Was 2000-09 an exceptional decade for movies?

I’ve been rewatching a lot of movies from that time period and I’m curious if it’s my nostalgia for when I was growing up making me think it was truly an exceptional span, or if there was something magical happening.

To briefly summarize:

  • 2000: Gladiator, Memento, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Almost Famous, American Psycho, The Patriot, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  • 2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Shrek, A Beautiful Mind, Donnie Darko, Spirited Away, The Royal Tenenbaums
  • 2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Spider-Man, The Bourne Identity, Catch Me If You Can, Signs, City of God
  • 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Lost in Translation, X2: X-Men United, The Last Samurai
  • 2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Incredibles, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Spider-Man 2, Mean Girls, The Aviator, Shaun of the Dead
  • 2005: Batman Begins, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Pride & Prejudice, Brokeback Mountain, Sin City, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Walk the Line
  • 2006: The Departed, Pan’s Labyrinth, Casino Royale, The Prestige, Children of Men, Little Miss Sunshine, Borat
  • 2007: No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Ratatouille, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Bourne Ultimatum, Superbad, Zodiac
  • 2008: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, WALL-E, Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Twilight, In Bruges
  • 2009: Avatar, Inglourious Basterds, The Hangover, Up, The Hurt Locker, Zombieland, District 9

I mean just look at 2007..!

However, I suspect if you pick any 10-year span in modern movie history you can come up with a similarly impressive list?

On the contrary – it was also the golden age of CGI and brought two of the most successful film franchises in history – Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter – to the screen.

Curious what other opinions are.