Silver screen gold & mould

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/12/2003 (8147 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THIS was a funny sort of year at the movies. Many of Hollywood’s prestige films (The Last Samurai, The Human Stain, Mona Lisa Smile), with their pedigreed casts and handsome production values, weren’t exactly bad but certainly weren’t that good.

And popcorn flicks didn’t fare much better.

Not one but two Matrix films, along with sequels like T3, Charlie’s Angels 2, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — The Cradle of Life, disappointed many hardcore fans, while new offerings (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Underworld) failed to take off. (How can you fail with a “vampires vs. werewolves” premise? How is that even possible?)

Between the Oscar wannabes and the blockbuster might-have-beens, audiences managed to pick out some favourites, from the wonderfully weird swashbuckler The Pirates of the Caribbean to the sporty little indie film Bend it Like Beckham.

Here are my choices for 2003:

AMERICAN SPLENDOR — “Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff,” especially in this anything-but-ordinary film, based on Harvey Pekar’s cantankerous cult comics.

CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS — This twisty story of a middle-class American family coming undone would seem improbable — if it weren’t true. In its intellectual complexity and emotional power, the film demonstrates why documentaries — once associated with the scratchy, out-of-touch educational reels we watched in junior high — are now capturing critical acclaim and wide audiences. (Two docs that are just as compelling — and a lot less traumatic — are Spellbound, a charmer about children in training for spelling bees, and To Be and To Have, a luminous record of a teacher’s year in rural France.)

FINDING NEMO — This great-looking cartoon combines Pixar’s sharp animation technology with a sweet and appealing human — uh, fish — story. Standout vocal performances include Ellen DeGeneres’ daffy turn as the forgetful Dory and Albert Brooks as the adorably neurotic Marlin.

IN AMERICA — Funny, sad, and achingly alive, Jim Sheridan’s very personal story of new immigrants in New York suggests what “family values” might have meant before the term got hijacked by neo-conservatives.

KILL BILL, VOL. 1 — OK, so it’s not one of the best movies of 2003, but Tarantino’s martial arts/girlfight/spaghetti western/’70s cop show/revenge saga/theatre of cruelty/blaxploitation hybrid is what it is with a kind of insane, infectious glee.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING — Peter Jackson brings the Tolkien trilogy to a triumphant close with a story that manages to be both thrillingly epic and beautifully intimate. (Bonus feature: Handsome Viggo Mortensen, claiming his destiny as king, finally gets to borrow some of Orlando Bloom’s hair-care products.)

LOST IN TRANSLATION — Sofia Coppola’s way-cool look at emotional and physical dislocation proves that touching someone’s ankle can be sexier than sex, that karaoke can make you cry, and that — given a chance — melancholy comic Bill Murray can be one heckuva leading man.

MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD — This rousing high-seas adventure offers one of Hollywood’s most perfect pleasures — complete immersion in another time and place — while keeping its salty integrity. (Russell Crowe in a naval uniform doesn’t hurt, either.)

SCHOOL OF ROCK — What an irresistible blend of cool irony, loony sincerity, and pure, 140-proof Jack Black, as director Richard Linklater and writer Mike White “service humanity by rocking out, man.”

THE STATION AGENT — A whisper-quiet examination of solitude and friendship, this lovely little film affirms Patricia Clarkson as one of the best things going and introduces Peter Dinklage as a new kind of male star – short, dark and handsome.

Worst films

BEYOND BORDERS — Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen pursue a tortured love affair in the foreground, while emaciated Ethiopians die of starvation in the background. Hello, we’re worrying about the wrong people here!

BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE — Steve Martin walks through this forced, unfunny “cross-cultural” exercise with that unmistakable “I’d rather be writing oblique, witty pieces for the New Yorker” look on his face. If he doesn’t want to be there, why should I?

GIGLI — While it is NOT the worst movie in history, as some vocal anti-Bennifer critics suggest, this inept, idiotic, ugly “comedy” is probably one of the worst of 2003.

IRREVERSIBLE — Reminding us that foreign films can be bad, too, this French shocker peddles its sex-and-violence controversy with a thuddingly aggressive, pointlessly provocative, pseudo-intellectual sneer. Unadulterated merde.

KANGAROO JACK — As a mob movie it would have been merely sub-standard, with its generic car chases, derivative gun battles and unoriginal tough talk. (Sample dialogue: “You’re dead, you pansy-ass retard. I’ll slaughter you.”) But in a move that’s cynical even by Hollywood standards – hell, even by producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s standards – this nasty, stupid mess was given a child-friendly animal mascot and marketed as fun for the whole family. What family?