Favorite Movies of 2003

[John_Anderson 0]

Well I decided to post this up because for one I was really bored (That's an excuse!) and I keep seeing these critics top ten lists all over the place. So since I consider myself a film geek I decided to make a top 10 list of my favorite films of last year.

 

This year was actually a year of some of the most worst and some of the most amazing films ever to have hit the cinema. I was actually one of those people who had difficulty picking on ten movies. As you many notice a lot of films critics are raving about I've either not seen or left me lukewarm. So here it is my top ten list going down. :) (I'm gonna make you read for my number 1)

 

10. Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: I loved this movie. I thought it was going to be bomb but I was throughly amazed at how amusing it was. Johnny Depp was just hilarious as Captain Jack Sparrow. Just a great movie.

 

9. A Mighty Wing: Not as hilarious as Christopher Guest's other 'Mockumentries' (Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show). But still funny and very heartfelt. Not to mention a pretty good musical.

 

8. School of Rock: Yet another movie that shocked me. Very hearfelt and had me tapping my shoe. Jack Black struck gold in this movie, showing he can still be the crazy Jack Black we known, but can pull anything off. Not to mention that the kids in the movie can rock! :)

 

7. The Last Samurai: Had this movie come out next year it would have been a serious contender for the Oscars. But Oscar people normally pic only one epic a year for honarable mention and we know who that's going to be this year. A very good epic and Tom Cruise shows that he can still throw it down with the best of them, even though nearing his 40's. An excellent and gripping tale that is worth honarable mention. :lol:.

 

6. Big Fish: This movie is Tim Burton's masterpiece, a amazing tale that is wonderfully visual. As I recently heard this story is a modern day 'Wizard of Oz'. I'm a huge fan of Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor and it's nice to see that Finney is still around. A wonderful film, kudos to Burton.

 

5. In America: A astonishing and emotional tale of a immigrant family trying to find it's soul in America. The acting is suberb and the morale is touching. A very inspiriational movie.

 

4. Finding Nemo: Disney and Pixar hit the jackpot with this movie. Breathtaking animation, talented vocal work, and a well-written screenplay lands Nemo on my list.

 

3. Spellbound: I loved this docutmentary about 8 children working hard to make it to the 1999 National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. Defying all stereotypes and categorizations, the spellers that Blitz chooses to focus on run the ethnic and socioeconomic gamut. A suspenseful, gripping documentary that was astonishing.

 

2. Lost in Translation: Another film that I loved that was number 1 on my list until very recently. Sofia Coppola shows that she has her father, Francis Ford Coppola, film making gifts. Bill Murray gives one of his best performances of his career in this film. Every element of the movie is pitch-perfect, from the dreamy, atmospheric score to the expertly timed editing to the lingering shots of the characters. This is the film that my number one has to watch out for during the Oscar race. :wub:

 

Can you guess what my Number 1 film is?? Come on I'm sure you can. :). Well here it is my Number 1 film of 2003. Drum roll please............

 

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: I mean come on. Did this come as a shock to any of you? I'm sure you all remember my review of the film and how it blew me away. This is the movie to be beat at Oscar time. Peter Jackson and the cast and crew are going to be garnished in awards. They will be remembered for pulling off one of the greatest gambles in the history of the cinema, as well as creating greatest trilogy ever made. I'm sure I still have the review laying around somewhere incase someone didn't see it. :).

 

And that ladies and others is my top ten films for 2003. And of course we can't forget what I chose as the worst film of 2003. And it actually wound up as a tie!! OMG!!

 

The Worst film of 2003 (TIE)

 

Gigli and Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat: Two absolutely horrible films that took away 3 hours of my life that I may never get back. From Gigli's infamous 'Gobble Gobble' scene, to the potty humor in the Cat in the Hat. Both of these movies fell flat and in both films the characters had no chemistry. These films should never see the light of day ever again. Harsh but very true.

 

And there you are. So what were your favorite films of 2003? You don't have to go as indepth as I did, you can just throw together a list or just say which film was your overall favorite.

 

Which film did you think was the worst of 2003? There were a lot. I'm sure not a lot of you will difficulty with that one. :wub:

[Nemesis 0]

I loved Cat and the Hat it was a great movie interfacing several key patterns in society and showing that landing on both extremes of the spectrum only leads to unhappiness for someone.

 

And I think you forgot that American Idol one and you actually watched Gigli?

Edited January 9, 2004 by NEMESIS

[Dumbass 0]

I didn't see any of these.

[John_Anderson 0]

And I think you forgot that American Idol one and you actually watched Gigli?

I refused to see the American Idol one that is why I didn't bother mentioning it. And I saw Gigli on DVD, my sister was upset that it bombed so horrifically that she went out and bought it.

 

::Shiver::

 

Even she hated it and she's a big Jennifer Lopez fan.

[Nemesis 0]

I refused to see the American Idol one that is why I didn't bother mentioning it. And I saw Gigli on DVD, my sister was upset that it bombed so horrifically that she went out and bought it.

 

::Shiver::

 

Even she hated it and she's a big Jennifer Lopez fan.

Still you watched it ::thwap:: how could you be so crazy?

[John_Anderson 0]

Still you watched it ::thwap:: how could you be so crazy?

LOL. No I'm not crazy. I'm a film geek and every film deserves a fair chance as long as it isn't some insane attempt for some morons to make money by creating a movie to milk some money out people. (i.e. American Idol film).

[Dumbass 0]

I loved Cat and the Hat it was a great movie interfacing several key patterns in society and showing that landing on both extremes of the spectrum only leads to unhappiness for someone.

It's funny how they could make a feature-length movie based on a book that has something like 23 words in it. You think maybe they embellished a bit?

[Seiben 0]

Hmm, saw quite a bit of flicks in 2003.. Here's my top five favourites.

 

1. Return of the King - Needs no explanation

2. Pirates of the Carribean. - Great actors, action and storyline. In short: Superb. (was it released this year? I forget?)

3. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines -- Ahhnald's last flick for quite some time.. makes me think about Terminator 4: Rise of the Wheel Chairs. lol. Good action and visual effects, but the storyline and acting by John Conner leaves less to be desried.

4. X-Men 2. Loved the fighting scenes, though since I grew up on the X-Men cartoons, and comics, I found it to be alittle too predictable. (I think it was 2003 it came out, might have been 2002, though :wub: )

5. Bad Boys II

 

Charlie's Angels 2, was the bomb of all movies I saw this year. No storyline at all... people only watched it to oggle at Camren Diaz. :wub: My friend who went with me, actually fell asleep in the theatre. Could have been worse.. my friends could have suggested seeing Gigli! :lol:

Edited January 9, 2004 by Seiben

[Dumbass 0]

3. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines -- Ahhnald's last flick for quite some time.. makes me think about Terminator 4: Rise of the Wheel Chairs. lol. Good action and visual effects, but the storyline and acting by John Conner leaves less to be desried.

4. X-Men 2. Loved the fighting scenes, though since I grew up on the X-Men cartoons, and comics, I found it to be alittle too predictable. (I think it was 2003 it came out, might have been 2002, though :lol: )

No, no, it's going to be called Terminator 4: The California Budget Crisis. :wub:

 

And yes, X2 was 2003.

[Nemesis 0]

X3 is definately going to happen they made so many cliff hangers for a sequel :-P

[Merina 0]

I really liked X-Men 2: X-Men United. It was cool. ::It was just sad to see Jean go.::

[Seiben 0]

Yeah, but you know she's coming back as the Pheonix in X-3. It even showed it in the end.

[Nemesis 0]

Yeah with the whole glowing water thing and if I know my X-Nem :lol: I know that she'll be hotter then ever and in more ways then one :wub:

[John_Anderson 0]

I completely forgot to tack this onto my original post (And since I want to bump up my thread :lol:) These are films that garnish honorable mention on my top ten. I enjoyed them but not as throughly as the ten I picked on the list:

 

Mystic River (Wonderful actors, not as wonderful story)

Cold Moutain (Left me a little in the cold)

Whale Rider

House of Sand and Fog

The Barbarian Invasions

Shattered Glass

Monster

American Splendor

Winged Migration

Kill Bill Vol. 1

Veronica Guerin

The Human Stain

Seabiscuit

X2 X-Men United.

 

Those are the films that I believe deserved honorable mention on my top ten list. All were good movies but just didn't break through onto the list. So if you can I'd recommend going and seeing them anyway in whatever format they're in. :wub:

[Dumbass 0]

I saw one of these.

[AndrewLyon 0]

Could someone explain to me how Return of the King even makes the top ten! Since I saw that movie & read the book. Sorry, after all the mistakes in that film, I say that it belongs in the top ten worst films of 2003! I loves The Fellowship of The Ring, and The Two Towers, but The Return of the King is so bad it fells like a two year old on a tanturm did the editing job on this one.

[John_Anderson 0]

Could someone explain to me how Return of the King even makes the top ten! Since I saw that movie & read the book. Sorry, after all the mistakes in that film, I say that it belongs in the top ten worst films of 2003! I loves The Fellowship of The Ring, and The Two Towers, but The Return of the King is so bad it fells like a two year old on a tanturm did the editing job on this one.

I can answer that! :wub:. It's simple most critics have never read the books so they are critictizing the film purely on it's cinematic impact, not weither the movie was acurate to the book. The book is simply the catalyst that lead to the creation of the films. Most people haven't read the books (I have but I gave it an unbiased review. I gave a biased one though) so they just look at Return of the King as the third installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Not the Return of the King completely based on Tolkien's book. And when you look at it as a non-fan of the book it is truley an amazing film. That's why it's on so many top ten lists.

 

Most critics try to remain as unbiased as possible when it comes to critizing the film, it should be judged on the impact it left on you and how you felt leaving the theater. Jackson can't always satisfy the diehards. The films would be too confusing for the non-ringers. We knew Scouring of the Shire wouldn't be done, it would be completely anti-climatic to the film and not a whole lot of people would like that. I mean people are whining that it's 3 hrs. 20 mins. long. Imagine if it was done verbatium from the books! People would hate it! It probably be close to 5 hours long. And that would not a flown very well with the folks over in New Line. I felt as though Jackson did the best he could within the power that was given to him. And if you look closly to some of things P.J. did he snuck little things here and there into the films that only readers of them would pick up. (I mean I knew the instant I heard Viggo singing that solemn elvish song at his crowing that it was the phrase Elendil himself said when he came to Middle Earth, If some have noticed it's on the bottom of my signature in Elvish. :wub:)

 

And that's my defense to ROTK being so popular with the critics. Hope that helped :lol:.

[Barnabas Collins 0]

I would have to say that my favorite 2003 movies were ( and not in any order)

1) THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

2) THE LORD OF THE RINGS 3

[Nemesis 0]

I would have to say that my favorite 2003 movies were ( and not in any order)

1) THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

2) THE LORD OF THE RINGS 3

You're just a big Orlando Bloom fan aren't you :-P can't say I blame you :)

[Cmdr Laura Issia 0]

Could someone explain to me how Return of the King even makes the top ten! Since I saw that movie & read the book. Sorry, after all the mistakes in that film, I say that it belongs in the top ten worst films of 2003! I loves The Fellowship of The Ring, and The Two Towers, but The Return of the King is so bad it fells like a two year old on a tanturm did the editing job on this one.

You like TT but not RotK? I thought there were far more book-continuity errors in Two Towers than in Return -- Fellowship remains, by far, the most accurate. Frankly I think that's why TT and RotK feel like such a let-down for me (speaking in terms of their adaptation from the books, here. Cinematically, they're wonderful); Fellowship was so accurate for a movie adaptation that it raised my hopes for the others sky-high.

[AndrewLyon 0]

Good point, TT had a ton of errors, but in a way they were less visable. One does notice the Shire in perfectly good shape, while one might not notice Treebread not singing of the EntWifes, or realizing in the book hes smarter.