2001 Retrospective

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FrankLotion
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2001 Retrospective

Post by FrankLotion »

I meant to post this yesterday but forgot. Since I was bored over the holidays I was inspired by an AV Club segment they do every year looking back at what was significant 20 years ago. Since I remember 2001 so well I decided to put some lists together of the various media from 2001 just for fun!

Probably isn’t a surprise that my longest list is for music since these days it’s so easy to listen to anything you want and requires much less commitment than other forms of entertainment. As everyone on this site already knows, 2001 had some all-time classics. Here’s my favorites:

Albums:

1. The Strokes - Is This It?
2. Björk - Vespertine
3. Jay-Z - The Blueprint
4. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
5. Converge - Jane Doe
6. Bob Dylan - Love and Theft
7. Missy Elliott - Miss E...So Addictive
8. Drive-By Truckers - Southern Rock Opera
9. Aesop Rock - Labor Days
10. Spoon - Girls Can Tell
11. Radiohead - Amnesiac
12. The Microphones - The Glow, Pt. 2
13. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
14. Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World
15. N.E.R.D. - In Search Of...
16. Low - Things We Lost in the Fire
17. Daft Punk - Discovery
18. Fugazi - The Argument
19. Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy Your Rabbit
20. Four Tet - Pause
21. System of a Down - Toxicity
22. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
23. Muse - Origin of Symmetry
24. Elbow - Asleep in the Back
25. Guided by Voices - Isolation Drills
26. Basement Jaxx - Rooty
27. Slipknot - Iowa
28. The Moldy Peaches - The Moldy Peaches
29. Opeth - Blackwater Park
30. Fennesz - Endless Summer
31. Tool - Lateralus
32. Mercury Rev - All is Dream
33. Ryan Adams - Gold
34. Gorillaz - Gorillaz
35. Tenacious D - Tenacious D
36. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
37. Matmos - A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure
38. R.E.M. - Reveal
39. Manu Chao - próxima estación...Esperanza
40. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part
41. Aphex Twin - Drukqs
42. Pulp - We Love Life
43. Cunninlynguists - Will Rap For Food
44. Weezer - The Green Album
45. Plaid - Double Figure
46. Lucinda Williams - Essence
47. Kylie Minogue - Fever
48. Hood - Cold House
49. Autechre - Confield
50. Liars - They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Mountain on Top
51. The National - The National
52. Taraf de Haidouks - Band of Gypsies
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I was only 10 in 2001 so that would explain why Lord of the Rings and Spirited Away made such an impression on me, though even now I can appreciate the craft that went into them and can recognize that they really were as good as I remember! Also, Shrek and Monsters Inc. came out that year, so that was fun.

(I still haven’t seen Mulholland Drive which I imagine is the biggest omission on any of my lists)

Movies:

1. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
2. Spirited Away
3. The Royal Tenenbaums
4. Shrek
5. Monsters Inc.
6. The Others
7. Ghost World
8. Amélie
9. A.I.
10. Donnie Darko
11. Ocean’s Eleven
12. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
13. Moulin Rouge
14. Black Hawk Down
15. Ali
16. Zoolander
17. Legally Blonde
18. Spy Kids
19. Bridget Jones’s Diary
20. A Beautiful Mind
21. Training Day
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

It’s weird looking back and realizing that 2001 wasn’t necessarily that great for TV. The Sopranos and Blue Planet are among my all-time favorites but the others I think are merely good, I guess the “Golden Age of TV” probably started a little later in the decade.

TV:

1. The Sopranos
2. The Blue Planet
3. Six Feet Under
4. Band of Brothers
5. Samurai Jack
6. Scrubs
7. Justice League
8. Undeclared
9. The Bernie Mac Show
10. Trailer Park Boys
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Video games in contrast had one of the best and most significant years in 2001, it’s hard to describe how cool it was to see the PS2, GameCube, and XBox after the previous generation since it seemed like such a huge step forward graphically and processing power. Developers must have felt the same way because Final Fantasy X was (and is) gorgeous to look at while games like Halo or MGS2 showed an incredible leap in complexity in design as well as improvements in AI sophistication.

Also, Super Smash Bros. Melee is probably still the reigning champ as the game I’ve put the most hours into and might still be my favorite fighting game? I guess I don’t know how people would categorize it these days but either way me and my sister couldn’t put it down for years.

Games:

1. Final Fantasy X
2. Halo: Combat Evolved
3. Super Smash Bros. Melee
4. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
5. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
6. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
7. Black & White
8. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
9. Age of Mythology
10. Myst 3: Exile
11. Worms World Party
12. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
13. Ico
14. Oddworld: Munch’s Odyssey
15. Silent Hill 2
16. Tekken 4
17. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
18. Grand Theft Auto III
19. RuneScape
20. James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire
21. Emperor: Battle for Dune
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Obviously given my age I didn’t read almost any of these books at the time, and didn’t get around to them until middle school or high school. There’s some really good books from that year, it makes me sad how little time (and mental energy) I find to read for pleasure anymore so that is the one habit I hope to get back to some day.

Books:

1. Atonement
2. American Gods
3. Life of Pi
4. The Other Boleyn Girl
5. John Adams
6. The Secret Life of Bees
7. Mystic River
8. A Painted House
9. The Vile Village
10. Mortal Engines
Last edited by FrankLotion on Sun Jan 23, 2022 11:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Nassim
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Re: 2001 Retrospective

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A good year for music indeed, my favorite songs from that year (with my all time ranking):

54) Low | Sunflower
130) Muse | Citizen Erased
188) Muse | New Born
227) Jay-Z | Takeover
233) System of a Down | Forest
272) The White Stripes | Fell In Love With a Girl
278) Tenacious D | Tribute
303) Fugazi | Argument
324) Gorillaz | Clint Eastwood
340) Noir Désir | Le Vent nous portera
346) Mogwai | 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
355) The Strokes | Last Nite
372) Mogwai | Take Me Somewhere Nice
405) Vitalic | La Rock 01
409) Feeder | Just a Day
542) Blink-182 | Stay Together for the Kids
551) Aesop Rock | Daylight
683) Gorillaz | New Genius (Brother)
684) McLusky | Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues
702) Cannibal Ox | Raspberry Fields
809) Lightning Bolt | Ride the Sky
814) Missy Elliott | Get Ur Freak On
815) Fugazi | Cashout
823) Moldy Peaches | Anyone Else But You
884) Low | In Metal
915) Andrew W.K. | Party Hard
943) Noir Désir | Lost
959) N*E*R*D | Provider
Bubbling) Aesop Rock | No Regrets
Bubbling) Low | Whore
Bubbling) New Order | Crystal
Bubbling) System of a Down | Toxicity
Bubbling) McLusky | To Hell With Good Intentions

I don't share your enthusiasm on the video game side though.
I don't have the years in my all time list, but from a quick browse I'm not sure I have anything beside Smash Bros Melee, Virtua Tennis 2 and Final Fantasy X in my top 200, and the latter is pretty far down. I loved the multi player games of Conker's Bad Fur Day I had with friends too but didn't play the main campaign, pretty sure it would rank too if I had. Also pretty sure SSX Tricky would, but I really started the series with SSX 3.
I might have enjoyed Cool Boarders too, but I think I played mostly Cool Boarders 2.
I think it was more of a transitional year, my dearly beloved Dreamcast was facing an untimely death and the PS1 and N64 were showing their ages while the Game Cube and XBox were just released. Probably doesn't help that I never got a PS2.

I'm more surprised not to find a handheld game from my list... though it's possible I really enjoyed Circle of the Moon, but I have a hard time remembering which Castlevania games I played aside from the awesome Dawn of Sorrow and the "not as bad in my memory as everyone calls it" Castlevania 64.

Not a lot of movies I wanna shout out either, but :
Shaoling Soccer has some great moments
Monsters Inc is an all time great
The Fellowship of the Ring is a wonderful start to a great movie serie
the Royal Tenenbaums is Wes Anderson at his (2nd) best
Ocean's Eleven is a great popcorn flick
Wet Hot American Summer while uneven got some huge laughs from me and it still very unique
Zoolander and La Tour Montparnasse Infernale are also good dumb fun and got a few all time great quotes
And Jason X is terrible in a hilarious way and I remember having a great time seeing it in a theater.
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LidaEwangelista
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Re: 2001 Retrospective

Post by LidaEwangelista »

Hello Nassim, I loved The Sopranos show really the most!
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FrankLotion
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Re: 2001 Retrospective

Post by FrankLotion »

Nassim wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 11:02 am A good year for music indeed, my favorite songs from that year (with my all time ranking):

54) Low | Sunflower
130) Muse | Citizen Erased
188) Muse | New Born
227) Jay-Z | Takeover
233) System of a Down | Forest
272) The White Stripes | Fell In Love With a Girl
278) Tenacious D | Tribute
303) Fugazi | Argument
324) Gorillaz | Clint Eastwood
340) Noir Désir | Le Vent nous portera
346) Mogwai | 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
355) The Strokes | Last Nite
372) Mogwai | Take Me Somewhere Nice
405) Vitalic | La Rock 01
409) Feeder | Just a Day
542) Blink-182 | Stay Together for the Kids
551) Aesop Rock | Daylight
683) Gorillaz | New Genius (Brother)
684) McLusky | Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues
702) Cannibal Ox | Raspberry Fields
809) Lightning Bolt | Ride the Sky
814) Missy Elliott | Get Ur Freak On
815) Fugazi | Cashout
823) Moldy Peaches | Anyone Else But You
884) Low | In Metal
915) Andrew W.K. | Party Hard
943) Noir Désir | Lost
959) N*E*R*D | Provider
Bubbling) Aesop Rock | No Regrets
Bubbling) Low | Whore
Bubbling) New Order | Crystal
Bubbling) System of a Down | Toxicity
Bubbling) McLusky | To Hell With Good Intentions

I don't share your enthusiasm on the video game side though.
I don't have the years in my all time list, but from a quick browse I'm not sure I have anything beside Smash Bros Melee, Virtua Tennis 2 and Final Fantasy X in my top 200, and the latter is pretty far down. I loved the multi player games of Conker's Bad Fur Day I had with friends too but didn't play the main campaign, pretty sure it would rank too if I had. Also pretty sure SSX Tricky would, but I really started the series with SSX 3.
I might have enjoyed Cool Boarders too, but I think I played mostly Cool Boarders 2.
I think it was more of a transitional year, my dearly beloved Dreamcast was facing an untimely death and the PS1 and N64 were showing their ages while the Game Cube and XBox were just released. Probably doesn't help that I never got a PS2.

I'm more surprised not to find a handheld game from my list... though it's possible I really enjoyed Circle of the Moon, but I have a hard time remembering which Castlevania games I played aside from the awesome Dawn of Sorrow and the "not as bad in my memory as everyone calls it" Castlevania 64.

Not a lot of movies I wanna shout out either, but :
Shaoling Soccer has some great moments
Monsters Inc is an all time great
The Fellowship of the Ring is a wonderful start to a great movie serie
the Royal Tenenbaums is Wes Anderson at his (2nd) best
Ocean's Eleven is a great popcorn flick
Wet Hot American Summer while uneven got some huge laughs from me and it still very unique
Zoolander and La Tour Montparnasse Infernale are also good dumb fun and got a few all time great quotes
And Jason X is terrible in a hilarious way and I remember having a great time seeing it in a theater.
I forgot to make a songs list! Well I think from my albums you can probably tell that I love almost all of the songs you listed, though I don't know if I've ever heard those particular Mogwai tracks so I'll have to check those out.

Edit: And that reminds me, I forgot to include that great Muse album on my list so I'll fix that...

In terms of games I think I was probably a little younger in 2001 so that certainly influenced how amazed I was at all this new tech, though I will say that I played a lot of these recently and they definitely hold up in my mind (I've been playing an embarrassing amount of Halo: CE over the past few weeks). I think the only game from my list I hadn't played at the time was MGS 2: Sons of Liberty since I only started playing that series a few years ago.

All in all it was for sure a transitional year since all these new consoles were just coming out, I feel like 2002 was also a little slow at times but there's a couple games in my top 10 from that year so this whole period was very exciting for me.

Also seconded whole-heartedly about Royal Tenenbaums, what's your #1 Wes Anderson? Mine changes pretty frequently but I'd say these days I especially love Moonrise Kingdom.
Nassim
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Re: 2001 Retrospective

Post by Nassim »

FrankLotion wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 11:09 pm
In terms of games I think I was probably a little younger in 2001 so that certainly influenced how amazed I was at all this new tech, though I will say that I played a lot of these recently and they definitely hold up in my mind (I've been playing an embarrassing amount of Halo: CE over the past few weeks). I think the only game from my list I hadn't played at the time was MGS 2: Sons of Liberty since I only started playing that series a few years ago.

All in all it was for sure a transitional year since all these new consoles were just coming out, I feel like 2002 was also a little slow at times but there's a couple games in my top 10 from that year so this whole period was very exciting for me.
Yeah I did play a lot back then, 2002 is the year I turned 18 so I had plenty of time (in the first half at least, last year of high school, I didn't go out much during the week, and when I spent at times at friends on the week end it was to play either video games or table top role playing games and school was pretty easy to me so not too time consuming... the last few months of the year I was in what we call "preparatory schools" which is more intensive but I still had a lot of free time, especially in the first semester... I probably spent a lot of time on AOL chat rooms, but I'm sure that still left a lot of time for video games ! So given the amount of time I spent playing video games during those 2 years, I'm surprised I don't have more favs.
Well, it does have Jet Set Radio Future which I think I put #2 in my all time list because it's that great (I just realized you could play Xbox One games on Xbox Series X, only to see my Jet Set Radio Future box is empty :angry-banghead: ).
Eternal Darkness, Sega Soccer Slam (damn was that dumb fun), Freedom Force and Timesplitters 2 are huge favorite too, and while I didn't play a lot of Warcraft III "normal" mode, I did spent quite some time on tower defense mods.
Also Smash Bros Melee only arrived in Europe in mid 2002.
Also seconded whole-heartedly about Royal Tenenbaums, what's your #1 Wes Anderson? Mine changes pretty frequently but I'd say these days I especially love Moonrise Kingdom.
Moonrise Kingdom for sure !

I'd rank those I've seen:
Moonrise Kingdom
The Royal Tenenbaums
Rushmore
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Fantastic Mr Fox/The Life Aquatic
The Darjeeling Limited

Interesting to see that while I wouldn't think of him as one of my favorite directors, he probably is one of the directors I have seen the most movies of.
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