Let me ask you a question. What do Shrek and Legally Blonde have in common? The first Harry Potter film and Bridget Jones’s Diary? The Princess Diaries and The Fast and the Furious? If you guessed ‘these films all came out in 2001 and are about to turn 20-years-old,’ then you’d be correct (and also a very good guesser.)
Yes, you read that right. Somehow it’s been two whole decades since we watched Elle Woods submit her application tape to Harvard and saw little Harry Potter with his lightning bolt scar board the train at Platform 9 3/4.
Remember Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey's meet-cute in The Wedding Planner? Yeah, that happened twenty years ago, too.
Reminiscing on filming together, JLo said, 'Do you remember doing that scene where you were about to kiss me? And I remember you saying to me, I don't know if you remember this. You said, "Miss Lopez, I'm going to kiss you now." And I said, "Okay, let's do it. Let's hit it." I remember that clearly.'
Think it’s only been a few years – ten, maximum – since Mia Thermopolis became the Princess of Genovia? Wrong, sorry, it’s been twenty. Bridget Jones being sought after by two men? Twenty. Years. Ago.
And so, if you’re ready to feel a little bit older and possibly question the passage of time, here are the best films to watch right now before they turn twenty in 2021, from Miss Congeniality to Spy Kids.
Films Turning 20 in 2021 - Grazia
1 of 16Legally Blonde:
Release date: 26 October 2001Yes, as hard as it is to believe, we saw Elle Woods set off for Harvard and bend-and-snap her way to the top of the legal world 20 years ago. Legally Blonde is still a classic today and we are counting the day untilLegally Blonde 3__. Stream now on Amazon Prime
2 of 16The Princess Diaries
Release date: 21 December 2001Catapulting Anne Hathaway to fame, The Princess Diaries sees clumsy, shy Mia prove herself to her grandmother after discovering she is the princess of Genovia, a small European state. Stream now on Disney+ or rent on Amazon Prime
3 of 16Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone
Release date: 16 November 2001This one hurts. Can you believe it's been 20 years since Hagrid uttered 'Yer a wizard, Harry!' and the Boy Who Lived set off for Hogwarts?Stream now on NowTV or rent on Amazon Prime
4 of 16Holiday In The Sun
Release date: 20 November 2001Anyone who says they didn't like Mary-Kate and Ashley's movies is lying. In Holiday in the Sun, the twins travel to the Bahamas on holiday and end up crossing paths with an art-smuggling thief. Rent now on Amazon Prime
5 of 16Bridget Jones's Diary
Release date: 4 April 2001Two decades have passed since we watched Hugh Grant and Colin Firth fight over Renée Zellweger. And while parts of the film might not be so right for now, it's still a classic.Stream now on NowTV or rent on Amazon Prime
6 of 16The Wedding Planner
Release date: 26 January 2001The romcoms of the Noughties were just better, weren't they? JLo plays Mary, a wedding planner celebrating her newest and most lucrative account yet, when she has a meet-cute with a handsome doctor, played by Matthew McConaughey, and they spend a magical night together…until Mary gets the surprise of her life at her client meeting the next day.
7 of 16Miss Congeniality
Release date: 23 March 2001Sandra Bullock plays Gracie Hart, a tomboyish detective who is made to go undercover as Miss United States beauty pageant contestant after the FBI receives an anonymous bomb threat. Stream now on Amazon Prime
8 of 16Riding In Cars With Boys
Release date: 19 October 2001Starring Drew Barrymore and the late Brittany Murphy, this coming-of-age film sees 15-year-old Beverly pregnant with a baby boy with dreams of being a writer but feeling trapped in her small-town life. Rent on Amazon Prime
9 of 16The Others
Release date: 2 November 2001Nicole Kidman stars in this thriller about a woman named Grace who moves into a new house with two children in Jersey. When a series of unexplainable supernatural events occur, Grace begins to believe her home is haunted. The twist ending will blow you away.Rent on Amazon Prime
10 of 16Serendipity
Release date: 26 December 2001 This transatlantic drama sees Jonathan and Sara let fate decide if they are meant to be after they meet at Bloomingdale's in New York City and instantly feel an attraction, only to be separated. For years, they hope that destiny will reunite them. Rent on Amazon Prime
11 of 16The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Release date: 10 December 2001Yes, the very first Lord of the Rings film came out twenty years ago. Feel old yet?Stream now on NowTV or rent on Amazon Prime
12 of 16Shrek
Release date: 29 June 2001Is it weird to anyone else that Shrek and Legally Blonde came out in the same year? No? Just us?Stream now on Amazon Prime
13 of 16Moulin Rouge!
Release date: 7 September 2001Another big one for Nicole Kidman, we see Christian, an English writer, travel to Paris where he falls in love with Moulin Rouge's star performer, Satine. Stream now on NowTV
14 of 16Josie and The Pussycats
Release date: 24 August 2001After Josie and her bands learn that a major record company is using its music to brainwash teenagers into buying their albums, the girls make a plot to expose them. Stream now on Amazon Prime
15 of 16Spy Kids
Release date: 13 April 2001After their parents mysteriously disappear, siblings Carmen and Juni Cortez discover they're from a family of spies and it's up to them to rescue their mum and dad. Rent on Amazon Prime
16 of 16The Fast and the Furious
Release date: 14 September 2001While there might be 14 films in the series today, the very first The Fast and the Furious film came out in 2001, almost twenty years ago. Stream now on NowTV or rent on Amazon Prime
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