fashion of road-trip movies, much is to be learned about the family along the way, but no one is prepared for what happens at the pageant.
2008
Daniel Day Lewis won best actor for his part in There Will Be Blood. He plays a man who seeks to become rich in the silver mining industry. He buys up land in New Mexico and promises the sellers that he will build infrastructure, but he never intended to do so. This is a story of wealth, greed, lies, and broken promises. And blood. But whose?
2009
In Slumdog Millionaire, which won best picture in 2009, a young man (Dev Patel) wins a lot of money, fair and square, on a game show in India. Unfortunately, he’s accused of cheating and is arrested. While he’s in jail, he goes through the game-show questions one-by-one, reviewing his life and how his experiences taught him to help him answer the questions correctly. He’s only one question away from the big prize. Will he be allowed to finish the game?
2000
- Best Picture: American Beauty
- 8 nominations, 5 wins
- Best Actor, Cinematography, Directing, Writing-Screenplay
- Boys Don’t Cry
- 2 nominations, 1 win
- Best Actress (Hilary Swank)
- A trans person is outed to tragic results in a small Nebraska town.
- Cider House Rules
- 7 nominations, 2 wins
- Actor in Supporting Role, Writing-Screenplay
- Based on John Irving novel
- The Matrix
- 4 nominations, 4 wins
- Film editing, Sound, Sound Effects Editing, Visual Effects
- Computer hacker discovers daily life is a simulated reality.
2001
- Best Picture: Gladiator
- 12 nominations, 5 wins
- Best Actor, Costume Design, Sound, Visual Effects
- Maximus is forced into slavery and takes vengeance on the corrupt emperor who ruined his life.
- Julia Roberts won Best Actress for Erin Brockovich.
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- 10 nominations, 4 wins
- Art Direction, Cinematography, Foreign Language Film, Music
2002
- Best Picture: A Beautiful Mind
- 8 nominations, 4 wins
- Best Supporting Actress, Directing, Writing
- Based on Sylvia Nasar’s biography of John Nash, Nobel Prize-winning mathematician who lived with mental illness.
- Training Day
- 2 nominations, 1 win
- Best Actor (Denzel Washington)
- A rookie LAPD cop spends a tense 24-hours with a corrupt detective.
2003
- Best Picture: Chicago
- 13 nominations, 6 wins
- Best Supporting Actress, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Costume Design, Film Editing, and Sound.
- Two rival actresses hire a shady lawyer to beat the death penalty.
- The Hours
- 9 nominations, 1 win (Best Actress, Nicole Kidman)
- Parallel lives of three 20th-century women, from three different time periods, starting with writer Virginia Woolf.
2004
- Best Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- 11 nominations, 11 wins
- Art Direction-Set Decoration, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Makeup, Music – Original Score, Music – Original Song, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, and Writing – Adapted Screenplay
- Frodo and Sam journey to destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom.
- Finding Nemo won best animated film.
- Fishes Marline and Dory search for Marlin’s missing son, Nemo, who’s in a dentist’s aquarium.
2005
- Best Picture: Million Dollar Baby
- 7 nominations, 4 wins
- Directing, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor,
- Female boxer befriends elderly trainer.
- The Aviator
- 11 nominations, 5 wins
- Best Supporting Actress, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing
- Based on the life of tycoon Howard Hughes.
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- 2 nominations, 1 win
- Writing (Original Screenplay)
- Woman has experimental procedure to erase all memories of her ex. He decides to do the same but changes his mind.
2006
- Best Picture: Crash
- 6 nominations, 3 wins
- Film Editing, Writing
- Post 9/11 film about tensions when the lives of contrasting personalities and cultures collide.
- March of the Penguins
- 1 nomination, 1 win
- Best Documentary
- Inside the lives of emperor penguins
2007
- Best Picture: The Departed
- 5 nominations, 4 wins
- Directing, Film Editing, Writing
- Crime thriller about an Irish-American gang.
- Happy Feet
- 1 win, 1 nomination
- Best animated feature film
- Penguin can’t sing, but he can dance.
- Little Miss Sunshine
- 4 nominations, 2 wins
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Alan Arkin), Writing
- A cross country trip to a California pageant for a little girl they think is going to win, but she’s not really pageant material.
2008
- Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
- 8 nominations, 4 wins
- Best Supporting Actor, Directing, Writing
- Drug deal gone bad in the desert and $2 million missing.
- There Will Be Blood
- 8 nominations, 2 wins
- Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), Cinematography
- An oil prospector lets his greed and ambition destroy his relationships and soul in the Southern California Oil boom
2009
- Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
- 10 nominations, 8 wins
- Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Music – Original Score, Music–Original Song, Sound Mixing, and Writing
- A young Indian man wins a fortune, gets arrested, and reflects on his life.
- Man on Wire
- 1 win, 1 nomination
- Best documentary
- In 1974, Philippe Petit walked across a high wire between New York’s Twin Towers.
- The Reader
- 5 nominations, 1 win
- Best Actress, Kate Winslet
- One of Winslet’s most-daring roles, playing an older woman with a mysterious past having an affair with a much younger man.
