Top 10 films of 2003

Hooray! Films!

I realize most people find these kind of dull, but I feel they are important for posterity’s sake. When I look back upon my life, I want to be able to instantly know what my favourite films were in any given year. I feel this will be helpful when I am a crotchety old man stumbling about forgetting my wife’s name and calling for pets who died twenty years back. Don’t ask how knowing films then will be helpful — it just will.

MISCELLANEOUS AWARDS

“Happiness” Award for Most Fucked Up Film: Irreversible
Feeling a hankering for graphic scenes of face smashing and disturbing depictions of rape? This is the film for you! Though I can’t deny the film’s powerful and innovative storytelling technique, nor can I overlook the powerful performance given by Monica Belluci, this is absolutely a film I hope I never have to sit through again.

Worst Film: Matrix Reloaded
Though I’m sure I saw worse films this year, none come close to this film as far as sheer disappointment is concerned. See my review for more.

Most unintentionally hilarious film: Matrix Revolutions
The most fun I had at the theatre this year, without question. The Wachowskis managed to win me back with the comedy bonanza that was this film. Once again, see my review.

Most pretentious film: Elephant
I thought The Matrix Reloaded would have this category sewn up, but then came Gus Van Sant. After realizing that he couldn’t just keep making “Misunderstood genius learns how to grow under the guidance of wise mentor” movies, Van Sant apparently got deeply depressed and decided to lash out at the viewing public by making movies which are mostly just long tracking shots. Elephant, which purports to be a deep movie about Columbine-style school shootings, thinks itself brilliant enough to include such pretentious tripe as a 15-minute scene in which a character walks around while “Fur Elise” plays in the background. Utterly worthless film.

Miramax Award for Lamest Oscar Bait Film: Cold Mountain
If this movie sweeps the Oscars, I will scream. Runner-up: Big Fish. (A.K.A: Forrest Gump, but quirkier!)

Good but not on the list

• Bend it like Beckham — My review
• Spider — My review
• School of Rock
• thirteen
• Girl With a Pearl Earring
• Owning Mahowny
• Finding Nemo
• Mystic River
• Whale Rider

And the Top 10 of the year…

10. Love Actually - imbd
My sentimental favourite. With his directorial debut, Richard Curtis took the genre he created with films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill into overdrive. Filled to the brim with quirky British humour and sappy love stories, Love Actually feels like an overwhelming mess. But it’s such an emotionally affecting, well-acted (Emma Thompson is particularly brilliant) and altogether heartwarming overwhelming mess that I’d be remiss if I didn’t include it on this list. Though it lacks the technical brilliance of the films listed below, it more than makes up for its shortcomings with its ability to make me need a big hug.

9. The Cooler - imdb
An old-fashioned film driven by strong performances by Alec Baldwin and ER vets William H. Macy and Maria Bello. Once I got over the shock of seeing Dr. David Morgenstern shacking up with Dr. Anna Del’Amico, I really got into this simple story of a lifetime loser and the love he finds. Though marred by a somewhat abrupt and silly ending, its redeemed by the extremely likeable and effective performance of William H. Macy (One of my favourite actors working today) and a supporting role from Alec Baldwin thats as surprising as it is brilliant. The Cooler is straightforward storytelling at its best.

8. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - imdb
I saw and enjoyed both of the two earlier Lord of the Rings films, but they never caught my attention the way they have some of the fantasy freaks out there. I can’t deny the emotional weight and superb cinematography of Peter Jackson’s final bow, however. Though I think the loud criticisms of the ending are somewhat justified, the rest of the film is just so meticulously crafted. The film clearly required a tremendous effort on the part of both Jackson, his crew and his cast. It’s regrettable that the strong performances of Elijah Wood and Sean Astin are likely to go unrewarded, as they shine as two unlikely heroes risking it all to save their world. Made me want to be a Hobbit!

7. A Mighty Wind - A Mighty Wind
Director Christopher Guest has been accused of being a one-trick pony. And it’s not incorrect to say, really, as he seems either unwilling or unable to do anything outside the ‘mockumentary’ genre. However, even if he is a one-trick pony, you have to admit it’s a one really damn good trick. What sets A mighty Wind above and beyond his previous effort, the hilarious Best in Show, is Guest’s clear love for the folk music he has as the subject of his ‘mockumentary’ this time around. Eugene Levy gives an amazing performance, playing against his type, as a drug-addled former folk singer still in love with his former partner. It’s funny, but it’s also sweet, and in the end, it’s just a really satisfying film.

6. Kill Bill Volume 1 - imdb
I think this is something like the fourth film from director Quentin Tarantino, but honestly nobody seems to be counting! Yes, it’s absurdly violent. Yes, the story is absurdly simple. And yes, the characters are cartoony shells. But man, what an innovative, high-energy and fun film this is. Like A Mighty Wind, Tarantino clearly loves his subject, so while he is noting the outlandishness of the 70s Samurai films he watched as a kid, he’s also embracing them as the over-the-top gorefests they are. That he made Uma Thurman a convincing Samurai is one of the more impressive magic tricks of the year.

5. Shattered Glass - imdb
The straightforward ungimmicky telling of the story of New Republic writer Stephen Glass, who was revealed to have made-up a large percentage of the stories he wrote for the magazine, Shattered Glass is a flawless film. The subject matter has particular interest for me, as I’ve done the whole Journalist thing — and I even, once or twice, fudged a few quotes — but even those without newspaper experience should find it gripping. The leading performance by Hayden Christensen shows once again how much of a versatile and utterly believable actor he can be, and he’s backed up by strong supporting actors in Hank Azaria and Peter Sarsgaard. Is it the most innovative film of the year? Not by a long shot. But director Billy Ray accomplishes everything he sets out to do, and how many directors can say that?

4. Monster - imdb
The film which Roger Ebert dubbed his Best Of the Year isn’t quite as good as he claims, in my opinion, but the startling transformation of Charlize Theron into Florida Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos is one that has to be seen to be believed. And though the work of the make-up artists is impressive, it’s Charlize’s ability to complete immerse herself in the role that brings the film to life. There’s always the danger of going too far in portraying serial killer characters, as it would be a complete injustice to the victims to humanize the perpetrators of such terrible acts. Writer and Director Patty Jenkins gives dimension to Theron’s character, and lets us see her as a tragic character, but does not waver in her portrayal of the seriousness of Aileen’s acts. It’s a fine line to walk, but Jenkins and Theron pull it off brilliantly, and cap the whole thing off with one of the most moving ending scenes of the year.

3. 21 Grams - imdb
It was a banner year for Sean Penn, with both this and Mystic River, the actor proved once again just how good he can be. And though Penn’s portrayal of a a man desperately in need of a heart transplant is exceptionally powerful, it’s actually Naomi Watts who steals the show. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu pushes the non-linear storytelling gimmick to the absolute limit, to the point where I wondered if the version of the film I was watching was being screened out of order, but he manages to bring things into focus just before the viewer’s frustration reaches its limit. The overall picture is that of a very depressing story perfectly brought home by its principal performers — Penn, Watts and Benecio Del Toro. When everything finally begins to make sense, when the end becomes clear and the viewer begins to realize each character’s sad fate, it’s hard not to want a return to the disjointed confusion of the film’s beginnings. Any film that evokes such an emotional reaction from me instantly goes on the list, and this film was there less than an hour in.

2. American Splendor - imdb - my review
I still can’t get into Harvey Pekar’s comic books — I find them dry and uninteresting — but there’s no denying the innovative and moving story told here. I think I said all I can say in my review linked above, but let me once again reiterate that this is a landmark achievement in adaptation. Never before has the sequential novel (’comic book’) been so well adapated to film.

1. Lost in Translation - imdb - my review
Oh, like you’re so surprised. I’ve said it before, but why not say it again: this is not only my best of the year, but also one of my favourite of all time. A gorgeous film, both in composition and message. I’ve seen it three times already. And I will see it again. An intensely relatable, heartbreakingly beautiful and just plain GOOD film. Go see it, you stupid fool. What are you waiting for.

Notable need-to-see-ems: City of God, In America

And with that, the year is done. Here’s to 2004!