Almost Famous
Director-writer Cameron Crowe's compassionate coming-of-age story about a teenage reporter covering a rock band viewed the early '70s through radiantly rose-colored granny glasses.
Chicken Run
Eggceptional! This animated family film had everything: adventure, romance and potent puns, not to mention a henhouse full of impossibly cute chickens.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Movies are supposed to take you someplace else; this epic set in ancient China did exactly that. Its magical martial arts battles and powerful love stories hooked us from the start.
Dancer in the Dark
Icelandic singer Björk played a blind woman whose life goes from bad to worse to dire in a musical that turned the genre on its head while still paying homage to The Sound of Music. Art should provoke and Dancer did.
Erin Brockovich
Between its inspiring true-life story and a knockout performance by Julia Roberts in the title role, this entertaining legal thriller was the one film unhesitatingly recommended to everyone.
Gladiator
A big thumbs-up for a rousing swords-and-sandals epic set in the Roman Empire, when men were men, even if they wore skirts.
The House of Mirth
Great books rarely make great movies, but thanks to director Terence Davies's loving adaptation and Gillian Anderson's (yes, of television's The X-Files) lucid performance as doomed Lily Bart, Edith Wharton's best novel arrived on the screen with all its tragic impact intact.
Nurse Betty
This dark romantic comedy with Renée Zellweger kept us guessing about just where it was headed, which is all too rare.
Traffic
The unwinnable war against drugs provided the backdrop for a vivid, almost documentary-like ensemble drama by virtuoso director Steven Soderbergh (who also made Erin Brockovich this year).
You Can Count on Me
In a small but beautifully written and acted story, adult siblings (Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo) both chafed at and pulled tighter the ties that bind.
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