Here they are, the last 13 films of my 2003. My first time watches here were Cold Mountain, The Company, The Fog of War, House of Sand and Fog, Mona Lisa Smile, and The Station Agent. The movies I’ve seen more than just the two times are The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Big Fish.
The Last Samurai
release: December 5
nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Ken Watanabe), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Lilly Kilvert / Gretchen Rau), Best Costume Design (Ngila Dickson), Best Sound Mixing (Andy Nelson / Anna Behlmer / Jeff Wexler)
dir: Edward Zwick
pr: Tom Cruise / Tom Engelman / Marshall Herskovitz / Scott Kroopf / Paula Wagner / Edward Zwick
scr: John Logan and Edward Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz, story by John Logan
cin: John Toll
An American soldier comes to train Japanese troops in the art of modern war; he winds up falling in with “rebellious” samurai, the last to maintain an ancient tradition. I’m clearly not a good enough writer to address whatever racial or social implications come with this narrative, I just know that I saw a beautifully mounted tale of a man scarred by his own participation in American colonialism finding his purpose and honor through a Japanese man who believes adversaries should be worthy of each other, should respect each other, should recognize the humanity in each other before being forced to cross blades. The horror of modern war technology, the way the Gatling gun mows down men armed with rifles and swords, alienating Man from his fellow Man, it’s a rage felt throughout the film. A historical epic with great battle scenes that still manages to convey anti-war sympathies.
The Station Agent
release: December 5
dir/scr: Tom McCarthy
pr: Robert May / Mary Jane Skalski / Kathryn Tucker
cin: Oliver Bokelberg
Peter Dinklage reluctantly makes friends after inheriting a decommissioned railroad station. The movie that dares to ask, “What if people…could be friends?” Nice.
Girl with a Pearl Earring
release: December 12
nominations: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Ben van Os / Cecile Heideman), Best Costume Design (Dien van Straalen)
dir: Peter Webber
pr: Andy Paterson / Anand Tucker
scr: Olivia Hetreed
cin: Eduardo Serra
Inspired by the painting (and a novel). A maid inspires the work of her master, the artist Vermeer. This was the breakout year of Scarlett Johansson, between this and Lost in Translation. While her facial expression barely
moves, there’s much expressed in her movements, her hands, the tilt of her head. So effective are the sets and costumes, you feel like you can smell 17th-century Holland. Sensuous use of color. Good vibes movie.
Something's Gotta Give
release: December 12
nominations: Best Actress (Diane Keaton)
dir/scr: Nancy Meyers
pr: Bruce A. Block / Nancy Meyers
cin: Michael Ballhaus
Romantic-comedy between a successful writer and her daughter’s much older fling, a music exec who’s never tried dating a woman his own age. I think it’s Nancy Meyers’ best movie, it’s funny and honest and very sexy, at times heartbreaking, effortlessly warm, you believe these characters and this conflict. Also a great fan of the cinematography, capturing the crisp whiteness of Erica's beach getaway, sensual at night, dreamy in Paris... Great movie!
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
release: December 17
wins: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Score (Howard Shore), Best Original Song ("Into the West"), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Grant Major / Dan Hennah / Alan Lee), Best Film Editing (Jamie Selkirk), Best Costume Design (Ngila Dickson / Richard Taylor), Best Makeup (Richard Taylor / Peter Swords King), Best Sound Mixing (Christopher Boyes / Michael Semanick / Michael Hedges / Hammond Peek), Best Visual Effects (Jim Rygiel / Joe Letteri / Randall William Cook / Alex Funke)
dir: Peter Jackson
pr: Peter Jackson / Eric Monette / Barrie M. Osborne / Fran Walsh
scr: Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson
cin: Andrew Lesnie
The exciting conclusion to the epic fantasy trilogy. More later.
The Fog of War
release: December 19
wins: Best Documentary Feature
dir: Errol Morris
pr: Julie Ahlberg / Errol Morris / Michael Williams
cin: Robert Chappell / Peter Donahue
Documentary of Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Johnson. McNamara narrates, is at times challenged by the off-screen voice of Morris. Sometimes damning, as McNamara admits some mistakes, demurs on others, and seems ultimately determined to preserve his image and its honor.
House of Sand and Fog
release: December 19
nominations: Best Actor (Ben Kingsley), Best Supporting Actress (Shohreh Aghdashloo), Best Score (James Horner)
dir: Vadim Perelman
pr: Michael London / Vadim Perelman
scr: Vadim Perelman and Shawn Lawrence Otto
cin: Roger Deakins
Dispute over ownership of a house leads to resentment and violence. Surprising film about people who let their pride and stubbornness dictate their reality instead of, you know, accepting the things they cannot change. Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly are great (she's frustrating and effective as a woman who, perhaps subconsciously, knows just how to weaponize her white woman's tears to get what she thinks she wants). A classic tragedy. This one snuck up on me.
Mona Lisa Smile
release: December 19
dir: Mike Newell
pr: Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas / Paul Schiff / Deborah Schindler
scr: Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal
cin: Anastas N. Michos
Art teacher shakes up the student body at an all-women’s college in the 1950s. And she learns a little something too! A document of changing times, post-War but not the 60s yet, with Julia Roberts as the teacher who’s trying to make the girls’ college experience more than just a checked box, but an opportunity for actual learning and provocative conversation. Her ensemble of students all shine: Kirsten Dunst, Ginnifer Goodwin, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julia Stiles, and, as silent regular extras, Krysten Ritter and Lily Rabe! Marcia Gay Harden tragic as the kind, skittish teacher who’s bought into society’s message about her worth as an unmarried, childless woman. Loved the warm cinematography. Great outfits, great hair!
Monster
release: December 24
wins: Best Actress (Charlize Theron)
dir/scr: Patty Jenkins
pr: Mark Damon / Donald Kushner / Clark Peterson / Charlize Theron / Brad Wyman
cin: Steven Bernstein
Bio of Aileen Wuornos, the only female serial killer to be executed in the United States. I do love a Florida story, this is one of the most honestly Florida ones, if that makes sense. Something about Aileen - clearly suffering from traumas and mental instability, a ticking time bomb of violent fury - and Selby - a composite of Aileen’s real-life partners, a young lesbian who talks sweet but is disastrously naive, self-serving, and just wants to be loved in the same incurable way she loves - these two outcasts and their desperation are natural fits for Florida, the state that collects the rest of the country’s rejected. Jenkins expertly conveys this about the environs while honestly trying to understand without excusing Aileen Wuornos and her crimes. It’s a great film about the forgotten.
Big Fish
release: December 25
nominations: Best Score (Danny Elfman)
dir: Tim Burton
pr: Bruce Cohen / Dan Jinks / Richard D. Zanuck
scr: John August
cin: Philippe Rousselot
A man tries to get to know the truth about his dying father’s past, but feels all he gets are fanciful tall tales - is that so bad? My mom loves this movie, partly because she saw a lot of my Dad in Ewan McGregor’s Edward Bloom: a man who loves his wife, is always adapting, treats people with dignity, is creative and kind and funny, sees an opportunity or a problem and volunteers himself to take the responsibility. I always saw my grandfather in Albert Finney’s Edward Bloom: a master orator who commands the room, knows just how to wrap that distinct Southern accent around the right words to make a story hit, is beloved by all who meet him, is determined to live another 100 years even when the oxygen is getting turned on, who can say he built a life, a family, and a legacy that can last through the next generation and be damn proud of it. Both Dad and 2Pop had a twinkle in the eye, one that both McGregor and Finney have at opportune moments. And I can believe they would’ve planted a garden of daffodils to woo the women they married. It feels a personal movie to Burton, it certainly is to me.
Cold Mountain
release: December 25
wins: Best Supporting Actress (Renee Zellweger)
nominations: Best Actor (Jude Law), Best Score (Gabriel Yared), Best Original Song ("Scarlet Tide", "You Will Be My Ain True Love"), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing (Walter Murch)
dir/scr: Anthony Minghella
pr: Albert Berger / William Horberg / Sydney Pollack / Ron Yerxa
cin: John Seale
A Confederate soldier deserts and makes a long trek back home; meanwhile, his wife attempts to survive. Everything I’ve heard about this movie over the decades has been fixated on the accents or about it being another romance of the Confederacy or schadenfreude over its disappointing Oscar haul. No one told me it’s an art house piece about the stupidity of war and man at his most bestial. Early on, there’s a long sequence of soldiers fighting and falling over each other in a mud pit, the blood and clay making all uniforms one color, the mass of limbs climbing, clawing, desperate to live; it is followed, after a little time, by a shot of our wandering hero espying a puddle of crabs caught in low tide, crawling over each other, helpless beasts climbing, clawing, desperate to live. Whew! The hero’s travels acquaint him with the full extent of human wickedness on and off the battlefield while the heroine faces her own trials at home, where degenerates and opportunists wrap themselves in Southern Pride and Patriotism to justify their calumnies and cowardice. A masterpiece.
The Company
release: December 25
dir: Robert Altman
pr: Robert Altman / Joshua Astrachan / Neve Campbell / Pamela Koffler / David Levy / Christine Vachon
scr: Barbara Turner, story by Neve Campbell & Barbara Turner
cin: Andrew Dunn
Tensions, romances, politics, and a rising star at the Joffrey School of Ballet in Chicago. Love when Altman just focuses the camera on showpeople doing their thing: the musicians of Nashville, the radio talents of A Prairie Home Companion, and here, actual members of the Joffrey Ballet, interacting with Malcolm McDowell as a fictionalized version of the (thrillingly bitchy) company director and Neve Campbell as the ingenue who must decide if this is really what she wants. We get an idea of the sacrifices performers make, of the pressures family can put on them (Marilyn Dodds Frank is a scene-stealer as Campbell's vicariously ambitious, wine-chugging mother); there is even a vignette where one dancer finds himself suddenly homeless and crashes on the floor of an apartment that already houses more dancers than are on the lease. Actual ballet performances are sprinkled throughout. Not groundbreaking, but a steady Altman with dramatic undercurrents.
Peter Pan
release: December 25
dir: P.J. Hogan
pr: Lucy Fisher / Patrick McCormick / Douglas Wick
scr: P.J. Hogan and Michael Goldenberg
cin: Donald M. McAlpine
This is one I saw in cinemas with my sisters. It remains a lovely film, beautifully scored, not too silly but also not so alienating in its addressing of "grown-up" topics like...romance, responsibility, the fear of losing your children, things like that. The look of it is enchanting. The confusion of first feelings, what those mean, and how best to express them, is beautifully played by Jeremy Sumpter and Rachel Hurd-Wood. And Jason Isaacs as sexy Captain Hook and weenie Mr. Darling, well, isn't he great?
Next up, we get into the Oscars with their nominees for Best Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin (The Cooler), Benicio del Toro (21 Grams), Djimon Hounsou (In America), Tim Robbins (Mystic River), and Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai).
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