The Juice Bar

My muses, thoughts, ideas, and whatever

Monday, February 16, 2004

I finally got my notebook back this weekend, the one that has all the notes I've been making for my novel, and my sort-of-daytimer. It also had the notes I was going to make for my list of my 10 favorite movies of the past year. So, sort of late, here is my 10 favorite movies of 2003.

Note: I'm not a professional movie reviewer, but I play one on television. OK, maybe not that either, so here goes:

1) Lord of the Rings: Return of the King:
Well, duh. What can I say that hasn't been said already. An amazing spectacle in every sense of the word. And it kicked butt. :)

2) Lost in Translation
Visual poetry. A meditation on loneliness, two people in an unfamiliar country, off their moorings of what feels familiar to them. They attempt to reconnect to their personal roots through friendship. And Bill Murray deserves the Oscar (so does Scarlett Johansen, but they don't let me vote on these things.) And the beginning scene of this film was quite nice. :)

3) In America
Very touching, well-written story about an immigrant family trying to make a new life in America. What is neat about this movie is it is written from the point of view of the family's young daughters, and the film conveys the sense of innocence and wonder with which they look at a world that adults wouldn't find appealing. It goes to show that you can find the good in just about anything.

4) A Mighty Wind
A fun story that both celebrates and pokes fun at 1960's white-bread folk music. Actually, the music in this movie was really cool. I loved Eugene Levy, he was hilarious, and touching, too. I love all the Christopher Guest mockumentaries, they are some of the only movies I can watch over and over again.

5) House of Sand and Fog
A moody character-driven drama about two people trying to find stability in their lives in a not-so-valuable piece of real estate. One, a depressed woman, the other, an immigrant trying to recover a lost sense of personal honor and dignity. The irony of how hard these people will fight for what seems to matter so little is very ironic, and the film's ending shows the consequences of how little decisions by flawed people build on each other to an unfortunate conclusion.

6) The Station Agent
A well-done character-driven story about three lonely and very different people, and their need for connection with each other. It shows the need for friends in all of our lives.

7) Master and Commander
A fun movie to watch, that immerses you in a period in history. The detail of a British naval ship, as well as the relationships among the crew, is very authentic and really makes you feel a part of their world. I really get into this kind of thing.

8) School of Rock
The most fun I've had watching a movie all year. What's wrong with that? Jack Black is hilarious, with a heart, too. Joan Cusack was terrific in a role with unexpected depth. Those kids are really good musicians, too.

9) Dirty Pretty Things
A movie with the second-best acting performance of the year by Chiwetel Ejiofor as an African immigrant living illegally in London, trying to make the best of a difficult existence with quiet dignity. He tries to survive by taking unpleasant jobs, like other illegal immigrants are forced to do. The depiction of an underworld of people ignored by polite society is haunting. But, I liked the Asian guy who is able to inject a little bit of humor in the situation. And Audrey Tautou is gorgeous, and actually can act, too. A nice combination. :)

10) Chaos
A French movie that played at the Tivoli for a week. A yuppie couple see a bleeding woman desperately crying for help, but the selfish husband passed her by. The wife goes back later to visit the woman in the hospital, and her story unfolds, an interesting and horrifying look and an expose of prostitution among immigrant women. How this woman escapes this system is inspiring.

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