Brian's Top Movie List (2003)

In no particular order, here are Brian's favorite movies last year:

• Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
  
  I would say, hands down, that LOTR is the best film trilogy ever created. No, Star Wars blew it with Jedi as far as I'm concerned. No other fantasy film comes close to attaining a true human connection to the characters, accompanied by incredible special effects that serve the story (not the other way around, ala Matrix)
  
  
• Lost In Translation
  
  This is a controversial movie. Perhaps part of it has to do with it being billed as a comedy. It's too quiet and serene to be a comedy. It's not Groundhog Day. What it is however, is a poignant mood piece about a middle-aged man and a young woman, both feeling trapped in their marriages, and in their present, completely foreign location. It's a unique connection tied to the situation, that not everyone can related to. But I sure did.
  
  
• Spellbound
  
  This should have been nominated for best documentary! The most suspenseful documentary I've ever seen, involving the fates of several National Spelling Bee participants and their families.
  
  
• Finding Nemo
  
  Not my favorite Pixar story, but I'm a sucker for underwater creatures. The lighting effects are the best of any CG cartoon movie so far.
  
  
• X-Men 2
  
  Not exactly great, but it was fun.
  
  
• Peter Pan
  
  Nobody went to see this, but it was surprisingly good! Definitely not dumbed down, and a bit scary for kids I would imagine. Only a few scenes didn't quite work, and the casting/directing of Tinkerbell was amiss. But otherwise, enjoyable.
  
  
• Seabiscuit
  
  This was almost a great movie but it had just a little too much schmaltz. It made me realize that the so-called American dream is based on the Poor gambling on the successes of the Wealthy. Also, we spent too much time seeing Toby Maguire's ass. Still, not a bad movie.
  

Of course there are quite a few movies I have not seen yet. I missed Whale Rider, Winged Migration, and still haven't seen either Cold Mountain or Mystic River. And some people's favorites like Big Fish just didn't work for me. There was The Cooler which I think was good but I had been drinking too much to remember....