Best Movies Of 2003

[Bill Murphy]

Note: Winged Migration & Spellbound don't count, even though most of us saw them this year, else both'd be in the top five.

Rivers & Tides
American Splendor
Capturing The Friedmans
Lost In Translation
Return Of The King
Finding Nemo
SChool Of Rock
Mystic River
Pirates Of The Caribbean
Cold Mountain

I did not see Secret Lives Of Dentists or 21 Grams; I'm sure I'm forgetting something(great Mexican or Brazilian film, maybe?); and IMO the quality really drops after the top six or seven.

Kill Bill 1 & Last Samurai are great "popcorn" movies and I think Mystic River is the best overrated movie ever.

Gotta give credit where credit is due to Sofia Coppola; doubt there have been many directors who've gone two for two outta the gate like she has. Terence Malick(although I've never seen his first two & thought Thin Red Line sucked), Tarantino. Did Scorsese start Mean Streets-Taxi Driver?

Yeah, she's had every advantage but she's got the chops; can both write & adapt, as well as direct no-names & big stars. Of course, I know plenty of people who hated Virgin Suicides so there you go.

[Clarkmeister]

I thought Nemo was overrated and saved by Ellen's brilliant performance.

No Seabiscuit? For shame! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[David Steele]

From your list (that I saw):

I also liked:
Capturing The Friedmans
Lost In Translation
SChool Of Rock
Mystic River

Hated:
Pirates Of The Caribbean
21 grams ( hated this the most )
and didn't like Kill Bill anywhere near the
rest of the Tarantino movies.

D.

[Boris]

Agree about Seabiscuit. That is a great movie. maybe it's too much of a feel good flick and has too much mass appreal to gain critical accolades.

[TimTimSalabim]

I guess this just proves how subjective one's movie-watching experience is. Last Samurai is my best movie of the year, actually the best I've seen in several years. I was mesmerized. I was also quite charmed by Lost In Translation. Other movies I thought were very interesting in their own special ways were Matchstick Men, The Cooler, and Bad Santa. Finding Nemo is the most overrated IMO. ROTK overrated, but still good.

[TimTimSalabim]

Oops, I left out Whale Rider. Add that to my list of bests. I'm probably leaving out some others that came out early in the year.

[scotnt73]

return of the king was hands down my favorite. but i waited a year for it and am a big fan of the books so no surprise there. i thought pirates of the caribbean was very good also. i really like Jack Black and though school of rock was very good and funny but not near movie of the year. seabiscuit was excellent.

[Bill Murphy]

I didn't see it, but I haven't heard a bad thing about it.

Hell, it's got William H. Macy in it, so it has to be good, no matter how bad Toby is.

[Bill Murphy]

Missed Matchstick Men. Whale Rider didn't interest me, but Iheard it was excellent so I'll give it a whirl. Have to get off me erse and see Bad Santa. The Cooler starts here next week.

But Rivers & Tides and American Splendor are the clear 1 & 1A for me. I could happily watch R&T once a week for the next 60 years. Never seen or imagined anything like it.

[Cyrus]

I had gone to see "Solaris" with a heavy heart, expecting the standard Hollywood massacre of a remake. Which it was not, quite the contrary actually, thanks to its director's intelligence, humility and art. Excellent movie.

(Scorsese started out with "Italianamerican", if memory serves, in which he had both his parents playing themselves.)