History UnintentionalPeriodPiece / TurnOfTheMillenniumLiveActionFilms

* ''Film/SuperheroMovie'', though not as much of a time capsule as the other "____ Movie" parody films (it came out in 2008 and mostly parodies the ''Film/{{Spider Man|Trilogy}}'' and ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'' trilogies, with a few nods to the ''Film/FantasticFour'' film saga, all of which were released throughout the decade), can mostly be dated by virtue of what ''isn't'' there. After 2008, the genre would mostly be defined by the DuelingWorks of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse and the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, along with the lingering impact of Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy -- none of these franchises get so much as a wink, clearly meaning it came out when ''Film/BatmanBegins'' was still a one-off and ''Film/IronMan'' wasn't even out yet.

** The scenes of Coach Carr's health class, in which he [[ScareEmStraight hysterically]] warns his students that they will die from STDs and pregnancy if they have underage sex, are a parody of abstinence-only sex education. This was pushed heavily by [[MoralGuardians religious conservatives]] in the '90s and 2000s as TheMoralSubstitute for more conventional and comprehensive sex education in response to the "teen sex epidemic" of the era, but was later discredited as ineffective and has mostly been replaced outside of the South.

** ''Film/DisasterMovie'', or rather ''Late 2007/2008: The Movie'', with references to ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'', Music/AmyWinehouse, ''[[Film/PrinceCaspian The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian]]'', ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'', ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'', ''Series/HannahMontana'', ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'', ''[[Film/HighSchoolMusical High School Musical 3]]'', ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'', ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', ''Film/IronMan1'', ''Film/{{Juno}}'', ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', ''Film/TheLoveGuru'', ''Film/SexAndTheCity'', ''Film/SpeedRacer'', ''Film/{{Superbad}}'' and ''Film/TenThousandBC''.

** ''Film/MeetTheSpartans'', or rather ''2007: The Movie'', with references to ''Film/ThreeHundred'', ''Film/{{Transformers}}'', ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'', Website/YouTube and the infamous "Leave Britney Alone!" viral video, Budweiser's "Real Men of Genius" ads, ''Series/DancingWithTheStars'', ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'', ''Film/SpiderMan3'', ''Film/LittleMissSunshine'', ''Series/AmericanIdol'', ''Series/UglyBetty'', and ''Film/GhostRider2007''.

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' is unmistakably from 2007, given the ProductPlacement prominently on display. The Autobot ranks notably include [[HummerDinger a GMC Topkick and a Hummer H2]]; you'd probably recognize that the idea of portraying those [[ConspicuousConsumption colossal gas-guzzling status symbols]] as protagonists had been increasingly unattainable for over one year and would become unfashionable the following year, with both the Topkick and H2 being discontinued in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

* ''Film/{{Antitrust}}'' was filmed at the height of the dot-com boom of the late '90s/early '00s and hit theaters in 2001, only a short time after the bubble started leaking. As such, the hacker and geek culture this film portrays is an excellent snapshot of the salad years of the bubble in 1999-2000, when one could program a good idea in their garage and be able to get millionaire venture capitalists ready to front money on almost a moment's notice once they saw it. The film's use of a parody of Microsoft CEO Bill Gates as the BigBad, together with the heavy amounts of ProductPlacement for UsefulNotes/{{Apple|Macintosh}} that the film carried, also reflects the widespread public antipathy that existed among tech geeks towards Gates and Microsoft at the time, with Microsoft seen as a monopolistic MegaCorp that would destroy the nascent [[InformationWantsToBeFree free Internet]] and Apple seen as a plucky underdog rival that was used by creatives, schools, and almost nobody else. Nowadays, their reputations have completely flipped. Gates, having long since retired from Microsoft's day-to-day operations, has rehabilitated his reputation to a point through his charity work, while Microsoft's products are now seen as BoringButPractical rather than TheAntichrist. Instead, it was ''Apple'', having turned itself around in the '00s under a returning UsefulNotes/SteveJobs, that became the go-to point of reference for writers satirizing the modern Silicon Valley MegaCorp due to its dominance of the American smartphone market [[EveryoneOwnsAMac as well as for being practically the only computer and phone brand existing in fictional works]] (and its overall influence in the industry) and the "walled garden" ecosystem it created on its App Store -- one that, incidentally, resembles the closed-off network that Gary Winston and NURV planned to reshape the Internet into in the film.

** It opens with the protagonist Richard describing [[HolidayInCambodia Southeast Asia]] as a place where "dollars and Deutsche Marks get turned into counterfeit watches and genuine scars". Two years later, Germany would retire the Deutsche Mark as its currency upon the introduction of the euro. A later scene also has Richard imagining that he is in a video game -- specifically, a UsefulNotes/PlayStation 1 game, complete with a filter designed to make the film resemble the blocky, primitive 3D graphics of the time. The closing scene takes place in an internet cafe with a long row of [=G3 iMacs=], a computer whose bubble-like design was then on the cutting edge of TheAestheticsOfTechnology but which is now seen as a time capsule of early 2000s computing (Apple itself moving on to [[EverythingIsAnIPodInTheFuture its more famous aesthetic]] not long after).

** One of the main {{Running Gag}}s in the film concerns an over-the-top parody of ProductPlacement, with virtually every setting being utterly plastered in brand names/logos and many lines of dialogue littered with mentions of specific brand names. Quite a few of these brands have faded from relevance, most notably Moviefone (while still technically active today, its original use during that era has been rendered obsolete by the internet), America Online (rendered obsolete by ''high-speed'' internet), and the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast, which had just been discontinued a week before the film's premiere. What's more, this product placement is plot-relevant, as the BigBad Fiona's EvilPlan involves using SubliminalSeduction to [[SubliminalAdvertising drive pop culture trends]] and turn the youth into consumerist sheep. [[spoiler:And get people to think she's cool, but that's a different story.]] Made in the wake of the 1999 Seattle WTO protests and the publication of Naomi Klein's ''No Logo'', the film's villains serve as an encapsulation of the fears of the anti-globalization and anti-corporate movements of the time.

* ''An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong'' is an example, even though most ''[[Literature/AmericanGirlsCollection American Girl]]'' productions do not do this for the doll of the year collection. The film was produced at a time when the anti-bullying movement was just starting to gain mainstream acceptance, plus there's obvious usage of late-2000s fashion trends for the characters' outfits.

** Meanwhile, the film's approach to action was [[FollowTheLeader clearly inspired]] by the [[WireFu airborne brand of kung-fu]] and BulletTime effects that were seen in ''Film/TheMatrix''[[note]]The first film was such a success and caused such a major shift in culture — and SpecialEffects, with the proliferation of WireFu and BulletTime in action sequences — that it was imitated constantly. Many elements of the film, like the martial arts fighting, the slow-motion gunfights, and the "bullet dodge" scene, were so frequently copied and parodied throughout the TurnOfTheMillennium that audiences [[DeadHorseTrope grew tired of them]]. Viewers today can find it very difficult to see how fresh and exciting the film was when it first released.[[/note]] from the year [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny prior]]. Not only that, but the Angels being embroiled in a plot involving them having to fight to save [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil privacy in the digital age]] could serve as a quaint glimpse into the anxieties of a [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror pre-9/11]][[note]]The fact that the film [[BatmanColdOpen opens up]] with the Angels apprehending a man who had [[SuicideAttack explosives strapped on him]] while on an airplane and it's [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]] [[HarsherInHindsight now looks]] extremely tone-deaf post-9/11.[[/note]], [[TechnologyMarchesOn/CellPhones pre-cell phone]], [[MillenniumBug Y2K]] era. And the glossy, playful, [[AmazingTechnicolorWorld brightly colored]] aesthetic provided by one-time [[MusicVideoSyndrome music video]] helmer Joseph [=McGinty=] Nichol ([[DoNotCallMePaul AKA]] [=McG=]) was clearly emblematic of the obliviously [[LighterAndSofter carefree spirit]] of the mid to late [[The90s 1990s]] pop culture. Female led [[ActionGirl action]] or comedic films [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism since]] ''Charlie's Angels'' are either [[DarkerAndEdgier darkly serious]] (such as ''Film/TheHungerGames''), have a [[SelfDeprecation self-deprecating edge]] (such as ''Film/{{Trainwreck}}'' with Creator/AmySchumer), or boast a genuine level of [[RuleOfDrama drama and conflict]] (such as ''Film/PitchPerfect'' and ''Film/{{Bridesmaids}}'').

* The 2005 Creator/JuddApatow comedy ''Film/The40YearOldVirgin'' is very explicitly a product of the early-to-middle part of the 2000s. The electronics store where the main characters work (the two products we see them pitch are a combination VCR/DVD player and a bulky, pre-LCD big-screen TV), Trish’s business selling other people's items on Ebay, the extended PT Cruiser driving sequence, the low-rise jeans and sequins-heavy fashion, the pervasive trans- and homophobic jokes... all point blatantly to the turn of the millennium. However, Andy's fanboy-ish passion for classic nerd properties like Creator/MarvelComics and ''Franchise/StarWars'', his interest in computers and the fact that he rides a bike instead of a car--while intended to show how pathetic and undesirable he is--would hardly be marks against him in TheNewTens.

** The film (early 2008) is based on a video store that only sells VHS tapes, currently on the verge of going out of business in the face of DVD (due to the store being owned by a DiscoDan who's sticking with the obsolete format out of stubbornness). In 2006, VHS was dead on its feet and Blu-Ray--which isn't mentioned at all in the film--was already starting to creep its way into stores, and in 2008, Blu-Ray was starting to decisively beat DVD, making the film somewhat dated even upon release. Surprisingly enough, as TheNewTens marched on, independent video stores like the one in the film actually started making a minor comeback as videotapes became retro and Gen Y succumbed to the NostalgiaFilter. This narrows the setting of the film even more to the few years when VHS was at its nadir.

** Just as [[Series/CharliesAngels the original series]] was a snapshot of the [[TheSeventies '70s]] women's liberation movement, so was this film a snapshot of what the UsefulNotes/{{feminis|m}}t movement looked like in the [=Y2K=] era, a time when women were encouraged to be in touch with their [[HeroicSeductress sexuality]] and [[GirlyBruiser femininity]] in the name of reclaiming it from [[AllMenArePerverts lecherous men]]. This notion came under significant backlash in the post-[=#MeToo=] feminist atmosphere of the late 2010s, which saw it being criticized by some as merely dressing up ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}''-era sexism and objectification as a form of female empowerment, especially given the film's heavy use of the MaleGaze to portray the Angels as [[MsFanservice sex symbols]].[[note]]While this stance is hardly universal even among feminists, the overall cheerful and unapologetic way this is portrayed shows that it was made before criticism from this angle became prominent.[[/note]] The heavy dosage of [[ValuesDissonance cultural appropriation]] pertaining to the various [[MasterOfDisguise disguises]] that the Angels [[ForeignFanservice wear]], particularly its [[ForeignCultureFetish exoticization]] of [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese]] culture, also marks it as a product of its time.
** Meanwhile, the film's approach to action was [[FollowTheLeader clearly inspired]] by the [[WireFu airborne brand of kung-fu]] and BulletTime effects that were seen in ''Film/TheMatrix''[[note]]The first film was such a success and caused such a major shift in culture — and SpecialEffects, with the proliferation of WireFu and BulletTime in action sequences — that it was imitated constantly. Many elements of the film, like the martial arts fighting, the slow-motion gunfights, and the "bullet dodge" scene, were so frequently copied and parodied throughout the TurnOfTheMillennium that audiences [[DeadHorseTrope grew tired of them]]. Viewers today can find it very difficult to see how fresh and exciting the film was when it first released.[[/note]] from the year [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny prior]]. Not only that, but the Angels being embroiled in a plot involving them having to fight to save [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil privacy in the digital age]] could serve as a quaint glimpse into the anxieties of a [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror pre-9/11]][[note]]The fact that the film [[BatmanColdOpen opens up]] with the Angels apprehending a man who had [[SuicideAttack explosives strapped on him]] while on an airplane and it's [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]] [[HarsherInHindsight now looks]] extremely tone-deaf post-9/11.[[/note]], [[TechnologyMarchesOn/CellPhones pre-cell phone]], [[MillenniumBug Y2K]] era. And the glossy, playful, [[AmazingTechnicolorWorld brightly colored]] aesthetic provided by one-time [[MusicVideoSyndrome music video]] helmer Joseph [=McGinty=] Nichol ([[DoNotCallMePaul AKA]] [=McG=]) was clearly emblematic of the obliviously [[LighterAndSofter carefree spirit]] of the mid to late [[TheNineties 1990s]] pop culture. Female led [[ActionGirl action]] or comedic films [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism since]] ''Charlie's Angels'' are either [[DarkerAndEdgier darkly serious]] (such as ''Film/TheHungerGames''), have a [[SelfDeprecation self-deprecating edge]] (such as ''Film/{{Trainwreck}}'' with Creator/AmySchumer), or boast a genuine level of [[RuleOfDrama drama and conflict]] (such as ''Film/PitchPerfect'' and ''Film/{{Bridesmaids}}'').

* The Franchise/JamesBond film ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' tries to avoid dating itself by making the bad guys a faction of the North Korean military that's [[RenegadeRussian extreme even for them]], but still manages it because the main BondGirl is a sympathetic NSA agent, meaning it could've only been made prior to that agency's reputation collapsing in TheNewTens after its [[BigBrotherIsWatching warrantless wiretapping scandal]] was made public.

* ''Film/{{The Girl Next Door|2004}}'' drops the bombshell that Danielle is actually a former porn star about half an hour in, after Eli had to search around and find a film. The movie came out in 2004, before the internet was a vital part of a teenager's life, and there's no mention of social media at all. The third act involves them shooting a home porn movie [[spoiler:that's actually a sex education video]] and having to distribute it via video tapes. If the movie had been made in TheNewTens, they could have done so digitally or at least had [=DVDs=] made instead.

* The film ''Film/HesJustNotThatIntoYou'' (2009) is a reflection of what dating was like in the late part of the decade, right before the ubiquity of smartphones in TheNewTens. Smartphone technology had changed so rapidly between 2007, when the film was shot, and when it was released in 2009 that some aspects of the film looked dated when it came out.

** ''Website/MySpace'' was still in relatively common use when the film was shot in 2007, but when it came out this was becoming dated. In TheNewTens, it would be completely overshadowed by Facebook and other newer social media tools, such as Instagram and Twitter.

* The 2003 John Whitesell film ''Film/MalibusMostWanted'' is two hours of Creator/JamieKennedy mocking hip-hop culture while portraying [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy a wannabe white rapper]] who embarrasses his upper-class family with his attempts to pass himself off as "ghetto". Even if the music, slang, and fashion weren't clearly dated to the early 2000s, its portrayal of the CultureClash between the upper-class white denizens of Malibu and the lower-class black denizens of South Central L.A. definitely would be. It's hard to imagine a movie [[PlayedForLaughs playing such a subject for laughs]] a decade later, considering the lingering effects of the Great Recession and the national conversation surrounding racially motivated PoliceBrutality in [[UsefulNotes/TheNewTens the following decade]].

** The portrayal of the AmbiguouslyGay "losers" Janis and Damian illustrates the prevalent attitudes towards LGBT people among teenagers at the time. Regina suspecting that Janis was a lesbian was enough to get her to kick Janis out of her social circle and spread rumors about her sexuality, leading to her present outcast status, while the Plastics list Janis in the Burn Book as a "dyke" (a term that wouldn't be acceptable after 2010) and Damian as "too gay to function". This sort of casual homophobia on their part was shown as a sign of their AlphaBitch tendencies even in 2004, but characters with such tendencies in 2014 would be portrayed as downright bigoted rather than merely callous, given that nowadays homophobia is seen by teenage girls as roughly on a par with racism, at least in the American Midwest where the film is set. It illustrates how, while tolerance of LGBT people had come a long way from the teen movies of TheEighties where such attitudes were often treated as normal and went without comment, full equality and acceptance was still several steps away (this was the year when Massachusetts became the first US state to legalize same-sex marriage, an occasion that sparked [[GayPanic controversy and moral panic]]), and being gay, or even MistakenForGay, could make somebody an outcast.

* ''Film/NapoleonDynamite'' weaves in and out of this trope thanks to taking place in an Idaho town that is [[TwoDecadesBehind several years out of date]] where "modern" pop culture has yet to reach. As a result, the film's fashion, music, and overall aesthetic make it resemble a place where all the used, worn-out, "retro" hand-me-downs of TheEighties gathered together and kept right on going, with songs from the '90s and 2000s sticking out like sore thumbs and used for deliberate effect. Kip's internet is also a pay-by-the-hour dial-up service. While broadband was spreading rapidly by the mid-2000s, it was still a luxury in many rural areas if it was available at all. Ten years later, even the most remote places were guaranteed to have access to at least DSL on computers (which is carried through phone lines) and [=4G=] LTE data on cell phones, with the remaining dial-up providers existing mainly as legacy services for older people who didn't want to upgrade. A modern version of that scene would have Kip worrying about data usage.

** Dewey also asks to be paid in cash in order to keep up the subterfuge. In TheNewTens, online banking (direct debit) has become ubiquitous, and anyone who specifically requests to be paid in cash clearly has something to hide, not to mention taxation requirements would not permit it anyway.

* ''Film/TheSumOfAllFears'' is based on a [[Creator/TomClancy 1991 novel]] about Arab terrorists detonating a nuclear bomb on American soil and misleading the U.S. government into thinking that they were attacked by Russia. The film would have remained surprisingly on point, had [[ExecutiveMeddling the execs]] not decided that Arabs pulling this stunt [[ItWillNeverCatchOn was unrealistic]] and that it was more believable to use a secret cabal of [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Fascist-leaning]] [[WesternTerrorists European]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive businessmen]] as the villains. If you are surprised to see the film here and not in TheNineties section, it's because it actually hit theatres [[NewerThanTheyThink in 2002]], and was alread [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror dated]] upon release.

* ''Film/SWAT2003'' came out right at the height of the George W. Bush administration -- and it ''shows''. Tellingly, the villain is a thoroughly despicable French criminal who's repeatedly subjected to [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkey anti-French epithets]] (back when the French were still easy to mock because they opposed the invasion of Iraq), while the Latina TokenGirl on the S.W.A.T. team is called "[[Music/JenniferLopez J. Lo]]" at least once (back when Jennifer Lopez was still a household name, and before ''Film/{{Gigli}}'' caused [[StarDerailingRole her career to decline]]). But far more telling is the portrayal of the [[CowboyCop rough-and-tumble methods]] used by the S.W.A.T. team. Music/LLCoolJ's character bashes a civilian for her "liberal" views after she dares to criticize him for roughing up an African-American perp in South Central, and there's an extended scene where the two main characters mock a S.W.A.T. candidate because he's never had a civilian complaint against him, and prides himself on handling every past situation nonviolently. These scenes couldn't possibly have passed a test audience a decade later, considering the large-scale controversy and protests against PoliceBrutality and the militarization of police beginning in TheNewTens, which made police reform a hot-button issue.

* ''Film/VForVendetta'' may be set in [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2020]] but it was made in 2005 and it shows! There is reference to "America's war", talking about the Iraq War - which is shown to have raged on for years (in reality, US troops left Iraq in 2011). For something set in 2020, there is a conspicuous lack of smart phones and social media, which of course were not mainstream when the film was made. It also portrays Sutler's England as persecuting gay people to the degree that they are taken away to concentration camps, and Gordon Dietrich has to remain closeted for his own safety. Seemed plausible in the 2000s, where society was still largely intolerant to LGBT people, but rights improved significantly in TheNewTens - making this part of the film look particularly startling.

** The numerous pop culture references that the characters make to TheSeventies and TheEighties makes this a rare example of a work that dates itself with what was considered nostalgic at the time. Most Millennial (aka Gen Y) viewers may find themselves wondering where any references to the 90s are, not realizing that the movie was released only nine years after that decade had ended, and that it was written by Gen X'er Creator/KevinSmith (with most of the cast born around the same time as him).

* ''Film/Fearless1993'': Before the crash, the main stewardess is seen frantically insisting that the passengers hand over their scissors and other sharp objects for her to locks in a lavatory to avoid the chance of anyone being accidentally stabbed in the crash. In a post-911 society, passengers aren't allowed to carry most of those items in the first place, as hijackers can use them as weapons.

* ''Film/TheNewGuy''. The AlphaBitch Courtney getting Tony Hawk (making a cameo AsHimself) to show up at her party is presented as a sign of how cool and popular she is, one major scene takes place in a now-defunct Sam Goody record store, and Music/{{Creed}} is portrayed unironically as a band popular enough to get people to turn out for a homecoming concert to see them. The protagonist's ruse also would've fallen apart in a day if he'd tried it in the age of social media.

** The portrayal of the AmbiguouslyGay {{Cool Loser}}s Janis and Damian illustrates the prevalent attitudes towards LGBT people among teenagers at the time. Regina suspecting that Janis was a lesbian was enough to get her to kick Janis out of her social circle and spread rumors about her sexuality, leading to her present outcast status, while the Plastics list Janis in the Burn Book as a "dyke" (a term that wouldn't be acceptable after 2010) and Damian as "too gay to function". This sort of casual homophobia on their part was shown as a sign of their AlphaBitch tendencies even in 2004, but characters with such tendencies in 2014 would be portrayed as downright bigoted rather than merely callous, given that nowadays homophobia is seen by teenage girls as roughly on a par with racism, at least in the American Midwest where the film is set. It illustrates how, while tolerance of LGBT people had come a long way from the teen movies of TheEighties where such attitudes were often treated as normal and went without comment, full equality and acceptance was still several steps away (this was the year when Massachusetts became the first US state to legalize same-sex marriage, an occasion that sparked [[GayPanic controversy and moral panic]]), and being gay, or even MistakenForGay, could make somebody an outcast.

* ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham'' is based around a girls' soccer team in Britain, and two characters are trying to get scholarships to play UsefulNotes/{{NCAA}} (college/university) soccer in America in hopes of eventually making that country's professional league, the Women's United Soccer Association. The WUSA would cease operations just a year later.[[note]]The States didn't have any better luck with women's pro soccer later; its next pro league, Women's Professional Soccer, only played from 2009 to 2011. The current National Women's Soccer League, the first truly successful women's pro league in the States, didn't start up until 2013.[[/note]] The film is obviously set at the time when David Beckham was at his peak as a player, and a scene at the airport near the end captures the 2000s media frenzy surrounding '[[Music/SpiceGirls Posh]] & Bex' as a power couple. Jules's mother is likewise portrayed as cluelessly embarrassing because she believes her daughter is a lesbian for playing football -- even ten years later, this attitude would make her seem intolerant at best and abusive at worst.

* ''Film/SuperheroMovie'', though not as much of a time capsule as the other "____ Movie" parody films (it came out in 2008 and mostly parodies the ''Film/{{Spider Man|Trilogy}}'' and ''Film/XMen'' trilogies, with a few nods to the ''Film/FantasticFour'' film saga, all of which were released throughout the decade), can mostly be dated by virtue of what ''isn't'' there. After 2008, the genre would mostly be defined by the DuelingWorks of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse and the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, along with the lingering impact of Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy -- none of these franchises get so much as a wink, clearly meaning it came out when ''Film/BatmanBegins'' was still a one-off and ''Film/IronMan'' wasn't even out yet.

* The entire ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' series. The fashion, styles, and music in the film trilogy seemingly go out of their way to mark them as being products of the mid-2000s, almost as though they were ''Film/{{Grease}}''-esque nostalgia trips made for the decade as a whole.

** Voicemail messages are the primary communication method. Texting is mentioned just once, when Mary mentions a potential love interest known only as "the texter", which was not in common use because smartphones usually didn't have keyboards and had to be typed via cumbersome numeric pads.

* The film ''Film/HesJustNotThatIntoYou'' (2009) is a reflection of what dating was like in the late part of the decade, right before the ubiquity of smartphones in TheNewTens.

** All the main characters still had landline phones in their homes, and had work numbers that they gave to their dates. Everyone had and used cell phones- but they had not replaced landlines yet.
** Voicemail messages are the primary communication method. Texting is used, but not so popular since smartphones are not in common use yet.
** Mary said she was rejected on seven different devices. Smartphones would eventually consolidate other devices into less.
** ''Website/MySpace'' was still in relatively common use. Even when the film came out this was becoming dated (given it was shot in 2007). In TheNewTens, it would be completely overshadowed by Facebook and other newer social media tools, such as Instagram and Twitter.

* ''Film/ThirteenGoingOnThirty'': The opening is set in the 80s, with Jenna turning thirteen, and her turning thirty in the third act would place the movie in the 2000s. She works at a fashion magazine, and any mention of celebrities falls under this trope -- examples include Eminem's initial rise to fame and Jennifer Lopez at her peak. The soundtrack and the fashion also combine to place the Present Day scenes squarely in the early aughts.

* ''{{Film/Bandslam}}'' came out in 2009, and features teens taking pictures and recording videos via digital cameras as opposed to smart phones. There's also Will's mother's attitude towards the kids at his old school bullying him -- she doesn't ignore it but it's treated as something they must live with, and no one ever intervenes to stop it. The band promotes themselves through Website/MySpace and there's barely a mention of social media otherwise. Charlotte was once considered cool because she has her own Wikipedia page, and that's where Will finds information on her, as opposed to Twitter or Facebook. He finds out about [[spoiler:her father's sudden death]] from a teacher and wouldn't have known otherwise, when in the days of social media and smart phones being the norm, there surely would have been a status update about it or well wishers posting on her social media pages.

** One element notable in its absence is that the duo's NoBudget films more or less exclusively use practical effects, such as passing off a large black safe as the monolith from ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', shining a green flashlight under a clear tarp to create Slimer from ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'', or singing a movie's theme rather than editing the music over it, with the only things that could be called computer effects being incredibly basic features built into the camera (i.e. inverting the colors to simulate night). This puts it at a period when computer effects and editing software weren't as cheap and easy-to-use as they are today, when nobody Youtubers can manage more convincing effects in Adobe Premiere--though it does lend the film a lot of its charm and comedy.

** Just as [[Series/CharliesAngels the original series]] was a snapshot of the [[TheSeventies '70s]] women's liberation movement, so was this film a snapshot of what the UsefulNotes/{{feminis|m}}t movement looked like in the [=Y2K=] era, a time when women were encouraged to be in touch with their [[HeroicSeductress sexuality]] and [[GirlyBruiser femininity]] in the name of reclaiming it from [[AllMenArePerverts lecherous men]]. This notion came in for heavy backlash in the post-[=#MeToo=] feminist atmosphere of the late 2010s, which saw it as merely dressing up ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}''-era sexism and objectification as a form of female empowerment, especially given the film's heavy use of the MaleGaze to portray the Angels as [[MsFanservice sex symbols]]. The heavy dosage of [[ValuesDissonance cultural appropriation]] pertaining to the various [[MasterOfDisguise disguises]] that the Angels [[ForeignFanservice wear]], particularly its [[ForeignCultureFetish exoticization]] of [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese]] culture, also marks it as a product of its time.

* ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' opens its credits with music by Music/LimpBizkit, firmly dating it to the rapid rise and even quicker fall of the first wave of NuMetal in the late-90s/early-2000s (and even then NuMetal itself would have a sort-of revival in the 2010s).
* The 2006 zombie film ''Mulberry Street'' is a time capsule of New York in the middle of the Bloomberg era that uses its ZombieApocalypse as a metaphor for gentrification. The protagonists are a group of [[WorkingClassHero working-class people]] who find themselves slowly being pushed out of their apartment on the titular street in Manhattan's Little Italy, watching their community grow increasingly unrecognizable as [[MyLocal their local bars]] crawl with yuppies and {{hipster}}s and their rents keep rising.
* ''Film/MyNameIsBruce'', that came out in 2008, begins with two couples of emo teens that were having a date at the local cemetery inadvertently unleashing an ancient Chinese spirit. The rest of the film avoids being dated to a specific period, but the inclusion of emos makes it clear that it is set in the mid-late 2000s.

* ''Redline'', a little-known ''Fast & Furious''-esque film from 2007 (not to be confused with [[Anime/{{Redline}} the 2010 anime film]] of the same name), could only be filmed during 2006. It was produced by Daniel Sadek, a Lebanese-born tycoon, with the sole purpose of showing off his many super-sport cars (a number, to give his then-fiancee, a soap actress who's career was starting to decline, a chance at stardom and to save his crumbling mortgage empire, as the housing bubble had cooled off. The film's most memorable anecdote, [[https://people.com/celebrity/eddie-griffin-crashes-1-5-million-ferrari/ an accident involving actor Eddie Griffin wrecking an Enzo Ferrari during a promotional race]], became known as a major example of the excesses of the era.

** ''Film/DisasterMovie'', or rather ''Late 2007/2008: The Movie'', with references to ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'', Music/AmyWinehouse, ''[[Film/PrinceCaspian The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian]]'', ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'', ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'', ''Series/HannahMontana'', ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'', ''[[Film/HighSchoolMusical High School Musical 3]]'', ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'', ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', ''Film/IronMan1'', ''Film/{{Juno}}'', ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', ''Film/TheLoveGuru'', ''Film/SexAndTheCity'', ''Film/SpeedRacer'', ''Film/{{Superbad}},'' and ''Film/TenThousandBC''.

* ''Film/{{Superbad}}'' burlesqued the much-ballyhooed loose morals of 2000s-era teenagers (contrast this with the fact that, in the 2010s, young people became infamous for their relative prudishness and shunned such typical American rites-of-passage such as losing their virginity, getting a driving license and pretending to be older to buy liquor). It is also a prime example of the era's odd fascination for '70s-era aesthetics that would be regarded as weird in the eyes of the 2010s. The humorous portrayal of the inept, power-drunk cops is firmly entrenched in the 2000s as well, something unimaginable after the much-publicized cases of police brutality occurred during the ensuing years.

* The 2002 film ''The Tuxedo'' not only features a lot of early 2000s-era fashions and trends, but the plot also involves an scheme regarding water supplies years before this became a major problem, not to mention bottled water is referred to be pricier than gasoline, which firmly puts the film in a time before the oil crisis.