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2003 Film List (1 Viewer)

Brook K

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Out of Time? What happened to quality over quantity Edwin? ;)
Capturing The Friedman's: a real-life Rashomon concerning the uncomfortable-to-watch disintegration of a family after two members are charged with sexual assault. Its power lies in the extensive video and 8mm movie footage the family took of themselves in even their most vulnerable situations. This footage speaks for itself which is good since the director's attempts at linking and filming "slice of life" scenes are more akin to an A&E Biography than a feature doc by a true professional documentarian. The director's attempts at objectivity are also rather disingenious. The film is clearly sympathetic to the defense in the information it provides, though that really isn't a mark against it. Documentaries should have a point of view and I have no problem with agenda filmmaking (as evidenced by Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion in my top 10). The best scenes are those akin to Rashomon, where we clearly see that truth is in the eye of the beholder and an objective truth is impossible to achieve as so often individuals have very different accounts of key events. Continues what has been a great year for documentaries, though in my mind, this does not quite rank with the year's best like Stevie, Tibet, and The Weather Underground.
B+
Next Up: The Secret Lives Of Dentists
 

Marc_Savoie

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My 2003 Films Seen List
Last update: January 14, 2003 (after seeing Mystic River)
Current Total Films Seen from 2003 (using US/Canada release date criteria): 50
01. Lost in Translation
(United States, 102min, d. Sofia Coppola)
02. 21 Grams
(United States, 125min, d. Alejandro González Iñárritu)
03. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
(United States, 111min, d. Quentin Tarantino)
04. Spider
(Canada, 98min, d. David Cronenberg)
05. Elephant
(United States, 81min, d. Gus Van Sant)
06. Irréversible
(France, 95min, d. Gaspar Noé)
07. All the Real Girls
(United States, 108min, d. David Gordon Green)
08. Gerry
(United States, 103min, d. Gus Van Sant)
09. Mystic River
(United States, 137min, d. Clint Eastwood)
10. City of God [Cidade de Deus]
(Brazil, 130min, d. Kátia Lund, Fernando Meirelles)
10 Runners-up:
11. Capturing the Friedmans
12. Morvern Callar
13. American Splendor
14. Masked and Anonymous
15. Swimming Pool
16. May
17. The Shape of Things
18. The Good Thief
19. The Matrix Reloaded
20. Better Luck Tomorrow
Films I Really Liked and Would See Again:
21. 28 Days Later
22. Owning Mahowny
23. Raising Victor Vargas
24. The School of Rock
25. Elf
26. The Wild Dogs
27. Spun
28. Love Actually
29. Charlie’s Angles 2: Full Throttle
30. Stuck on You
31. Daredevil
31. American Wedding
32. Spellbound
Films I Liked but Didn't Love Enough to See Again:
33. Sweet Sixteen
34. Winged Migration
35. Run Ronnie Run!
36. Old School
37. The Recruit
38. Phone Booth
Didn't Like in 2003 (from least worst to most horribly horrible)
39. Intolerable Cruelty (the first Coens movie I haven't completely loved. How sad.)
40. In the Cut
41. Duplex
42. Bruce Almighty
43. Something's Gotta Give
44. Scary Movie 3
45. Anger Management
46. View From the Top
47. A Guy Thing
48. Bringing Down the House
49. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
50. Just Married
Best guilty pleasure:
- Charlie’s Angles 2: Full Throttle
Biggest disappointments:
- Intolerable Cruelty
- Bruce Almighty
- In the Cut
Films I still need to see, or sadly missed... and want to see:
in alphabetical order
21 Grams
Anything Else
Bad Santa
The Barbarian Invasions
Bend it Like Beckham
Big Fish
Blue Car
Born Rich
Bus 174
Cabin Fever
Camp
Casa De Los Babys
Charlotte Sometimes
Cold Mountain
The Company
Confidence
The Cooler
The Dancer Upstairs
A Decade Under the Influence
Demonlover
Dirty Pretty Things
Le Divorce
Down With Love
Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary
The Eye
Fear X
Finding Nemo
Freddy vs Jason
Garage Days
Girl With a Pearl Earing
The Hulk
House of 1000 Corpses
House of Sand and Fog
The Human Stain
In America
In My Skin
Identity
I Love Your Work
In America
The Last Samurai
Laurel Canyon
Levity
Lilya 4-Ever
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Lost in La Mancha
Love and Diane
The Man on the Train
The Man Without a Past
Matchstick Men
The Matrix Revolutions
A Mighty Wind
Mona Lisa Smile
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Out of Time
Party Monster
Pieces of April
Poolhall Junkies
Ripley’s Game
Seabiscuit
Shattered Glass
The Singing Detective
The Station Agent
Step Into Liquid
Stevie
Thirteen
Wonderland
X2
 

Adam_S

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Adam_S
Finally updated my list with all the November December and January 2003 films I've seen.
 

Rob Willey

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Apr 10, 2000
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Rob
Haven't opened this thread in months since the "not enough films seen to date" Nazis deleted my original post last spring. Now the rules seem to be "no rules." Whatever... :rolleyes
Anyway, since Dana is using data from this thread for his analysis in the throw-down thread, I'll re-post my list (and hope it stays this time):
Last update: 07/05/2004
Criterion used: Oscar Eligibility
No. of films seen so far: 46
The top ten (so far):
1. City of God
2. Whale Rider
3. Thirteen
4. Lost in Translation
5. Mystic River
6. 21 Grams
7. Seabiscuit
8. In America
9. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
10. The Fog of War
The best of the rest:
11. Bend It Like Beckham
12. Finding Nemo
13. Girl With a Pearl Earring
14. Cold Mountain
15. House of Sand and Fog
16. Monster
17. American Splendor
18. Swimming Pool
19. Matchstick Men
20. Dirty Pretty Things
21. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
22. The Last Samurai
23. Something's Gotta Give
24. Love Actually
25. The Cooler
26. Owning Mahowny
27. Bad Santa
28. Calendar Girls
29. Pieces of April
30. Raising Victor Vargas
31. The Matrix Reloaded
32. Phone Booth
33. Intolerable Cruelty
34. Better Luck Tomorrow
35. The Italian Job
36. Freaky Friday
37. Elephant
38. Normal
39. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
40. XX/XY
41. The Matrix Revolutions
42. The Haunted Mansion
43. The Hulk
44. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
45. May
46. Legally Blonde 2
Rob
 

Jason Seaver

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Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
9,303
Did the end-of-year reordering and added a few more movies in. See if you can identify them!
Midgets vs. Jewelry 3: It's Finally Over - :star::star::star:¼
The Middle Brother Had The Right Idea About Being Part of this Documentary - :star::star::star:
Minority Report Lite - :star::star::star:
The One Sean Penn Didn't Get Nominated For - :star::star::star:
 

Brook K

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Joined
Feb 22, 2000
Messages
9,467
The Secret Lives Of Dentists - An insult to the intelligence of most any viewer and a monstrously failed attempt to emulate the work of much, MUCH more talented directors and screenwriters. What could have been a decent, if safe and conventional movie about a married couple in crisis, is flushed down the toilet by some of the most ridiculous, inept and pointless fantasy sequences I've had the misfortune to witness. Maybe in years to come this can be seen as some sort of glorious failure/drinking game/MST3K fest, but for now, I declare it THE WORST MOVIE OF 2003 D-
(It avoids the F by having better than Troma production values and as much as I think it was a terrible film, it didn't make me HATE it, like say, Tadpole.
Up Next: A much better movie (I hope). Should be something at the theater, I have no Netflix on tap until the Feb. 10th releases of Sylvia and Wonderland.
 

Seth Paxton

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Nov 5, 1998
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Monster
9.5 of 10
I took the time to read some reviews in detail after seeing the film and I guess I must stand alone a bit in rating the film so high. Generally most people seem to be saying "Theron is great, the rest is blah" but I disagree. I thought the film had a great power and a terrific script. It manages to maintain both a sense of why the characters continue down the path they do, yet it also shows how hopeless for them the whole process is so that you don't question why things didn't turn out different.
The film gives REASONS for why she killed, but it doesn't excuse them. Everyone has a reason for their actions, and that is what great films are about, showing consistent thought patterns and motivations for its characters in an attempt to emulate life. For me Monster did this.
Also I thought Ricci was extremely overlooked as a supporting actress though some reviews slammed her too. I don't get that as I totally believed her character's motivations and emotions too. The need these two character's had for each other had a real truth to it. And the Journey sequence was beautiful, touching romance from a very unique and unexpected angle.
The Girl with One Pearl Earring
7 of 10
This is a "you are there" slice of life film examining the creation of a great painting. But as unfortunately many films about painters become, the film runs a bit dull. It lacks any serious drama, perhaps because it stays true to what would be scandal in that time period. Scarlett is only moderate here compared to Lost in Translation, though Wilkenson and Firth are very good with their roles.
The film simply pales in comparison to a film like Frida covering a similar subject, or even another "art come to life" piece like the Van Gogh sequence in Kurosawa's Dreams.
Freddie vs. Jason
3 of 10
The premise is a great idea, supervillan against supervillan, each showing off their own style and strength. Following that is the basic concept for why these two characters would come head to head. Also a great idea.
After that the project became crap. The actual screenplay is a terrible example of what might normally be considered a rough draft first pass at it. The script often requires that characters understand plot points that they simply should and could not, like supernatural things that are occuring or things within someone else's dream. And what makes this a problem is that without those understandings the script would have painted itself into a corner unable to get to the next sequence since the characters would not be able to act in the way the film needs them to, unable to take the necessary action to forward the plot.
This horrible "jumping to conclusions" habit is made doublely worse when at other times we find characters totally ignoring the seriousness of situations. A machette-wielding Jason lit on fire comes marching into a party and slaughters people. So how do the escaping characters react, do they go for help? Nope. Do they band together on the run or hiding out? Nope. They all say "just drop me off back home". WHAT!?! None of them goes Bill Paxton on us at least, none freak out about needing help. No, just a good nights rest will make it all go away.
Yeesh.
 

Nick Sievers

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Jul 1, 2000
Messages
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The script often requires that characters understand plot points that they simply should and could not
"Well maybe Freddy didn't have enough power so he resurrected Jason to spread the fear and everyone would think it was him".

That was easily the sloppiest piece of script writing this year. I still had enough fun with the flick in order to rate it 3 stars.
 

Seth Paxton

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Nov 5, 1998
Messages
7,585
I agree Nick. I mean it happens throughout the script. I don't even blame the acting because while I saw no great efforts I do think they could have pulled off the challenge of having decent lines.
I mean at every turn the script breaks the hierarchy of knowledge that it just created, ie where the audience knows things that the characters don't, which when used correctly adds tension in good films.
It's like why didn't you just let them find this info out instead of hiding it from them, YOU'RE WRITING IT. It's not like they recorded reality and are trying to fix the tricky spot it put them in.
The Cooler
8 of 10
Sounds like I may be semi-alone on this one since I've seen many less flattering reviews on the film. But there are those people out there who do admit to liking it at least.
I thought it was a very solid film, direction, script, and acting are all pretty good. Maybe its just the idea of what the story is that many people don't like. Me, I bought into that and then enjoyed how it was presented to me. I put more about it in the Cooler thread.
 

Adam_S

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Adam_S
Tripletts of Belleville - :star::star::star: (of four)
If the entirety of Tripletts were as good as the first five minutes, this would be one of the greatest animated films ever. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie drags quite often. It's brilliantly done, but just a little too laconic for me (at times). The film has so many brilliant moments, almost everyone centered around the dog.
Adam
 

Edwin Pereyra

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Joined
Oct 26, 1998
Messages
3,500
Carl Franklin's Out of Time – Denzel Washington plays a cop who is in way over his head in this romantic thriller. For much of its running time, most of the events that happens in this thriller seems plausible until the filmmakers decide the push the realm of believability a little further that it puts the entire film over the edge.
That is too bad as this could have been easily rectified if not for that 3-minute Hollywood ending. Still, it’s a nice diversion.
At Bat: Something's Gotta Give
~Edwin
 

Brook K

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Joined
Feb 22, 2000
Messages
9,467
I gave FvJ a B+ as it delivered exactly what I hoped for. A funny, gory, knock-down drag out between our two beloved characters with everything else being completely superflous as it was in basically every Jason movie excepting the original and all but maybe 3 of the Freddy movies. I could care less about the premise or how they got the characters together, the series has never been a paragon of writing or in many cases, competent filmmaking. The entire draw is the iconic characters. All I needed was for them to get the showdown right, and they definitely did that.
I'm probably the biggest fan of The Cooler on the forum. Its in my top 10. But I love to gamble and I love Vegas, I'm the target audience.
The Triplets of Belleville - Love the visual look of the film and the animation; a fusion of geometric and exaggerated realism. Also love the lack of dialogue. Its told almost completely visually. Other than the song, there might be 5 lines of dialogue, reminding those who may have forgotten that movies don't need words. It has a terrific sense of humor. Simply a delightfully funny and visually impressive film that's strengths lie in its simplicity of character, drawing, story, and conflict. I would agree that the energy of the opening 20-30m flags a bit when the Triplets are re-introduced, but not enough to harm my overall enjoyment. A-
Next Up: Fog Of War or Wonderland
 

Seth Paxton

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Nov 5, 1998
Messages
7,585
Open Range
7.5 of 10
Great production values, good story idea, strong acting from Duvall as always. Costner and Bennett are decent.
Script is terrible at times, especially as it awkwardly tries to wedge in a romance plot. The last 4 scenes are the exact same exchange between characters. I mean they are actually talking to each other like the scene before didn't even occur. There are other troubled spots too, but the end is the worst. The direction follows suit with some dreadful choices in the area of slow motion, and in general is less than what the story warranted.
Terrific production/design of the main shootout with a much more authentic, interesting, and dramatic unfolding. The film definitely deserves respect in that area.
American Splendor
9.5 of 10
Just a terrific adaptation of a comic style and a personality to the screen. The film utilizes Pekar's love of jazz with a wonderful jazz score (very nice choices on that) and a jazzy/comic style of direction. The film is unafraid to mix the real people with the actors, and not in a gimmicky way but rather in a humanistic character study way. Just great filmmaking to go with an outstanding script. Giamatti continues his work as a strong screen presence not to mention some fine acting. His name belongs in the circle of the years best actors.
Thirteen
8 of 10
I think I liked this film better when it was called Crazy/Beautiful or White Oleander. It's nicely directed, though nothing remarkable either. Script is solid and provides a fair treatment for all the major characters, nothing is glossed over for Hollywood's sake. Still, the main drawback is that it does follow other recent films so closely that it almost becomes pointless artistically speaking. Hunter and Wood are fine though Hunter is much better. I would only consider Hunter for an acting award however.
House of Sand and Fog
9 of 10
A very powerful drama following in the footsteps of Changing Lanes a little bit, except now the battle is over a house and the players are far more innocent. Similar to Changing Lanes each side finds themselves taking actions and/or stands that are reasonable enough and yet are also perpetuating the situation. It's a great story of real life spinning out of control in an honest manner. Kingsley is outstanding as is Connelly. Kingsley got his nomination, but I'd say that without having seen Keaton's effort I just suspect that Connelly was far more deserving. I'll have to see Something's Got to Give before final judgement on that one. Shohreh Aghdashloo at least gets the Supporting nomination, also deserved.
Unlike Changing Lanes this film is slower, more in line with the tone/tempo of something like The Deep End. Deakin's cinematography gives Seabiscuit (Schwartzman) a run for its money, I'm not sure how he missed the nomination. I would swap him for Serra having seen all 5 cinematography nominees now. His composition is well beyond the direction of Perelman.
Horner's score is also very strong, well-deserving of its Oscar nomination. I'm a bit surprised that Perelman didn't get a nomination for the script, just because it plays so honestly. It really earns it's tensions and emotions.
 

Matt Stone

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Updated with Lost in Translation (*****/*****) and The Last Samurai (****/*****).
 

Seth Paxton

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In America
10 of 10
A wonderful script that is acted out by 5 terrific performances, including the sisters playing the 2 daughters. Morton got her nom but somehow Paddy Considine didn't get his, yet his character has to deal with more emotional range and got many of the best lines.
The dialog and situations found in the script represent the best of the year to me, in both Adapted and Original, and I would expect it to get the Oscar over Coppola if I didn't think she was going to get it as a make-up award. LiT had better direction but not better writing, IMO.
Much of the script is based on true events though some of how they are woven together is fiction (like the dead son was really Sheridan's dead brother, thus the tribute to him to start the credits). I think this is the biggest reason why the writing is so good.
So while Sophia is up there accepting her writing award I will be wishing it had been Sheridan and his 2 daughters.
Also, I have bumped M&C up from a 9.5 to a 10 on further comparison with the other films I rated as 9, 9.5 and 10.
 

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