Chicken Run (2000) - ★★★★½

Director: Peter Lord, Nick Park
Writers: Peter Lord, Nick Park (Story), Karey Kirkpatrick (Screenplay)
Voices: Julia Sawatha, Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, Tony Haygarth, Lynn Ferguson, Benjamin Whitrow

Have you ever wondered what The Great Escape would be like if the humans were replaced by chickens? Well look no further than Chicken Run! It's a hilarious, beautiful, and a downright entertaining movie from the team that brought you Wallace and Gromit. I was obsessed with this movie as a child! I must've seen it dozens of times in the space of one year. Last night I watched it for the first time in years, and my feelings haven't changed. It's one of the best animated movies I've ever seen.

The Cell (2000) - ★★½

Director: Tarsem Singh
Writers: Mark Protosevich
Stars: Jennifer Lopez, Vincent D'Onofrio, Vince Vaughn, Dylan Baker, Marianne Jean-Baptiste

What do you get when you cross Alice in Wonderland with Silence of the Lambs? You get The Cell. It's a bad movie... but slightly better than most modern horror flicks. You can put that down to it having better special effects, amazing costume design, stunning cinematography, and an interesting story. However, it lacked in terms of acting, character development, and perfecting the story. It had a hell of a lot of potential! Like I said, it was very interesting. Oh, did I mention that this is one of the weirdest freaking movies I've ever seen! It's the kind of thing that would disturb the masses, but it didn't disturb me as much as I thought it would. In that sense, it was also a let-down.

The Crimson Rivers; or Les rivières pourpres (2000) - ★★★½

Director: Matthieu Kassovitz
Writers: Jean Christoph-Grange (book and screenplay)
Stars: Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel, Nadia Fares

The Crimson Rivers is a French thriller with an intriguing story and a disturbing mystery at its core. To my surprise it was directed by Mathiew Kassovits, the male lead of the famous french film Amelie. It was engrossing and a joy to watch. Unfortunately, the frankly unconvincing and ridiculous ending almost ruined the film for me.

Murder detective commissioner Pierre Niemans (Jean Reno) is called to Gueron, a mysterious and prestigious university with virtually incestuous scientists that are succeeded by their "elite-blooded" children as teachers and professors. He is there to investigate the death of one of the professors, whose corps was found on a steep mountain side after some five hours of cruel torture, including amputation of the hands and removal of the eyes. In order to solve the investigation, Pierre must work with  Inspector Max Kerkerian (Vincent Cassel) to dig up information from various different locations, such as in glaciers and on campus. As both investigations continue, the mystery is finally solved in an ending which did not satisfy me enough as to call it a great movie.

If you liked the film 'Seven' then you will like Crimson Rivers. It's a dark thriller, which is both entertaining and intelligent. Jean Reno was great as Pierre, who can keep calm with almost any situation, except when it comes to dogs. His partner Max provides the comic relief of the film as he occasionally bumbles around and makes a nuisance of himself. Together they had great chemistry, which made the film enjoyable.

The mystery itself became more and more disturbing as the film went on, which made it so much more interesting. As it delved further into genetic deformities and the incestuous actions of the faculty at the university, I became more invested in solving the mystery myself. I only half solved the mystery, and didn't fully understand the other half. There was little explanation during the climax of the film, which included a terrible CGI avalanche that took away the realism of the film. It truly did wreck what could have been a great movie.

All in all I was thoroughly entertained up until the disappointing ending. If you're a fan of thrillers and mysteries, then this is a film you may like.

Gladiator (2000) - ★★★★½

Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: David Franzoni
Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Djimon Hounsou

Winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor Russell Crowe, Gladiator is a movie that was and always will be a beautiful film. It is the story of Maximus, the general who became a slave and a gladiator that defied the empire ruled under Emperor Commodus, a sociopath that ordered his wife and child killed.

Ridley Scott masterfully directed the movie by drawing a fine line between making the fictional story mesh well with historical accuracy. There were many historical personalities incorporated into this story such as the Brothers Gracchi and Marcus Aurelius that were a delight to see enacted. Joaquin Phoenix was nothing short of brilliant as Emperor Commodus. The pained expression he expressed whenever he spoke of his father showed just what kind of loveless childhood he grew up in. Somehow, as evil as he was, I couldn’t help but pity the man for Maximus always overshadowed him. Phoenix brought depth to the character and the emotions he showed felt so real.

The battle scenes in the Colosseum were reminiscent of Ben-Hur, Best Picture 1959. Incorporating chariots, tigers and a beautiful backdrop of the crowd of 50,000 plus Roman citizens, the tension and authenticity of the fights set this film apart from most. Perhaps my favorite scene of the movie would have to be when Maximus reunites with his wife and child in the end with incredibly beautiful music signifying that he’s home. The computer animated Rome and cinematography of the many locations the Roman Empire conquered was outstanding, much like Lawrence of Arabia but toned down.

Gladiator will endure through the ages as one of the best movies of all time for many valid reasons. This movie connected with me, however it did not have the same emotional impact as Braveheart, its closest contender. Maximus is a larger than life hero that Crowe played beautifully. I finished the movie feeling happy – happy because I had just seen one of the finest movies that have come from the 21^st century. This film rightfully deserved to be the first movie to win Best Picture in the new Millennium.