Recently in Film Category

Alright, here's the list. I reserve the right to change or amend it after I see Hotel Rwanda & Million Dollar Baby.

1. Sideways
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. I Heart Huckabees
4. Aviator
5. Spanglish
6. Kill Bill Vol. 2
7. The Bourne Supremacy
8. Beyond The Sea
9. The Incredibles
10. Saved!

All of these films were excellent for different reasons. Please feel free to make your own list or comment on mine in my comments.

Here are two helpful links from IMDb of Top ranked films and
Most votes. These should give you a pretty good idea of what important movies came out this year.

Sideways was perhaps the best movie I have seen so far this year (Eternal Sunshine being the only other possible choice). Paul Giamatti continues to blow my mind as an actor, and I love the dark humor that Alexander Payne brings to all of his films. Never have I ever laughed so hard in a movie as I did during a scene toward the end of Sideways. If you've seen it, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about -- the scene that features Shrub and Rummy. Nearly pissed my pants.

First, I hate the idiots they have working there, why do they hire people with the WORST taste in movies? It doesn't help that they know who I am because I come in almost twice every day.

Second, I hate that they will have 100+ copies of some (overrated) movies, like LOTR, and one or two copies of good films, like City of God.

Third, I don't like how they organize their movies, there are so many movies that are in the wrong category. Like Six Degrees of Separation, they have it under comedy for some reason. It has Will Smith (*cough*hack*cough*) in it, so the shelf-stockers assume that it is a comedy. I'm not saying it is a good movie at all, I actually hated it, but why do they put it with the comedies when it is a dramatic play?

Finally, I hate that a large number of DVDs that I rent from them are scratched, or dirty, so they skip on my player. This is more of a shot at DVD makers, but why can't we have a disc caddy system to prevent this from happening? We did it with CD-ROMs for computers years ago, why not with DVDs? DVDs can't forgive damage as much as VCR tapes once could, so why not do something about it? Too expensive? Probably not.

I'm kinda glad that Blockbuster has sorta lightened up on the whole censorship thing. They do actually rent unrated versions of movies instead of an R-rated version of the movie. I think it was Y Tu Mama Tambien that they first released in an R-rated version, and the people who saw it didn't know how it really ended! Now they carry both versions, which is still pointless, but at least progress.

I just saw Spartan, and I must say, I was really impressed. I normally hate Val Kilmer, but he really did a great job in it outside of a few horrible lines. David Mamet did a great job writing and directing, it was along the lines of Along Came a Spider and Kiss The Girls, but better. It mixed that kidnapping genre with a James Bond commando action film kind of thing.

Really good, check it out if you can. There are good hints and clues along the way, I have a feeling this is going to do much better in rentals than it did in the theater.

The thing I didn't get, for those who saw it, is why do they say if she doesn't show up for classes on Monday that it will be on Meet The Press? Meet The Press is Sunday mornings...

Possibly the worst movie I've ever seen: The Book of Mormon Movie. I didn't pay to rent it, don't worry. We got it as a joke, maybe to watch the first five minutes, but it really pulled us in, it was so bad. Why did Nephi's brothers keep trying to kill him even after God stopped them like 3 or 4 times? Isn't it dangerous to have a group of people that are supposed to reproduce in the promise land consist of just two different families? It makes for a shallow gene pool. I also like that this bronze book has never been seen by anyone outside of Joseph Smith. If it is such a great book, and it was written by the first humans to set foot in America, why don't they proudly display it? And this gold compass sent from God, where is that?

How naive are Mormons? I can't wait to see the second part, so I can see white Jesus walking through Utah.

There were so many funny moments in this film, like when God commands Nephi to smite Laban. Yeah, a real loving God those Mormons have. I also liked the forced conversions, and covenants made under the threat of death, real classy. Check out this gem:

Zoram: Do I have a choice?
Nephi: Yes, my friend, there is always a choice. You can covenant with me and become a free man or die here and now.

I loved how bad of an actor Zoram was, I guess he was a producer or something. His idea of acting is standing still for a while, and then saying, "wait here."

I was always waiting for Lehi to say to his wife, "the Lord spoke to me and commands that you make me a sandwich."

Rent this one if you can, or see if you get some Morms to buy you a copy.

Yeah, here goes the best movies of 2003 (that I've seen). I am reserving the right to add Monster and The Cooler to the list once I see them.

10. Love Actually
9. Kill Bill vol. I
8. Fog of War
7. Once Upon A Time In Mexico
6. Mystic River
5. The Last Samurai
4. School of Rock
3. 21 Grams
2. Lost in Translation
1. City of God

This probably isn't the be-all and end-all; there are still other films I want to see but haven't. My Oscar picks will be more complete. As some have asked, Lord of the Rings is not in my top ten; it might break the top 20, but that would be a stretch. Ok, how about this, it was the best film that I saw this year that was more than 3 hours long. OK? I haven't seen Cold Mountain, and I really don't think it is gonna be that good from what I've read about it, but I will see it at some point. I also haven't seen Master and Commander for obvious reasons (more like reason) I may see it once it is in the public domain and there is no way that R.C. will make even the smallest amount of money off of me. I suppose once he dies, that would be fine for watching it too. I kinda wanna see Spellbound and Fog of War, but I'll wait a bit for the documentaries. I just saw Winged Migration, which was shot really well, but I don't think it was actually a documentary.

My lady wants me to see Mona Lisa Smile, and I am unsure if I want to watch it. Sean Means, in his worst of 2003 said that the movie was "This unpleasantness about repressed female college students is a textbook case of prominent actresses -- Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal -- slumming in Oscar-bait hell and calling it uplifting art." I know I'll end up going to see it anyway.

The movie that I most look forward to over the next few months is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and it looks like they are going to re-edit it for more wide-spread appeal. This is going to turn what could be a great movie into a really dumb one. It has Jim Carrey, it is written by Charlie Kauffman, and the premise is fantastic. They want to re-edit it for release in March instead of the version they have now in November.