*Gladiator — Director Ridley Scott’s tale – a Roman general (Russell Crowe) is betrayed by the emperor’s devious son (Joaquim Phoenix), left for dead, and then returns to prominence as a gladiator – is a crowd-pleasing, old-fashioned yarn.  Crowe, an actor’s actor coming off highly regarded turns in L.A. Confidential and The Insider, became a bona fide star with this steely portrayal of a principled family man who must war against injustice and his own desire for retribution.

Gladiator, now available on video and DVD, is quickly becoming the people’s favorite for best picture of the year and has some of the most quotable lines of the year, among them “I’m terribly vexed,” “At my signal... unleash Hell,” “Are you not entertained?!”

*Remember the Titans — An entertaining, rousing and poignant movie loosely based on a true story about the forced integration of a Virginia high school. Denzel Washington stars as Herman Boone, a tough-as-nails black coach with the assignment of melding his racially disparate players (and coaching staff) into a cohesive whole. A feel-good movie that is genuinely moving and avoids becoming maudlin.

*Almost Famous — Writer-director Cameron Crowe proves with this semi-autobiographical work to be one of America’s finer, gentler talents in film. Following on the heels of Jerry Maguire, this film, which follows a teen writer and his attempt to write a magazine piece on a rock band while traveling on the road with them, is largely about the contrast of innocence and coming-of-age, and not just for the kid, but for nearly all the characters in the film, including the musicians and groupies he idolizes.

*Chicken Run  — This first feature film from the folks who brought us Wallace and Gromit is a pure joy chock-full of inside jokes and references as far ranging as The Great Escape, Stalag 17, Braveheart and Star Trek. Aardman Studios showed that Disney has not cornered the market on literate, animated comedy that can please adults as equally as the kiddies in the audience.

*Unbreakable — The magazine Entertainment Weekly deemed this film to be the most likely to ignite love-hate arguments among viewers, and I can’t say I disagree. However, I found it be near-profound in its treatment of an everyman (Bruce Willis) who miraculously emerges from a horrific train wreck and finds there may be something more than luck involved in his survival. Coming off The Sixth Sense, writer-director M. Night Shyamalan affirms with this inventive, dark, thoughtful, and surely-directed entry, that he will be a force with which to be reckoned in the new millennium.