I know, I know. Every critic worth her salt reviles 2001 as worst year ever, but I won't fall into that refrain. As always, it just depends where you look, and this year, hope came from unsuspected quarters.

Unlike 2000, when Ang Lee's surprisingly fresh and beautiful "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" single-handedly saved the year in film, 2001's hope for a redeeming world film blockbuster, Jean Jeunet's "Amelie", instead turned out to be the disappointment of the year. Another great hope, Wes Anderson's long-awaited "The Royal Tenenbaums," was nothing more than a weak copy of his brilliant "Rushmore" and left a very bad taste indeed. Even the Coen Brothers, who can always be relied on to provide levity and wit in dark times, came up with a moody, gorgeous, and pointlessly depressing piece of bunk, "The Man Who Wasn't There."

Instead, help came from Sweden, Germany, Iran, and New Zealand in the form of hippie communes, stories told backwards, real-life comic books, and resilient hobbits.