A Shoppers Guide to Time Magazines Top 2003 Lists
Best Movies of 2003- Richard Corliss
The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King -- Theatrical Release -- With The Return of the King, the greatest fantasy epic in film history draws to a grand and glorious conclusion. Director Peter Jackson's awe-inspiring adaptation of the Tolkien classic The Lord of the Rings as a showcase for physical and technical craftsmanship it is unsurpassed in scale and ambition, as the brave yet innocent Hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood) continues to Mordor, destined to destroy the One Ring of Power in the molten lava of Mount Doom. While the heir to the kingdom of Men, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), endures battle at Minas Tirith with the allegiance of the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and the great wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Frodo and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) must survive the deceptions of Gollum. Hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), ensure The Return of the King maintains the trilogy's emphasis on intimate fellowship. While several major characters appear only briefly, and one (Christopher Lee's evil wizard, Saruman) was relegated entirely to the extended-version DVD, Jackson is to be commended for his editorial acumen; like Legolas the archer, his aim as a filmmaker is consistently true, and he remains faithful to Tolkien's vision. By ending the trilogy with noble integrity and faith in the power of imaginative storytelling will stand as an adventure for ages.
Finding Nemo -- A delightful undersea world unfolds in Pixar's animated adventure Finding Nemo. When his son Nemo is captured by a scuba-diver, a nervous-nellie clownfish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) sets off into the vast--and astonishingly detailed--ocean to find him. Along the way he hooks up with a scatterbrained blue tang fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who's both helpful and a hindrance, sometimes at the same time. Faced with sharks, deep-sea anglers, fields of poisonous jellyfish, sea turtles, pelicans, and much more, Marlin rises above his neuroses in this wonderfully funny and nonstop thrill ride--rarely does more than 10 minutes pass without a sequence destined to become a theme park attraction. Pixar continues its run of impeccable artistic and economic success (their movies include Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc). Also featuring the voices of Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, and Allison Janney. --Bret Fetzer
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World -- In the capable hands of director Peter Weir, authentic, dynamically cast, and thrilling. In adapting two of Patrick O'Brian's novels about British naval hero Capt. Jack Aubrey, Weir and cowriter John Collee changed the timeframe from the British/American war of 1812 to the British/French opposition of 1805, where the HMS Surprise, under Aubrey's confident command, is patrolling the South Atlantic in pursuit of the Acheron, a French warship with the strategic advantage of greater size, speed, and artillery. Russell Crowe is outstanding as Aubrey, firm and fiercely loyal, focused on his prey even if it means locking horns with his friend and ship's surgeon, played by Crowe's A Beautiful Mind costar Paul Bettany. Employing ocean footage, detailed models, full-scale ships, and CGI enhancements, Weir pays attention to every detail, while maintaining a story of honor, warfare, and survival under wretched conditions. Raging storms and hull-shattering battles provide pulse-pounding action, and a visit to the Galapagos Islands lends a note of otherworldly wonder, adding yet another layer of historical perspective to this epic adventure.
City of God lights a fuse under its squalid Brazilian ghetto. The titular favela is home to a seething army of impoverished children who grow, over the film's 20-year timeframe, into cutthroat killers, drug lords, and feral survivors. In the vortex of this maelstrom is L'il Z (Leandro Firmino da Hora), self-appointed king of the dealers, determined to eliminate competition at the expense of his corrupted soul. With enough visual vitality and provocative substance to spark heated debate (and box-office gold) in Brazil, codirectors Fernando Meirelles and Ktia Lund tackle their subject head on, creating a portrait of youthful anarchy so appalling--and so authentically immediate--that City of God prompted reforms in socioeconomic policy. It's a bracing feat of stylistic audacity, borrowing from a dozen other films to form its own unique identity. You'll flinch, but you can't look away.
Cold Mountain -- Starring: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Director: Anthony Minghella Rated R
All the Real Girls, a bittersweet small-town romance. Director David Gordon Green cuts right to the little moments that form a budding relationship. It's impressionistic style is aided by Paul Schneider (who also co-scripted) and Zooey Deschanel. George Washington, a small town serves as a backdrop. The mosaic makes the film play like a collection of memories, someone's first love recalled with fondness and just a bit of regret.
Kill Bill, Volume 1 -- Quentin Tarantino's opening to his cliffhanger finale 2004's Vol. 2, Tarantino pays tribute to Hong Kong action flicks and spaghetti Westerns with cinematic references and cleverly pilfered soundtrack cues. Everything old is new again in Tarantino's revenge flick, begins with the near-murder of the pregnant Bride (Uma Thurman), on her wedding day, left for dead by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (or DiVAS)--including Lucy Liu and the unseen David Carradine (as Bill) who become targets for the Bride's vengeance.
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara -- Starring: Fidel Castro, John F. Kennedy, Director: Errol Morris
Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl -- Starring: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Director: Gore Verbinski
Richard Schickel's Best Movies
Mystic River -- Superior acting, writing, and direction in Clint Eastwood's 24th directorial outing and one of the finest films of 2003. Sharply adapted by L.A. Confidential Oscar-winner Brian Helgeland from the novel by Dennis Lehane, this chilling mystery revolves around three boyhood friends in working-class Boston played as adults by Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, and Kevin Bacon drawn together by a crime from the past and a murder (of the Penn character's 19-year-old daughter) in the present. These tragedies arouse a cycle of suspicion, guilt, and repressed anxieties. Eastwood is perfectly in tune, giving his cast (including Laura Linney, Marcia Gay Harden and Laurence Fishburne) ample opportunity to plumb the depths of a resonant human tragedy.
American Splendor -- One of the most acclaimed films of 2003, American Splendor is one of the most creative biographical movies ever made. Blending fact, fiction, and personal perspective from the comic books that inspired it, this marvelous portrait of Harvey Pekar, a scowling curmudgeon, brow-beaten everyman, insightful chronicler of his life, and frustrated file clerk at a Cleveland VA hospital is an inspired amalgam of the media that lifted Pekar from obscurity to pop-cultural icon. Paul Giamatti, Pekar and his understanding wife (Hope Davis) as underdogs in a world full of obstacles, with perseverance. We see a uniquely cinematic celebration of Pekar's life and, by extension, the tenacity of an unlikely American hero.
Finding Nemo -- A delightful undersea world unfolds in Pixar's animated adventure Finding Nemo. When his son Nemo is captured by a scuba-diver, a nervous-nellie clownfish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) sets off into the vast--and astonishingly detailed--ocean to find him. Along the way he hooks up with a scatterbrained blue tang fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who's both helpful and a hindrance, sometimes at the same time. Faced with sharks, deep-sea anglers, fields of poisonous jellyfish, sea turtles, pelicans, and much more, Marlin rises above his neuroses in this wonderfully funny and nonstop thrill ride--rarely does more than 10 minutes pass without a sequence destined to become a theme park attraction. Pixar continues its run of impeccable artistic and economic success (their movies include Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc). Also featuring the voices of Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, and Allison Janney. --Bret Fetzer
The Human Stain retains what makes Philip Roth's novel a masterpiece. Adapted by Nicholas Meyer, Robert Benton's drama succeeds in exposing the sins that stain all of humanity, forcing men like former welterweight boxer and esteemed professor Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins) to forsake family and career to conceal his African American heritage. Light-skinned and passing as a Jewish professor of classics in a tony East Coast college, 71-year-old Silk sinks into scandal when an innocent remark is misinterpreted as a racist slur, and this--along with his affair with an illiterate 34-year-old janitor (Nicole Kidman), and friendship with a reclusive novelist (Gary Sinise)--forms the crux of Benton's multilayered inquiry into the oppressive aftershocks of guilt, shame, and mourning, and the effects of judgment (internal and external) on our ability to connect.
Man on the Train (L'Homme du Train) -- French singer Johnny Hallyday plays a professional criminal who comes to a small town to take part in a robbery. By chance, he meets talkative Jean Rochefort (The Hairdresser's Husband), who invites the laconic Hallyday to stay at his house because the hotel is closed. The two form an unlikely friendship, each curious about (and envious of) the other's life. But all the while plans for the robbery continue, while Rochefort is preparing for a dangerous event of his own. The pitch-perfect performances make Man on the Train completely involving. Rochefort and Hallyday play off of each other beautifully; it's impossible to put your finger on what makes these subtle, supple scenes so magnetic.
Seabiscuit (2-Disc Collector's Set) -- Gary Ross (Pleasantville) is reverent toward Laura Hillenbrand's bestseller, using archival material and David McCullough's familiar PBS-styled narration to pay tribute to Seabiscuit, the knobby-kneed thoroughbred who "came from behind" in the late 1930s to win the hearts of Depression-weary Americans. Ross's adaptation retains the horse-and-human heroism Hillenbrand conveyed; a classically styled "legend" heightened by a sentimental Randy Newman score. Led by Tobey Maguire as Seabiscuit's hard-luck jockey, the film's cast is excellent, including William H. Macy as a wacky trackside announcer.
Veronica Guerin -- Cate Blanchett Release Date: March 16, 2004
House of Sand and Fog -- Jennifer Connelly
Les Invasions barbares -- Rmy Girard, Stphane Rousseau, Director: Denys Arcand