I decided to find out how many of the most successful movies from 2000 onwards that I've seen. Maybe I shouldn't have.
Instapaper creator and Overcast developer Marco Arment recently posted a list containing the Academy Awards Best Picture nominees and top ten grossing movies of every year from 2000 onwards, and marked all of the movies that he had seen. It seemed like a fun exercise, so I thought I’d give it a shot.
Marco mentions that his ratio before 2000 was pretty good, since he was in high school and had nothing better to do. Unlike Marco, I was in high school in the 2000’s. Like Marco, I had a bunch of free time and (apparently) nothing productive to do with it.
Key: Seen it, Haven’t seen it
2000
- Gladiator
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- Traffic
- What Women Want
- Meet the Parents
- Chocolat
- Erin Brockovich
- Mission: Impossible II
- Cast Away
- Dinosaur
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- The Perfect Storm
- X-Men
- What Lies Beneath
2001
- A Beautiful Mind
- Monsters, Inc.
- Ocean’s Eleven
- Gosford Park
- In the Bedroom
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
- Moulin Rouge
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
- Shrek
- Pearl Harbor
- The Mummy Returns
- Jurassic Park III
- Planet of the Apes
- Hannibal
2002
-
Spider-Man
-
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
-
Men in Black II
-
Die Another Day
-
Minority Report
-
Chicago
-
Gangs of New York
-
The Hours
-
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
-
The Pianist
-
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
-
Signs
-
Ice Age
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding
2003
- Finding Nemo
- The Matrix Reloaded
- The Matrix Revolutions
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- Lost in Translation
- Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
- Mystic River
- Seabiscuit
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- Bruce Almighty
- The Last Samurai
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
- X2
- Bad Boys II
2004
- The Incredibles
- Ocean’s Twelve
- Million Dollar Baby
- The Aviator
- Finding Neverland
- Ray
- Sideways
- Shrek 2
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Spider-Man 2
- The Passion of the Christ
- The Day After Tomorrow
- Meet the Fockers
- Troy
- Shark Tale
2005
- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
- Crash
- Brokeback Mountain
- Capote
- Good Night, and Good Luck
- Munich
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the – Wardrobe
-
War of the Worlds
- King Kong
- Madagascar
- Mr. and Mrs. Smith
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Batman Begins
- Hitch
2006
- Little Miss Sunshine
- Casino Royale
- Cars
- The Departed
- Babel
- Letters from Iwo Jima
- The Queen
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
- The Da Vinci Code
- Ice Age: The Meltdown
- Night at the Museum
- X-Men: The Last Stand
- Mission: Impossible III
- Superman Returns
- Happy Feet
2007
- No Country for Old Men
- Juno
- Ratatouille
- I Am Legend
- Atonement
- Michael Clayton
- There Will Be Blood
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Spider-Man 3
- Shrek the Third
- Transformers
- The Simpsons Movie
- National Treasure: Book of Secrets
- 300
2008
- The Dark Knight
- Quantum of Solace
- WALL-E
- Slumdog Millionaire
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- The Reader
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Kung Fu Panda
- Hancock
- Mamma Mia!
- Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
- Iron Man
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
2009
- The Hurt Locker
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
- District 9
- An Education
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious
- A Serious Man
- Up
- Up in the Air
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
- 2012
- The Twilight Saga: New Moon
- Sherlock Holmes
- Angels & Demons
- The Hangover
2010
- The Social Network
- Toy Story 3
- The Kings’ Speech
- 127 Hours
- Black Swan
- The Fighter
- Inception
- The Kids Are All Right
- True Grit
- Winter’s Bone
- Alice in Wonderland
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
- Shrek Forever After
- The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
- Iron Man 2
- Tangled
- Despicable Me
- How to Train Your Dragon
2011
- The Artist
- The Descendants
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
- The Help
- Hugo
- Midnight in Paris
- Moneyball
- The Tree of Life
- War Horse
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1
- Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol
- Kung Fu Panda 2
- Fast Five
- The Hangover Part II
- The Smurfs
- Cars 2
2012
- Skyfall
- Argo
- Amour
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Django Unchained
- Les Misérables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
- Silver Linings Playbook
- Zero Dark Thirty
- The Avengers
- The Dark Knight Rises
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Ice Age: Continental Drift
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
- The Hunger Games
- Men in Black 3
2013
- Monsters University
- 12 Years a Slave
- American Hustle
- Captain Phillips
- Dallas Buyers Club
- Gravity
- Her
- Nebraska
- Philomena
- The Wolf of Wall Street
- Frozen
- Iron Man 3
- Despicable Me 2
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
- Fast & Furious 6
- Man of Steel
- Thor: The Dark World
2014
- Birdman
- American Sniper
- Boyhood
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- The Imitation Game
- Selma
- The Theory of Everything
- Whiplash
- Transformers: Age of Extinction
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Maleficent
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
- X-Men: Days of Future Past
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
- Interstellar
To summarize: I’ve seen 192 out of 241 of the top grossing and/or Best Picture nominated movies released in the past 15 years. Also, if I cared more about animated movies (particularly of the Dreamworks Animation variety), I would have three complete years.
That’s either impressive or depressing or both, depending on your attitude to popular culture and fresh air.