Through The Decades: 2000s - 10 Film Collection

Feel-good dramas, pitch-black comedies, gripping thrillers! Ring in the new millennium with this this ten-film collection that sums up the decade that was a turning point for Hollywood: The 2000s!

Nurse Betty (R, 110 min)

Director: Neil LaBute

Starring: Renée Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock

Obsessed with her favorite soap opera character, Dr. David Ravell, Betty travels across the country to meet the man of her dreams while pursued by two hired killers.

“Few actresses can convey the kind of honesty and humanity that Zellweger does here -- it's hard to imagine the film without her dominant, thoroughly credible performance” - Steven Holden, Variety

“The superb screenplay won an award at Cannes this year for good reason.” - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

“Nurse Betty is a wonderful movie, unpredictably alive to the fact that the American citizenry is a lot stranger than we like to admit.” - Richard Schickel, TIME

One Night at McCool’s (R, 93 min)

Director: Harald Zwart

Starring: Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, Paul Reiser

Three different men recall how the beautiful Jewel came into McCool's one night and brought chaos with her. The problem is their stories just don't seem to line up.

“First-time feature director Harald Zwart has a real flair for farce, and he keeps the outrageous high jinks of the script lively yet grounded in reality.” - Michael O’Sullivan, The Washington Post

Spy Game (R, 126 min)

Director: Tony Scott

Starring: Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack

Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir works under the table against agency politics to free Tom Bishop, the agent he mentored, after Bishop is captured in China during a mission gone wrong and sentenced to death in 24 hours.

“The movie is sleek and shiny as a new bullet, reflecting Scott's patented surplus of style.” - Rita Kempley, The Washington Post

“Serves up a judicious blend of showy action, political intrigue, ticking-clock suspense and intramural CIA one-upsmanship for mainstream entertainment” - Todd McCarthy, Variety

The Emperor’s Club (PG-13, 109 min)

Director: Michael Hoffman

Starring Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch, Rob Morrow

Idealistic prep school teacher William Hundert takes it upon himself to mentor the unruly, troublemaking son of a U.S. Senator.

“This isn't a stand up and cheer flick; it's a sit down and ponder affair. And thanks to Kline's superbly nuanced performance, that pondering is highly pleasurable” - Desson Thomson, The Washington Post

“Kevin Kline's performance shows a deep understanding of the character, who is, after all, better than most teachers, and most men. We care for him, not because he is perfect, but because he regrets so sincerely that he is not.” - Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun Times

The Shape of Things (R, 96 min)

Director: Neil LaBute

Starring: Paul Rudd, Rachel Weisz, Gretchen Mol

A quiet, unassuming man begins to change in a major way after meeting and falling for a beautiful art student, and his new personality doesn't sit well with his best friend.

“LaBute has that rarest of attributes, a distinctive voice. You know one of his scenes at once. His dialogue is the dialogue overheard in trendy mid-scale restaurants, with the words peeled back to suggest the venom beneath.” - Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun Times

“...ends with a satisfying shudder of recognition at the extreme cruelty possible within human relationships, particularly those conceived by Neil LaBute.” - Dennis Harvey, Variety

“Packing a dizzying array of motives and tensions into his careful, densely layered round robin, LaBute orchestrates The Shape of Things like a suspense thriller, full of hidden agendas and emotional switchbacks.” - Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

21 Grams (R, 124 min)

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Starring: Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Naomi Watts

A freak accident intersects the lives of a dying man, a grief-stricken mother, and an ex-con who found God in this gripping drama about consequence and human connection.

“You won't come out unaffected, because the depths of intimacy that the Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu plumbs here are so rarely touched by filmmakers that 21 Grams is tantamount to the discovery of a new country.” - A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“21 Grams strives for greatness, and that's precisely what it achieves.” - Rob Fraser, Empire

“A stunning virtuoso performance by director, cast and crew. This movie knocks you out with an astonishing blend of hyper-realism, visual complexity and powerful themes” - Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter

Baby Mama (PG-13, 99 min)

Director: Michael McCullers

Starring: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Sigourney Weaver

After learning that she has slim chances of getting pregnant, successful businesswoman Kate Holbrook clashes with her surrogate Angie on how best to behave when you're expecting.

“Fey is a delight to watch throughout.” - Todd McCarthy, Variety

“...Fey and Poehler may well be the best female comedy duo since Lucy and Ethel.” - Claudia Puig, USA Today

State of Play (PG-13, 127 min)

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Starring: Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck

The murder of a congressional aide sends Washington, D.C. Journalist Cal McAffrey down a path of cover-ups, corruption, and corporate conspiracies.

“...State of Play stands as a sterling thriller, benefiting from admirable convictions and an arguable return to form by Russell Crowe.” - Dan Jolin, Empire

“A rare treat for cinema lovers starved for the days when scruffy newspaper reporters fearlessly sniffed out corruption, State of Play delivers the kind of conspiratorial thrills that would have made Pakula proud.” - Jason Buchanan, TV Guide Magazine

“Spins a thorny tale of political corruption laced with personal sleaze." - Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

The Hitcher (R, 84 min)

Director: Dave Meyers

Starring: Sean Bean, Sophia Bush, Neal McDonough

When a young couple picks up a seemingly harmless hitchhiker, a good deed becomes a brutal, edge-of-your-seat fight for survival with the open road as the battlefield.

“...a mechanical gore-fest...” - James Berardinelli, ReelViews.com

“...tense the whole way through.” - Christy Lemire, Associated Press

Cry Wolf (PG-13, 90 min)

Director: Jeff Wadlow

Starring: Jared Padalecki, Lindy Booth, Julian Morris

Eight students at a well-to-do boarding school find that their usual games of lies and deception are no laughing matter when people start dying and no one can be trusted.

“The movie consistently keeps us guessing, right up to its twisty, satisfying finish.” - Kyle Smith, New York Post

“A clever teen thriller with intricate plotting, deft characterizations, sharp ensemble performances and a darkly ironic twist at the end.” - Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times