Two jewels of the Aughts’ cinematic crown tarnished by their directors being, in this writer’s opinion, total creeps, it’s better when praising these blockbusters to focus on the other talent involved. In X-Men, audiences first tasted the manna that continues to be Hugh Jackman as that hirsute Canadian mutant – grizzled with a heart of gold. Charlie’s Angels gave millions of young sapphics their onscreen awakening via the top-tier babe triad of Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu, as well as a taste for spycraft. Catch both on the big screen at the Paramount this weekend, and recall why we all still yearn for the millennium. – James Scott
