Favorite Movies of 2003

My favorite movies that had their wide release in 2003. I don’t seem to watch that many movies anymore, so yeah, there’s a lot missing.

1. Adaptation – I’ve written about this multiple times before so I won’t belabor the point, but it’s just a brilliant movie with interesting things to say about life, passion, and purpose. Some people think the movie spirals too far out of control in the third act, but the point is, it represents the acceptance and assimilation of things he had previously adamantly and inflexibly rejected – it’s the full circle of adaptation. But anyway. I actually don’t know a single person who loved this movie besides me.
2. Matrix Reloaded – Another movie most people disliked, but whatever, I liked it. It’s beautifully shot, has some of the most incredible action sequences ever filmed, and discusses really interesting philosophical issues in non superficial and respectable ways. The movie definitely has its faults, but I find it extremely entertaining and thought provoking.
3. Love Actually – Another movie that has its faults, but I find myself still thinking about it. What I like is that the movie didn’t stick with just the superficial sunny side of “love”, but got into issues of pain, sacrifice, and hurt. That was surprising and interesting. The Hugh Grant, Englishman goes to America and body double stories were boring, but every other one had interesting ideas.
4. School Of Rock – Nothing deep about this movie at all, just extremely entertaining, the most purely entertaining movie I saw last year. They were fairly authentic with the music, which I appreciated a lot. And Jack Black plays ridiculous without slipping into self-parody, which is not easy. Great movie.
5. Ghosts of the Abyss – Just kidding. Trying to rile up Dave.

There are only two movies I saw in 2003 that I disliked: Daredevil and Charlie’s Angels 2. Daredevil I was actually OK with right after I saw it, I just liked it less and less the more I thought about it. CA2 was just awful. Egad. Neither of these movies was my choice. Coworker chose DD, Jieun chose CA2.

Everything else I saw I was OK with or liked. Better ones include Elf, Matrix Revolutions, X-Men 2, Cold Mountain, Identity.