I am one of those lucky bloggers who has a husband that critiques reads all my posts. After I shared my post on the best 90s movies my husband asked when I was going to do one for films from the 80s and the 00s (2000s? How does one abbreviate that…?). I hadn’t planned on doing another, but he insisted.
Keeping that in mind, these films are a culmination of my favorites and his favorites. We have pretty similar taste, though, so my name is Audrey and I approve all these movies:
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Ok… not everyone is going to agree with this pick. Some people find Will Ferrell to be dumb and unfunny. (And in the case of Semi-Pro, Elf, and Blades of Glory I 100% agree with you.) But as a NASCAR fan, this movie cracks me up every single time I watch it. I swear a member of my family quotes this film at least twice a week. Yeah, it’s dumb, but it’s a comedy and I think it’s crazy funny.
The Incredibles (2004)
This is my favorite Pixar movie. (I’m unnaturally excited about the rumored sequel.) I think this movie appropriately sums up the frustrations and trials of every family (plus some superhero drama). I love that the men and women are equally kick-ass and flawed; I think it’s a super balanced movie with a very important message about family and friends, and being yourself in a world that might not always like you.
The Italian Job (2003)
This is an favorite in our house. We’re big fans of heist movies and fast cars, plus the cast includes Mark Wahlberg, Jason Statham, and Chalize Theron. It’s also easy to hate Edward Norton because he’s so bad you want to punch him… Right, Charlize?
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Oh, Leo… how did you JUST get an Oscar? I think this film is incredible and has an all-star cast (include some people that weren’t huge in 2002, but have skyrocketed to fame now). It’s a clever movie that makes you laugh and cry and shake your head and totally gives you mixed feelings about who to root for and who to despise. If you haven’t seen this film, I highly recommend it.
Ocean’s 11 (2001)
Oh look that that… another heist movie. This was back before Angelina ruined Brad. This is another one of those movies that made me fall for Julia Roberts. This movie has a great cast, too, and once you’ve fallen in love with Ocean’s crew you have two more movies you can watch with them! (Plus the 1960s version.)
We had a few runner-ups that didn’t quite make the cut, but I’d still recommend any day: Pearl Harbor | Inglourious Basterds| Cars
This list was tricky… I think the 90s had a lot of fun teen comedies while the 2000s were action-packed. You’ll never find super violent films on my lists (except I.B.) so it was a little tough with this decade. Chances are someday I’ll make a list of top 80s movie, too, so stick around.
What are some of your favorite movies from the 2000s?
Life as Louise 
I love The Incredibles and The Italian Job! Can’t wait for Incredibles 2, either! Our dreams for a sequel better not be crushed.
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Oh my gosh, the pressure is ON! I hope the Disney/Pixar folks feel it! 😉
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Out of all these I’ve only seen Cars! I’m not sure what that says about me. Also, how on Earth was Cars released in the 00’s?? I just looked it up and it’s from 2006. That’s impossible! It CAN’T be 10 years old!!
My favourite 2000s film is High Fidelity.
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You’ve only seen Cars??? That’s crazy talk! You definitely need to rent/borrow/stream a few of these 🙂 I’ve never seen High Fidelity but I will have to check it out!
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Ricky Bobby is hilarious. I say a variation of the tiny baby jesus line all the time, as well as pee pants. The dinner conversations are hilarious.
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Ahhh, I always get SO excited when I come across a Talladega Nights fan! Haha! I swear none of my high school/college friends found it funny. “Anarchy, anarchy! I don’t even know what that means but I love it!”
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I don’t know what would be on my list! Mean Girls, def, but other than that I’m not sure.
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I honestly think I need to watch Mean Girls again because I just didn’t find it entertaining my first time through. Maybe my sense of humor is just weird. Lol
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I never tire of Oceans 11 … & Talladega Nights. I’ll never forget that movie. The day of my best friends funeral, I came home & took the next day off work. I sat & cried & cried & cried… & then that movie came on & it made me laugh so hard. I knew my friend would love to hear me laughing – I always think of that movie because of that. It’s just so funny!!
I’ve never seen Catch me if you can! I have to get on that immediately. I love Leo!
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Oh my gosh… I’m so glad Talladega Nights carries a happy memory for you. I’m SURE that your best friend loves that you found something so goofy to laugh at in a moment of sadness!
If you love Leo then you definitely need to watch Catch Me If You Can. It has the super talented Tom Hanks, too!
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The Incredibles is the best Pixar movie by far and I loved Oceans 11 as well! Such good movies I haven’t seen in a long time!
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Yay!! Someone else who loves The Incredibles! I watch it any time I catch it on TV 🙂
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i haven’t seen Talladega Nights in ages but I still quote it all the time. Anchorman would be an all time 2000s favorite for me. I remember thinking The Incredibles was awesome, and I love Cars. I’ve seen Oceans 11 but I remember nothing about it for some reason.
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My husband listed off Anchorman and Step Brothers, but T.N. is just my hands-down-favorite 😀 You should re-watch Ocean’s 11. It has such an awesome story line and cast!
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I love The Incredibles! I’m actually not a big fan of heist movies. I’ve never seen the Italian Job. Or Catch Me If You Can. And I think I’ve seen Oceans 11 but I don’t remember it much. Ummm 80s movies are great. Super excited for that. Was this list for movies from 2000-2010 only? Or through now?
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Typically I’m not a fan of the heist stuff either. It gives me such anxiety! Haha! That said, The Italian Job is just too good to skip 🙂 the Oceans movies and Gone in 60 Seconds are the only other heist-y movies I enjoy.
This list was just 2000 to 2009-ish. I don’t know that I can tackle the last six years- I haven’t seen that many movies. Haha! The 80s movies list will probably show up in a month or so 🙂
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bhaha i KNEW talladega nights had to be on the top of your list (it’s on mine too). aren’t we lucky to have husbands that read our posts and give us ideas! my sister and i constantly tell each other “i’m gonna come after you like a spider monkey chiiiiip!”
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IT’S. SO. DARN. FUNNY! Hahaha! And sooooo quotable! I’m constantly saying stupid stuff from that film!
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Love the Incredibles and Catch Me if You Can! My favorite 2000s movie is V for Vendetta.
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I’ve never seen V for Vendetta but it’s been on my list since it was released!! I have such a long list of movies I want to watch! Haha!
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I feel like we’d be friends IRL with movie choices like this! I’ll bring the popcorn!
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Yes yes!! I stand by all these films!! Haha! Extra butter, please!
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I LOVE Talladega Nights, Catch me if you Can, and Inglorious Basterds! All so great. And it is shocking that Leo just won an Oscar!
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Ahhhhhh!! I love it when I find people that love Talladega Nights. It makes me so excited! Haha!! Is it wrong that I really just love Inglourious Basterds because of Pitt and Fassbender? Like, I cover my eyes for all the violence- but I’ll suffer through it for those two! Hahaha!
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I’ve done an 80s movies and 90s movies list before. I’d have to look/think about the 2000s. Step-Brothers. That’s my fave with Will Ferrell. The Incredibles is pretty incredible.
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I’ll go dig up your movies for the 80s before I make my list! (I wasn’t alive so I feel like I might need some help with that one… ha!) Step Brothers is funny but I just haven’t found a Ferrell film to top TN 🙂 I LOVE that so many adults are fans of The Incredibles!
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The Incredibles…yes! My marching band actually did a show based on the music from this movie and we had a huge choreographed fight scene and well…basically it was epic.
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That’s awesome, Christine! We did a Disney based show my senior year (and got to fly to FL to perform in the parade) but I’d have loved to do an Incredibles one!
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It’s funny, I think everyone has different favorite Will Ferrell movies. I love Talladega Nights and Elf and Anchorman and most of them, but the one I cannot stand is Step-brothers. That movie I watched once and was so not into it! But I love Will Ferrell. The Incredibles… I love every Pixar movie. I can’t wait for the second movie! Did you watch Inside Out? I cried hard at that one.
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I think you’re right- Will Ferrell usually plays a similar character but the story around him changes so it’s pretty easy to love some movies and hate others (like Elf- SO annoying to me, haha)!
I saw Inside Out and I put it in the same category as Up: sometimes it’s super sad with some adult situations that just make me sob so I avoid those films….
Hahaha. I just want happy movies with superheros or talking toys (like Toy Story… which I haven’t seen the 3rd one because I heard that I’ll cry…)
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Loved Ocean’s 11 and we just watched The Incredibles with the kids a week or so ago. I always had a complicated relationship with the Incredibles, though. I liked the family-centric message, but it seemed like it was force-feeding the idea that women can and should be all the things to all the people all the time. The mom character was (literally) a supermom who kept (literally) stretching herself beyond the limits of normal human ability, doing the saving-the-world thing AND worrying about the baby at home (why wasn’t the husband ever the one one the phone with the babysitter?) while all the while having perfect hair. Maybe that’s a pretty heavy critique of a Pixar movie, but those are the thoughts that go through my head every time I watch it.
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…huh. I’ve honestly never thought about it that way. But I 100% see where you’re coming from with that point of view. (I’m not a mom… so I don’t think I even noticed the pressure on the mom character.) That’s a super interesting thing to bring up, though! I like your critical eye!
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These are all great. The Italian Job is one of my favorite movies of all times!
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Oh man… we LOVE The Italian Job and have to watch it whenever it’s on! Hah!
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