Since the CD thread help me a lot, I'm going to go ahead and post my top 20 movies of 2003. Same rules as before.

 

I haven't seen some of the latest releases (like House of Sand and Fog).

 

I also included my list of preferred nominees for the major Academy Award categories because I an uber dork.

 

1. Return of the King

2. Mystic River

3. 21 Grams

4. Cold Mountain

5. The Barbarian Invasions

6. Big Fish

7. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

8. Lost in Translation

9. Elf

10. The Last Samurai

11. Kill Bill, Vol. 1

12. Intolerable Cruelty

13. Mona Lisa Smile

14. The Missing

15. Something's Got to Give

16. School of Rock

17. Love Actually

18. X2: X-Men United

19. My Life Without Me

20. The Matrix Reloaded

 

Best Picture

RETURN OF THE KING

Mystic River

21 Grams

The Barbarian Invasions

Cold Mountain

 

Best Actor

Sean Penn (21 Grams)

SEAN PENN (Mystic River)

Jude Law (Cold Mountain)

Bill Murray (Lost In Translation)

Remy Girard (The Barbarian Invasions)

 

Best Actress

NAOMI WATTS (21 Grams)

Cate Blanchett (The Missing)

Sara Polley (My Life Without Me)

Julia Roberts (Mona Lisa Smile)

Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation)

 

Best Supporting Actor

TIM ROBBINS (Mystic River)

Tommy Lee Jones (The Missing)

Ken Watanabe (The Last Samaurai)

Alec Baldwin (The Cooler)

Paul Bettany (Master and Commander)

 

Best Supporting Actress

Maria Bello (The Cooler)

Maggia Gyllenhaal (Mona Lisa Smile)

Marie-Josée Croze (The Barbarian Invasions)

MARCIA GAY HARDEN (Mystic River)

Rene Zellwegger (Cold Mountain)

 

Best Director

PETER JACKSON (Return of the King)

Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain)

Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill, Vol. 1)

Peter Weir (Master and Commander)

Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai)

 

Best Screenplay

Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo Arriaga (21 Grams)

Sophia Coppola (Lost In Translation)

DENYS ARCAND (The Barbarian Invasions)

Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal (Mona Lisa Smile)

 

Best Screenplay, Adapted

Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philipa Boynes (Return of the King)

Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain)

Ken Kaufman (The Missing)

BRIAN HELGELAND (Mystic River)

Peter Weir (Master and Commander)

 

Best Art Direction

Christopher Burian-Mohr, Jess Gonchor, Kim Sinclair (The Last Samurai)

JOE BLEAKLEY, SIMON BRIGHT, DAN HENNAH, PHILIP IVEY, CHRISTIAN RIVERS (Return of the King)

Roy Barnes, Robert Fechtman, Jack Johnson, Richard L. Johnson (Big Fish)

Bruce Crone, Mark W. Mansbridge (Master and Commander)

Derek R. Hill, James E. Tocci, Donald B. Woodruff (Pirates of the Caribbean)

 

Best Cinematography

John Toll (The Last Samurai)

Andrew Lesnie (Return of the King)

RUSSELL BOYD, SANDI SISSEL (Master and Commander)

John Seale (Cold Mountain)

Robert Richardson (Kill Bill, Volume 1)

 

Best Costume Design

Ngila Dickson (The Last Samurai)

NGILA DICKSON, RICHARD TAYLOR (Return of the King)

Penny Rose (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Wendy Stites (Master and Commander)

Julie Weiss (The Missing)

 

Other Movies Seen

Open Range

The Cooler

Shattered Glass

Triplets of Belleville

Bruce Almighty

Pirates of the Caribbean

Sylvia

Terminator 3

American Wedding

Veronica Guerin

Daredevil

Basic

The Matrix Revolutions

Runaway Jury

The League of Extraoridinary Gentlemen

Beyond Borders

The Human Stain

Jackass

Timeline

Stuck on You

S.W.A.T.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Wow! You are gonna make it for top poster of new threads soon! :sneaky:

 

...and yes...you have confirmed it...YOU ARE a dork :lol:

 

kidding...kidding...gollum doesn't have to get mad!

WE HATES HER!

WE HATES HER FOREVER!

 

No, Smeagol likes her.

Smeagol wants to stay with Gisela.

 

SHE'S FALSE. SHE'S TRICKSY.

I am darn Tricksy alright!!! :D ;) :lol: :lol:

 

Stop eating my food!!

We don't eats that. We hates nasty Elf bread.

Why can't be have some birdses ... some crunchable birdses.

I have fish if you want some....you must come and and get it....

 

*runs away with smelly delicious fish*

 

:sneaky:

We must go ... now? ... master?

Yes...now....Master does not want Smeagol to finish his 39 posts....see we are tricksy little hobbits

 

*throws the fish across the room*

 

(Okay...so we are off topic...a bit :D )

True ... hopefully this doesn't disuade people from posting re: my list.

:D :D :D

 

Anyone like this nerdy boys list??? Anyone?? :kiss:

I'm sorry I couldn't help myself!!

 

No really, nice list...I have to catch many of those flicks!

 

do you really think LOTR has a chance for best movie?

:lol: :lol:

 

I think it has to be considered the favorite, though I could see Mystic River or Cold Mountain also winning. Looking back at the Academy Awards, I would hate to have to put money on this year's race, as RotK would be the first fantasy ever to win. The Academy tends to be made up of older votes who are less likely to be impressed by the computer dependent visuals. In addition, RotK gives those older voters reason to look to another movie if they want to: Some bad dialogue at times, an ending which drags and drags, and some aspects of the story which aren't fully explained.

 

That said, I think there's a good change RotK will win because a lot of voters know the Academey will take a credibility hit if RotK doesn't show well, and if there's one thing the Academy has shown it cares about it is its own prestige.

I mean....ET never one!!!!!!!!!! So why should this one?

 

It would be kind of cool if a fantasy film won.

And really, some good but not great movies have won just because they were artsy and dramatic. But, it is what it is. That's the whole reason why I like keeping my list. If the Academy was always right them I would just wait for their results. But I like sitting down, thinking about it, and then being able to articulate why I disagreed with "THE ACADEMY".

We´ve got the same tastes! I love those movies!

nice list! :)

 

I've only seen two of the movies out of your top 20... must see more.... :stunned:

 

 

I love movies. :smug:

Love your list. Though I did think Pirates might have deserved to get on the list (lightweight fare that it is...) I did think that it was well made.

 

Doesn't Gollum care for things that don't always pull the biggest emotional punch? Must be the precious whispering into your ear always, "I'm gonna weigh you down, I will weigh you down... Down, down, into the neverending darkness we gooo..." :P

 

Nothing personal, just a thought (for myself, I prefer darker, emotionally heavy movies too like you). But neways, that's just my opinion :)

ok, Elf is higher on 'the List' than Last Samurai? Am I missing something?

I guess I really should see that movie.

 

 

Unless those Acadamy people are different this year, there is no way Return of the King will win this year.

You do have a nice list there, but I think there might be one movie missing from it......I dunno, but I thought that "The Italian Job" was a really good action flick....I just like seeing things being blown up :P

You do have a nice list there' date=' but I think there might be one movie missing from it......I dunno, but I thought that "The Italian Job" was a really good action flick....I just like seeing things being blown up :P[/quote']

 

Ah ... I can't rate movies I don't see :)

ok, Elf is higher on 'the List' than Last Samurai? Am I missing something?

I guess I really should see that movie.

 

The Last Samurai, in my mind, was a spectacularly produced movie with some serious problems in its plot. Elf's goals were different ...

 

... but at some point a movie needs to be rated on its ability to entertain people. At some point you have to return to that. That is the whole point, isn't it?

 

Unless those Acadamy people are different this year, there is no way Return of the King will win this year.

 

Why do you say that? I mean, I can see why. I'm interesting in why you say it.

Love your list. Though I did think Pirates might have deserved to get on the list (lightweight fare that it is...) I did think that it was well made.

 

I agree: it was well made. I have it in some of the categories (like Art Direction and Customes). To me, the movie sacrificed story for spectacle. I did generally enjoy the movie, though.

 

Doesn't Gollum care for things that don't always pull the biggest emotional punch? Must be the precious whispering into your ear always' date=' "I'm gonna weigh you down, I will weigh you down... Down, down, into the neverending darkness we gooo..." :P [/quote']

 

I rated Elf and Kill Bill very highly. I rated Lost in Translation and Mona Lisa Smile lower than I've seen others rate them. Emotional stories do tend to be more compelling, but I think that's just the nature of the game: If you can include more in your movie rather than less, then you're probably doing the better job.

 

That said, some people cringe a bit when I talk about Elf being a Christmas classic. That movie is going to be on TV every year for the rest of my life. I think it hit that much of a nerve. People loved it, and I am one of them. Yes, it has issues ... but movies are like children: they all have issues.

 

Nothing personal' date=' just a thought (for myself, I prefer darker, emotionally heavy movies too like you). But neways, that's just my opinion :)[/quote']

 

No, it's a good point. It should be said that I consider numbers 9 thourhg 17 on the list basically interchangable, and everytime I look at the list I think I should rate Love Actually higher.

 

But these are the kind of comments I love ... I think there is a reason to rate movies that are emotional higher than ones that are not (see comment above), but I love ot hear people argue that shouldn't be so.

 

It's all good discussion.

dun worry i used to be a crazy movie freak also if return of the king doesnt win im going to suffocate myself with applesauce.

dun worry i used to be a crazy movie freak also if return of the king doesnt win im going to suffocate myself with applesauce.

 

No! Don't do it ...

 

... are you back from skiing?

 

P.S., I liked your previous avatar more :P

Thanks, everybody, for all the feedback! I love you all ... in a very platonic, virtual kind of way.

 

Incidentally, I just got back from House of Sand and Fog. Pretty average movie. Some people will think it better than that; others will think it worse. I enjoyed my time but it wasn't really noteworthy.

Unless those Acadamy people are different this year, there is no way Return of the King will win this year.

 

Why do you say that? I mean, I can see why. I'm interesting in why you say it.

 

Because the Academey is very traditional and likes to vote for movies such as movies based on Shakespeare (like the one w/ Gwyneth Paltrow) or boring movies like The Last Emperor or movies that say something in it or are creative with the plot like that American something movie with Kevin Spacey in it. Lol. I forget all the movies names!

I think that ROTK spent a lot of time on action and on scenery for the viewers. Don't know how much of an impact this movie really makes. I'm not sure how the Academy will respond, but I think they will pick something that hasn't made millions of dollars. There were also some

corny scenes and such. Don't how they will react to that.

But I really have no idea :/