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2003 Film List - Page 3

post #61 of 601
The Hulk
7.5 of 10

Here is what I said in the Hulk thread (which was also lost and reposted). I will move this long review to the Hulk review thread once it is posted and edit this back to a simple blurb/pointer to that thread.

Quote:
The problem is that the story is at times rather sloppy, and yes, some of the CGI is a little fake looking. However, much of the CGI problem lies more in the action being depicted than the CGI work itself. I found myself in total belief of most of the interaction, if not all of it, but also thinking that many moments were just goofy things to have happen. I loved the Hulk comics of the 80's, so that type of action did not bother me.

The film features some very Looney Toons styled dogs at one point, for example. And my reaction was less subdued than many of the laughs that some moments unintentionally received, like a moment when the Hulk is sent flying into a patch of desert. I was willing to look past those moments, but much of my audience wasn't. Take that as a warning.

But on the other hand the film has many good dialog/acting moments, especially Nolte's work. Lee has set a dark tone as has the script...that is an emotionally dark tone, not death and destruction (though there is a bit of that too). In fact, despite it's moments of action in the 2nd half, the film is much less an action film than CTHD was. In fact you might consider the tone of CTHD more than what you might expect from a summer action flick.

Elfman's score has his classic hero touches, yet also is more faithful to Lee's more Asian style of scoring (again think CTHD). I liked the effect.

Finally, Lee has gone fully with a comic cell/frame style. Almost constantly the film transistions between scenes in a way the shows or implies the various blocks you would see in a comic. It's very creative and consistent, and yet it also often seems in contradiction to the darker tone of the film.


Summerizing, CGI pretty good, some of the action and narrative is not so hot, other parts are rock solid. Good acting. Story wavers between interesting and silly (somewhat in the way Lost World did).

I give it a 7.5/10 at this point. It was no X2 or Spidey but better than Daredevil. In some ways it feels like a creative Ang Lee experiment, perhaps in a way that it might come to be seen as creative genius from an average initial reception. And I might be well in the minority by not loving it. We will see.
post #62 of 601
I'm also going to list Animatrix as a whole, rather than shorts, and give the whole thing an 8. More on artistry and creativity than on narrative, though a couple of the shorts were really solid to me. I won't be counting this "feature" toward the top 10, but I also don't want to load down my list with 9 different short entries since I don't keep a separate shorts list.
post #63 of 601
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post #64 of 601
Quote:
I'm also going to list Animatrix as a whole, rather than shorts, and give the whole thing an 8.


Ditto on both counts.

My 2003 List is made up of four (actually five) sections:

1. Movies released already.

2. Movies scheduled for release.

3. DTV and Cable movies (This is where I put The Animatrix.)

4. Foreign/Festival/Random stuff that doesn't have a U.S. release date yet.

And a section for all the OLD (pre-2002) movies I've just seen for the first time.
post #65 of 601
Updated with The Hulk (****/*****). Can't remember what I wrote in my little blurb yesterday...
post #66 of 601
Legend:

: worth seeing
: not worth seeing

4 rating system

/10 numerical rating

E to A+ alphabetical rating


2003 Film List

Last Updated: AUGUST.03.2003
Criteria: 2003 US Original Theatrical Release (except Fantasia movies)
Number of Films Seen: 24


Just Married

Really Not Worth Seeing
/
3.1/10 F
Comments: A piss poor movie. Immature.



The Recruit

Not Worth Seeing
/
6.1/10 C
Comments: It actually has a good first half, but the second half was kinda predictable (thanks to the trailer) and the story wasn't very interesting.



How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

Worth Seeing
/
8.1/10 B-
Comments: Great fun movie but the third act was pretty generic and not enough original.



Shanghai Knights

A Bit Worth Seeing
/
7.1/10 C+
Comments: Funny movie but not out hilarious. Chan's okai, Wilson's okai.



Daredevil

A Bit Worth Seeing
/
7.1/10 C+
Comments: A good enough small superhero movie. Everything was soso.



Old School

Not Worth Seeing
/
4.4/10 E+
Comments: I couldn't find this any funny and probably laughed once. I'm not american



Bringin Down The House

Not Worth Seeing
/
5.1/10 D
Comments: Some small laughs but it's not my type. Sorry. Lame-O. For me.



Cradle 2 The Grave

Not Really Worth Seeing
/
6.2/10 C-
Comments: Generic Jet Li movie, which is the same as before just with different actors and settings and stories. Not bad, but not new.



Identity

A Bit Worth Seeing
/
7.2/10 C+
Comments: Kinda cool small slasher/thriller movie. A bit original but not enough scary and a tad bit i didn't like from the ending. Overall, fresh entertainment.



X2: X-MEN UNITED

Worth Seeing
/
9.2/10 A
Comments: Hell good of a Superhero movie. Almost everything was perfect. A bit dragging at the end, but overall, everything was pretty great.


The Matrix Reloaded

Worth Seeing
/
8.9/10 B+
Comments: Not as good as expected, and the FX even let down. A cool chase scene and a story complicated enough. Some stuffs cool, some stuffs not.



Bruce Almighty

Not At All Worth Seeing
/
5.3/10 D
Comments: Fun but couldn't laugh a bit. It's neutral funny, not out loud funny. The jokes just tease and dont make me explode.



2 Fast 2 Furious

Worth Seeing
/
7.2/10 C+
Comments: Brainless fun movie. Ending could've been more tense/action but overall the pace was fast and furious.



Finding Nemo

Ultra Worth Seeing
½ /
9.2/10 A-
Comments: Great animation movie and very much entertainment. Certainly one of the Top of the summer.



Italian Job

A Bit Worth Seeing
½ /
7.2/10 C+
Comments: Small heist movie which the level of greatness is kept throughout the whole movie. Good but not outstanding. The Mini chase is boff.



HULK

Worth Seeing
/
8.6/10 B
Comments: Some boring parts and extended ending that i didn't like. But the action was amazing. Overall, i let it slide and kinda like it.



Charlie's Angels

A Bit Worth Seeing
/
7.2/10 C+



Legally Blonde 2 : Red, White and Blonde

Not Really Worth Seeing
/
6.5/10 C-
Comment: A soso comedy that's not really have to be made or seen. A small time killer.



Pirates Of The Carabean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl

Worth Seeing
/
9.3/10 A-
Comment: Entertaining pirate movie. Some repetiting stuffs but so what. Keira was gorgeous. :b




The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Hell Not Worth Seeing
/
5.1/10 D-
Comment: Sorry I can't comment, i slept for half the movie.



Bad Boys II

Worth Seeing
/
8.3/10 B
Comment: Fun enough movie with lots of explosions, laughs, and ouch & ouwh. A tiny tad bit too long but doesnt matter.



Tomb Raider : The Cradle Of Life

Not Worth Seeing
/
6.2/10 C-
Comment: Bah, Jolie does a great job of being Lara, but everything else felt flap. B.O.R.I.N.G. I hope they'll use her better in the future; I love Jolie's Croft.



Ichi The Killer (Japan, 2002)

Uber Worth Seeing
/
9.2/10 A-
Comment: This is the most saddic bloodiest disgusting movie i've ever seen. And the whole room went apemindfucked! A dude fainted in the first 15 minutes of the movie. Never seen that in my whole life. See it and get tromatised.



My Sassy Girl(Japan, 2002)

Uber Worth Seeing
/
10.2/10 A+
Comment: Just THE BEST romantic movie I've ever seen. Enjoyed alot throughout the movie. Everyone loved it.



Freaky Friday

Worth Seeing
/
7.3/10 B-
Comments: I had fun with the movie. Laughed pretty much throughout. Felt touched. Liked the girl .. ALOT.



Top 10 Most Enjoyed Movies of 2003

1. My Sassy Girl
2. Ichi The Killer
3. Finding Nemo
4. X2: X-MEN UNITED
5. Pirates Of The Carabeans: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
6. The Matrix Reloaded
7. How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days
8. Freaky Friday
9. Bad Boys II
10. 2 Fast 2 Furious
post #67 of 601
Finally back in the game with Finding Nemo and The Italian Job.
post #68 of 601
Updated with Hulk 1/2 - Hollywood Homicide - Old School 1/2.

Also updated with a bunch of old films seen for the first time this year. Alot of great stuff.

Raymond
post #69 of 601
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post #70 of 601
Updated with Ang Lee's Hulk.

~Edwin
post #71 of 601
Updated with The Hulk, three Nicholson flicks including Chinatown, and a pre–Usual Suspects Kevin Spacey indie.
post #72 of 601
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post #73 of 601
New additions to the top and bottom 10 areas:

The Hulk may be the best comic book movie ever made. It's got a solid story, wonderfully larger-than-life action set pieces, every actor gives exactly the performance his character needs, and in retrospect Ang Lee's way of breaking the screen into panels seems like such an obvious thing to do that you wonder why Sam Raimi or Tim Burton didn't come up with it. Its one weakness may be the last action scene, which doesn't live up to its potential. Still, a job well done. ¾

Ichi The Killer is also based on a comic book, but this grotesque import from Japan will probably mostly appeal to folks who like gore for gore's sake. Which is too bad, because there are flashes of real talent in every facet of the movie. But that's Takashi Miike for you - his movies will elicit a strong reaction, good or bad. ¾
post #74 of 601
Updated with Patrice Leconte's The Man On The Train.

~Edwin
post #75 of 601
Point of curiosity: does the newly restored version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly qualify as a 2003 release? I haven't been listing it as such thus far, but it does contain newly-recorded dubbing, scenes that hadn't been presented theatrically in America (well, at least not officially; I'm sure someone screened an Italian print somewhere at some point), and a new soundmix. What does it take for a re-release to qualify? Presumably, the Star Wars special editions would've qualified for 1997, right? So how much is enough?

Just a thought...

DJ
post #76 of 601
Damin,

I always count movies from the original release year. But nobody says our criterion for List inclusion must be completely uniform. If you want to include it, you should.
post #77 of 601
Or ask Whytey. It's his party.
post #78 of 601
What I do with such films (Lion King IMAX, restored Metropolis, limited release of the French Beauty and the Beast) is to simply set up a section of re-releases seen in theaters.
post #79 of 601
I'd say include in the year you want. The last thing we need is a battle as to who has the most film count with someone else policing it.

~Edwin
post #80 of 601
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Point of curiosity: does the newly restored version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly qualify as a 2003 release?

No; in the past I've included an ineligible or special section for re-releases, director's cuts, etc like Kirk mentioned. Otherwise, every re-release or director's cut that comes out on DVD, or network or theaters is eligible for 2003, when it really isn't.

Jason
post #81 of 601
How lucky can a guy get? Three terrific films in a row, all with good chances of making my best of list. 28 Days Later, Whale Rider, and Capturing the Friedmans are wildly different but share one thing: great moviemaking. Capturing the Friedmans is astonishing and heartbreaking. All of these are must-sees, but I'd put this one at the top of the priority list since chances are it won't play long wherever you are.
post #82 of 601
Massive updates made, with a few that I probably forgot to add still left to come.

I also rehauled the entire program, ported it from C++ to PHP, moved the data file into XML, and added a few new nifty graphs/stats (more to come?). I might eventually make it available for anyone to easily use by putting it on one of my public webservers, if there's any interest at all. This would, of course, require a lot more functionality and customization options to be added on...
post #83 of 601
Finally got around to compiling my list

Quote:
No; in the past I've included an ineligible or special section for re-releases, director's cuts, etc...
There are movies I have in my summary that are technically of 2002 but due to geographical differences, they are included in the 2003 list. Hope that's okay. The following movies are mainly based on the Australian local release dates, which seems to lag the US/European release most of the time (mainly for 'indy' movies), although there are exceptions from time to time (e.g. Bend it Like Beckham)

Last updated 11th February, 2004.

Movies I've seen in 2003:
POSITIVE (58)
City Of God - $13.50 DVD dts
Chicago - $13.00 DVD dts
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - $12.50 dts
Hero/Ying Xiong - $12.50 DVD dts
25th Hour - $12.00
The Good Girl - $12.00
Punch-Drunk Love - $12.00 dts
Better Luck Tomorrow - $12.00
The Station Agent - $11.50
Lost In Translation - $11.50
The Matrix: Reloaded - $11.50 DVD dts
The Pianist - $11.50 dts
Talk To Her - $11.50
Kill Bill: Volume 1 - $11.50 DVD dts
Seabiscuit - $11.50 DVD
X-Men 2 - $11.00 DVD dts
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - $11.00 dts
Finding Nemo - $11.00
L'auberge Espagnole/The Spanish Apartment - $11.00
Cold Mountain - $10.50
In America - $10.50
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind - $10.50
Narc - $10.50
The Secretary - $10.50
About Schmidt - $10.50
Frailty - $10.50 DVD
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - $10.50 dts
21 Grams - $10.00
Something's Gotta Give - $10.00
Raising Victor Vargas - $10.00
The Italian Job - $10.00
Matchstick Men - $10.00
Dark Blue - $10.00
Read My Lips - $10.00
The Life Of David Gale - $10.00
Down With Love - $10.00
Freaky Friday - $9.50
The Last Samurai - $9.50
Equilibrium - $9.50
Identity - $9.50
Ned Kelly - $9.50 dts
Big Fish - $9.00
Mystic River - $9.00
Irreversible - $9.00
Catch Me If You Can - $9.00 dts
8 Mile - $9.00 dts
Gangs of New York - $9.00 dts
The Hulk - $9.00 dts
Spellbound - $8.50
The Rules of Attraction - $8.50
Formula 51 - $8.50
Femme Fatale - $8.50
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - $8.50
Whale Rider - $8.50
Holes - $8.50
Intolerable Cruelty - $8.50
Roger Dodger - $8.50
Master & Commander: The Far Side Of The World - $8.50 dts
Antwone Fisher - $8.50
Confidence - $8.50
Igby Goes Down - $8.50
Love Actually - $8.50

NEUTRAL (52)
The Rundown - $8.00
Elf - $8.00
Bad Eggs - $8.00
Real Women Have Curves - $8.00
S.W.A.T. $8.00
The School Of Rock $8.00
Runaway Jury $8.00
Two Weeks Notice - $8.00
Solaris - $8.00
The Hunted - $8.00
2 Fast 2 Furious - $8.00 dts
The Core - $8.00 dts
Willard - $8.00
Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - $8.00 dts
Waking Up In Reno - $8.00
Tears of the Sun - $8.00
The Good Thief - $8.00
Old School - $8.00
Basic - $8.00
Who Is Cletis Tout? - $8.00
Shanghai Knights - $8.00 dts
Maid In Manhattan - $8.00
The Hours - $8.00
Charlie's Angles 2: Full Throttle - $8.00 dts
Analyze That - $8.00
The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen - $8.00 dts
Wonderland - $7.50
Biggie & Tupac - $7.50
Swimming Pool - $7.50
Phone Booth - $7.50
City Of Ghosts - $7.50
The Quiet American - $7.50
Knockaround Guys - $7.50 dts
The Tuxedo - $7.50 dts
Buffalo Soldiers - $7.00
Matrix: Revolutions - $7.00 dts
Naked Weapon/Chek Law Dak Gung - $7.00 dts
Amercian Wedding - $7.00
Dreamcatcher - $7.00 dts
Daredevil - $7.00 dts
The Recruit - $7.00 dts
Russian Ark - $7.00
Freddy versus Jason
Goodbye Lenin! - $6.50
A Man Apart - $6.50
One Hour Photo - $6.50
Final Destination 2 - $6.50 dts
Empire - $6.00
Just Married - $6.00
Anger Management - $6.00
Bruce Almighty - $6.00
Daddy Day Care - $5.50

NEGATIVE (15)
The Medallion - $5.00
Bulletproof Monk - $5.00
Cradle 2 The Grave - $5.00 dts
The Guru - $4.50
National Security - $4.50
I Spy - $4.50
May - $4.50
Cabin Fever - $4.00
Malibu's Most Wanted - $4.00
Johnny English - $4.00
Bad Boys 2 - $4.00 dts
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life - $3.00
Half Past Dead - $3.00
Bring Down The House - $3.00
Scary Movie 3 - $2.50
The Hot Chick - $2.50


Ratings Legend:
Positive = means that it is worth a look as I enjoyed what I saw. Highly recommended viewing.
Neutral = Mixed feelings on the movie. You should maybe wait for the rental. Another viewing may push it over to the 'positive' column
Negative = Hollywood trash. Try to avoid it if you can. These movies should be recommended to people you 'dislike'
$0.50 - $13.50 = represents the worth of the movie in dollar terms where the value of a full adult admission price is the benchmark.
DVD = indicates a considered or already have purchased the DVD of the movie. It is DVD worthy, IMO
dts = means that the movie has a kick-@ss audio track and superior sound effects, which deserves a DTS soundtrack.
post #84 of 601
Updated with Aki Kaurismäki's The Man Without A Past.

~Edwin
post #85 of 601
Updatd with two specialty items.

The Legend Of Suriyothai is an old-fashioned historical epic, for better or worse. If you survive the slow, highly expository first half, the movie picks up and ends with an exciting, action-packed final hour. Note that the cut currently playing in US theaters is 142 minutes, but the original Thai version is 3:05.

May has a good central performance, and a bit of quirky charm, but is pretty grisly in the latter half. In the end, I found it more off-putting than interesting.
post #86 of 601
BTW, I forgot to give my thanks on the input from the other day about TGTBATU. So, thanks.

DJ
post #87 of 601
Well 28 months later we US peons (ie, not the critical elite) get to see...
28 Days Later
8.5 of 10

I did not find the film overtly terrifying and was far less scared during the film than I was watching Others, Ring, or Blair Witch. However, this film has Boyle back in form and makes for a very good Sci-Fi/Horror mix, simply a well-told, interesting story. In fact much of what he is hitting upon you have seen in countless other films, including last year's Reign of Fire, but Boyle has perhaps bested them all except the original Night of the Living Dead by giving us solid moral situations and believable actions.

The film also benefits from having a good base story. Having the infection spread so quickly makes the positions people are in more believable and as a basic entrance you can't get much better than a character waking up to a world that was wiped out while he was in some type of coma (we assume).

I like Boyle's visual touches as well as his use of music. Again, I felt more like I was back in Shallow Grave than with Boyle's more recent work.

PS - crowd had its share of assholes, typical of FRI nights anymore. "ha, ha, that dude's naked, ha, ha, that dude's dead"
post #88 of 601
Brief note: I have shifted Bruce Almighty down to 7.5 from 8 upon reconsideration of the sappiness since I have more memories of that aspect than any other part of the film (not a good sign, but I did laugh a lot during the film).

Also I have nothing but fond memories of Italian Job and have been recommending it to everyone, so I'm moving it up from 7.5 to 8.

Still in the process of learning to get it right the first time, right being my opinion of course.
post #89 of 601
Updated with 28 Days Later, which was good, but not nearly up to the hype. And there were some very annoying people in my crowd, too, who I was able to get to shut up by embarrassing them.

DJ
post #90 of 601
Updated with the intermittently entertaining but fairly disappointing Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2.5 out of 5), the "2 bad flicks mashed into one" chore that was Alex and Emma (1.5 / 5), the not entirely awful DTV sequel Dracula 2: Ascension (2.5 / 5), the sadly familiar Brit horror flick Long Time Dead (2 / 5), and the Oliver Stone HBO documentary Persona Non Grata (4 / 5).
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