Home Theater Forum - View Single Post - Our Top 10's of 2003: Time To Throw Down!

Alex Spindler · 12-26-2003, 09:59 PM

I must confess that my top three are essentially a three way tie considering how much they keep shifting in order. I think all three of them are so excellent in casting, direction, and execution that I have trouble figuring out which on I love more. Their order is likely to shift

Top
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - So perfect in so many ways. Inventive battle scenes with unbelievable scale while still being personal. Emotional moments completely earned and quite effective.
2. Lost in Translation - Can't say enough about this film. Murray, Johansson, and Coppola all hit one out of the park with a subtle and personal film. I didn't want it to end, but it concluded with a classically perfect scene.
3. Kill Bill: Volume 1 - An excellent homage that departs from Tarantino's charactaristic quotable monologues for some serious genre thrills. The only mark against it is the black and white sequence (hopefully cured on the DVD release).
4. 28 Days Later - Deserves to rest alongside Night of and Dawn of the Dead as chilling visions of a zombie apocalypse. Makes effective use of it low budget through inventive digitial photography and a mostly unknown cast that gives it their all.
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - I could not have been more pleasantly surprised than I was with this film, which I dismissed early on based on concept and a very bad teaser trailer. I would consider this to be an adventure film the likes of which we haven't seen since the 80's (and that's a good thing). That this film somehow still manages to give a nod to its origin without becoming laughable is also remarkable.
6. X2: X-Men United - The rare sequel that lives up to, and in some cases surpasses, the original. Nicely scaled plot, not a lot of villain inflation, satisfying closure on Wolverine's past, and a capable setup for a future storyline. We can only hope that Spider-Man 2 is as good.
7. May - Would have been overlooked had it not been for the campaigning by Scott Weinberg. Quite the effective study on the creepiest girl I ever fell in love with. Even better is that it doesn't fall into the slasher trap by having its antihero "get away clean". Superb work by Bettis and also Anna Faris (who is strangely in two of my favorites this year).
8. City of God - Slick and inventively presented crime epic plays like a tragically youthful Godfather.
9. Matchstick Men - Great and touching con movie made better by great performances by Lohman and Cage (who restrains the mannerisms of the character quite well). I will admit to not guessing the path of the plot because I was absorbed by the growth of the characters, which is always a good sign.
10.Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - Detailed and engrossing, Weir does a great job of giving you the feel of the period and the comaraderie of the crew.

Just missed the Top 10
The Rundown - Excellent action comedy in the tradition of Arnold's best.
Bad Santa - The Anti-Christmas movie which was nicely profane and well delivered by the whole cast.

Still to See
21 Grams
Big Fish
House of Sand and Fog
In America

I have, for the most part, avoided most of the really bad films this year. The closest to bad was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which is especially poor considering the outstanding source material. So I'll focus on most disappointing instead of Worst.

Disappointing
Daredevil - What Spider-Man could have turned into, I suppose, under different circumstances
The Matrix: Reloaded - Bloated with unecessary characters and sequences and nowhere near the blissful marriage of story, action, and effects that The Matrix was.
The Matrix: Revolutions - Remarkable only in that it managed to downgrade its predecessor. Excellent special effects, but a failure in terms of working as a conclusion to Reloaded or as a conclusion to the series.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico - Mishmash, but Johnny Depp was a real high point.
Underworld - Interesting concept marred by seriously boring action sequences and some poor casting.

* Edit - list added but more comments to be added after some sleep.
* Edit2 - Saw Cold Mountain, which didn't quite make my list. However, Zellwegger has Supporting Actress locked as far as I'm concerned.

12-26-2003, 09:59 PM	#8 of 210
Alex Spindler Member Join Date: Jan 2000 Local Time: 03:21 PM Local Date: 09-07-2008 Posts: 4,622	I must confess that my top three are essentially a three way tie considering how much they keep shifting in order. I think all three of them are so excellent in casting, direction, and execution that I have trouble figuring out which on I love more. Their order is likely to shift Top 1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - So perfect in so many ways. Inventive battle scenes with unbelievable scale while still being personal. Emotional moments completely earned and quite effective. 2. Lost in Translation - Can't say enough about this film. Murray, Johansson, and Coppola all hit one out of the park with a subtle and personal film. I didn't want it to end, but it concluded with a classically perfect scene. 3. Kill Bill: Volume 1 - An excellent homage that departs from Tarantino's charactaristic quotable monologues for some serious genre thrills. The only mark against it is the black and white sequence (hopefully cured on the DVD release). 4. 28 Days Later - Deserves to rest alongside Night of and Dawn of the Dead as chilling visions of a zombie apocalypse. Makes effective use of it low budget through inventive digitial photography and a mostly unknown cast that gives it their all. 5. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - I could not have been more pleasantly surprised than I was with this film, which I dismissed early on based on concept and a very bad teaser trailer. I would consider this to be an adventure film the likes of which we haven't seen since the 80's (and that's a good thing). That this film somehow still manages to give a nod to its origin without becoming laughable is also remarkable. 6. X2: X-Men United - The rare sequel that lives up to, and in some cases surpasses, the original. Nicely scaled plot, not a lot of villain inflation, satisfying closure on Wolverine's past, and a capable setup for a future storyline. We can only hope that Spider-Man 2 is as good. 7. May - Would have been overlooked had it not been for the campaigning by Scott Weinberg. Quite the effective study on the creepiest girl I ever fell in love with. Even better is that it doesn't fall into the slasher trap by having its antihero "get away clean". Superb work by Bettis and also Anna Faris (who is strangely in two of my favorites this year). 8. City of God - Slick and inventively presented crime epic plays like a tragically youthful Godfather. 9. Matchstick Men - Great and touching con movie made better by great performances by Lohman and Cage (who restrains the mannerisms of the character quite well). I will admit to not guessing the path of the plot because I was absorbed by the growth of the characters, which is always a good sign. 10.Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - Detailed and engrossing, Weir does a great job of giving you the feel of the period and the comaraderie of the crew. Just missed the Top 10 The Rundown - Excellent action comedy in the tradition of Arnold's best. Bad Santa - The Anti-Christmas movie which was nicely profane and well delivered by the whole cast. Still to See 21 Grams Big Fish House of Sand and Fog In America I have, for the most part, avoided most of the really bad films this year. The closest to bad was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which is especially poor considering the outstanding source material. So I'll focus on most disappointing instead of Worst. Disappointing Daredevil - What Spider-Man could have turned into, I suppose, under different circumstances The Matrix: Reloaded - Bloated with unecessary characters and sequences and nowhere near the blissful marriage of story, action, and effects that The Matrix was. The Matrix: Revolutions - Remarkable only in that it managed to downgrade its predecessor. Excellent special effects, but a failure in terms of working as a conclusion to Reloaded or as a conclusion to the series. Once Upon a Time in Mexico - Mishmash, but Johnny Depp was a real high point. Underworld - Interesting concept marred by seriously boring action sequences and some poor casting. * Edit - list added but more comments to be added after some sleep. * Edit2 - Saw Cold Mountain, which didn't quite make my list. However, Zellwegger has Supporting Actress locked as far as I'm concerned.