December 12, 2003

Top 10 Films of 2003

1. ''City Of God'' (Fernando Meirelles, Brazil)

2. "The Brown Bunny" (Vincent Gallo, USA)

3. "Oldboy" (Park Chan-Wook, South Korea)

4. ''Alexandra's Project'' (Rolf De Heer, Australia)

5. "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter And Spring" (Kim Ki-Duk, South Korea)

6. "Dogville" (Lars von Trier, Denmark)

7. "Finding Nemo" (Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, USA)

8. ''Swimming Pool'' (François Ozon, France)

9. ''Crimson Gold" (Jafar Panahi, Iran)

10. "Russian Ark" (Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia)


Other great films:

Demi-tarif (France)
Down By Love (Hungary)
Eden (Poland)
Good Bye Lenin (Germany)
The Good Thief (Ireland)
Hard Luck Hero (Japan)
Hatley High (Canada)
Haute tension (France)
Ikki Tousen (Japan)
Memories Of Murder (South Korea)
Osama (Afghanistan)
Pornografia (Poland)
PTU (Hong Kong)
Tan de repente (Argentina)
Untold Scandal (South Korea)
Whale Rider (New Zealand)
Zurek (Poland)

Short Top 3:

1. "Bager" (Tomi Grgicevic, Canada)

2. "Selma And Sofie" (Mia Engberg, Sweden)

3. "Serguei et Tatiana" (Jean-Yves Guilleux, France)


Other great shorts:

7:35 In The Morning (Spain)
Bonheur est dans les pres mais parfois c'est au fond d'un océan (Canada)
Corps etrangers (Canada)
To The Happy Few

Top 3 Music Videos:

1. "The Hardest Button To Button" (Michel Gondry, The White Stripes)

2. "Hey Ya" (Bryan Barber, Outkast)

3. "Crazy In Love" (Jake Nava, Jay-Z, Beyonce)


Other great music videos:

Seven Nation Army

Top Commercial:

"Cog" (Antoine Bardou-Jacquet, Honda)


TV Top 3:

1. "Six Feet Under: Season 3" (HBO)

2. "The Wire: Season 2" (HBO)

3. "24: Season 3" (Fox)


Other great TV shows:


Cartoon Top 3:

1. "Destino" (Dominique Monfery, Disney)

2. "Harvie Krumpet" (Adam Elliot, Australia)

3. "Gone Nutty" (Carlos Saldanha, USA)


Other great cartoons:

Encre noire sur fond d'azur (Canada)
Nibbles (Canada)
Zelary (Czech Republic)

Weak shorts:

A-Torzija (Slovenia)
Most (Czech Republic)
Squash (France)
Two Soldiers

Weak cartoons:

Boundin'
Wrong Number Phone Message
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Top Musical of 2003

"Pas sur la bouche" (Alain Resnais, France)


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November 11, 2003

Oldboy (2003) *****

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The Brown Bunny (2003) *****


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City Of God (2003) *****

The greatest South American film of all times, a fabulous epic tale set in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. It was nominated for four Academy Awards - best director, screenplay adaptation, cinematography and editing.
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October 10, 2003

Pornografia (2003) ****

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Crimson Gold (2003) ****


Excellent Iranian film about a pizza delivery man.
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Dogville (2003) ****


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Swimming Pool (2003) ****

This isn't exactly a lesbian film, but the erotic chemistry between Charlotte Rampling and Ludivine Saigner is palpable in this terrific movie directed by Francois Ozon ("8 Women", "5X2"). It actually comes as a surprise that these two actresses don't sleep together. Actually - and this is a spoiler, so don't read if you haven't yet seen "The Swimming Pool" - they cannot sleep together, because, if the final scene is to make any sense, Rampling and Saigner are playing the SAME character. Or - to be more precise - two different aspects of the same character - Saigner being Rampling's erotic id, a complete slut who will sleep with any man, no matter how ugly, old or unappealing. In other words, she is actually doing what Rampling is only fantasizing about doing - getting as much sex as possible, no matter from where. Needless to say, Ludivine Saigner gets naked often in this film. Is Rampling playing a sex addict ? Maybe not. Maybe it's just her upbringing and her cultural values that are at odds with her sexual urges. Therefore, to remain sane, she has to invent a different character (yes, it is a form of schizophrenia) and make her do everything she wants to do. But unlike the hero of "Fight Club", Rampling is actually fully aware of her fantasy life. This reading of the film is the only one that fully explains the final scene, when Rampling meets the real daughter of her publisher and doesn't react in any way - if you've seen the film you'll understand what it means.
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Russian Ark (2003) ****


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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter And Spring (2003) ****

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Mystic River (2003) ****

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Alexandra's Project (2003) ****

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Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003) ****

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Lost In Translation (2003) ****

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Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003) ****

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Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) ****

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Finding Nemo (2003) ****


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Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003) ****

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September 9, 2003

Freddy Vs Jason (2003) ***

Probably the best "Nightmare On Elm Street" film and definitely the best "Friday The 13th" movie. Not much was really expected from the pairing of Elm Street's blade-slashing baddie Freddy Krueger with hockey-masked Friday's maniac Jason Voorhees. Except for one thing - its Hong Kong director, Ronny Yu, who has directed one of the most beautiful Asian fantasy film of all times, ''The Bride With The White Hair'' (1993). And thanks to Yu's great visual flair, ''Freddy Vs Jason'' (2003) is indeed a superior example of the slasher genre. The plot is simple: trapped in Hell, Freddy seeks a way to return to Earth and terrify a new generation of Elm Street kids...and finds it by resurrecting Jason; but when Jason's killing spree makes Freddy jealous, the stage is set for a sinister showdown between the two villains.
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The Manson Family (2003) ***

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Open Water (2003) ***


A yuppie couple (Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis) goes on vacation to the Caribbean. The two are overworked, and looking forward to some scuba diving. But due to a faulty head count, the couple is left behind in the middle of the open sea. They find themselves drifting endlessly for hours on end, facing dehydration, jellyfish stings, saltwater sickness, and hungry sharks. That’s the premise of ''Open Water'', a low-budget thriller directed by Chris Kentis, and based on a true story. As they gradually realize the seriousness of their predicament, the couple goes through a gamut of the various emotional reactions. They scream, despair, freak out, and even joke (usually sarcastically). The film is structured in such a way that the situation doesn’t seem tragic at first, but then slowly deteriorates. As the day passes, they see more and more splashing around them. Dorsal fins slice quickly through the water. They can only see what’s on the surface, so when a fish bumps against their legs, their panic seems real. It’s terrifying because we can only guess what’s going on near their feet. It's far more scary to imagine what could be happening underwater than actually seeing it.
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Hard Luck Hero (2003) ***

Terrific movie from Japan.
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Something's Gotta Give (2003) ***

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Thirteen (2003) ***

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Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003) ***




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A hauteur d'homme (2003) ***

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Goodbye Dragon Inn (2003) ***


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The Shape Of Things (2003) ***

Black comedy about sexual manipulation.
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2 Brothers And A Bride (2003) ***

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21 Grams (2003) ***


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Whale Rider (2003) ***

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