The decade in movie trends

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The decade in movie trends

In an era that brought harsh reality home with the war on terror and an economy gone bust, Hollywood became more of a dream factory than ever, embracing fantastic escapism in its films at a time when audiences needed it most.

The past decade solidified the fan boy as Hollywood's key audience. "Spider-Man" led other comic-book heroes (Batman, the X-Men) into the theaters. Those films were joined by toy stories ("Transformers"), the final installments of George Lucas' "Star Wars" chronicle and revived franchises ("Indiana Jones," "Star Trek") to produce a succession of colossal opening weekends.

Teenage girls got their own mega-franchise as the supernatural romance "Twilight" and its sequel, "New Moon," made pretty boys out of traditionally monstrous vampires and werewolves.

Computer animation, pioneered in the 1980s and '90s, reached new heights with such cartoon smashes as DreamWorks' "Shrek" flicks ...

... and Pixar Animation's stream of critical and commercial favorites, among them "Finding Nemo."

Live-action filmmakers reinvented visual effects with dazzling digital worlds, including Peter Jackson's Academy Award-winning finale for "The Lord of the Rings."

Actors reinvented themselves, too, among them Johnny Depp, who went from that box-office-poison guy who makes weird little arthouse films to one of Hollywood's most-bankable stars with his "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.

Robert Downey Jr. emerged from pariah status as a substance abuser to become an unlikely fortysomething superhero in the blockbuster "Iron Man" and a rare Oscar nominee for broad comedy in "Tropic Thunder," closing the decade as the world's greatest detective in "Sherlock Holmes."

In the last decade, six black actors -- including Halle Berry for "Monster's Ball" -- received Academy Awards, matching the number who had won from 1927 to 1999.

Hispanics also made progress with acting Oscars with three, including one for Latina Penelope Cruz for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."

Ang Lee pushed the awards envelope for Asians, winning the best-director prize for the gay-cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain."

Heath Ledger's parents and sister accepted his supporting-actor Academy Award for "The Dark Knight" just over a year after his death. It was only the second time an actor won an Oscar posthumously.

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The past decade solidified the fan boy as Hollywood's key audience. "Spider-Man" led other comic-book heroes (Batman, the X-Men) into the theaters. Those films were joined by toy stories ("Transformers"), the final installments of George Lucas' "Star Wars" chronicle and revived franchises ("Indiana Jones," "Star Trek") to produce a succession of colossal opening weekends.