Finally, I've seen everything I wanted to see and I am ready to close the book...

2003 was a great year, the quality of which we haven't seen since 1999. We saw alot of trends this year. A trend back to epic filmmaking, that I hope doesn't even for a while, an abnormal number of films paying honor and respect to the Japanese people, and an equally strange number of pirate/sea films, a genre that has been dead since Cutthroat Island decided "grace" us with its unpleasant presence... just to name a few. I have seen so many good films this year that I could not even fit them all into 25 places, so I had to add an Honorable Mention for the first time. This is not a perfect list, I tried to combine an objective quality with just how much I liked something, and sometime my personal opinion won out. There is guaranteed to be something that you didn't like on here, or something you loved that isn't on here. Chances are that I've seen it and disagree. I am most certainly NOT trying to pass any of this off as fact, but rather this is how I see it. So lets try to keep this civil unlike last year.

Honorable Mention- I don't normally do this, but I had an unnatural amount of ***½-star films that did not make the Top 25 list... something that hasn't happened ANY other year. These are in alphabetical order.

In America (Jim Sheridan) ***½



"Make believe you're happy Johnny... Please, for the kids. "

The first thing that must be known is that In America is much more uneven than a few of the films that it made the list in front of, some of it is awkward and altogether too sappy but there is too much heart and cinematic brilliance on display here to not fall in love with it. It's a story of an immigrant Irish family trying to make a new life for themselves in New York City and dealing with the loss of a child. The entire cast is brilliant. Samantha Morton and Djimon Hounsou are heartbreaking, while the Bolger sisters are charming and adorable as Christy (through who's eyes the film is told) and Ariel. One scene in particular where Johnny (Considine) shells out every penny to their name just to win a prize in a carnival game for his daughters is easily the most tense scene in any film this year (you have to see it to understand). There were some flaws, Paddy Considine was never fully comanding or believable in his fatherly role, the ET subplot/ending was a little sappy, and it never really feels like the Early 80's, but all this is easily overlooked. Jim Sheridan is a great director and through the triumphs and faults, it is obvious that this film was very personal to him.
_______________________________________

Intolerable Cruelty (Coen Brothers) ***½



"I'ma nail his ***"

The Coen brothers are some of the most original people working in Hollywood today, so it originally pained me to see them making something so "mainstream". They had always been the masters of offbeat quirky comedy and drama. Thankfully, though this is lighter than some of their previous fare, it retains alot of the same offbeat style. Only the Coens would come up with something as fiendishly funny as Wheezy Joe's "end". In addition, the cast shines. Clooney has a great time as marital lawyer Miles Massey, so good that he worries more about his teeth than anything else. Billy Bob Thornton makes an entertaining appearance as a texas millionare. Lastly, Catherine Zeta-Jones is in a form that I didn't think she was possible. This movie has me convinced that she's a Goddess, the glow and beauty that she exudes here is almost inhuman. While more forgettable and more shallow than alot of their earlier offerings, this is still a Coen Bros. film.
_______________________________________

Phone Booth (Michael Schumacher) ***½



"At this range, the exit wound ought to be the size of a small tangerine"

Joel Schumacher can be singled out and blamed for ruining the Batman franchise. So who knew the man who put nipples on the batsuit could possibly pull of something as difficult as a film where the main character stands in a phone booth and emotes the entire time. Well, I did. He had awesome success four years ago when he and Farrell last teamed up in the criminally underseen "Tigerland". Farrell gives the performance of his life (so far, I'm expecting big things) in a demanding role. Like I said, it was him on screen in a phone booth for 85 minutes and because of his peformance and Keifer Sutherland's wonderful voice as the shooter, the film is pretty powerful. The one thing I could complain about is the ending, which is terribly trite and takes away from the film. Schumacher has proven he does good work with low-budget films. Unfortunately, The Phantom of the Opera (his next) isn't exactly low-budget
_______________________________________

School of Rock (Richard Linklater) ***½



"I pledge allegiance to the band"

Another wonderful surprise from last year. Richard Linklater makes a mainstream comedy with the heart and soul of an indy picture. The star of the show is Jack Black, he is just fun to watch. Finally someone gave him a chance to prove he can carry a film by himself, something many people have hoped for since he was in High Fidelity. And what would this movie be without an absolutely kickin' soundtrack. It plays as much an ode to classic rock as it does as a comedy. Though it's somewhat forgettable (a problem with most new comedies), it makes up for it by being insanely rewatchable, and if you don't feel like watching it just pop it in and listen to it in the background for all the awesome tunage.
_______________________________________

Up next... 25-23.

The Top 25

25. The Rundown (Peter Berg) ***½



"Don't worry, they're little people."

If I had to pick the best movie of 2003 that absolutely NO ONE saw, it would be this. People passed it over, because it was The Rock and Seann William Scott in a buddy action/comedy. No good could come from this right? Wrong. The Rock is the new action hero. It began when Ahnuld makes a cameo at the beginning and tells The Rock to "have fun". The torch was passed. What followed was one of the best pure action/comedies made in a long time. The action is creative and perfectly choreographed, taking full advantage of The Rock's physicality and talent. Not to mention it's almost ALL done without the use of guns, until the end, which makes the use of them all the more exciting. It's the most exciting part of the film. Go see this movie now, if not for the stylish action and fun characters, then atleast to see Christopher Walken give a speech about the tooth fairy.
_______________________________________

24. Love Actually (Richard Curtis) ***½



"Aren't you a bit young to be in love?"

There are some films that you can't imagine yourself loving before watching them. You sit there for the first 30 minutes thinking, "this is pretty decent, but that's it", but they slowly starts to win you over and by the end you are grinning ear to ear dumbstruck. They make you feel guilty for loving something so completely fluffy, but you love them none the less. Love Actually is that kind of film. It's a story (8 stories actually) about love in all its many and beautiful forms. Unrequited love, first love, unconditional family love, love vs. lust, friendship, love crossing language boundaries... there's two more in there, but I won't list them because I honestly can't remember. Suffice to say it's a small peak into people's lives during a time of year that is both magical and bleak to many different people. It's got a few minor problems. The pacing is awkward as there are one or two stories that end in the middle of the film (though I guess that adds a sense of realism since the movie has a definite timeline), and some of them are a little undercooked. But those flaws can't wipe the smile off my face. It completely won me over, be it with Hugh Grant's charming persona (which isn't new, but it works) or the humor and creativity of some of the storylines. It's a very sweet film, not in an overly sentimental and saccharine way, but it is like good cake (for lack of a better comparison). It's light and fluffy but leaves a delectable after taste.
_______________________________________

23. Swimming Pool (Francois Ozon) ***½



"How can you be so naive?"

Though advertised as an erotic thriller (which it most certainly is), Swimming Pool is mostly a front for an examination of the creative process. Ozon has created a film that oozes sexuality out of every pore, and there is no better setting to accentuate it than a small vacation town in the South of France during the offseason, giving off a sense of solitude that makes the film that much more enticing. Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling) is a writer of Mystery novels who wants something new, so her publisher sends her off to work in peace and quiet at his summer home. All is not quiet for long when she has an unexpected housemate. Even when nothing is really going on, the film has sexuality to burn, especially in the form of Julie, the nymphomaniacal daughter of Sarah's Publisher, who spends just about the entire film in either a bikini or completely naked. The story is mysterious and entertaining (with a great twist that gives the film its thematic presence), if a bit too slow, but it's not a problem with such a great blend of setting, story, and sex.
_______________________________________

Up next... 22-20.

22. Gerry (Gus Van Sant) ***½



"How do you think the hike's going so far?"

Like Gus Van Sant's other release this year, "Elephant" (which I didn't like), there isn't much of a story to describe. Two guys (Casey Affleck and Matt Damon) who call each other "Gerry" get lost in the desert(an adaptation of a real story from a few years ago) and we follow them until a major choice they make that alters both their lives. Gerry is a hypnotic visual experience. There is little dialogue, and what there is is improvised so the film relies on long tracking shots, lots of wide-angle static shots of beautiful landscapes (some of the finest cinematography of the year is here) which is infinitely more interesting than the same tracking shots of school hallways . And I can't forget to mention some beautiful and melancholic classical music. What starts out absolutely trivial in Gerry becomes one of the most powerful movies of the year by the end. Owen Gleiberman said "It's Andy Warhol meets Ansel Adams meets Blair Witch meets Beckett." I'm not sure I could possibly say it better, so I won't.
_______________________________________

21. Peter Pan (J.P. Hogan) ***½



"Never is an awfully long time."

Forget everything you knew about the safe and bland Disney Peter Pan, which now sucks in comparison to J.P. Hogan's adaptation of J.M. Barrie's story. There is something compelling about this telling of Peter Pan that has been thoroughly lacking in every other one previously (including the "sequel" Hook, which I enjoy for its playful charm). It's not the beautiful storybook production values or the skillfull acting from Rachael Hurd-Wood (Wendy) or Jason Isaacs as the deliciously malevolent Captain Hook, but the subtext of the novel (growing up, and all the feelings and trappings that go with it) that each and every previous attempt has been too squemish to deal with. You can sense a sexual tension between Peter and Wendy. It's not dirty, but more innocent like young people discovering their "first love". Wendy has a crush on Peter because of his boyish charm, and Peter likes Wendy as a child likes their mother (obviously shown when she is asked to be the mother of the lost boys). All of this helped along by the wonderful acting of the two principle children. Unfortunately, it's box office plunge was completely do to with people confused at the intelligence of this film. I should hope that this film is rediscovered in a few years, if not for its intelligence, then for just what a joy it is to watch.
_______________________________________

20. Seabiscuit (Gary Ross) ***½



"You don't throw a whole life away just because it's banged up a little bit."

Living in Baltimore, I've grown an affinity for horse racing (home of the Preakness Stakes), so suffer me a bit. Gary Ross takes his time getting the engine started with his tale of redemption in the 1930's. At first, it's all on autopilot. The film breezes through a lot of character history which giving the film a very choppy feeling, all interspersed with vignettes detailing how crappy life was during the depression that came off as if they were from a PBS documentary (they even had "that" voiceover guy doing the monologues. But as soon as the horse Seabiscuit actually enters the film (about 30 minutes in), the film finds a new energy and there is little that anyone could possibly find fault in with the rest of the film. It's tightly paced and incredibly enthralling. It's gorgeous, sporting some of the best (if not the best) cinematography of the year. The actors are all spot on (even Tobey Maguire goes above and beyond himself). Hell, the War Admiral race is maybe the best single scene of the year. The scene is literally perfect. This is the kind of film they used to make years ago when movies like Chariots of Fire were winning Best Picture Oscars. It's a safe underdog story, but it is told with so much grace and enthusiasm that it doesn't matter.
_______________________________________

Up next... 19-17.

Seabiscuit is far too low. It, for me, was the suprise of the year. I for one, don't really like animals or anything of that sort so we bought this with a gift card for my sister. We watched it and before the movie was less than 1/2 done we were all enjoying it. Enjoying a movie with a subject that I have no interest in is something I've never done on this scale before. Seabiscuit may be the best family movie for children 10 and up, ever.

Just my opinion but I've watched this more in the last six months than any other and it's just as good the first time as it was the 10th.

Although '03 was a strong year the 'Biscuit' should've made at least 10th IMO.

ride6

ride6, on Jun 20 2004, 11:57 PM, said:

Well, I saw 97 movies last year... so considering that, 20 is pretty damn good. I mulled over all of these for a long time, and the amount which separates most of them (especially from 20-10 and 2-9) is incremental... meaning I could have given alot of ties, but I hate ties so I'm forced to choose. It's really the terrible first 35 minutes and the lame PBS narration that dropped it a few spots.

19. House of Sand and Fog (Vadim Perelman) ***½



"I have taken us so far off our course..."

House of Sand and Fog took some time to win me over. When I saw the trailer, I thought it was rather lame. Melodrama out the wazoo, and exactly how far can you take a story about some damn house? Well I was wrong (it happens fairly often). This is an actor's showcase. Jennifer Connelly, Shoreh Agdashloo, and Ben Kingsley. The first two are good, but Ben Kingsley is out of this world as a tragic ex-Iranian military leader turned father who is always trying to do what is best for his family. This means working multiple menial jobs (construction, convience store clerking), and putting up a false economic front for a sense of pride. He absolutely steals the show in this tragic tale, loaded with enough hubris to make even the Ancient Greeks happy. It's a beautiful movie, and it's a movie worth crying over. If the ending doesn't get to you, you might not be human.
_______________________________________

18. All the Real Girls (David Gordon Green) ***½



"It's different when it's your family..."

All the Real Girls feels, as the name sort of implies, real. The love in the movie feels real and honest. Maybe it's like the dialogue in Pulp Fiction feels "real" when it's really anything but, but that's really irrelevent. This movie won't win over fans of Sandra Bullock romance movies that rely completely on plot contrivances and misunderstandings to build a love story, but instead it gives us an honest (that word again) view of two people's first love. What's interesting is that we enter right in the middle of this simple story. Noel (Zooey Deschanel) and Paul are already a pair. What transpires is an examination of the feelings and emotional development both sides pass through. In that sense, it's not really a love story at all, but more a "day in the life of..." film about two young lovers. There is no happy convient resolution, in fact what happens near the end of the film contains all the confusion and ugliness of a real relationship. It doesn't shoot for the stars, but often that isn't neccesary to make a good film. It's an authentic and bewitching polaroid of young love.
_______________________________________

17. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Jonathon Mostow) ***½



"Desire is irrelevent. I am a machine."

Continuing along the path of me being completely wrong about a film before seeing it. To say I was surprised is an understatement. I was particularly surprised about what a terrific job Jonathon Mostow did taking care of James Cameron's favorite child, respecting what had come before without taking it all too seriously. At a tight 1:50, it's almost too short. And it feels even shorter as the film starts at the speed of light and never lets up. Characters infinitely more likable than the first two movies (anyone who can stand to listen to Ed Furlong or the incredibly over the top Linda Hamilton in T2, a film I loved). Claire Danes and Nick Stahl are solid if unspectacular, but give the movie enough character to overcome a weak villain (compared to the first two). At it's heart, it's a straight action movie and the action is plentiful and hella-entertaining. The Champion Crane Chase is destructive in a way that we haven't seen in big movies since the early 90s, especially in this era of lame kung fu choreography taking the place of real spectacle. The humor has also thankfully been turned up a notch, but if there is one thing to say about Terminator 3 is that is has balls. The ending is not only unnervingly beautiful (considering what is being shown), but it is not at all consistent with a film costing 150 million dollars. Most films costing that much don't have the guts to end on such a downer. Its not perfect, but its a more than admirable addition to the Terminator saga.
_______________________________________

Up next... 16-14.

16. X2: X-Men United (Brian Singer) ***½



"Most people will never know anything beyond what they see."

Brian Singer is responsible for the best start to a superhero series yet created. Better than Spider-Man, Batman, and only slightly better than the first two Superman films. It retains its intelligence while still being chock full of fanboy pleasure. Based loosely off the "God Loves, Man Kills" storyline (I think that's the name. Correct me if I'm wrong), the movie picks up at the "beginning" of man's war against the mutant population. X2 agains gives us actors who have completely inhabited their roles. As far as I'm concerned Hugh Jackman is the perfect Wolverine, Ian McKellan is Magneto, there is no one better than Alan Cummings for Nightcrawler, and Patrick Stewart is Professor Xavier. One of the best things about the X-Men saga is the way it plays as an allegory without throwing it in our faces as the OTHER big May release of last year did (A hint? It starts with a Re and ends with a loaded). While the first used the mutant struggle as a symbol for foreign immigrants, this uses the same struggle as a metaphor for the acceptance of homosexuals. Unfortunately, it suffers from having too many characters to cover and some of the character devolpment seems thin, except for a few major players but that is expected in such an emsemble piece. The fight choreography is weak in places (something that plagued Spider-Man and the first X-Men much more) except for the two "tentpoles" which are perfect; those being the opening attack on the White House and Wolverine going crazy on the soldiers in the mansion. The X-Men series is an example of what can happen when a comic book series is treated with respect and intelligence.
_______________________________________

15. Winged Migration (Jacques Perrin) ***½



"Squawk Squawk!" (how the hell do you expect me to find a quote for this?)

Winged Migration, in theory is just about as simple a movie as could possibly be made. It's just a bunch of birds flying. But in reality, it's so much more. Winged Migration is visual poetry with more character than it has insight into its topic (birds migrating). It doesn't tell us about the birds and why they do what they do forgoing all Discovery Channel narration in favor of a "we're just going to shut the fu</>ck up and let the animals do the talking" style, in fact the information given is little more than a line at the bottom of the film about what type of bird it is and how far they fly each year. But we get to know these birds, and we feel sadness when a tern with a broken wing is slowly caught and killed on the beach by a group of crabs, hatred when a hunter decimates a group of geese we had been following since the beginning of the film, and joy when a parrot we have followed escapes from a poacher's cage on the Amazon and flys back to freedom. It does what many great films aspire to do with greater ease than is humanly possible. Luckily there are no humans to be found anywhere.
_______________________________________

14. Mystic River (Clint Eastwood) ***½



"Is that my daugher in there!"

This isn't a film to watch for the story, the story is really a by the numbers murder mystery with some convient plot coincidences to drive it forward. It's about the characters, and the star studded cast has infused Mystic River with more emotional power than just about anything released this year. It's an emotional wreck of a film, where people are crying in just about every other scene, but it works because of the uniformly spectacular performances from Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, and Marcia Gay-Harden that make you sit up straight and give a damn about these characters and their problems even if there isn't a single person in this film who could be considered honorable. So why isn't the score higher? The ending (you know what I'm talking about if you've seen it) is contrived, non sensical, and commits a deliberate character assassination on just about every major character, all beginning with Laura Linney's useless "Lady Macbeth" speech. I place the blame fully on the lazy directing and editing of Clint Eastwood who routinely spent more time on the golf course than he did on his film. He's a Hollywood darling, but that doesn't mean I have to like him. Under a more deft and hand, this could have been a masterpiece. But with those useless extra ten minutes, it stands as merely a incredibly good film.
_______________________________________

Up next... 13-11.

of the ones you posted...i agree with three..

two that i thought were horrendously bad-Mystic River and Phone Booth...I thought phone booth was just lame, and didnt show farrel as a good actor..

minnimee85, on Jun 21 2004, 12:09 AM, said:

Of the 16 I've posted, how many have you seen? All of them?

I'm always open to hearing other people's opinions.

vTd, on Jun 20 2004, 08:11 PM, said:

most...a couple i havent (like that migration one)

I don't think I've seen 25 movies from the whole of the 2000s. Movies are long.

13. Matchstick Men (Ridley Scott) ***½



"I'm not very good at being a dad. I barely get by just being me."

Matchstick Men appears to be your standard con film, but it really isn't. It's a character study that utilizes elements of your standard con film, to both the advancement and detriment of the film. Nicholas Cage gives one of the best leading performances of the year not to be nominated for an Oscar, a shame since even Jude Law was nominated for his interpretation of a 2x4 in Cold Mountain. Sam Rockwell continues to prove he is a character actor extraordinare, and Alison Lohman manages to accurately channel a 13 year old girl despite the fact that she is in her 20's (though you wouldn't know it without looking it up, she completely looks the part). She was my pick for the best supporting female performance of the year. Anyway, where the film goes wrong is with its "twist" (a convention of the con film) that takes the father-daughter relationship that we have come to deeply care about and throws it out the window. I can understand why Ridley Scott did it, and it all logically falls into place, but it felt like being punched in the stomach and it hurt to the point where it actually slightly hurt the movie. Ridley did his job a little too well.
_______________________________________

12. Open Range (Kevin Costner) ***½



"A man's got a right to protect his property and his life. And we ain't lettin no rancher or his law men take either."

Say what you want about Kevin Costner. He's made a number of bad career choices in the last 10 years, but if there is one thing that defines him as a film maker, it's that the man knows how to make a good western. Dances with Wolves was one of the finest films of the last decade, and had it not been for another amazing film released in 1990 (Goodfellas), it would have fully deserved The Best Picture Oscar it won. 13 years later Costner returns to the genre. It's not Dances with Wolves, but it's a hell of a film anyway. Costner gives us a very nostalgic view of the frontier, where men were men or they didn't last long. The cinematography makes you yearn for those days when the land was undeveloped and the sky was crystal clear, but it's the characters that draw you in. This is Costner's best performance in a long while (not saying a whole lot when the only one to come close was his turn in 2000's Thirteen Days), yet it is Robert Duvall who steals the show. This was an Oscar worthy performance, pulling of Boss Spearman, a tired old Rancher who is tough and stern at one point but will also go and indulge himself in some expensive chocolate before a gun fight, with ease. Speaking of gun fights, there are not many in the history of cinema that can rival the shootout in this film. It's the film's crowning glory. Unlike the classic style of men standing in a line and shooting at each other, this is real. There's strategy, people run, people duck, people hide, most of the bullets miss, people get shot in the back, and it's loud as hell. It loses its steam when the movie delves into an obligatory love story between Costner and Annette Bening. The scenes are played well and the two have chemistry, but one cannot help but feel the subplot was shoehorned into a film that didn't need it. None the less, it remains the finest western anyone has made in a long while.
_______________________________________

11. Big Fish (Tim Burton) ***½



"They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops... and that's true."

Big Fish is a film with infectious heart, even though the majority of the film is spent telling tall tales with almost no conflict at all. Edward Bloom is dying and Edward's son is at odds with him, annoyed that never once has Edward come clean about himself, always relying on his tall tales about his life. It's a film about finding a middle ground between truth and what is true. You are glued to the screen because of the characters and the worlds they inhabit. In typical Tim Burton style, the world is beautiful. Both the real world which is shot to look mythic and the worlds of Edward Bloom's stories which are so colorful and imaginative that you can enjoy the film on that level alone. To top it off, Burton is finally letting go of his eccentricities to tell a (tall) tale of people who could actually live in our world. The ensemble cast is remarkable here, especially Finney, who manages to captivate with his voice as he spends the entirety of the film lying on his back in a bed. Danny Elfman is more than up to the task, giving us a score of a caliber we have not seen from him since Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. We see all this up on the screen, and we like it, but it is nothing without the ending. In what may be Tim Burton's finest 10 minutes of filmmaking ever, he makes us weep tears of joy and sadness over characters that we weren't even completely sure we cared about.
_______________________________________

Up next... The Top 10, which I will unveil tommorow... keeping you in suspense, or not.

Swimming Pool was an outstanding movie.

Well, I can't say I agree with everything so far. I fell in love with "Love Actually". I found it very refreshing and original. The concept of following the, what was it, ten, different aspects of love was very cool. The comedy was on point and witty. One of my favorite films of all time.

"Matchstick Men" was a very cool movie. I watched it twice when I rented it. The beggining is very slow and doesn't really have a plot going for it, but once that frying pan hit's 'you' in the face, everything falls in place. It was a very cool movie, perhaps it derseved to be a bit higher.

"Phone Booth" was another cool movie. I thought parts of it were over done. For example, how did the sniper know all about Farrell's character, and how he cheated. Also, when the sniper was telling him to tell his wife his thoughts, that was just weird. I mean, who would say "I wanted to f*** her". I mean, that just sounded really weird to me. Good, but placed well on your list.

I wasn't too pleased with "In America". It focused way too much on their dead brother that you never meet (not that meeting him would have made it any better). That really hurt the story. The high point of the film was the curious black artist that was always screaming. I thought his story could have been worthy of a film. And you're right about the midway game scene. That was very nerve wracking.

"House of Sand and Fog" was complete crap. The story was awful and the fact that almost everyone ended up dead in the end was very depressing. I can think of many other endings which could have better and more uplifting. The movie started off great. The idea of that catch 22 was awsome, but the ending just ruined it. "Her" friend who was the cop really underplayed his role. They should have had someone else in his role.

I realize you haven't finished posting the rest of your list yet, but I hope to see these masterpeices: "Les Triplettes de Belleville", "Cidade de Deus" (2002, I know, but the American date was 2003) and "The Snow Walker". I doubt you saw that last one, but it's an amazing Canadian film. Definetly worth a watch if you can find it. And just for the sake of it, heres the top 5 movies I've seen:
1. City of God
2. Raiders of The Lost Ark
3. Love Actually
4. Les Triplets de Belleville
5. The Snow Walker
Note that four of them are from 2003.

I always look forward to this list, it's always a good read.

vTd, on Jun 20 2004, 06:31 PM, said:

Ya, 1999 was an awesome year for movies. 4 out of my top 5 movies came from 1999 (except for #1).

1. Ghost World
2. American Beauty
3. Go
4. Election
5. Pleasantville

Holy shit. I've only seen 5 movies out of all the movies you posted. Peter Pan was okay. But the special effects were horrible and cheesy, but I guess it was supposed to be like that.

Nate... don't expect to find The Triplets of Belleville on here. It was a nice idea, and I really enjoyed the creativity and strangeness of the world and I give it credit for that, but there was nothing there under the surface to support a feature film running length. I feel if the strangeness and creativity of it all is enough to sustain for the entire running length, then it's a great film. But none of that was enough for me.

As a 10-15 minute short film, it would have been amazing... but for what it is, I didn't think it was very good at all. And in general, 2003 was an awful year for animation... and only one made the list.

And City of God is definitely showing up, though probably lower than you will like.

And Raiders of the Lost Ark? A masterpiece to be sure (though The Last Crusade will always be my favorite), but it's 23 years old.

i've seen every movie on the list except gerry and the real girls.
so i think i've got a pretty good understanding of the movies.

what i really like about vTd's lists are how brutally honest he is.
one thing that i know for sure is that you wouldn't find some of these movies on any 'decent' critics list. many of them like the 'artsy' movies, and such. vTd, however, is different. this is why i respect your opinion so much. keep it up!

personally i would have put matchstickmen much higher on the list around 1-6. the movie was simply brilliant. i know that it didn't get much of a following in the box office, most movies which deserve don't EG harry potter, kill bill, etc. besides adaptation i think that cage's acting in matchstick men was one of his best.

anyways, i just wanted to reiterate what an excellent list you have put together here vTd, keep it up!

Oh, what the hell... I'll do the rest now. I won't be up before noon tommorow anyway.

The Top 10

10. City of God (Fernando Meirelles) ****



Kinetic filmmaking, City of God announces the entrance of Fernando Meirelles, a man who seems to be destined for great things. His debut, City of God, is a crime epic in the vein of "Goodfellas" and takes the fracture narrative and uses it perfectly, bringing back memories of Quentin Tarantino and his opus, Pulp Fiction. It is both eye opening and haunting as we see the realities of what goes on in this real vicious underworld that makes any of the crime and violence in this country seem tame. Using the perspective of a kid "spectator" growing up the the City of God (the name for the projects outside of Rio de Janero in Brazil) who is also a budding photographer, we get a cold and calculating look at the seedy underbelly of society. The gritty and grainy digital camera style that Meirelles uses and the lack of any real actors only accentuates the authetic and grimy feel that he is going for. Crime lords like "Lil Ze" we grow to despise, but then we come to love his best friend "Benny", Ze's assistant. A man who considers himself a lover not a fighter, and not to mention the coolest guy in Rio de Janero. It scares us with its reality when eight year old "gangsters" are staring down the barrel of a gun. It's a gripping smack in the face.
_______________________________________

9. Kill Bill Volume 1 (Quentin Tarantino) ****



"Silly rabbit, trix are for kids."

What makes Kill Bill Volume 1 such a pleasure to watch again and again is its unflinching desire to revel in being a cinematic experience. From the dynamic cinematography, to the wondeful use of color, to the music, Kill Bill is an absolute feast for the senses and something that almost requires a big-screen viewing to get the full experience. It is style over substance (all the substance is backloaded into Volume 2), but that does not have to necessarily be a bad thing. Quentin Tarantino is so confident and in control of his style that all the beauty up there on the screen comes off as effortless. It's a simple plot with simple characters, as Roger Ebert put it "storytelling with no story". The characters are what they are because the plot requires them to be that way. But even like it is, Tarantino has managed to infuse the film with hints of a deeper psychological and emotional resonance. Again, QT uses his trademark shattered narrative to tell his story. One would think it would be a tired gimmick right now (and often it is, see 21 Grams where a shattered narrative singlehandedly destroyed a potentially great film) but he uses it to great effect, finding a climax where there was none and still retaining the plausible linear story. And now having seen Volume 2, the first half of Tarantino's Kung Fu epic now has added dimensions. It should be very interesting to see how the two work together edited to one film.
_______________________________________

8. The Last Samurai (Edward Zwick) ****



"I believe a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed to him."

Some people spend so much time trying to contemplate and complain about individual details that they miss the grand scheme of things. They cannot see the forest for the trees, to borrow a cliche. The Last Samurai is a conventional epic, it's cliche ridden, I understand that. However, I've also come to a conclusion that none of that really matters... at all. The Last Samurai works as a piece of rousing storytelling like little else has this year. It is compelling storytelling from minute 1 to minute 144, never stopping for anything extraneous, Ed Zwick has created a film that never forgets its personal focus no matter how grand the scenery or the situations become. It is still the story of two men, Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise, who is actually playing a character rather than his usual schtick), a Civil War veteran who has not come to accept the sins of his past, and Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), a rebel Samurai lord who believes he is doing what is best for his Emperor. Ken Watanebe, a newcomer to American films, takes what is ultimately Cruise's show and makes it his own. He often conveys more emotion in his eyes than most actors can using every trick in the book, which is especially important here where the dialogue is sparse because of the language difference. It's a surprisingly quiet movie bookended by frank and realistic action scenes. Special mention must be given to John Toll and Hans Zimmer, for making this film a feast for the senses. John Toll, the master behind such beautiful films as The Thin Red Line and Braveheart does amazing work here. When it comes to shooting the natural world, there is no one better. And Hans Zimmer, the best composer in Hollywood when he works alone, puts out one of his best scores ever (certainly the best since The Thine Red Line), subtle when it needs to be, and using native instruments to great effect. There are some directors that can take conventional films and make them more. Zwick has done it twice, with Glory and now this.
_______________________________________

Up next... 7-5.

7. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Gore Verbinski) ****



"Me, I'm dishonest... and you can always could on a dishonest man to be dishonest."

When I think back on Pirates of the Caribbean, it does not take me to other Disney themepark movie abortions like The Country Bears (shudder), or The Haunted Mansion because that is just an unfair fight. Instead, The Pirates of the Caribbean is something much greater. This is the kind of summer popcorn adventure film that harkens back to Indiana Jones. It's undoubtedly the most fun I had in theaters all year. What's more, it's fun that doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator like the majority of summer movies these days. Turning off your brain is not a requirement for entertainment here, in fact it is rather forbidden, as the script is quite clever and intelligent (there is an interesting examination of fame in the film), and you will miss quite alot of you're not paying attention. Alot of that comes from Johnny Depp, who took an Errol Flynn type character and turned him into a sly mixture of Pepe le Peu and Keith Richards. He looks like he's bumbling around, but Captain Jack Sparrow is always under control of the situation. This is one of Johnny Depp's finest roles, and it almost singlehandedly makes the film. With someone else as Sparrow, this still would have been a fine adventure movie, but with Johnny Depp, it becomes one of the most crowd pleasing movies this decade. He's perfect, and finally he's got some popular recognition for just how much of a brilliant actor he is. Someone who doesn't get enough credit in this picture is Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa, a campy yet subtle role that is only forgotten because of Johnny Depp. The production values are great, proof of money well spent, and Gore Verbinski is still great with atmosphere, as he had shown previously with The Ring and Mouse Hunt. When one considers how much of a success this was, it's perplexing how Disney manages to destroy just about everything else they create nowadays.
_______________________________________

6. Whale Rider (Niki Caro) ****



"My name is Paikea, and I come from a long line of chiefs."

First time director Niki Caro has brought us one of the most heartwarming experiences this year. Whale Rider has an ethereal quality, it feels like fantasy. It introduces us to another culture of people (the Maoris of New Zealand), who have been pushed aside by industry and growth and struggle to maintain their rituals and ancient ways, through a modern myth. Paikea (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is a twelve year old girl, granddaughter to a stubborn chief, Coro, who is endlessly searching for his successor. She would be the next chief herself, but Coro (Rawiri Paratene) will not accept a girl as leader of their tribe, despite loving her as a granddaughter. Paikea must overcome everyone including her own family to attain her birthright. Keisha Castle-Hughes is near or at the front of a long line of great child actresses to come around this year. She is convincing and real as Paikea, which is probably understating how brilliant this performance is. At thirteen, she has already accomplished what many actresses strive for their whole lives without ever doing. Being nominated for an Oscar is no easy task, especially in a year like this where there were so many other deserving performances. If most of the film was ethereal, the ending was an absolute dream. I can honestly say this is one of the few films to draw a real tear from me this year.
_______________________________________

5. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola) ****



"[inaudible whisper]"

Earlier, I said David Gordon Green's "All the Real Girls" was an honest film. Well, if that's an honest film then Sofia Coppola's sophomore outing is the truth. It is a film so truthful about human relationships that one has to wonder where Sofia Coppola got all this experience. According to imdb, she's 33, but she wrote Lost in Translation with all the verve and worldliness of someone her father's age. Anyway, it's not important where it came from, just that it came. Lost in Translation is a slice of life tale about two people Bob (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johannson), bonded together because they're both alone in a strange world they don't really understand or particularly like. Bob is married (somewhat unhappily it would seem), and what he has with Charlotte is almost purely platonic, though we feel at times that she wants more. It's only temporary, as both must go their own separate ways in a few days. There is really no beginning and no big ending. It ends when Bob leaves, leaving us with nothing no clues to go on, just our hope, for their future. The last words spoken in the film cannot be heard. They were "only between lovers". Bill Murray has gone mostly missing in the last few years, electing for projects like Charlie's Angels and Osmosis Jones, only interrupting this streak of mediocrity with two Wes Anderson films (Rushmore and the Royal Tenebaums). But it's definitely good to see him back. His performance is very understated, something he's known for, though I think he takes his usual schtick to an entirely new level here, along with his ad-libbing. The great majority of the comedy in this film was improvised and can be found in no script. Parting with this film was such sweet sorrow. Much like what the characters were probably thinking, I had a hard time accepting it was over.
_______________________________________

Up next... 4-2.

4. Thirteen (Catherine Hardwicke) ****



"I love you and you're brother more than anything in the world, and I'll die for you but I will not leave you alone right now."

Catherine Hardwicke's first foray into directing is hard to watch. Definitely not because it's a bad film, far from it or it would not be occupying a spot in the Top 5 of last year. No, it's a tough film to watch in the same way that Darren Aronokfsky's 2000 masterpiece, Requiem for a Dream, is tough to watch. Like Requiem, Thirteen takes a section of society that we like to ignore and gives us a look that is all too real instead of sugar coating it or turning it into a dark comedy as many in the past have tried. It pulls no punches with its material and Hardwicke shot in digital, often draining the color from the film for a very unsettling feel. Thirteen utterly relys on the strength of its actors, and that is exactly where the film shines. Evan Rachel Wood gives perhaps the best performance of the year, outshining both Naomi Watts and Charlize Theron in my eyes. She melts into the role of a good teenager turned angry slut. With her work this year in Thirteen and The Missing, she has almost instantly become one of my favorite actresses. Holly Hunter and Nikki Reed (who's life the film is based and who co-wrote the screenplay with director Catherine Hardwicke) also give award worthy performances, especially Hunter. There was a great amount of talent on and behind the screen here who got to prove their value with this picture. It's an amazing and powerful film, and I should hope this not not the apex of any of their careers.
_______________________________________

3. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir) ****



"Though we be on the far side of the world, this ship is our home. This ship is England."

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World was billed as an epic swashbuckler at sea, obviously trying to take advantage of the craze over The Pirates of the Caribbean (it even borrowed the same trailer music for one of the TV spots). And though there is some swashing of buckles to be found (at the beginning and end), 90% of the film is an intimate and totally accurate look at life aboard an early 19th century British warship. I've never seen a better portrayal of life aboard a ship. Master and Commander has it all, the bookend battle scenes are tense, crazy, and loud. It is technically perfect. The CGI and model work are flawless, continuing the trend that WETA Digital has become the premier special effects house in the business right now. This is a movie that required a theater viewing to fully appreciate it. The sounds of cannon and ocean storms crashing are almost too close to their real levels. Even the music is from the era. The only new musical score that we hear is the beating of drums with some violin flourishes. In between, we get to see a slower and more intimate movie (as well a surprisingly funny movie with a great dry wit). Peter Weir managed to perfectly capture the themes of friendship and duty as well as explore the idea of leadership all while keeping the film captivating. This would not have been possible without the ensemble cast. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany have a terrific chemistry together as old friends with ideals exactly opposite to each other. Their relationship is touching, an obvious hold over from the great work they did together previously in A Beautiful Mind. Even newcomer Max Pirkis, as the young Lord Blakeney puts on a great show. The scene where they must amputate his arm is one of the most cringe-inducing and nerve-wracking (in a good way) this year. It's an epic that has decided to forego action almost completely in favor of compelling characters, a welcome change of pace to what we have come to expect.
_______________________________________

2. Finding Nemo (Pixar, 2003) ****



"P. Sherman.
42 Wallaby Way, Sydney."

I could sit and watch Finding Nemo all day with the sound off if I had to. Rarely do you see such flowing beauty and color. Every single frame is a work of art. It is not perfectly life like, which is the intention as everything Pixar has ever made has been stylized. You could say it's better than real life in some cases. It is surreal, and while watching you feel the calm of the ocean waves wash over. It has a very relaxing effect, assisted by Thomas Newman's angelic and peaceful score. Pixar is also known for great voice work by their casts. This is no exception. Albert Brooks is not out of his comfort range here as Marlin the overprotective father, but is perfectly in character doing the "worried" schtick he has perfected over the years. The real star here is Ellen Degeneres. Her Dory is no doubt one of the finest voice performances ever, at least on par with such greats as Robin Williams or Tom Hanks. Not only is she laugh out loud hilarious as a Blue tang fish with no short term memory, but she is the core of the emotional journey of the film. She stands in for Nemo (as she is just like a child herself) that allows him to undergo a transformation, and undergo a transformation herself. The speech she gives at the end of the film is heartbreaking as we see just how much their frienship had meant to both of them. The cast also includes a number of interesting and cleverly created side characters who make the entire film extra enjoyable. Only in Finding Nemo can you see a group of vegetarian sharks, an obvious send up of AA meetings or an obsessive compulsive french shrimp with an affinity for cleaning. It's a film that is endlessly watchable, as I'm sure a number of parents with young children can attest. And as far as I'm concerned, it's Pixar's best work of an illustrious but short existence.
_______________________________________

Up next... #1.

Da Da Da Da Da DAH!

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson) ****









"Eomer, take your Eored down the left flank. Gamling, follow the kings banner down the center. Grimbold, take your company right after you pass the wall. Forth, and fear no darkness!

Arise! Arise Riders of Theoden!
Spears shall be shaken!
Shields shall be splintered!
A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises!

Ride Now!
Ride Now!
Ride!
Ride for Ruin! And the World's Ending!

DEATH!
DEATH!
DEATH!

Forth Eorlingas!"

I vividly remember Thursday December 20th, 2001. Mid-term exams had just finished up, and my brother and father were dragging me to see this movie called The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It probably would have been against my will, since I really had no interest in seeing it, but I had nothing better to do so it was more a general apathy. Fine, I'll see it. A way to waste two hours I guess. What, it's three hours? Ah, ****. Whatever. So I sat down in the middle of a packed theater, ready to waste some time. My experience with Tolkien at this point what next to nothing. I had never read any of the books (though I had heard of them) though I had watched the Rankin-Bass adaptation of The Hobbit a few times and remembered almost nothing from it other than there were some cool songs and a scene about some wolves chasing people up some trees where they were rescued by some talking eagles. Suffice to say, I had no clue what so ever of what was about to happen. Two hours and fifty-eight minutes later, I was stunned. I laughed, I cried, and alot of my muscles hurt because I realized I had tensed up and not moved at all for three hours. It was a cinematic revelation. I think I saw it four more times in the span of two weeks.

Picking up where we left off at the end of The Two Towers, Saruman is defeated and the entire focus of the film shifts toward Sauron for the first time in the series. Despite the victory at the end of the second film, things have never been bleaker in the series, and Peter Jackson milks it for all its worth. There are few movies that can get away doing what Return of the King does. By the time it starts, we have already been with these characters through thick and thin for 2 years and 6 hours of celluloid (7 hours if you're a fan of the Extended Editions), so all that is left is the climax. If The Lord of the Rings is sex, then the Return of the King is a three hour long orgasm, throwing us climax after climax, money shot after money shot. It's a buildup that is all the more satisfying because we've been waiting two full years to see it. There is a particular stretch in the film, starting at about the 50 minute mark and ending at about the 2:20 mark where once Peter Jackson has us, he does not let up for an hour and half. It's an experience like almost nothing else I've ever seen in my life. Scenes of extreme pathos, followed by scenes of extreme tension, and scenes of extreme triumph. This is movie making on a grand scale, bigger than anything we've seen before. Peter Jackson harkens back to David Lean, to Akira Kurosawa with the way he crafts this film. There are shots of epic grandeur and beauty that are jaw-dropping. When Theoden gives his speech (detailed in the above quote), I wanted to jump on a horse a ride to the end of the world with a spear in my hand yelling "DEATH!" He paints with broad strokes and emotions, but it is no less the masterpiece. It is in these scenes where the technical accomplishments of this film can be felt in full force. Never, I believe, has there been a better use of model-work and CGI. There are one or two scenes here and there where it is a little obvious that there are computer effects in play (Legolas scaling the Mumakil), but the film is so gripping that you just take it all at face value. Howard Shore's score is, again, pitch perfect. He stated that he scored these films like an opera, and here we see all the themes and leit-motifs come full circle, leaving us with rousing cue after rousing cue.

I said earlier that Peter Jackson recalls Lean and Kurosawa with these films, people that imbued their epics with a profound sense of intimacy, and there is no difference here. Throughout the numerous scenes of armies clashing and cities burning, the heart of the story is still the relationships. It's still about the friendship between Frodo and Sam as they sneak their way into Mordor. Jackson puts as much into the small scenes as into the grand ones, or the friendship between Merry and Pippin, or the love between Aragorn and Arwen. The Return of the King is just as strong in the quiet moments as it is in the heat of battle. Take for example, a small scene in the middle of the Siege of Minas Tirith, where Gandalf describes Valinor and the after-life to Pippin. It's almost a throwaway scene, but it's powerful.

The entire cast acquits itself very well here, but in particular, Ian McKellan and Sean Astin rise above the rest. Ian McKellan's Gandalf is a masterpiece in and of itself. He is a man of wisdom, strength, and compassion. Sean Astin, on the other hand is essentially asked to carry most of the emotional weight of the other story line as Elijah Wood is almost completely under the ring's spell. You can see the care and love in Sean's eyes when they're on the side of Mt. Doom.

Thankfully, we are given a twenty minute epilogue that follows the characters after the War of the Ring, up to four years into the future. Giving us all the closure we could ever want. We've spent nine hours with these people, and I for one did not want some truncated and hasty ending, as has become a fad among certain people who think it's artistic or something.

It's hard to believe it's been more than three years since that night, and that the perfect ending to the perfect trilogy has already come to pass. It's bitter sweet. On one hand, the entire thing can now be appreciated in its full glory (and it is glorious), but on the other it's almost sad that the entire thing is over. There's nothing left to anticipate, except to wishfully dream that this crew comes back to do the Hobbit. Of course that will have to wait until at least after PJ finishes his tango with a giant ape named King Kong. But for now, we can sit and enjoy what is surely a landmark in cinema history. Not often do we see something that so breathlessly and easily surpasses all hype and anticipation, but that is what we have here. Jackson has legitimzed the genre and taken us into a Golden Age where we can finally see all those great fantastical stories we read as children or adults treated with respect and intelligence.

Everything Else

The rest is organized in grouped according to score then listed alphabetically.

Blue- I saw in theater
Black- I saw on DVD
**- Ineligible for list

City of God (Fernando Meirelles, 2003) ****
Finding Nemo (Pixar, 2003) ****
Kill Bill: Volume I (Quentin Tarantino, 2003) ****
The Last Samurai (Ed Zwick, 2003) ****
**The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition (Peter Jackson, 2003) ****
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson, 2003) ****
Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) ****
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir, 2003) ****
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Gore Verbinski, 2003) ****
Thirteen (Catherine Hardwicke, 2003) ****
Whale Rider (Niki Caro, 2003) ****

All the Real Girls (David Gordon Green, 2003) ***½
Big Fish (Tim Burton, 2003) ***½
Gerry (Gus Van Sant, 2003) ***½
House of Sand and Fog (Vadim Perelman, 2003) ***½
In America (Jim Sheridan, 2003) ***½
Intolerable Cruelty (Coen Brothers, 2003) ***½
Love Actually (Richard Curtis, 2003) ***½
Matchstick Men (Ridley Scott, 2003) ***½
Mystic River (Clint Eastwood, 2003) ***½
Open Range (Kevin Costner, 2003) ***½
Peter Pan (J.P. Hogan, 2003) ***½
Phone Booth (Michael Schumacher, 2003) ***½
The Rundown (Peter Berg, 2003) ***½
School of Rock (Richard Linklater, 2003) ***½
Seabiscuit (Gary Ross, 2003) ***½
Swimming Pool (Francois Ozon, 2003) ***½
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Jonathon Mostow, 2003) ***½
Winged Migration (Jacques Perrin, 2003) ***½
X2: X-Men United (Brian Singer, 2003) ***½

American Splendor (Urbaniak & Friedlander, 2003) ***- Solid acting and good comedy props up a meager story that peters out before it ends.
Bad Boys II (Michael Bay, 2003) ***- Overlong, mindless, and completely morally corrupt… but one hell of a time.
The Blue Collar Comedy Tour (C.B. Harding, 2003) ***- Sue me, it’s funny.
Bruce Almighty (2003) ***- Hilarious at times, and mildly touching, but it doesn’t take advantage of its premise.
Buffalo Soldiers (Gregor Jordan, 2003) ***- The cast (Joquain Phoenix, Ed Harris, Anna Paquin) shines in this entertaining satire made in the style of Catch-22.
Daredevil (Mark Steven Johnson, 2003) ***- Entertaining(Farrell as Bullseye) more often than it is horrendous (seesaw fight), most of the movie is only harmless entertainment.
Down with Love (Peyton Reed, 2003) ***- A laugh riot parody of superficial “classic” romance films, would have been that much better without the unneeded final act.
Gods and Generals (Ron Maxwell, 2003) ***- An epic that is too all-encompassing in what it tries to show. Amazing when focused on the generals and soldiers, terrible when it isn’t. Remove the worthless fluff and you have a great film.
Holes (Andrew Davis, 2003) ***- Forgettable, but it entertained and told me a story I would have never bothered with in any other medium. A nice surprise from last spring.
Freddy vs. Jason (Ronnie Yu, 2003) ***- A fanboy wet dream for some, I thought it was a blast. But that’s it
The Hulk (Ang Lee, 2003) ***- An intelligent comic book movie that is incredibly high on style, but unsure about what it wanted to be. A aesthetically beautiful climax is also almost incoherent.
The Italian Job (F. Gary Gray, 2003) ***- Norton and Sutherland phone it in in this fun remake.
Lost in La Mancha (Fulton & Pepe, 2003) ***- An insightful and depressing look at the disaster that was Terry Gilliam’s unfinished “Don Quixote”.
The Matrix Revolutions (Wachowski Brothers, 2003) ***- It threw all the psychobabble crap from Reloaded out the window and left us with an imaginative adventure.
A Mighty Wind (Christopher Guest, 2003) ***- It wasn’t “Best in Show”, but it was another fine Guest Mockumentary. I loved the original music.
The Missing (Ron Howard, 2003) ***- A pretty good western with great atmosphere, but the story is pretty by the numbers. Maybe I’m just a sucker for newcomer Evan Rachael Wood.
Old School (Todd Phillips, 2003) ***- Will Ferrell absolutely steals the show here. Funny, but not nearly as funny as I was told it would be.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (Robert Rodriguez, 2003) ***- Johnny Depp proves he is the man of the year by putting up another great performance in this fun but messy actioner.
Out of Time (Carl Franklin, 2003) ***- A decent thriller that manages to keep the viewer in suspense despite the outlandish plot twists. Miami is a novel setting for a film like this.
Owning Mahowny (Richard Kwietniowski, 2003) ***- Philip Seymour Hoffman owns this film. Too bad the rest suffers from a bad case of miscasting (Minnie Driver).
Pieces of April (Peter Hedges, 2003) ***- Katie Holmes shows acting chops in this solid black comedy pulled together by its beautifully emotional ending.
The Recruit (Roger Donaldson, 2003) ***- It twists and turns so much that I’m not sure it knew what it was doing, but despite this I was thoroughly entertained throughout.
Spider (David Cronenberg, 2003) ***- A solid, if slow movie (much of it spent in silence) that relies a little too much on its twist and the performance of Ralph Fiennes.

American Pie 3: American Wedding (Jesse Dylan, 2003) **½- Mildly entertaining, but there was never any reason for either of the sequels in the first place.
The Animatrix (Wachowski Brothers, 2003) **½- Some of the shorts were excellent (The Second Renaissance, A Detective Story), others were just plain useless.
Brother Bear (Disney, 2003) **½- Another “safe” ultra-cute effort from the mouse-house. The realistic animation style had potential, but it was quickly replaced as soon as the main character became a bear.
Cabin Fever (Eli Roth, 2003) **½- A typical horror movie that sometimes showed flashes that it was self-aware. I’m not a fan of the genre, so this rating shows I rather enjoyed it.
The Core (John Amiel, 2003) **½- A hilarious send up of those 50’s style b-scifi films. A completely absurd premise where every character has a sacrifice/hero complex makes this film so bad that it’s actually pretty decent.
Elephant (Gus Van Sant, 2003) **½- I understand what Van Sant was trying to do, but I was just completely bored.
The Hunted (William Friedkin, 2003) **½- A forgettable action-thriller that’s only remarkable feature is the sweet knife fight choreography.
A Man Apart (F. Gary Gray, 2003) **½- Not nearly as bad as many of the critics would have led you to believe. But it’s still too long and too unsure of itself to rise above mediocrity.
May (Lucky McKee, 2003) **½- The movie has trouble living up to its premise.
Millennium Actress (Satoshi Kon, 2003) **½- MA takes way too long to get you involved with the characters, by the time you care, the film is over. Leaving you will little in the way of poignant scenes. The two “documentarians” are simply annoying.
Northfork (Polish Brothers, 2003) **½- The Polish Brothers crafted a film that is visually beautiful but too obtuse and symbolic for its own good.
Paycheck (John Woo, 2003) **½- A competant sci-fi action film, though the premise made it come off as one giant piece of deus ex machina. I was very dissapointed with the mundane look of the future. Not much imagination.
Runaway Jury (Gary Fleder, 2003) **½- A standard Hollywood political thriller. It is mediocre in every sense of the world.
Secondhand Lions (Tim McCanlies, 2003) **½- The talents of Robert Duvall and Michael Caine are mostly wasted in this overly sentimental film.
The Shape of Things (Neil LaBute, 2003) **½- Mean-spirited, I don’t really have a rational reason for not really liking this film. I just don’t.
Shattered Glass (Billy Ray, 2003) **½- One critical darling that left me completely cold despite the above-average performances from Christensen and Sarsgaard.
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (Dreamworks, 2003) **½- Michelle Pfieffer and Gregson-William’s magnificent score are the only things worth talking about in this lifeless film. The blend of 2-D and 3-D animation was horrid. This type of harmless fare is what “ruined” handdrawn animation.
Spellbound (Jeremy Blitz, 2003) **½- I didn’t see what was so fun about this film. Blitz seems to enjoy making fools out of the people he followed around. Still, sometimes entertaining.
Timeline (Richard Donner, 2003) **½- A movie that wasn’t nearly as bad as advertised, but it still wasn’t very good. I enjoyed watching the flaming arrows and trebuchets.

2 Fast 2 Furious (John Singleton, 2003) **- Completely stupid... but watching the cars is still fun.
21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003) **- A promising production completely destroyed by a gimmicky shattered narrative.
Anything Else (Woody Allen, 2003) **- A typical Woody Allen film, too neurotic to be enjoyable. The characters stop being quirky and become irritating rather quickly.
Basic (John McTiernan, 2003) **- It twists and turns so much, becoming so convoluted, that it becomes predictable. I had some fun laughing at the absurdity of it all.
Identity (James Mangold, 2003) **- It just gets worse every time I think about it. There is not a single thing to like about this film until the twist. After that, it becomes surprisingly decent.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider- The Cradle of Life (Jan De Bont, 2003) **- Better than the original, but not by much. It tries to be Indiana Jones for women, but there is no magic to be found. The fantastical ending was a highpoint.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Stephen Norrington, 2003) **- A giant cluster **** of absurdity, plot holes, and bad twists. How does a giant submarine fit into the Venician canals? ** stars for the character of Dorian Gray, who was great.
The Matrix Reloaded (Wachowski Brothers, 2003) **- A red herring, Reloaded was made obsolete and worthless as soon as everything it built up was dropped and never answered in the finale. It sucked before that happened anyway.
Monster (Patty Jenkins, 2003) **- Charlize Theron is excellent, but it's not enough to keep Monster from floundering.
The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet, 2003) **- Original and beautifully strange, it does not have any substance that can even fill up its 75 minute runtime. It would have worked as a short film, but as a full length feature it’s a failure.

Cold Mountain (Anthony Minghella, 2003) *½- Natalie Portman shows the only real emotion that could possibly be found in this cold (no pun intended) film, leaving you to feel each and every minute of the 160 minute running time.
Dark Blue (Ron Shelton, 2003) *½- A movie of missed chances. Instead of taking an original route and being something akin to a modern “Gangs of New York”, it uses the LA Riots as a backdrop for a lame and derivative internal affairs plot.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (Joe Dante, 2003) *½- At some point, it becomes so self aware that you just want to turn it off, which is what I did.
S.W.A.T. (Clark Johnson, 2003) *½- It’s a neutered version of Bad Boys II. Actions films live and die by the quality of their action (obviously), and this sucked.

28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2003) *- A promising first 10 minutes is left for a whole lot of terrible zombie action and a lord of the flies story, all of which were embarrasingly bad.
44 Minutes (TV, 2003) *- A bad TV movie, about what I expected.
Bend it Like Beckam (Gurinder Chadha, 2003) *- There are so many bad teenage plots going on during this film that it could have been a quadrilogy of bad films. As soon as one problem is cleared up, another one begins. Soccer scenes are decent.
Dreamcatcher (Lawrence Kasdan, 2003) *- King’s books always manage to become terrible movies. An alien with a cockney accent? sh</>it weasels? You have got to be kidding me.
In the Cut (Jane Campion, 2003) *- Meg Ryan’s attempt to repeat Diane Lane’s success with “Unfaithful.” There is nothing redeeming about this film, it’s essentially a soft core porno.
The Life of David Gale (Alan Parker, 2003) *- Cheesy and about as blatant as a propaganda film could possibly get. Kevin Spacey has been making a lot of terrible career choices lately.
Russian Ark (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2003) *- A good idea, but a good idea alone doesn’t make for a good film. Ark would have no reason to exist if not for being the longest single shot in cinematic history.
Tears of the Sun (Antoine Fuqua, 2003) *- Fuqua has no command of the camera (Training Day was made good by Denzel and Hawke’s performances), and it shows in this cheap rah rah garbage.
Underworld (Len Wiseman, 2003) *- I’m running out of ways to say hilariously bad.

Irréversible (Gaspar Noé, 2003) ½*- A complete cinematic abortion, one of the worst films that I’ve ever seen.

I have seen quite a few of those on the list and I must say Lord of the Rings: Return of the King was well deserving of number one. I believe Seabiscuit should have been put up alittle higher, but thats my opinion. Nice list.

Well I disagree with a lot of those, but for the most part, you're a pretty good reviewer.

My fav. movies of 2003 (in no particular order):

1. May - just really twisted and funny.. exactly my type of movie.

2. Cabin Fever - has potential to become a cult classic. There were some parts that were also really twisted and funny.

3. Lost in Translation - Scarlett Johansson rules, and I could relate to the feeling that the movie got accross.

4. 28 Days Later - really thrilling and inventive.. I loved the soundtrack and I've never felt that way watching a movie before.

5. Spellbound - This was suspenseful, and also very interesting.

6. Monster - Charlize Theron was great.. and the movie as a whole was very gritty and compelling.

I'm glad you placed Master and Commander up there at three, but I really hate Lord of the Rings. I guess that puts me in .01% I think a lot of people overlook Master and Commander though, and those people probably never saw it in theaters. I've seen it both in the theaters and on DVD, and the experience is much better in theaters, where you're submerged in the incredible sound, effects, and atmosphere it offers.

vTd, on Jun 20 2004, 09:55 PM, said:

u fucked up

Jacko Shanty, on Jun 21 2004, 04:55 AM, said:

A horror fan I see... then I'm afraid we'll never agree on much of anything.

May- **1/2
Cabin Fever- **1/2
Lost in Translation- #5
28 Days Later- *
Spellbound- **1/2
Monster- **

I was expecting more out of Master and Commander. It left me with a sense of "Hey, where'd the movie go?" I hope they continue where they left off with some kind of sequel. If not, then it may sink on my unimportant list.