A special note: these are, for the most part, not movies that were released in 2003, but movies that I watched in 2003. Viola, I get to list movies like ‘Death to Smoochy,’ ‘Exotica,’ and ‘Boondock Saints’ alongside ‘X2’ and ‘Identity.’
What fun this is.
Categories are basically arbitrary. They are Foreign films, and movies I watched In The Theater (i.e., actual 2002/2003 releases), movies by director (for a select few: David Lynch, David Mamet, and Paul Verhoeven), the catch-all Miscellany, and the dregs.
In fact, the Dregs category, movies to avoid, may end up being more helpful to you than the sum total of my actual recommendations. Then again, maybe not.
Ratings are based on a five-star maximum. Which, again, is arbitrary.
Because star ratings are pretty much worthless given that I’m not providing any commentary (sorry, I know you were anticipating it with glee), I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting the movies that merit particular attention. The good flicks. I think you should be able to figure out which ones are highlighted.
Carry on:
FOREIGN:
Accidental Spy – [***] – 2001 / Teddy Chen
Amerikanische Soldat [American Soldier] – [***1/2] – 1970 / Rainier Fassbinder
Amores Perros – [****] – 2000 / Alexandro Inarritu
Brother – [***1/2] – 2000 / Takeshi Kitano (skip ‘Brother,’ watch ‘Fireworks‘ instead)
Exotica – [****1/2] – 1994 / Atom Egoyan
Ghost in a Shell – [***1/2] – 1996 / Mamoru Oshii
Kagemusha – [***1/2] – 1980 / Akira Kurosawa
Der Krieger und die Kaiserin [The Princess + the Warrior] – [****1/2] – 2000 / Tom Tykwer
Der Schreckliche Madchen [The Nasty Girl] – [***1/2] – 1990 / Michael Verhoeven
Solaris – [****1/2] -1972 / Andrei Tarkovsky
Sonnenallee – [***1/2] – 1999 / Leander Haußmann
The Adjuster – [****] – 1991 / Atom Egoyan
The Last Emperor – [***1/2] – 1986 / Bernardo Bertolucci
The Messenger – [***] – 1999 / Luc Besson
The Sweet Hereafter – [****1/2] – 1997 / Atom Egoyan
Y tu mama tambien [And your mother too] – [***1/2] – 2001 / Alfonso Cuaron
IN THE THEATER:
A Mighty Wind – [***] – 2003 / Christopher Guest
Catch Me If You Can – [***1/2] – 2002 / Steven Spielberg
Chicago – [***1/2] – 2002 / Rob Marshall
Dirty Pretty Things – [****] – 2002 / Stephen Frears
Identity – [***1/2] – 2003 / James Mangold
The 25th Hour – [****] – 2002 / Spike Lee
The Cars that ate Paris – [***] – 1974 / Peter Weir
X2: X-Men United – [***1/2] – 2003 / Bryan Singer
DAVID LYNCH:
Dune – [***1/2] – 1984 / David Lynch
Lost Highway – [****] – 1996 / David Lynch
the Straight Story – [n/r] – 1999 / David Lynch
Wild at Heart – [****] – 1990 / David Lynch
DAVID MAMET
Glengarry Glen Ross – [***1/2] – 1992 (not actually directed by, but screenwritten by D.M.)
Homicide – [****] – 1991
House of Games – [***1/2] – 1987
PAUL VERHOEVEN:
Basic Instinct – [***1/2] – 1992
Starship Troopers – [****] – 1997
Total Recall – [**1/2] – 1990
MISCELLANY
Army of Darkness – [***] – 1992 / Sam Raimi
Boondock Saints – [****] – 2000 / Troy Duffy
Bourne Identity – [***1/2] – 2002 / Doug Liman
Bulletproof Monk – [***] – 2003 / Paul Hunter
Cecil B Demented – [****] – 2000 / John Waters
Death to Smoochy – [****1/2] – 2002 / Danny DeVito
Edward Scissorhands – [***1/2] – 1990 / Tim Burton
Evolution – [***] – 2001 / Ivan Reitman
High Fidelity – [***] – 2000 / Stephen Frears
Hudsucker Proxy – [****] – 1994 / Joel Coen
Insomnia – [***1/2] – 2002 / Christopher Nolan
Matrix: Reloaded – [***] – 2003 / Wachowski Brothers
Name of the Rose – [***] – 1986 / Jean-Jacques Annuad
Pleasantville – [****] – 1998 / Gary Ross
Reservoir Dogs – [***1/2] – 1992 / Quentin Tarantino
Rising Sun – [***] – 1993 / Philip Kaufman
Safe – [****] – 1995 / Todd Haynes
Tape – [***1/2] – 2001 / Richard Linklater
Untouchables – [***1/2] – 1987 / Brian De Palma
Usual Suspects – [****] – 1995 / Bryan Singer
What About Bob? – [***1/2] – 1991 / Frank Oz
X-Men – [***1/2] – 2000 / Bryan Singer
THE DREGS:
Austin Powers: Int’l Man of Mystery (1997, Jay Roach), The Fast and the Furious (2001, Rob Cohen), The Phantom (1996, Simon Wincer), Buffalo 66 (1998, Vincent Gallo), The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967, Roman Polanski), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001, Chris Columbus), Live and Let Die (1973, Guy Hamilton), Manhunter (1986, Michael Mann), Shrek (2001, Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson), Stealing Harvard (2002, Bruce McCulloch), Mighty Joe Young (1998, Ron Underwood), Time Machine (2002, Simon Wells), The Peacemaker (1997, Mimi Leder), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001, Simon West), Alien Resurrection (1997, Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
(note in the way of a disclaimer: just because a movie has been demoted to the dreg category doesn’t mean it isn’t entertaining; it only means that the movie isn’t quality. There’s a difference between entertainment value and quality. Quality is the biggest thing I consider when I rate movies I’ve watched. All movies that merit a high-quality rating, in my book, are entertaining; but not all low-scoring movies are automatically lacking in the entertainment category.)