Top Entertainers of 2001  |  The 2001 Cultureshark 100

America: A Tribute to Heroes

This telethon raised a lot of bucks for people that needed them, and it also gave people a way to ease back into the idea of it being "OK" to seek solace in entertainment. The production was appropriately tasteful, but no less intense for it. For one night the phoniness of the entertainment industry seemed to disappear in favor of genuine emotion. That sure was weird. Thankfully, Bill O'Reilly and George Clooney soon got into a big feud over the distribution of funds from the event and made things feel normal again. Regardless of the controversy, the event still stands as a touching, healing event. The celebrities involved seemed authentic, and the performances were heartfelt. Even Fred Durst was restrained, for crying out loud.

The way that little bit of dark hair is always hanging over Angelina Jolie's face in Tomb Raider

Let's face it, Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft is one of the most beautiful visions ever created. Who needs silly things like plot, characterization, dialogue, narrative flow, or pacing when you have that little strand of dark hair standing out against the backdrop of those eyes and that knowing smile? OK, I'll stop now.

The "I'm a Believer" performance at the end of Shrek

After a tremendously entertaining movie, we are sensing the end is near and the credits are on the way-but first, we get a great musical number out of nowhere. Eddie Murphy, so funny as the jackass, takes the lead singing "I'm a Believer," but all the other characters of Shrekare singing and dancing as well. This was the most joyous thing I saw in any movie this year. It nearly brought tears to my eyes because it made me feel so…well, happy. I'd bet it also made everyone else who saw the movie go out on an even bigger high than they would have already.

That's My Bush

The idea of a sitcom mocking the President may seem off limits now, and unfortunately it never really caught on even before the war. However, this show's true brilliance didn't come in mocking the President for his politics. It came in treating the President (and everyone from Barbara Bush to Karl Rove, of all people) as just another dumb sitcom character. Each episode ridiculed dozens of sitcom cliches and conventions. That admittedly isn't a difficult task, but the novelty of all of it being centered on the White House only made the goofiness funnier. Even now, this show is missed.

"Llorando" in Mulholland Drive

This David Lynch film takes a turn as our two heroines enter a bizarre theater and are captivated by the haunting performance of Roy Orbison's "Crying"-in Spanish, in an eerily empty theater called "Silencio." Any description cannot do this justice. The overall effect of the scene is to summon a variety of emotions and moods in one of the most powerful movie moments of the year. A bizarre scene in an often bizarre film, to be sure, yet still moving. Just because nobody really knows what the hell it "means" doesn't diminish its impact.

The final episode of The Amazing Race

This reality show was entertaining and well-produced, especially compared to the countless "reality" efforts that dominated the networks this year. In 2000 I was riveted by the treachery and bitterness of the original Survivor conclusion. This year, however, it was a welcome relief to see a game that ultimately celebrated achievement and sportsmanship over back-stabbing and betrayal. The winners decided not to take a tempting dirty trick opportunity in this last episode. At the very end, all the previously eliminated entrants were waiting at the finish line and clapping, making for a nice visual. The winners thanked everyone else and talked about the great time they had. Even the runner-up couple talked about how the game improved their relationship. All this and it was an exciting, fun hour of TV. Even if the new realities of the world make shows where contestants barrel through airports impossible, we'll have the pleasant memory of this classy finale.

Denzel Washington in Training Day

An electrifying performance that reminded us of the range of one our finest actors. I don't want to go on about the technical aspects of Washington's portrayal of an on-the-edge LA cop, though. The fact is, it was one of the best performances of the year because it was so much fun to watch. His Alonzo is alternately funny, scary, charming, evil, and sometimes all that and more. Washington poured every bit of his considerable charisma into a mesmerizing turn that made you wish the movie would never end.

U2's " Beautiful Day"

There weren't a lot of breakout music singles that caught my ear, so I have to go with a song from 2000 for the year's best song. After all, it showed up everywhere-as U2 sang it on its highly successful tour and in many other public appearances, on the radio as an optimistic rallying point late in the year…hell, it's inclusion was the best thing about Bandits. And the WWF even made used it successfully as the soundtrack for a kick-ass video about Triple H's rehab. And yet, despite all the exposure, I never got sick of the song's combination of longing, enthusiasm, and a bunch of other different things the music says better than any of my words could.

The arrival of DVD

The sales and rental numbers of the DVD have been steadily growing, but this was the year the format really ARRIVED, with a ton of classics becoming available for the first time. The great-looking Citizen Kane DVD, the extras-laden Godfather box set are only several of the many great discs that came out this year. Apart from the old flicks, new ones like Shrek are coming out loaded with special features as well. Movie fans rejoice.

Movies screwing with us

Some of the best movies this year were about messing with the minds of their audiences. The most notable example, of course, is Memento, a hell of a ride that satisfied its viewers, yet still provided all sorts of questions that lingered long after viewing it. Then there was the trippy dreamlike scenes and twists of Vanilla Sky, Mulholland Drive, and The Others. And what about Ocean's Eleven? It is stretching to say that Steven Soderbergh screwed with our minds by making a movie that was all about just plain fun? Maybe so, but the all-star crew he assembled to depict the big Vegas heist could screw you with so smoothly you wouldn't even know it-and even if you somehow figured it out later, well, you'd have still been too charmed to care.