Best and Worst of 2003 Cinema

[Miruvor]

I think this has been a grand year for movies. Go ahead and list your favorite movies this year, and some of the worst, too, if you managed to waste some money on them.

My Best - In order:

1. ROTK (a premonition)
2. Pirates of the Carribean
3. Nowhere in Africa
4. Whale Rider
5. Open Range
6. Holes (? this year?)
7. X-Men 2

Runners up are:

1. Martrix Reloaded
2. Finding Nemo
3. Down with Love
4. Freaky Friday
5. American Splendor
4. Terminator 3 (yeah, I DID like it.)
6. Winged Migration

P.S. I saw Elijah Wood's movie 'All I Want' on Cable TV and I really like that one too, for the record.

I plan on seeing 'Thirteen' and 'Secondhand Lions', which I expect to be excellent also.

My WORST movie of the year was:

1. Bringing Down the House. I hated that movie!
pfbbt

[Ereinion]

Great idea, Miruvor!:thumbs:

My personal favs are:

1) ROTK
2) Pirates of the Caribbean
3) Matrix Reloaded
4) LXG (only guessing...not released yet:( )
5) Master and Commander (still guessing...:blush: )
6) Phone Boot

Worst movies:
1) The Hunted
2) Hollywood Homiside

That's it for now....

[Anarya]

The Best:
1) ROTK (any LOTR fan would say that, but...)
2) Pirates of the Caribbean
3) Finding Nemo
4) LXG
5) Hidalgo (not released yet, but Viggo's in it)

Worst:
1) God's and General *snore*

[TheRingBearer]

BEST

1) ROTK
2) KILL BILL
3) PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
4) THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS
5) PHONE BOOTH

WORST
Probably Secondhand Lions. That looks really chessy and i hate Haley Joel Osment.

[Lady Melanie]

The Best are: (Drumroll)
1.ROTK
2.Pirates of the Caribbean
3.The Matrix Reloaded
4.Phone Booth
5.LXG

Whale Rider? No way. I saw it and hated it!!!:nono:

[Catz]

ok.......best.........and i wont bother mentioning RotK;)
Donnie Darko
Whale Rider.......i loved it ;)
Phone Booth
matrix reloaded
Frida
X Men II
the Ring

ummm worst.......thats harder.......i dont generally go to a movie i know i wont like
DD was pretty awful

:catz:

[Nyphistra Silvertree]

Wow, I think some of you go to a lot more movies than I do!! :)

My favourites so far this year have been The Italian Job, Pirates of the Caribbean, and X-Men 2.

The worst of the year? Would be a toss-up between Matrix Reloaded, LXG (both of which I'd looked forward to and was hugely disappointed by), or The Medallion (which was just plain crappy).

[Morgothian]

Um... well I havent really seen any movies that were that good this year T 3 sucked the Hulk sucked Matrix Sucked Pirates was o..k. So ill just say R..............O.................T................ ..k all the way

[Annex]

Originally posted by Ereinion
Great idea, Miruvor!:thumbs:

My personal favs are:

1) ROTK
2) Pirates of the Caribbean
3) Matrix Reloaded
4) LXG (only guessing...not released yet:( )
5) Master and Commander (still guessing...:blush: )
6) Phone Boot

Worst movies:
1) The Hunted
2) Hollywood Homiside

That's it for now....

how could you not like The Hunted? that was like the new 'Fugitive' lol

[Daeron]

Oooh, best films? Well I don't get to the cinema much, so a short list follows:

Best::

TTT (natch)
Pirates of the Caribbean
T3

Worst:

Matrix Reloaded (Sorry, but despite how much I liked the first one, I found the sequel to be a flabby monstrosity, groaning under the immense weight of its own excess :) ).

[Ereinion]

Originally posted by Annex
how could you not like The Hunted? that was like the new 'Fugitive' lol

Welcome Annex! :wave:
The Hunted was by no means "a new Fugutive"...It was a terrible and way too bloody movie, which had none of the suffistication nor the appeal of the Fugitive....But that's only my opinion...

[TheRingBearer]

Aw man how could I forget Daredevil! That was to be the worst of the year so far.

[Lady Melanie]

For me the worst is
Terminator 3

[Beregond]

My favorites list...
ROTK, ok not out yet, but who cares?
Pirates of the Caribbean
The Matrix: Reloaded
American Wedding

Worst..
The Hulk
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

[TheRingBearer]

I thought the Hulk was brilliant. Good to see a different style of comic book movie, unlike Daredevil...

[Ereinion]

And IMO The Cradle of Life wasn't that bad either....Much better the the first movie...

[Gwaihir]

My favs are:

1) Pirates of the Caribbean
2) LXG
3) RotK
4) M&C The Far Side of the World (not released yet)
5) Seabiscuit

And the worst one would probably be Gigli, though I haven't seen it. One or two days after being released that movie had only 1.7 stars out of 10. lol I'm not surprised; they had Ben Afflick play in it.

[Annex]

Sea Biscuit was filmed in my hometown :)

[Lady Ashley]

Best:

1) ROTK
2) Pirates of the Caribbean
3) X-Men 2

I would put Chicago but that was from last year (don't trout me, please! I liked the songs!)

Worst:

Bringing Down the House

That movie was tooooo gross for me...funny at some points but nastiness and old ladies smoking weed is not cool...

I just haven't seen that many movies this year...and I think I only play to see two more: ROTK and Secondhand Lions.

[Ereinion]

I forgot to put Bruce Allmighty in my Best Films List...:grin:

[Miruvor]

Where does that 'Angels-with-Pretty-Faces' movie fall, you know - that 'Three Angels and a Bosley' movie?. I didn't see it myself.

[Gwaihir]

~Originally posted by Annex
Sea Biscuit was filmed in my hometown

Really? :o Did you get to see them filming? That is so cool! :grin:

Oops, I forgot to include X-men 2 in my list. The dvd is already out in Japan; I'm going to get a copy. :)

[Aranel of Mirkwood]

Heres mine!

1:Joint: Rotk, TTT
2:PotC
3:Ned Kelly
4:Matrix Reloaded
5:Matrix Revolutions
6:Charlies Angels: Full Throttle

I think that is all I have seen this year..............

[Tirithel]

Out of what I've seen (which ain't much) here're my humble opinions:

FINDING NEMO: :hooray: Wonderful! Cried like a pregnant woman who finds her ankles are too fat for her favorite heels. The best Disney flick since The Lion King. SHARK-BAIT, BRU-HA HA!

X2- :thumbs: Excellent, though a tidge muddled. Can't wait for it to come out on video. Hugh Jackman I love you!

DAREDEVIL- :idea:Flimsy screenwriters trash what could be another fanciful Marvel wonder. Benny was good in this, even Colin Farrel did okay. Though I loved the intro in the beginning (where it shows young Benny adapting to his powers & what-not), I think if they'd devoted less time to that and more time to the body of the film, (to add substance and thicken the plot a bit more), it would have been a better movie overall.

MATRIX RELOADED: :hmppf: Oust the gratuitous sex scene in the beginning and get straight to the 14-minute most awesome car chase. Hack Lawrence Fishburne's "inspirational/cornball" speech, and cut to Neo kickin Hugo Weaving around again...and again...and again. I agree with, I believe it was Ereinion: it groans under the weight of it's own success. More cool FX, less pipe-dream writers, please!

POTC: pfbbt WEAK! Okay, so Johnny Depp rocked and Orly's got a pretty face, but the plot was waaaaaaayyy muddled and the majority of the acting was poop. Elizabeth Swan can lick my shoe.

Lady Ashley, fear not! I too loved CHICAGO, all the more for the fact that the actors involved did all their own singing and dancing- Catherine Zeta-Jones is my new idol, and I'm taking a roadie to NY to star in the next production. "When you're good to Mamaaaaaaaaaaah!" ;) lol

Any questions? :grin:

[Boromir123]

Hmmm...I would have to say....
1.The two Towers yep i waited for it to come out on DVD
2.T 3
3.Bruce almighty
4.Pirates of the Carribean

And the worst.................
Secondhand lions looks like it would suck. I thought seabiscuit would suck but i read the book and i liked it. i saw the movie of it and thought it was very inspirtaional(Alright i only saw the trailer, but that was inspiring! soo.... the worst

1.(and only) secondhand lions

[Lady Ashley]

Oh, Tirithel! someone else that likes Chicago! (and yes, it was nice the actores did the singing!)

I forgot about Bruce Almighty....for my Bad List. Didn't see it, but it just looked stupid and insulting. How dumb is the guy, using his powers to make his wife's chest get bigger for him?? *shakes head*

[Miruvor]

POTC lame?????. To me, it was the best fun at the movies I've had all year.

Contrary to that - I have seen (partial anyway) another one to add to my 'ABSOLUTE VERY WORST' list:

Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

For every minute that went by, I felt like the director was beating me up with that non-stop callous violence. I was eyeing the exit more than the screen. Now I see clearly that the two words, 'violence' and 'violated' have the same root. Rodriguez must be heartless and sadistic to serve up his unsuspecting audience a movie like this, packaged with a pretty bows to entice (Johnny, Antonio, Selma). If this is his profession, his hobby must be to initiate computer viruses just for the fun of it.
Need I say, I walked out 2/3s of the way through. I had to go home and take a shower.

[Tirithel]

I walked into POTC looking for a funfilled adventure, and I left shaking my head and going, "So, why was the pirate dead again?" I think they could have explained a lot of things better (inc' why Johnny Depp's character turned out to be cursed as well)...but, hold on, I'll wait until it's out for rental and review it before I give a final commentary. I'm kind of a tough judge...I thought TTT really sucked the first time I saw it too. Lemme get back to ya.

[Miruvor]

POTC - It all comes clearer with every watching. And the complexity of the script gives you so many little details to make you want to go back and pick up even more. But you can't doze off for a second, or you may miss a piece of crucial information.
Jack was only cursed near the end when he couldn't resist taking a coin out of the chest. Although, not fully explained was what Will's expression meant when he saw Jack taking it.

[Iarfirithwen]

Originally posted by Miruvor
I think this has been a grand year for movies. Go ahead and list your favorite movies this year, and some of the worst, too, if you managed to waste some money on them.
...

Thats true. It has indeed been a grand year for film. Its also been the year of the sequel. I think I read somewhere recently that there have been over 30 sequels released this year!Theres been so many movies I've wanted to see this year but not had the chance. It's going to take me a while to try and remember all that I have seen.

[Iarfirithwen]

Out of what I've seen at the cinema so far this year (or at least what I can remember seeing this year):
Best of List ( Like it is with all things for me, I'm skewed to seeing the good in things).

My Top 5:
=1 Whale Rider - By far one of the best films I have watched in recent times. Wonderful story. Incredibly moving. Top stuff.
=1 Russian Ark - Amazing. Exhilarating! (& yes I'm sure ROTK will take their place as #1 but since I haven't seen it yet ...)
3. X2 - Great juggling act with a large ensemble, for my fav bunch of superheroes. Liked the plot, nicely balanced etc etc AND Phoenix got an eye in (literally ;)) which made me happy for ages. Now they just need to show why Cyclops is the leader (something dreadfully lacking from both films). Equal top comic-to-film adaptation in my books :)
4. The Hours - Nicole Kidman is creeping up my list of fav female actors +_ Meryl Streep one of my top 3 was in it, but this is not one of her better performances to my mind. However, still a great Drama.
5. Matrix Reloaded - Yes I really did like it. Not as much as the first but still ...(I should probably include Animatrix in here too ... I love short films and these were great). The first one was tighter and more coherent, but I really get the feeling that Reloaded is meant to be seen with Revolutions, and not meant to stand on its own.

(actually, since TTT was only released here on the 26th Dec last year and I was still watching it this year ... should I include it here as well ;) :grin: at number 1 of course)

Good:
28 Days Later - I have a thing for those wake-up-one-morning-and-the-worlds-changed-forever kinda films. Great take on the genre except that the alternate ending was far more appropriate and consistent with the film than the one that preceded the credits.
Lost in La Mancha - Quite fascinating and perversely funny. A very interesting story of how things can go wrong when making a film, and then continue to go wrong. Moral of the story - always have someone making a "The making of" doco of any film you make. That way if the film gets packed in, you've still got something for all the effort. Nice to see Gilliam on the other side of the camera, even if its someone elses.
Pirates of the Caribbean - Nice one, poppet. Well constructed with a great cast. Wonderful mix of humour and light drama, well paced no brainer savvy?, Saw it more than once ... which I blame on the dreams involving a certain Wil Turner after I watched the first one... (I kid you not! ... he was mine and looking after me! :D :D :D) Orlando Bloom is nearly the Errol Flynn of the 21st Century. He just needs a bit of an edge, maybe in a couple of years I'll let him claim that title ... *shudder with delight* We need more films set on the ships of earlier centuries .. (I love the sound of creaking rope ... cue Master and Commander)
25th Hour - Really liked this. Norton did a great job.
8 Mile - Nice entry into another world we don't really have in this country. Great debut acting for Mr Mathers III ;) Liked the soundtrack.
Finding Nemo - Pixar does it again. Delightful and for once the Australian accents weren't overdone ... thanks to using Australians for part of the cast and then not worrying so much about the accents of the others. But I wished I'd seen it before hearing all the hype coming out of the US over it.
Punch Drunk Love - loved the directing. Impressive opening few minutes (partially because what happened was so unexpected) TOTALLY changed my opinion on Adam Sandler ... usually kind-of avoid his films but had tickets for a special preview (i.e., it was free), so I went to check it out ... and well I was impressed.
Adaptation- Interesting. Liked it
Naqoyqatsi - Not as strong as the earlier two films in this series, but its still nice to get away from the formulaic Hollywood films to explore and communicate through a different style. While the subject is disturbing the imagery is beautiful if sometimes, a little cliche'd. Once again a great soundtrack.
Down with Love - d-lightful .. love old movies and this was a top-notch send up, from the design to music....especially design
The Dancer Upstairs Good stuff, but I'm still wondering about the poster for it.
Ned Kelly - Good/Solid Australian drama but with some room for improvement, somewhere (not sure where). Liked the shoot out. Ledger and Bloom were good. Rush did a great job presenting a "bad copper" that wasn't uni-dimensional. Watts was okay but she was kinda shafted in this one, Griffiths seemed to have more fun with a much shorter part. Was expecting Edgerton to have more to do
Hulk - Despite what some say I actually thought this was a really good comic-to-film adaptation. I like that it was styled differently. Conveyed more emotion than the standard fare in the genre
I Capture the Castle - Nice English period piece. Not the best ever produced but still a good watch.
The Italian Job - Not bad for a remake, actually good ... sorry, I forgot its meant to be a "homage" to the original.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider 2 etc etc - I actually thought this wasn't bad (maybe because I was expecting it be). Better than the first one. I'm now thinking that Lara Croft and James Bond should get married lol (could you imagine what your life would be like if Croft was your mother and Bond was your father)
Charlies Angles 2 - Fun stuff!! - "This is hostel ya?" still cracks me up. Not as fresh as the first one, but still fun.

The neutral side of Good / Nothing to rave about but not bad:
Freaky Friday - As you might expect, not big on substance or realism (even the so-called grungey teen characters look like sugar-coated Disney clones, filled with cliche's and the usual stereotypes such as the "mystic Chinese") but its funny and otherwise done well enough to be easy to watch. Curtis (and her co-star whose name eludes me) was very good. (Isn't it funny how a mediocre film stands out more than it would normally simply because its in the class of teen family films thats nearly always filled with really stinky rubbish)
Travelling Birds/Winged Migration - Yeh I know people rave about this. Had some brilliant footage, and I did like it, but I've actually seen similar before. David Attenborough's Life of Birds is 1000X better for a film about the diversity and beauty of our feathered friends. However, I'd like to watch it again one afternoon when I'm more in the mood for it than the day I saw it.
Catch Me if You Can - okay, easy to watch I guess.
T3 - um ... it was better than I thought it would be!? ;) Didn't think it would have a chance of topping either 1 or 2, and guess what? It didn't! Didn't come close.
Maid in Manhattan - I actually watched this? Why? It was okay, but Meg Ryan does better chick flicks
Neutral
Daredevil - I didn't think it was as bad as some people say but ... I may even watch it again on DVD one day if there's additional scenes, and depending what mood I'm in and what else is available.
XXX - this is no answer to James Bond (This may have been released here last year?)
Legally Blonde 2 - well the Capitol Hill Barbie line was worth a snicker ... bit of a yawn compared to the first one (The first one I liked. It surprised me.)
LXG - Lost. I suppose okay for a Saturday matinee styled flick, but desperately need a different director. Had such great but unrealised potential (and indeed the potential exists for a sequel - with a different director). I actually thought Daredevil was the better movie (please don't trout me), but that LXG was more fun to watch.

BAD .. and I mean Bad! (Note the capital B)
Collateral Damage - I saw this on DVD this year and I don't know when it was released here but it was so incredibly bad that it sticks in my head (ahhh the pain) and it deserves a mention...Few movies I have ever watched can compete with it's badness.


There were a stack of things I really wanted to see but missed (like seriously, I still haven't seen Chicago! or Phone Booth). There's also probably a few films I've seen this year but escape my memory for the moment.

[Miruvor]

By me: I plan on seeing 'Thirteen' and 'Secondhand Lions', which I expect to be excellent also.
Well, I saw them both and Thirteen is maybe on the low side of my runner up list and SHL didn't make the cut.

I'm pretty neutral about Sea Biscuit also. Pretty good, but over-rated.

I did see another one to add to my top 10 list:

8. Dirty Pretty Things. - I loved it on all kinds of levels.

Great reviews Iarfirithwen - It looks like quite a few movies you've seen haven't made it to my area yet. Like Ned Kelly, I Capture the Castle, and Lost in La Mancha. I've been waiting for them. I never heard of the 'Russian Ark' movie.
:huh:

[Boromir123]

This may be off the subject, but we'll miss you John Ritter, Johnny Cash, and Fred Rogers. mecry