Moviegoing 2003

2004, Christian Sauvé

This being a flash-retrospective of the movies of 2003, written at the end of the year and updated until the Oscars are given out in February 2004:

  1. THE BEST: Every end-of-year retrospective must have a top-ten list...
  2. HONORABLE MENTIONS: Other films worth a look.
  3. BOTTOM OF THE BARREL: Movies to avoid.
  4. A QUICK GUIDE TO OTTAWA-AREA THEATRES: For once, some regional content.
  5. WHAT ABOUT THE OSCARS? My picks for the year.

 

1. THE BEST

My Ten Favourite Films of 2003

(This is not a "best movies of the year" list. This is a "my favourite films of the year" list.)

1. LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING

2. PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN

3. FINDING NEMO

4. ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO

5. DOWN WITH LOVE

6. KILL BILL VOLUME 1

7. TERMINATOR 3

8. RUNAWAY JURY

9. THE MATRIX OVERHYPED

10. PHONE BOOTH

I would also like to mention BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, an irresistible teen sport romantic comedy, as a more-than-honorable mention. It's too bad that it only made it to American shores in 2003. Had I seen it in 2002, chances are that it would have made that year's top-ten list.

Then there's THE ANIMATRIX, a collection of short animated films about the world of THE MATRIX that was released on DVD in 2003. Good stuff for sci-fi fans, with an amusing mixture of animation styles and another look at the universe behind the first film.

 

2. HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Beyond a top-ten list, there's other good material out there. Imperfect. Unsubstantial. Unpolished. Badly-paced. But worthwhile nonetheless. Here's a list of what else I liked in 2003:

But first, an important note: 2003 was the year of the car chase. In addition to the anthology pieces featured in THE MATRIX RELOADED and TERMINATOR 3 (both mentioned above), sweet car chases could also be found in 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, BAD BOYS 2 and CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE (all of whom are worth a look for action fanatics, despite the overabundance of "2" in their titles.) Additionally, car sequences formed the best moments of otherwise-weak films such as FINAL DESTINATION 2 and JOHNNY ENGLISH.

CONFIDENCE is a pretty spiffy heist/con film. Don't miss it. if you're looking for something darker, DARK BLUE isn't too bad even though it's a bit of a downer. But not as much as IDENTITY, which will leave some extactic and others infuriated. Other thrillers that may be worth a look include SWAT, THE RECRUIT, MATCHSTICK MEN, OUT OF TIME and the rather good Canadian film FOOLPROOF.

Oops! Let's not forget X-MEN 2, which was a pretty spiffy follow-up to a surprisingly good super-hero film.

Comedy-wise, let's hear it for the Canadian comedy MAMBO ITALIANO and the surprisingly solid THE RUNDOWN. SCHOOL OF ROCK was another pleasant surprise. INTOLERABLE CRUELTY disappointed a number of Coen Brothers fans, but it's certainly worth a second look. If you have not been nice this year, go grab BAD SANTA and you'll feel much better. Finally, if romance is what you're looking for, it's difficult to do better than LOVE ACTUALLY.

On the other hand, if you're after drama and a good cry, well, take a look at BIG FISH, MYSTIC RIVER or THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG. Be sure to grab a box of tissues.

If historical recreations interest you more than complex stories, hop on the time machine and have a good look at MASTER AND COMMANDER, THE LAST SAMURAI and COLD MOUNTAIN. I have doubts about the plotting of all three, but not enough to avoid recommending them.

For the kids, I actually like the first two-third of AGENT CODY BANKS and most of SPY KIDS 3D, though I must that that this last film pales in comparison to the first two entries in the trilogy.

I'm still thinking about THE HUNTED, CHARLIE'S ANGELS 2 and BASIC: All of them had good bits, but also quite a lot of silliness.

 

 

3. BOTTOM OF THE BARREL

Try to avoid those, if you can: (in increasingly frustrating order)

5. Uptown Girls

4. Gigli

3. National Security

2. Dreamcatcher

1. Legally Blonde II

A dishonorable mention goes to the "Movies. They're worth it" anti-piracy campaign, especially the "David Goldstein, set painter" one. I'm sure that Mr. Goldstein is a fine fellow with whom I'd love to chat over lunch, but his commercial is one of the stupidest things the movie studios have made in a long while. Not only is it running in movie theaters (where, hint, hint, you will not find those who download movies), but it was running in front of such movies at ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO and SPY KIDS 3D, which is tremendously ironic considering what Robert Rodriguez is doing to do without people like Goldstein in an effort to keep costs down. Throw in the booming economics of films, the unionized status of people like Mr. Goldstein and the multimillion costs of top-line actors and the argument doesn't even make sense any more. (Why should Hollywood be "protected" as outshoring is all the rage? Go, free markets, go!) Heck, after the umpteenth times they crammed it down our eyeballs, I wanted to rush out, download movies and drive the studios out of business. Movies. They may not be worth it (the aggravation.)

 

4. A QUICK UPDATE ON OTTAWA-AREA THEATRES

Prices went up, service went down... it was business-as-usual for the Ottawa-area theaters this year. I can only comment on where I went, so, in decreasing order of frequentation, here are my comments on:

 

5. WHAT ABOUT THE OSCARS?

As of early 2004, here how I'd give out the Oscars, damn the Academy!

 

Ongoing reviews of films released in 2003