2003: A Year In Movies

And what a year its been. We began 2003 with the second installment of the Lord of the Rings on top of the box office, and we end the year with the third on top. The last three years, like it or not, belonged to Peter Jackson's brilliant realization of Tolkein's classic trilogy.
As for the rest of the year, it was kind of a mixed bag. The first few months offered not much for the moviegoer, with the possible exception of Daredevil in February. I kind of avoided the theatre for the most part until the summer movie season began in May. There were a few bright spots before then. Identity was a brilliantly done taut thriller, and of course Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses was finally released. However, there wasn't much for the rabid moviegoer.
The beginning of May brought us the best movie of the summer in X2: X-Men United. As I have said before, it was one of those films that lifted itself above the mindless blockbuster movie. From there, the summer was wishy-washy with awful releases like Bad Boys II, LXG, a mediocre Hulk, Jeepers Creepers 2, Scary Movie 3 and the Matrix Revolutions.
But there were some exceptionally good things. Through the summer and fall. My favorites included S.W.A.T., Pirates of the Caribbean, Freddy VS Jason, T3, and Underworld. Although a lot of critics slammed some of those, they had everything that an entertaining film needed.
During the fall, I stayed away from the theatre once again. This is the season where all the heavy Oscar contenders are released. With the exception of Return of the King, I stayed away from them. Some looked entertaining, but most looked like awful bores.
So, its list time. Pay attention.

Best of the Best
X2 (10)
Underworld (10)
The Return of the King (10)
Cabin Fever (9)
Pirates of the Caribbean (8)
S.W.A.T. (8)
The Rundown (8)
Kill Bill (8)

The Rest
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (9)
T3 (7)
American Wedding (7)
The Order (7)
Once Upon A Time In Mexico (7)
Intolerable Cruelty (7)
Brother Bear (8)
Hulk (7) Dumb & Dumberer (6)
The Matrix Reloaded (6)
Freddy VS Jason (5)
Johnny English (7)

Shitty Stuff
Bad Boys II (4)
Jeepers Creepers 2 (3)
LXG (4)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 2 (7)
Scary Movie 3 (6)
The Matrix Revolutions (6)

Now, the ratings are kind of subjective. They got ranked where I enjoyed them. Sometimes I gave movies a higher number than they deserved, and sometimes I enjoyed a movie more than the number indicates. Anyway, I'm looking forward to 2004 and the new surprises in store. Happy New Year everyone!!

Back to Beeorn's Page