Best movies of 2001

U.S. release date: March 16, 2001

I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can't remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world's still there. Do I believe the world's still there? Is it still out there? ... Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different.

I went into Memento knowing only what a friend had told me...that the entire film plays in reverse. Knowing that in advance had no effect on my enjoyment of it...it only helped me encourage my friends I went with to watch it since they'd never heard of it & were reluctant to do so (and fortunately there was nothing better playing at the same theatre). All of us were blown away, and I've gone out of my way to see every one of Nolan's films ever since. Now he's one of my favorite directors, and I have Memento to thank for putting him on my radar.

U.S. release date: Jan. 19, 2001

U.S. release date: Oct. 12, 2001


One of the best martial arts films ever, thanks in no small part to Yuen Woo-Ping's direction.

My dreams are a cruel joke. They taunt me. Even in my dreams I'm an idiot...who knows he's about to wake up to reality. If I could only avoid sleep. But I can't. I try to tell myself what to dream. I try to dream that I am flying. Something free. It never works...

My personal favorite:

You will never know the exquisite pain of the guy who goes home alone. Cause without the bitter, baby, the sweet ain't as sweet.

U.S. release date: Jan 26, 2001

Our battle, our struggle, is to create art. Our weapon is the moving picture. Because we have the moving picture, our paintings will grow and recede; our poetry will be shadows that lengthen and conceal; our light will play across living faces that laugh and agonize; and our music will linger and finally overwhelm, because it will have a context as certain as the grave. We are scientists engaged in the creation of memory...but our memory will neither blur nor fade.

U.S. release date: Feb 26, 2001

You notice things if you pay attention.

I trust people, but I'm no dummy. I knew she was scamming me, and I should have thrown her out right then but I didn't. You see, that's the nature of attraction. You find yourself doing things, and you have no idea why, but you do them anyway.

U.S. release date: Sep. 28, 2001

Gingerbread Man: NO! Not the buttons! Not my gumdrop buttons!
Lord Farquaad: All right, then! Who's hiding them?
Gingerbread Man: Okay, I'll tell you... Do you know... the Muffin Man?
Lord Farquaad: The Muffin Man?
Gingerbread Man: The Muffin Man.
Lord Farquaad: Yes, I know the Muffin Man. W-who lives down on Drury Lane?
Gingerbread Man: Well, she's married to the Muffin Man...
Lord Farquaad: The Muffin Man?
Gingerbread Man: THE MUFFIN MAN!
Lord Farquaad: She's married to the Muffin Man...