I m gonna pull a blatant copy cat move on bangpitcher (remorselessly, as we do it to each other all the time) and rate my top movies of 2003. By my accounting I made 17 trips to the theatre in '03 to see 14 different movies. As far as movie years go it was a quality over quantity year. A couple of instant classic, fantastic movies. Several good ones. And then a quick drop off into the cinematic abyss.
So here are my top 10:
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Easy. Saw it three times, plan to see it a couple more. Greatest film ever. Wonderfully wrapping up the greatest trilogy ever. A new classic. A new benchmark for all future films and a true achievement in cinema.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Saw it twice. Let s face it, without Johnny Depp, we are lost. The man is amazing. A good film made great film by his presence.
3. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 Quentin, we missed ya, dammit. An amazing vision come to reality. Glad to see someone push the style envelope. Can t wait for Vol 2.
4. Once Upon a Time in Mexico Did I mention Johnny Depp is amazing? Yeah I did, but it s worth repeating. A fitting ending to another trilogy. Although I would like to tally the number of actors/roles that were killed only to return in the next movie in the series... I can think of at least 5.
5. X-Men 2: X-Men United Bampf, man. Fucking-A right, Bampf.
6. Big Fish Excellent Burton opus. Glad to see him rebound from the monkey movie. Also the last movie on this list that I would categorize as 'good'.
7. The Matrix Reloaded Sure it was a let down, but still had some sweet scenes (of which that shitty freeway sequence is not one of) and some really abstruse dialog.
8.The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen I m a sucker for an Alan Moore comic turned movie. His work is so good... and you could see his brilliance just under the surface of this movie... trying to break free, it just couldn t. Too bad. One of these days they ll come up with a Moore adaptation that stays true to the original (I ll mention although From Hell is a vast departure from the source material it still made for an excellent movie... <cough>Depp<cough>).
9. Underworld Despite degrading to the point of silliness from time to time this was still an enjoyable movie. Great visual style and sound. Even some of the ideas were novel, just others were dumb.
10. Daredevil I honestly thought Affleck was a pretty good Daredevil. It helped that he s a longtime fan of the comic (not unlike me). Good casting of most of the characters (though Bad Boy(tm) Colin Farrel can go to hell), if only the story and action didn t also devolve into silliness.
Worst Movie of 2003 I saw in the theatre:
Finding Nemo I wouldn t really call it bad... it was just... there. Dull. Story, dialog, visually... dull.
Worst Movie of 2003 I ve seen at home:
The Life of David Gale Really bad. Terrible direction. Predictable. And most baffling, it tries to deliver a morale message that the movie itself proves wrong in the end. WTF?
So that was 2003. I ll note that this is based on release dates (I believe I saw 28 Days later in 03 but it s release date was in 02... I m thinking about making lists for 02 and 01 as well... we ll see).
For now, time to press the button, Frank.
-bampf |
| 1/27/2004 6:33:30 AM Daredevil |
I thought Daredevil was so bad I kept looking for Julia Roberts to make a cameo in it.
Tripe, utter tripe.
The Defiler |
| 1/27/2004 7:16:47 AM My Quick List(s) |
I saw 32 different films that came out in 2003. Here are the Top 10 and Bottom 10 of the ones I saw:
1) LOTR:ROTK
2) Big Fish (saw in Jan, but released in Dec)
3) Chicago
4) Kill Bill, Vol. 1
5) 28 Days Later
6) X2: X-Men United
7) The Italian Job
8) Underworld
9) Darkness Falls
10) Dreamcatcher
...
23) The Rundown
24) Biker Boyz
25) The Hunted
26) Willard
27) House of 1000 Corpses (BTW, maybe the biggest disappointment of the year, with the big buildup about no studio wanting to release it because of the content)
28) SWAT
29) The Core
30) Phone Booth
31) The Matrix: Reloaded
32) Bulletproof Monk |
| 1/27/2004 7:19:23 AM 28 Days Later |
| Was released in the US in 2003, but released in the UK in 2002. Since I live in the US, I'll count it as 2003... |
| 1/27/2004 8:25:22 AM Chicago |
Wasn't Chicago a 2002 release?
TGM |
| 1/27/2004 8:27:27 AM My top 5 |
I've only seen 5 movies from 2003, and 2 of those were on DVD. My rankings:
1. Pirates of the Caribbean
2. X Men 2
3. Finding Nemo
4. LOTR:ROTK (at one point several people sitting near me heard me say quite loudly "Is this movie ever going to end?")
5. Identity
TGM
|
| 1/27/2004 8:41:21 AM Damn release dates |
Damn, 28 Days woulda made my top three then. I was using IMDB as a reference, so I was probably seeing original (European) release dates.
Oh yeah... Biker Boyz? Biker Boyz? You forked over actual legal tender to see Biker Boyz? In no way can I make that OK in my mind... even on a dare.
-b |
| 1/27/2004 11:07:57 AM Chicago |
| Limited release in Dec 2002 (damn Oscar politics), wide release in January 2003. I again will count that as 2003, as I do not live in NY or LA. |
| 1/27/2004 11:13:13 AM Biker Boyz |
| I know that was weak. It was kinda fun to watch Eriq LaSalle die in the first 5 minutes... It's also weak that I want to see Torque. What can I say, I like movies about fast vehicles... |
| 1/27/2004 11:46:35 AM Not Torque |
Seriously, don t do it. Have you seen the previews? I can t imagine anything more awful. Every time I see a preview I have wished death on every single human being involved with its production. I really have. Fight it man. Fight it.
-b |
| 1/27/2004 12:40:32 PM 2002 |
While I m at it I decided to do a couple other years. I figure I should chronicle this stuff now. Nice to be able to look back on later.
So in 2002 I saw 11 movies in 13 visits. The list is pretty easy. 10 I liked. 1 I didn t.
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (x3)
2. Spider-Man
3. 28 Days Later... (really it should be in 2003)
4. Signs
5. Gangs of New York
6. Insomnia
7. Panic Room
8. We Were Soldiers
9. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
10. Reign of Fire
And the bad:
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Best movie of 02 to be seen on video:
Adaptation
Worst movie of 02 I ve seen on video:
Resident Evil
-b |
| 1/27/2004 12:51:15 PM 2001 |
I m on a roll. 20 screenings, 16 movies. Good movie year, 1-5 are all really excellent.
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (x3)
2. Black Hawk Down (x3)
3. The Royal Tenenbaums
4. From Hell
5. The Man Who Wasn't There
6. Enemy at the Gates
7. Spy Game
8. The Mexican
9. The Mummy Returns
10. Monsters, Inc.
The bottom five... all varying degrees of awful:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Pearl Harbor
Planet of the Apes
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Jurassic Park III
Stuck in the middle (not awful but horribly overrated):
Shrek
Best movie of 01 (on video):
Moulin Rouge!
Worst movie of 01 (on video):
Saving Silverman
Most overrated:
Trainding Day |
| 1/27/2004 1:12:18 PM 2000 |
And one more. 18 screenings, 13 movies. Multiple viewings on those big first three
1. Snatch. (x3)
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (x3)
3. Gladiator (x2)
4. Unbreakable
5. Chicken Run
6. X-Men
7. Pitch Black
8. The Patriot
9. U-571
10. American Psycho
11. Dungeons & Dragons (bonus #11 for being so bad its almost good)
Worst:
Battlefield Earth
Three excellent movies I somehow missed in the theatre:
Requiem for a Dream
Memento
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Worst of 2000 I ve seen on video:
Erin Brockovich
Enough for now. I apologize to bp for taking his good idea and running amok with it.
-b
|
| 1/28/2004 5:40:43 AM Out of Control |
You're out of control! Of course, I have lists of every movie I went to see from 1979 through the mid 90s, including the year I made 102 trips to the movies, 100 more than I made last year!
TGM |
| 1/11/2005 3:47:42 PM 2004 |
Another entry into list o movies. Saw 15 movies in 16 viewings. There were a lot of movies that I really intended to go to but just plain missed in 04.
Anyway here are my top 10:
1. Napoleon Dynamite I can t explain why but I just love this movie. I don t know how an MTV production could be so friggin brilliant, but this movie was. The movie has also spurred a Tot renaissance at the Guild so double bully for it!
2. Hellboy x2 A damn fine comic turned into a damn fine film. Strange that the character development was better than the action, but that s ok in my book. Hopefully this is a franchise in the making.
3. The Passion of the Christ An amazing peice of film making. Whatever your take on all the hoopla surrounding this film, you have to admit it was incredibly moving and powerful.
4. Team America: World Police It feels kinda of like a sacrilege to list puppet sex right next to Jesus Christ, but damn, what a funny movie. Cause Pearl Harbor sucks and I miss you.
5. Troy I know it was critically panned, and it did have its flaws but I really enjoyed this film. Brad was awesome, the action was amazing. I can t wait to watch it a couple more times on DVD.
6. The Ladykillers Another fine peice by the Cohen Brothers. I just can t get enough of their stuff. I really can t. Not an instant classic like Lebowski or Hudsucker, but damn funny in its own right.
7. Hero Yeah, I m including Hero as a 2004 movie even though it was released in China years ago. This movie would be ranked higher if the best fight scene of the movie hadn t occurred in the first 10 minutes. After that the wire fighting got to be too disctracting after the simplistic beauty of the first fight.
8. Spider-Man 2 A nice follow-up to the first, although it seemed more of a set-up film than anything. The mind-bogglingly ridiculous Doc Oc origin really detracted from this movie for me.
9. Ocean's Twelve So the movie was just one big Soderburg ego trip, it was still engaging and entertaining. Plus it had Brad and minimal Julia Fucking Roberts.
10. The Incredibles A nice parody. Solid, funny and safe. Samual L may have been the highlight though.
Worst Movie of 2004 I saw in the theatre:
Van Helsing this one has some really tough competition (Blade Trinity, King Arthur) but came out in the end... after all I did dub it as maybe dumbest movie I ve ever seen (though certainly not the worst).
Best Movie of 2004 I ve seen at home:
Shaun of the Dead meant to see this in the theatre on a couple of occasions and I m sorry I missed it. Damn funny movie.
Worst Movie of 2004 I ve seen at home:
Fahrenheit 9/11 Some one had a free rental from Blockbuster so we viewed this at the Guild (we refused to pay money) and it was as bad as I expected, maybe a little worse). The shots of Iraq as a utopian paradise up until the US invasion were just dumbfounding. Considering all the material W, Ashcroft and the like have produced, you d think you could make a politically charged denounciation of the administration without all the absurd spin, lies and manipulation. Just sad.
So that s 04 cinamatically.
-bampf |
| 5/18/2006 12:40:57 PM 2005 |
I m a little late getting this out, but oh well. Better late than never.
Not nearly as bad a movie year as I had thought. 21 movies in 23 screenings. Good year for comic movies, that s for sure with 4 of the top 6.
The top 12:
1. Sin City (x2)
2. V for Vendetta (x2)
3. Kingdom of Heaven
4. Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
5. Constantine
6. Batman Begins
7. Serenity
8. Walk the Line
9. King Kong
10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
11. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
12. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
The 2 "Can t Miss Directors" who kinda missed:
1. The Brothers Grimm
2. Corpse Bride
The worst of 05:
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (was there ever any doubt?)
The rest:
Transporter 2
Be Cool
Doom
Pride & Prejudice
The Interpreter
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Best movie of 05 seen on video:
Lord of War
(this could change as I haven t seen Syriana, Munich and a couple others yet <cough>Brokeback<cough>) |
| 5/19/2006 1:18:07 PM |
I thought X-Men, League of X-Gents and Daredevil were all putrid steaming piles of weasel shit.
Now... I have to figure out my list.
-- Wanderer
|
| 5/20/2006 7:51:46 AM Comic Movies |
Yeah, but you're a film fan first and a comic book fan something like 37th.
For comic book adaptations, all three were fairly good.
--erion
|
| 1/24/2007 1:44:16 PM Movies 2006 |
A light year for movies for me. 11 movies, 11 screenings. First time in a while that I didn t see a film twice in the theatre. Oh well. Won t happen in 2007, I guarantee it. Already planning on taking a day off work to see 300 as many times as I can.
So anyway, my movie ratings for 06:
1. Lucky Number Slevin I think this was an easy choice for #1. I ve already watched it 4-5 times on DVD since its release. Great stuff and lots of replay value even after you know all the big twists.
2. Children of Men An original premise fabulously executed. Amazing visuals, engaging characters. Didn t know you could still procure funding for special effects in a movie that isn t a brainless "Summer Blockbuster." The Hollywood suits are slipping.
3. The Departed aka Gangs of New York 2. This time without the hour of dead time in the middle and all the historical inaccuracies. The formula worked this time. Worked well.
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest A fitting installment in Capn Jack lore. This would rate higher if not for the lack of an ending. A cliff hanger ending is one thing, but at least give some kind of resolution for the current film.
5. Crank aka Transporter 3. The movie succeeded in what it was trying to do. And for a pure action movie it even had a few original ideas. Jason Statham is cool.
6. Underworld: Evolution Exactly what I expected going in. More of the same and I liked the first film so I was content.
7. My Super Ex-Girlfriend Some very clever ideas for a romantic comedy. When was the last time you could say that? The movie worked and had some great Reitman moments.
8. Lady in the Water Well, if you accepted the initial premise and recognized this as a fairy tale/bed time story it was actually very enjoyable. Not exactly a Shymalan magnum opus, but I liked it.
9. X-Men: The Last Stand I guess it was OK. The pacing was odd. Some very strange plot decisions. I dunno. Just was really missing something that the other movies had. And no bampf... wtf?
10. Ultraviolet Again, I got what I expected. A horrocious movie with some very cool visuals and action. An ideal painting movie but don t try to listen to the plot... you re head may explode.
11. Silent Hill Meh. Only saw this film because the movie we wanted to see wasn t playing. Is it just me, or are all horror films pretty much the same now?
Best Film of 2006 on DVD
A Scanner Darkly Wanted to see this in the theatre and missed it. Cool weird film. Still a number of 06 movies to see on video though, so this may get bumped. |
| 1/25/2007 12:32:12 AM Wow we mostly agree. |
But when you include X-Men 3, it makes baby jesus cry.
-The Lord Humungus |
| 1/25/2007 12:36:44 AM Oh wait... |
...my bad. You only saw 11. Nevermind my last comment. I thought those were your top 11 of the (say 25) films you ended up seeing. Your ordering is solid, X-Men 3 deserves to be 9th out of 11. What a suckfest.
-The Lord Humungus |
| 1/2/2009 8:44:55 PM 2007 |
Not a lot of movies for 07 but qualities makes up for quantity in this particular year.
1. No Country For Old Men My love for the Coen Brothers is well documented, but this film was just amazing. Haunting. Mesmerizing. And Chigurh? Best... villain... ever.
2. Hot Fuzz A suitable follow-up to Shaun. So damn funny. Any movie that makes you long to watch Point Break is doing something special.
3. There Will Be Blood I agree with some of the criticisms of this film... overly long, too sweeping in scope... but what a performance! Daniel Day Lewis is maybe the master thespian of our day.
4. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Depp and Burton... how do you beat that? An excellent adaptation. And Johnny singing made my heart go all aflutter.
5. Zodiac I cannot get enough of Robert Downey Jr. Ever since Kiss Kiss Bang Bang he has been spot on brilliant in everything. He s the highlight here. Fincher continues his cool ways.
6. The Bourne Ultimatum An excellent installment in what has become a very good franchise. That every action movie since has emulated it is high praise (even if the resulting films overuse kills the aesthetic).
7. 28 Weeks Later I m not much for horror films, but this was a gripping tale. A genuine sense of foreboding.
8. Nightmare Before Christmas 3D Yeah, as a re-release, it barely counts as an 07 movie, but I m listing it. Saw it in 07. Enjoyed it in 07. It s on the list.
9. Pirates Of The Caribbean 3 Things started so promising. We had high hopes. But this installment? Lame. Nothing with Jerry Bruckheimer s name on it could escape sucking forever.
10. 300 High expectations. Very high. Sorely disappointed. The graphic novel is middling Miller work. I though it would translate well to the screen though... but it was just so stupidly implemented. Pretty. But stupid.
11. Grindhouse Planet Terror was an homage to bad films. I get that. It worked as an homage... I apreciated it... but it s still a bad film. Deathproof had no excuse for being bad.
12. Pathfinder Lastly is Pathfinder. The trailers to this thing looked amazing. Chaos warrior lookin Vikings slaughtering injuns? What s not to like? As it turns out... everything!
Best film of 2007 seen on DVD:
The Darjeeling Limited - sweet sweet Wes Anderson.
Worst film of 2007 seen on DVD:
Transformers - this one is easy! Holy crap did that movie suck. Just awful. I wanted to give it a fair chance. Several good friends raved about it (even friends with typically good tastes like Scheaf). But it was awful. Another thorough trashing of my childhood... up next... GI Joe.
-bampf
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