How to Watch 2000s Movies

We're throwing it back to a decade that brought us prestige dramas like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, light-hearted sitcoms, and teen dramas. These shows are sure to make you laugh, cry, and forget about the rest of your day.

So whether you're looking for a good time, a rewatch, or something to get you caught up before a show comes back, here are the best 2000s TV shows to watch right now.

The Devil Wears Prada

If you're looking for a movie that will give you some real insight into how hard it is to work in the fashion industry, "The Devil Wears Prada" is the perfect choice. It follows aspiring journalist Andy (Anne Hathaway) as she moves to New York and lands a job at a prestigious fashion magazine. But she soon discovers that the magazine's editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), is a demanding perfectionist who can be quite vicious when her high standards aren't met.

In the end, Andy finds a way to make herself indispensable at Runway by refusing to let Miranda's idiosyncrasies get her down. She doesn't want to just be an assistant, she wants to help Miranda make her magazine a success.

There's a lot to love about The Devil Wears Prada, especially Meryl Streep's performance as Miranda Priestly. Her character is a real, tough boss, but she also has some moments where she's just downright fun to be around.

The film also features cruel judgments about body size and fashion. But Streep makes them all seem completely natural, and it's a real treat to watch her perform in such a role.

The Devil Wears Prada's eighth studio album, Color Decay, is out September 16th via Solid State Records. It features a few of their most accessible tracks yet and delivers a new, more mature style of metalcore that's sure to please old-school fans and fans of the modern twist this band has taken on.

The Princess Diaries

The Princess Diaries, based on Meg Cabot’s novel of the same name, was a huge hit with audiences around the world. It starred Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis and Julie Andrews as her Grandmother Queen Clarisse Renaldi.

In the film, a quirky teenager finds out she’s heir to Genovia’s throne. She’s given a makeover, gets a tough looking but sweet bodyguard and limo driver called Joe (Hector Elizondo), and is thrust into the spotlight.

At the end of the film, she has a choice to make: She can accept her new status and live out her life as the Royal Princess or she can choose to leave her claim on the throne to another heir. She ultimately decides to stay, and she becomes a beloved figure in her hometown.

Despite all the drama and media attention, Mia is a sweet and charming girl. She’s friendly to her family, including her older brother Michael and sister Lilly. She’s also sweet to the cute boy she has a crush on, Josh Bryant.

The Princess Diaries is a beloved cult classic and will continue to be a defining movie for fans of the early 2000s. A third installment is in development and will be a continuation of the series rather than a reboot. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Disney is working on the project with Supergirl’s Aadrita Mukerji writing the script.

Bridesmaids

The first film in the 2000s to be helmed by a female director, Bridesmaids was a huge hit at the box office and helped usher in a new wave of comedy. The film spawned several comedies featuring women in lead roles, and is often credited with introducing the idea that men aren’t the only ones who can make us laugh.

It also helped to reaffirm the fact that there are plenty of smart, funny females out there who can make a movie that’s genuinely fun to watch. And while Bridesmaids isn’t a perfect film, it’s definitely worth a look for some of the clever and realistic moments that it presents.

Ultimately, it’s about the relationships between women and how they can be tested when new friends enter the picture. And the best part of the movie is that it doesn’t go overboard and feel too sentimental.

When Lillian is finally ready to get married, she asks her longtime friend Annie (Wiig) to be her maid of honor. Despite being broke and cynical, Annie does her best to bluff her way through the expensive and bizarre wedding preparations.

As they embark on the journey to their best friend’s nuptials, the girls bluff, bully, and feign their way through wedding-related mishaps, all in an effort to prove just how far they’ll go for each other. Though they are able to withstand their friendships’ flaws, it’s the way they deal with their newfound love that ultimately determines their fate.

Teen Titans

The Teen Titans are a team of five teenaged superheroes that protect Earth from villains and monsters. They live in their T-shaped headquarters and fight crime using martial arts and advanced technology. They also deal with the tribulations of adolescence and the challenges of growing up.

In the 2000s, Teen Titans was one of the most popular shows on Cartoon Network. Its popularity meant that the other shows on the network, which target girls, had to lose viewers.

Fans of the comics version of the Titans were disappointed at first because the show did not take itself too seriously. But the series quickly began to adapt some of the most popular stories in the DC Comics universe and was a surprisingly well-done adaptation, even in its cartoon state.

Season one begins with the Titans battling a mysterious supervillain named Slade, who is looking to turn Robin into his own apprentice. This arc would eventually be followed by several other arcs featuring the Titans battling Trigon, Brother Blood (John DiMaggio) and H.I.V.E.

Another major draw of the original Teen Titans was how it used the characters' powers to explore their adolescent lives, often dealing with issues such as a crush or getting in trouble at school. The series was able to create some really powerful character moments, from Raven's struggle with her demon father to Cyborg's conflict with the evil organization H.I.V.E.

Chicago (2002)

Chicago (2002) was a resuscitated musical that made its way to the big screen in 2002, and it was a hit. It was a major box office success and it won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was the first musical to win the award in 34 years.

Its satirical approach to the world of prostitution, murder and decadence was a little different from other musicals. Moulin Rouge, for instance, glossed over those aspects, but Chicago actually pokes fun at them. For example, in one musical number, we see murderesses defiantly resisting their executions. In another, a jury is manipulated by a lawyer who thinks the whole world is a media circus and that he can sway public opinion with his tap dancing.

The film fuses the real world of 1920s Chicago with an imaginary world in the Jazz Age theater where the songs and dance take place. This is a pretty unique idea for a musical, but it works here because the two worlds blend together nicely and add to the film's humor.

The movie is directed by Rob Marshall and it stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly, a vaudevillian, who finds herself on death row with Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger), a housewife. Both women have killed their lovers, and they are fighting for the fame that will keep them from the gallows. The movie won six Oscars, including Best Picture.

Love & Basketball

The debut feature of writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood, Love & Basketball tells the story of two next-door neighbors who fall in love over a game of pickup basketball. Their childhood roughhousing blossoms into adult romance, but college and career threaten their connection.

In a genre that is typically dominated by testosterone-soaked motion pictures, Prince-Bythewood’s film elevates the coming-of-age story by presenting a female perspective on sports (and sports movies) that is not often seen on screen. She dramatizes Monica and Quincy’s lives in parallel, allowing her to explore the vast gulf of inequality between male and female athletes that results from their different aims and ambitions.

This movie also deals with issues of sexism, including the double standards that exist in how aggressive play from men is treated differently than it is from women. It also highlights the pressures that collegiate athletes face, whether to stay in school and pursue a degree or to turn pro in hopes of making a large salary.

Parents need to know that Love & Basketball is a 2000 coming-of-age romance that follows the relationship of childhood neighbors Monica and Quincy through their lives on and off the basketball court. It has strong sexuality for a PG-13 movie, including descriptions of some sexually aggressive women and a strip basketball game.

It is an engaging film that will appeal to anyone who loves sports and/or love stories. It has a complex plot with layers of achingly human emotions and a fantastic cast, including Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps.