My picks for Best Films of 2001 - based on the films that I have actually seen as listed in the post below:

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Monster's Inc.
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
A Beautiful Mind
Moulin Rouge
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Gosford Park
Ocean's Eleven
The Shipping News
Shrek
Jimmie Neutron: Boy Genius
Amelie

I place a lot of emphasis on picking films that I would be willing to watch again and again. Films that I would want to own copies of. I already own copies of the top 3 on this list and 2 of the top 4 on the 2002 list.

Just for good measure, here is a list of the movies I have seen from 2000 followed by my pics for the Year's Best. (Note: I have seen 23 movies released in 2002; 39 released in 2001 and 49 released in 2000.)

The Whole Nine Yards
Wonder Boys
Reindeer Games
Mission To Mars
The Ninth Gate
Erin Brockovich
The Road to El Dorado
High Fidelity
Rules of Engagement
U-571
Frequency
Gladiator
Center Stage
Small Time Crooks
Dinosaur
Mission Impossible II
Shanghai Noon
Gone In 60 Seconds
Sunshine
Titan A.E.
Shaft
Chicken Run
Me, Myself & Irene
The Patriot
X-Men
What Lies Beneath
Space Cowboys
Autumn In New York
Godzilla 2000
Almost Famous
Dr. T and the Women
Billy Elliot
The Legend of Baggar Vance
Charlie's Angels
Red Planet
The Sixth Day
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Unbreakable
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Proof of Life
The Emperor's New Groove
Chocolat
What Women Want
Finding Forrester
Miss Congeniality
O Brother Where Art Thou
Cast Away
The Family Man
Thirteen Days

And the Best of 2000 are:

The Emperor's New Groove
Mission Impossible 2
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
O Brother Where Art Thou
Gladiator
The Patriot
Chicken Run
High Fidelity
Almost Famous
Thirteen Days
Erin Brockovich
Unbreakable
Cast Away

Based on the films that I have seen so far (see previous post), here is my list of the Best Films of 2002:

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Minority Report
Spiderman
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Signs
Panic Room
We Were Soldiers
The Rookie
Dragonfly
Men In Black II

I expect that list will change with the exception of the top slot as I catch up on my movie watching during the coming year.

It would probably be more accurate to make a list of the Best Movies of 2001 since I have at least had a chance to see most of the films that I wanted to. Here is the complete list of 2001 films that I have seen:

The Wedding Planner
Sweet November
The Mexican
Memento
Enemy At The Gates
Tailor of Panama
Spy Kids
Bridget Jones' Diary
The Mummy Returns
A Knight's Tale
Moulin Rouge
Shrek
Pearl Harbor
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Swordfish
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Final Fantasy: Spirits Within
Legally Blonde
Planet of the Apes
Rush Hour 2
The Princess Diaries
Zoolander
Training Day
Serendipity
Iron Monkey
Amelie
The One
Monster's Inc.
Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone
Spy Game
Ocean's Eleven
Vanilla Sky
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
A Beautiful Mind
The Majestic
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
The Shipping News
Kate and Leopold
Gosford Park

Making "Best of ..." lists for movies is complicated by the fact that I don't see a lot of movies the same year that they come out. In 2002, I only saw six movies in the theater. They were:

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Spiderman
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Minority Report
Men In Black II
Bowling For Columbine

I saw a few more 2002 movies on video and DVD:

Mothman Prophecies
Count of Monte Cristo
Collateral Damage
Dragonfly
We Were Soldiers
The Time Machine
Ice Age
Blade 2
Clockstoppers
Panic Room
The Rookie
The Scorpion King
Importance of Being Earnest
Sum of All Fears
Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood
The Sweetest Thing
Signs

A Lot of movies that I saw earlier this year were left overs from 2001:

The Shipping News
Gosford Park
Kate & Leopold
Jimmie Neutron Boy Genius
The Majestic
Vanilla Sky
Ocean's Eleven
Spy Game
Amelie
Iron Monkey
Serendipity
Training Day
Zoolander
Princess Diaries
Moulin Rouge

There are still a lot of movies I would like to see in the theaters:

Star Trek Nemesis
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Die Another Day
Catch Me If You Can
Gangs of New York
Chicago

And a long list of movies I plan to see on DVD when they are available:
First up are the ones coming out this month and next:

About A Boy
Bourne Identity
Sweet Home Alabama
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Spy Kids 2
Road To Perdition
Veggie Tales - Jonah

And whenever they come available here is my DVD rental wish list:

Punch Drunk Love
Adaptation
About Schmidt
The Pianist
Frida
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Solaris
The Hours
Far From Heaven
The Quiet American
Narc
Spirited Away
Santa Clause 2
8 Mile
Standing In the Shadow of Motown
Treasure Planet
Drumline
Maid in Manhattan
Antwone Fisher
Two Weeks Notice
Nicholas Nickleby

We did our part to prop up the national economy this weekend by purchasing a new automobile. It's a 2002 Chrysler Sebring with about 17,000 miles. Nice color - onyx green - kind of a metallic greenish grey. I love the keyless entry feature. First car I've ever had with power locks and power windows. Now if I can get it to last as long as our last vehicle - a 1990 Chevy Corsica with almost 200,000 miles - then I will be very happy.

Rented the DVD of Signs over the weekend. Thought it was an excellent thriller in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock with some X-Files stuff mixed in.
A lot of good movies that I missed will be coming out on DVD this month and next. Looks like about one a week through the first of March....
First up is About a Boy out tomorrow.
Bourne Identity is out next week
In March, there is Sweet Home Alabama; Big Fat Greek Wedding: Spy Kids 2; and Road To Perdition...

Joe Lieberman has announed his candidacy for president in the absence of Al Gore. I think I'm leaning towards John Kerry at this point. The list so far is...
Sen. John Kerry
Sen. John Edwards
Sen. Joe Lieberman
Rep. Dick Gephardt
Gov. Howard Dean
Rev. Al Sharpton
and maybe Sen. Bob Graham