The year 2000 did not distinguish itself as a great film season. Even the Oscar talk this year is tame. Over 6,000 movies were produced world-wide this year, according to the Internet Movie Database. And even with that, one would be hard-pressed to pick the best movie, let alone a comprehensive list. But we can take a look back at a few high points and more than a few low points.

This year, the industry cranked out more forgettable movies than ever, and it certainly took a turn toward the low brow. Rummaging through reviews, “The Watcher” showed up and only struck a chord after a visit to the Internet revealed the evil presence of Keanu Reeves and James Spader. How does this slip one’s mind?

When it came to low brow, “Road Trip” set the standard for wildly popular, sexually-driven comedic romps. As a vehicle for MTV’s Tom Green, the film operated largely off his moronic antics even though he acted more as a narrator than a primary protagonist.

Audiences could not get enough of the asinine antics. It was as if they were mystified by something so stupid that it just had to be brilliant. Movie-goers did seem to prefer fare that required little to no thought.

Which leads to “Scary Movie.” This parody of “Scream,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and other teen horror flicks took the actual scripts and presented them with an “Airplane”-style twist relying heavily on visual gags and juvenile potty humor. The film answered the age-old question, “How many Wayans does it take to make a bad movie that people will still see?”

One could not help but laugh at the sight of enormous pubic hair, gallons of blood, seminal fluid and bong water, as well as gay jokes that went out 15 years ago. It was as if we were all afraid not to laugh. It lacked brilliance, but Americans were transfixed thus establishing the Wayans as the new Farrelly Brothers.

And speaking of the Farrelly Brothers, what was the deal with “Me, Myself and Irene?” It makes one nostalgic for the hilarity of “Kingpin” instead of Jim Carey doing the same old tired shtick over and over again. In spite of his toilet-heavy start, Carey has proven he can ascend the poopy jokes and still be funny. This backslide was shocking.

Almost as shocking as how bad “Big Momma” was. There was not one second of redeeming material in this 90 minute fart joke. Martin Lawrence basically starred in a situational comedy even the WB wouldn’t run and sold it to the masses. The only thing more ludicrous than how bad this movie is, was how many people saw it.

“Nurse Betty” had 15 minutes of great interaction between Chris Rock and Morgan Freeman that should become the director’s cut, but everything with Rene Zellweiger should be soaked in kerosene, burned at the stake and buried under six feet of concrete so that future generations will not be cursed with this performance.

The reigning champ of stupid movies 2K was “Bring It On.” Cheerleaders felt obligated to love this movie because apparently it was so dead on target. It was impossible to watch this movie and know whether the author’s intent was for audiences to laugh at or with these cheerleading misfits. But then, of course, we were not meant to think. Even if the audience isn’t supposed to think, the director, writer and producer should. Enjoy that movie as you may well have, it will evaporate from your memory.

The high points are few but impressive. “Gladiator” failed to bring the Roman Empire to life with 100 percent historical accuracy, but it did manage to use high tech special effects to make the city of Rome live and breathe. It seamlessly combined live action with computer aided graphics to recreate the beauty and horror of the Coliseum.

The story wasn’t half bad either. What it lacked in realism it countered in its sense of imagination. Russell Crowe gave one of the best performances of his career as Maximus, the general-turned-slave-turned-gladiator. Richard Harris came back from the dead as the dying Marcus Aurelius. Director Ridley Scott took the brutal world of gladiatorial combat and made every instance spew forth from the screen brilliantly.

“The X-Men” took a complex, if not convoluted, comic book and made a decent movie out of it that lost nothing in translation. Movies in this genre tend to deal with one character at a time and detail them from beginning to end. “The X-Men” took an entire team of superheros and made them real. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine left nothing to be desired, and Ian McKellan’s Magneto showed how complex a comic book villain can be without camping it up.

What made this film stand out was its use of the ensemble cast. No one had to take center stage and be THE star. In fact, this movie showed how the big names better serve as background, letting the unknowns become the characters more freely. They brought no baggage with them. Audience members didn’t look at Wolverine and see the last 20 Hugh Jackman roles, they saw a hero.

Bad years are inevitable, and they make the good years that much more rewarding. Maybe 2001 will redeem the industry if they can learn to take the high road again.