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Join Date: Jun 1999
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Local Date: 10-07-2008
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Jason's Films of 2003 Report!
Top 10:
#1: The Lord of the Rings: The Return Of The King
(United States & New Zealand, 2.39:1, 201 min., dir. Peter Jackson)
I was certainly a fan of the first two “Lord Of The Rings” films, but I had no idea that the final instalment would break past every film I saw this year and stand out as a beautiful and unforgettable landmark in cinema. (For the record, “The Fellowship Of The Ring” was #3 in 2001 following “Mulholland Drive” and “Donnie Darko”, and “The Two Towers” was #2 in 2002 behind “Songs From The Second Floor.” Coincidence that this is #1? Perhaps, but I’m sure the extended editions of both films mix around their ranking a bit. heh.) As I’ve mentioned many times before, these films are so wide and vast in scope, as if you stepped off a plane and you were suddenly in middle earth, and yet there’s such an intimate character driven story as well, that we really care and respect these people, flaws and all. Sure, the film contains epic-sized moments like no other (The Battle at Pelennor Fields is one of the greatest I’ve seen on film.), but it’s all about these two little hobbits off on a mandatory mission to destroy a ring. And just when we think it’s all over and our tear ducts can shed no more, it throws us another curve and keeps us fascinated until “THE END” shows up on screen.
#2. Kill Bill: Volume One
(United States, 2.39:1, 109 min., dir. Quentin Tarantino)
Part of the joy of cinema is to be taken to places you normally couldn’t go in real life. Tarantino knows this, but he also knows how to take the things he loves about movies, twist them around, turn the conventions on its head and make something that is original and compelling. “Kill Bill” is a meshing together of Japanese cinema-culture and Western cinema-culture, with a little bit of female empowerment thrown in to tell a revenge tale of The Bride (Uma Thurman) whose check list of assassins who must die sends her to a California housewife (Vivica Fox) and to a Japanese underworld, led by the unpredictable Lucy Liu. And it’s only the first half of the saga! Tarantino has a complete love and control over all of the material, accessible and unique at the same time.
#3. Irreversible
(France, 2.39:1, 98 min., dir. Gaspar Noe)
I had this on my list last year as an accident. Originally my notes told me this was getting a small release in Canada, but the film was not released until March, so I had to plunk this unforgettable gem onto this list. And time has done a lot to this film: many have debated its reverse structure (A gimmick? I think not, and I haven’t been convinced of the arguments which, if nothing else, are just people looking for reasons to bash the film), its extremely graphic violence that peels away the bounds of filmmaking, or that unforgettable long shot in that dark red tunnel (it would be more of a problem if every shot in the film, all 14 of them, were shorter than this one). I’ve seen this film six times now, and every time I am fascinated by this nightmare-in-reverse that shocks us right away then lets us consider the horrible acts while things on screen are a bit calmer. It takes guts for any filmmaker to go this far into the dark side of humanity, and Gaspar Noe has approached it without fear. Whether you like it or not is up to you, but you can’t deny you’ve ever seen anything like it before. Film is chance.
#4. 21 Grams
(United States, 1.85:1, 124 min., dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
And we move from a reverse-chronology film to a narrative that doesn’t stop shifting time, and never stops fascinating us. Inarritu’s first film, “Amores Perros” was about three lives that connect and despair because of a fatal car crash, and here we have three people whose stories all get mixed up to do a horrific event (that we never see, and that makes it all the more so). With all of the events presented out of order, we as an audience are asked to connect a puzzle. After just 10 minutes of understanding the structure (I knew nothing about it before I saw the screening, but I knew Inarritu’s style and was ready for anything), I was hooked. Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, and especially Naomi Watts do incredible work playing troubled souls who get more than they asked for once they start connecting with each other.
 
#5. Elephant & Gerry (tie)
(United States, 1.37:1/2.39:1, 81 min/103 min., dir. Gus Van Sant)
I’ve never been a fan of ties myself, but I really want to shine the spotlight on Gus Van Sant, who I think has had an incredible year. Both of his 2003 films have been widely discussed by many, hated and loved by about equal strengths, and have had different reactions at different screenings. “Gerry”, which is heavily based on Bela Tarr’s “Santatango” and the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, could be argued that it’s all about two guys who get lost in the desert, but it’s use of image and sound (and lack therof at times) push further than that. Much, much further. Avro Part’s haunting, moody music helps pull us into the isolation of both Gerry’s (played very well by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck), and their conversations show us a unique lingo that many of us have and refuse to admit. In “Elephant”, Tarr and Tarkovsky certainly fuel the drive behind the film, but something deep inside me knows that Sant’s love for Stanley Kubrick’s long, professional Stedicam shots was a big influence. “Elephant” is about high school and violence but isn’t exactly about Columbine, but it’s about the silence in the long, bright corridors during an overcast day. And when terror explodes, Sant keeps the looming, omnipresent cinematography in check. Both of these films are different in subject matter, yet both exist by a director with a trademark, inimitable style.
#6. Lost In Translation
(United Staes & Japan, 1.85:1, 101 min., dir. Sofia Coppola)
Oh, the joy of people talking and not talking! Some reviews have suggested this as two different people meet up and talk and talk like this is the sequel to “Before Sunrise”. But this is no Linklater. Sofia Coppola made a great film from a few years ago called “The Virgin Suicides”, but this one is even better, about two isolated Americans in Japan who find an odd solace in each other while over there for vacation. Bill Murray plays a gifted, yet financially insecure actor who is shooting a few Japanese whiskey commercials (“For a relaxing time, make it Suntory time!”), while Scarlett Johansson plays a recently married woman who lingers around the hotel and the city while her husband (Giovanni Ribisi) is off doing photo shoots. Their friendship goes deeper and more interesting as the film goes on, never falling into the path of sex but rather interest of each other’s differences. The scene of the two friends relaxing in Murray’s hotel room is one of those scenes you wish you could frame on your wall.
#7.All The Real Girls
(United States, 1.85:1, 108 min., dir. David Gordon Green)
I remember watching this movie in the theatre earlier this year and being just awestruck at the dialogue. It’s not realistic, it’s not in the style of how anyone would talk in real life, especially for these small-town folk in the middle of nowhere. And yet, everything in this movie from the twisted dialogue to the open widescreen photography, is heartfelt. It’s honest. It’s writing suggests something deeper and more philosophical than the two lovers (Paul Schnieder and Zooey Deschanel) can really say to each other. David Gordon Green, whose other film, “George Washington”, was also about lost people in the middle of nowhere, and during interviews for both films, he proved his individuality as a filmmaker: “I want to make movies that will make you go for a walk and think about it afterwards.”
#8. The Barbarian Invasions
(Canada, 2.39:1, 98 min., dir. Denys Arcand)
Wow, what a followup! After the entertaining-but-you’re-better-than-this-Denys directed “Stardom”, here’s a film about death that really understands it is a part of life. A stubborn professor (Remy Girard) is dying of cancer, and it brings back his entire family, from his millionare son (Stephane Rosseau, who is simply wonderful in this film; he just isn’t getting as much attention as he should for his work here.) to a heroin addict (Marie-Josee Croze, whose few scenes in the film earned her the Best Actress award when it screened at Caanes) who helps Remy out of his pain. All of the events finalize at a lakehouse with all of Remy’s friends and family, who all have a wonderful, tearful time together before his parting.
#9. Love Actually
(United Kingdom, 2.39:1, 132 min., dir. Richard Curtis)
“Love Actually” is a film so wonderful and pleasant, the happiest movie I’ve seen all year, that it demanded a spot on my Top 10 if for no other reason my heart leapt at the scene where a young boy runs after the girl of his dreams seconds before she’s to board a plane from London to New York. The film features several stories about people who are in love, out of love, or dream of finding love elsewhere, and everyone kind of connects and they don’t; Curtis’ themes of love being universal, despite a society that suggest otherwise, really stand out.
#10. Dracula: Pages From A Virgin's Diary
(Canada, 1.85:1, 74 min., dir. Guy Maddin)
Guy Maddin’s films are like cinematic coffee; they just arouse your attention with its fascinating visuals and eccentric form of storytelling. I saw three Maddin films this year (the equally compelling “The Saddest Music In The World” featuring prosthetic legs made of beer, and the strange and addictive “Cowards Bend The Knee” which defies description other than it features VERY Canadian hockey against lots of wildly varying camera speeds and colors), but I admired this one the most, which stages the Royal Winnipeg Ballet version of Dracula, told through a mixture of vintage 1920’s film and bold, eye-popping colors. Or something like that. But nevertheless, “Dracula” shows a director who understands and uses his vision to entertain and provoke thought, in an era of filmmakers who are forced by upper hands to sell a “product” (well, hey, all films on this Top 10 and following are proof of this).
 
Special Jury Mentions:
#11. Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World Just about made it! Peter Weir’s fascinating ship tale based on Patrick O’Briens novels is surprisingly philosophical and ethical, beautifully filmed and performed by Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany.
#12. Down With Love This and “Stuck On You” are easily my favourite comedies this year, both intelligent and a boat load of fun. “Down With Love” is so tongue-in-cheek about it’s homage to 1960’s Cinemascope classics (right down to the opening Fox Fanfare logo!) that it’s impossible not to be charmed. It also features one of Renee’ Zellweger’s best moments in a long, single-take confessional.
Other 2003 Releases, be it cable movies or festival fare, that must be mentioned:
Angels In America Mike Nichols’ powerful miniseries about how earth and heaven connect during the breakout of AIDS in the 1980’s. Featuring Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson doing some of their best work.
Distant Gus Van Sant wasn’t the only one paying homage to Tarkovsky this year. Hailing from Turkey, Neil Burge Ceylan’s beautifully (and intentionally) slow, brooding personal drama about a troubled father and son is not only full of a director’s personal vision, but has many interesting, slow moving scenes of family despair and silence; there’s also a scene where the father watches “Stalker” while his son is in the same room saying nothing, as well as one of the main themes of “Solaris” playing in the background.
Dogville Lars Von Trier’s challenging yet fascinating film strips apart the bounds of many period dramas (and literally, with chalk outlines where the houses are supposed to be, a chalk outline of gooseberry bushes, and so on) and focuses on the real feelings of the characters. I can already see the film causing a stir upon it’s American release in 2004, and I can’t wait to see the reactions, positive or negative.
Eighteen Honorable Mentions!!
(Note: For the past two years I've listed the 13 films that followed the Top 12 so you could get a fair idea of what my Top 25 looks like. But since I've seen so many more films this year than ever before, I've opened up the gates a bit. The following is in alphabetical order.)
American Splendor
At Five In The Afternoon
Bus 174
City Of God
Cowards Bend The Knee
The Fog Of War
Hero
The Last Samurai
Northfork
Owning Mahowny
Raising Victor Vargas
The Son
Spellbound
Stuck On You
To Be And To Have
The Triplettes of Belleville
Whale Rider
Zero Day
The Worst Films of 2003:
#1. Bad Boys 2: "A mind-crushing bore" would be too slight a slam on this atrocity.
#2. Dreamcatcher
#3. A Guy Thing
#4. The Life Of David Gale
#5. Boat Trip
#6. Dumb and Dumberer
#7. Daddy Day Care and Cheaper By The Dozen (TIE)
#8. The Cat In The Hat
#9. The Order
#10. The Matrix Revolutions
Note: I gave “From Justin To Kelly” zero stars, but it isn’t really a film, so it is not on my bottom ten. It is pretty brutal, however.
Assorted Musings, Goofy Awards and Such:
The Resident Evil Award for Guilty Pleasure Film Of 2003: 2 Fast 2 Furious
The My Big Fat Greek Wedding Award for Most Overrated Film of 2003: 28 Days Later
The Visa Screening Room at The Vogue Award for Biggest Disappointment of 2003: Spy Kids 3D: Game Over
Notable First-Time/First-Seen Performers in 2003:
Jenna Boyd, The Missing and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
Bobby Cannavale, The Station Agent
Robert McNamara: The Fog Of War
Stephane Rosseau, The Barbarian Invasions
Loser Of The Year: Deluxe CAP Code: Yes, campers, we're all theives. We all pirate movies, download them, watch them on our hard drives, and the studio wants to send us all to jail. So what will they do to stop it? I can only imagine the studio meeting: "Why, instead of addressing the issue properly, let's just gunk up one twenty minute reel of film with ugly, yellow patterns that won't stop going away, and we'll also make people believe that by doing this we can accurately track the source of the pirate. Sure, we can't really track the pirate because A: he/she would have long left the theater and B: the markers are the same shape and location on every print, so we can never really track it anyway. And of course, no one will notice this code because it's only over a couple of frames!
Well sorry, but we did notice. If you went to a movie in the last five months of the year, you most likely saw this ugly, blocky code all over the screen, messing up films such as "The Lord of the Rings: ROTK" (and especially the extended versions playing during trilogy tuesday), "Kill Bill", "Underworld", "Elf", "Freddy vs. Jason", "Master and Commander", and many many more. I mention these films in particular not only because these films garnered the most reaction from HTF members as well as film-tech.com members, but the film printing company, Deluxe, are the ones responsible for the Tetris-like blocks you see on these above movies. Technicolor's CAP code, which prints out Warner and Universal films, are far less intrusive and spaced-out on the film frames.
MANY more comments coming over the next few days. Watch this post!
Buy National Treasure on DVD today...\"The best movie I saw on Saturday night from 7pm to 9:30. The DTS track is freakin\' awesome!\" --Multiplex Drone
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