I find it hard every year to compile a list of its ten best films. I am only a film critic in my spare time and I find it hard to catch more than 25% of the films that are out there due to time and money. Furthermore, I live in Wisconsin and a lot of the independent and art-house films that strike in LA/NY do not make it here until January and February so my list always suffers a lag. That being said, here is probably the fifth version of my top ten favorite films of 2003.
10. X2: X-Men United
X2 was everything that The Matrix sequels were supposed to be. It had a compelling story line that evolved the arc established in the predecessor and came to an explosive end as it foreshadowed the events to come. While it had a hard time balancing characters in some parts, X2 had a lot on the line and it delivered in nearly every aspect. The beginning set piece with Nightcrawler in the White House is one of the best action sequences ever committed to film.
9. 28 Days Later
It is hard to find a more haunting and horrifying portrait of a post-9/11 world than that of Danny Boyle’s zombie/Lord of the Flies blend 28 Days Later. The shots of a deserted London and the film’s form make the film impossible to take from recent memory and the characters motives, scary and realistic as they maybe, will haunt one’s dreams for years to come.
8. Kill Bill: Volume One
Style overcomes content in Quentin Tarantino’s forth film and perhaps most juvenile. That, however, does not make it a bad film. Kill Bill: Volume One is a film of homage and style; it is not attempting to be anything more and that is the beauty of it.
7. Dirty Pretty Things
Dirty Pretty Things, along side Jordan’s The Good Thief, were two of the best thrillers of 2003. Dirty Pretty Things placed real characters in a real world and let fate and a tightly written screenplay guide them straight through to the end. With Dirty Pretty Things, Audrey Tautou has proven that she can expand beyond Amelie and Stephen Frears has shown his competency to create wonderful modern noirs.
6. Finding Nemo
While Nemo did not surpass my experiences with the Toy Story films, it was another home run for Pixar and was a refreshing ride from start to finish. Sure, Albert Brooks and Ellen got a little obnoxious after the first hour. However, the animation and the child talent involved made their performances excusable and the film wonderful.
5. American Splendor
Along side Lost in Translation and Mystic River, American Splendor can boast some of the strongest performances of 2003. Along with it’s performances, the film’s use of innovative and constructive of Pekar’s on-screen persona and his real life inspiration with the utilization of voice-over, animation, and inserts makes American Splendor one of the best pieces of cinema in a long while.
4. Mystic River
While Mystic River is terribly melodramatic at times, that does not make bad. It reminds one, because of the performances, of an Tennessee Williams play. The characters wallow in their grief and act out viciously towards one another with Shakespearian fury. They become more and more flawed and increasingly show the darkness of humanity. It’s depressing and harsh, but a haunting experience.
3. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
While not my favorite film in the series (Fellowship will always take my praise as that), Jackson’s final film of his opus is remarkable, both visually and thematically. Bringing Tolkien’s series to a close, Jackson proved that the source material could be handled and while some bulk at the multiple endings, in the context of the three films this is not only excusable but required.
2. Lost in Translation
Lost in Translation was one of the few films in a long time that captured my heart with it’s visual minimalism and incredibly realistic and complex characters. Coppola’s homing of both Murray and Johannson into fresh and heartbreaking characters is deserving of much praise and the whole piece comes over the viewer like a warm drowse.
1. City of God
This is perhaps one of the most sociologically haunting pieces of the past decade. It is a violent roller coaster of those who cannot escape the nature that they have been brought into and how they adapt to the hell around them. Both beautiful and horrifying at the same time, City of God is not only the best film of 2003 but one of the best films ever.
