Our "Year of the Month" or, rather, first half of the month, is 2002. We've already talked Frida and Unfaithful , Viola's first bigscreen breakthrough, and Nicole's Best Actress win. We also introduced you to the Smackdown Panelists who'll be talking about the Best Supporting Actress race on June 17th so here's more context for that year in pop culture time...

Great Big Box Office Hits:
The leggy sleeper hit My Big Fat Freek Wedding, M Night Shyamalan's alien-invasion movie Signs, and the animated Ice Age were the top three "original" hits. Sequels or franchise launchers, were, as ever in our modern era, the very biggest hits with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, and the then-latest Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter installments as the top four titles. The musical adaptation of Chicago was also a smash. And the major Oscar favourite. More on that after the jump...