The 10 Best Films of 2001: IndieWire

What was the state of cinema in 2001? Oscar-wise, the Academy Awards made some bold nominations, but of course awarded the safer "Gladiator" in favor of Steven Soderbergh's far superior "Traffic." Still, Soderbergh did pull off the feat of being nominated twice in the same directorial category for his drug trade drama and "Erin Brockovich". At Cannes, Michael Haneke's devastating "The Piano Teacher" would dominate but the Palme d'Or would elude him (Nanni Moretti's "The Son's Room" took the top award that year). Globally, George W. Bush took office at the start of the year, followed not long after by 9/11 and the beginning of the war on terror, but those affects on cinema would obviously not be felt immediately. Perhaps the coolest cultural moment all year? In January, a black monolith measuring approximately 9 feet tall appeared in Seattle, Washington's Magnuson Park, placed by an anonymous artist in reference to Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey."