Another year has ended and once again, critics and film fans alike have put together their lists of favorites for 2003. I'm certainly no different as I've done this for the last decade or so myself. While I did hit over 150 films this year, there are plenty of noteworthy pictures that I was unable to see for a number of reasons. Titles like Big Fish, Stevie, Man Without a Past, A Decade Under the Influence, Spellbound, Swimming Pool, The Magdalene Sisters, Secret Lives of Dentists, Dummy, Veronica Guerin, Elephant, The Human Stain, Shattered Glass, Love Actually, Tupac: Ressurection, All the Pretty Girls, Triplets of Belleville, Girl With a Pearl Earring, The Fog of War, House of Sand and Fog, Monster, The Company, and Man on the Train have all received high marks from various sources but I have yet to see them. A year seems like a long time, but with so many movies and a normal life to lead, it's hard to see them all. In fact, I'm sure there are probably several other titles I failed to mention, but I think I remembered the major ones. At any rate, here are my personal favorite film experiences of 2003. (Starting at 40 and working my way to number 1.)

40. OPEN RANGE
After The Postman, I didn't know if Kevin Costner was capable of making a welcome return to the directing arena. Thankfully, he carried it off with the patient, old fashioned western Open Range. Costner the actor is pretty boring here, but Costner the director does a fantastic job creating a picture perfect western punctuated by one spectacular gunfight. While Open Range certainly smacks of Unforgiven, it is a terrific film thanks to restrained direction and another terrific performance by Robert Duvall.

39. BAD SANTA
While crude and downright vile, Bad Santa remains quite funny. Billy Bob Thornton is a scream as a department store Santa who absolutely loathes the holidays. Director Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World) has a simple goal; put the jolly old fellow in as many compromising, disgusting situations as humanly possible. He succeeded. And even though the movie tends to be a tad too obscene, like all great holiday movies, it provides some heart as well.

38. PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
This take on the famed Disneyland attraction suffers from overly long sword fights and a tedious length, but it's stunning to look at and features a brilliant turn by Johnny Depp who brings to life one of the most physically entertaining pirates you will ever see in the movies. I wonder if Keith Richards enjoyed it as much as the rest of us did?

37. SPIDER
Director David Cronenberg is an acquired taste, but it's one that I've grown to love. This psychological thriller features Ralph Fiennes as one disturbed individual. Few movies have managed to tap into the mind of a killer in the fashion that this picture does. Slow and methodical, Spider is also compelling and well acted.

36. PIECES OF APRIL
This little seen gem made a sizable splash at Sundance 2003. The warm and fuzzy yet brutally honest family drama features Katie Holmes as a young woman preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for her estranged family. Everything that could possibly go wrong does in this insightful dramady from the screenwriter of What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

35. DARK BLUE
I never would have guessed that Ron Shelton (the director behind sports themed movies like Bull Durham and Tin Cup) could be capable of such a gritty film. Dark Blue stars Kurt Russell as a flawed cop who gets in over his head. This Training Day-esque drama is set to the back drop of the Rodney King inspired L.A. riots.

34. OWNING MAHOWNY
Philip Seymour Hoffman gives one of his very best performances as a man consumed by a horrific gambling addiction. While well written, this is a movie about great acting and Hoffman carries the picture with a beautifully textured turn.

33. BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM
Like last year's My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Bend it Like Beckham is simplistic and charming in it's depiction of a young woman trying to break out of generations of tradition. Parminder K. Nagra is a delight as the lead, a soccer player with aspirations of going professional in spite of her parents wishes.

32. IDENTITY
James Mangold's inventive take on Ten Little Indians is a well crafted whodunit with a nifty twist. Since The Sixth Sense, most thrillers are hell-bent on blowing the audience away with an unexpected twist. The one here really works. It's like a really good Twilight Zone episode. John Cusack is perfect in the lead, but it's Mangold's taut direction and the stunning cinematography and editing that make this thriller work.

31. MATCHSTICK MEN
Ridely Scott switched gears from displaying the horrors of war (Gladiator and Blackhawk Down), by going light with this terrific character study, a sort of contemporary version of Paper Moon in which Nicolas Cage plays a con man who decides to show his young, estranged daughter (a fantastic Alison Lohman) the ropes. I've heard many gripes about the ending, but it didn't bother me. I loved the father/daughter relationship that blossoms in this movie.

30. BUBBA HO-TEP
One of the most bizarre films in recent memory is also one of the funniest pictures of 2003. Cult icon Bruce Campbell (the Evil Dead series) plays an aging Elvis who, with the help of an aging John F. Kennedy (played by Ossie Davis...yes, that Ossie Davis), does battle with an ancient Egyptian force that's picking off old folk at a Texas retirement home. Nothing in this movie should work, but everything does thanks to creative performances and a high-energy direction from Don Coscarelli (Phantasm).

29. MAY
This dark comedy/horror film has elements of Heathers and nearly every horror flick you can shake a stick at. Angela Bettis is creepily effective as a withdrawn young woman with horrible social skills. She gets most of her advice from an inanimate object (a strange looking doll). This inventive look at dealing with alienation takes a blood soaked turn for the worst as Bettis decides to make the perfect friend since she is unable to find one.

28. SHAPE OF THINGS
Neil LaBute is one of my favorite writers of the last ten years. With deft insight into the dark side of human nature displayed in pictures like In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors, LaBute has fashioned some of the most despicable characters in recent memory. Following departures Nurse Betty and Possession, LaBute returns to the dark side with this screen adaptation of his own play. It's the story of a shy college man (wonderfully played by Paul Rudd) who is transformed into a stud courtesy of fellow student Rachel Weisz. The ending of this picture is nauseating but all too truthful.

27. COLD MOUNTAIN
Cold Mountain is a curiously odd film. It's a movie I admired more than I liked. Anthony Minghella's Civil War era drama is gorgeous to look at and features outstanding acting from the likes of Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Brendan Gleeson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Kathy Baker and a scene stealing Rene Zellweger. While the movie does lack emotional depth, it is a visual stunner. There are elements of Gone With the Wind here but ultimately, this is a retelling of the Odyssey set to the backdrop of the Civil War.

26. 21 GRAMS
Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu followed up his brilliant Amores Perros with this character study/morality tale in which three lives are profoundly altered by an awful car accident. The story isn't told in a straight forward narrative making for a provocative film in which themes of guilt, grievance, and redemption are all deftly displayed. Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts are all outstanding in this flawed but compellingly challenging film.

25. TERMINATOR 3
Of all the high profile summer movies (i.e. the entertaining but overlong Pirates of the Caribbean and the disappointing Matrix Reloaded), Terminator 3 was the most surprising. Despite the departure of Terminator creator James Cameron, this entry managed to pay homage to past installments while furthering the story at the same time. While not as epic as the first two films, director Jonathan Mostow and crew fashioned a hell of a ride featuring one of the great car chases of all time, and one bleak, grand ending. It's nice to see that Arnie can still kick ass!

24. DANCER UPSTAIRS
Actor John Malkovich made an impressive directorial debut with this involving political mystery that substitutes predictable, Hollywood style thrills, with a patient, character driven plot, that pays off in a series of unexpected but fulfilling ways. Javier Bardem is subtle in the lead, and there are a couple of moments in this picture that left my stomach in knots.

23. A MIGHTY WIND
Christopher Guest (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show) scores again, this time taking a satirical look at the world of folk music. Like his past offerings, most of A Mighty Wind is improvised and features familiar faces such as Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey and Fred Willard. Equally funny and charming, the film's major kick comes in the form of some truly inspired and original folk songs.

22. LOST IN LA MANCHA
Terry Gilliam is one of our most underrated directors. With movies like Time Bandits, Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen under his belt, this filmmaker has made a career out of eccentric brilliance. Not long ago, Gilliam set out to shoot a new version of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Due to unforeseen disaster after disaster, the film was never completed, but this documentary on the making of that movie, was. All at once insightful and incredibly painful, this observant glimpse into the world of filmmaking makes you wonder how any picture ever gets made.

21. SCHOOL OF ROCK
Raise your goblet to the comical genius that is Jack Black. After dazzling audiences with his scene stealing work in High Fidelity, Mr. Black is back front and center. School of Rock offers up a typical fish-out-of-water storyline, but Black's high-energy performance and a hip homage to the world of rock make this a unique family comedy. Black, director Richard Linklater and crew have created a movie that shows how vital it is that music programs remain in the school curriculum.

20. MASTER AND COMMANDER: FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
Russell Crowe is a noble ship commander during the Napoleon era in this stunning achievement from director Peter Weir. While not emotionally involving, this movie is literate and breathtaking to look at. As I watched this picture, I could feel the isolation that these men must have felt. Paul Bettany is superb as the ship doctor. Master and Commander is about the art of war in time when even children had to fight if they were to become men.

19. THE SINGING DETECTIVE
Robert Downey Jr. gave the performance of his career (yes, better than Chaplin) in this offbeat, big screen adaptation of the BBC series of the same name. Director Keith Gordon fuses several genres including film noir, comedy, drama and the movie musical, to bring this strange, surreal world to life, and for me, it worked. I also loved Mel Gibson's performance as a psychiatrist. He's completely unrecognizable, and his scenes with Downey Jr. are outstanding.

18. THE COOLER
William H. Macy does what he does best in The Cooler; plays the lovable loser. Here, he plays a cooler, a mythical casino employee who can ruin the hottest of gamblers just by walking by them. Macy's luck changes, however, when he becomes smitten with a cocktail waitress (played by the beautiful Maria Bello). Macy and Bello heat up the screen, as does a scene stealing Alec Baldwin who seems to be channeling his character from David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross.

17. CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS
Capturing the Firedmans is one of the most disturbing documentaries I've ever seen. Through home video footage and interviews, we are introduced to dysfunction head-on in the form of The Friedmans, a seemingly typical American family. This family's life is torn apart when the head of the household, an upstanding teacher, is accused of child molestation. This documentary is all too frightening, and when it was all over, I couldn't tell if this man was innocent or guilty. This is compelling stuff.

16. ELF
Will Ferrell was an absolute delight as a childlike elf in what I think will be a holiday classic for years to come. His performance here brought to mind Tom Hanks in Big. Equal kudos should go to director Jon Faverau for his light touch. He was inspired by everything from those charming Rankin and Bass holiday specials (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) to Crocodile Dundee. This movie is light and breezy, but most of all, it gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling you want while watching a Christmas movie.

15. OLD SCHOOL
What a year for Will Ferrell. No doubt, many will think I'm out of my mind for showering this movie with such praise, but the fact of the matter is, I laughed all the way through it. It reminded me of Bachelor Party (a movie I've had a soft spot for years). Holding the picture together is the inspired lunacy of Will Ferrell. I just look at this guy and I can't help but crack up. He's a natural and he'll do anything for a laugh. This includes dropping trou in one of the film's funniest scenes. Yes, Old School is offensive and immature, but who cares. It made me laugh.

14. MY FLESH AND BLOOD
I first saw this movie at Sundance Film Festival and it nearly moved me to tears. This intimate documentary follows real life hero Susan Tom, a woman who would go on to adopt several special needs children. This movie has more shocking plot turns than many fictional films. But while this documentary profiles these incredible children, it also profiles Susan Tom herself, a woman who obviously has the void in her lonely heart filled by these wonderful kids. My Flesh and Blood's subject matter may seem like an easy way to move an audience, but this doesn't make it any less important. There are many definitions of a hero, and Susan Tom is one in my book.

13. 28 DAYS LATER
After being let down by the overhyped Cabin Fever, I feared that the horror genre would be dead this year. Thankfully, Trainspotting director Danny Boyle restored my faith with the virus outbreak thriller 28 Days Later. While clearly inspired by the George Romero zombie pictures, this horror film had a style all it's own, and what's more, I actually cared about the characters in this movie. Boyle shot the entire flick in DV and boy does it look amazing. What I liked most about 28 Days Later, is it's tone. Early on, Boyle let's us know that this is a movie in which any character might be killed at any second. Along with May, this was my favorite horror film of the year.

12. AMERICAN SPLENDOR
Paul Giamatti gave one of the best performances of the year as social commentary cartoonist Harvey Pekar in this hilarious and offbeat biopic. Pekar was quite the character and this picture captures him in all of his eccentric glory through Giamatti's outstanding potrayal, and through actual interviews with the real Pekar, which are intercut into the movie. Hope Davis is also outstanding as Pekar's love interest. Some of my favorite moments in American Splendor involve Pekar's meetings with another famous, eccentric cartoonist, Robert Crumb. This movie is a true original.

11. THE LAST SAMURAI
The Last Samurai may be predictable, and it may resemble Dances With Wolves, Braveheart, Glory and the works of Akira Kuroasawa, but who cares. This epic from Edward Zwick is absolutely breathtaking and features stunning cinematography picture perfect art direction and outstanding costume design. It also features some beautifully choreographed sword fights that, while bloody, are incredibly poetic. They even rival the ones in my number ten pick. It has been argued that Tom Cruise is too modern in the role of an ex-civil war soldier who's been scarred by the horrors of war. I think his work here is fantastic. This is an intense, heartfelt performance.

10. KILL BILL VOLUME 1
Kill Bill has been dismissed by many as nothing more than sadistic. I maintain that this is perhaps the best commercial entertainment of the year. Quentin Tarantino is a cinematic sponge and while this is my least favorite of his films in terms of story content, it is probably his best looking movie. The sword fights here are exhausting, and Uma Thurman is tough as nails in the ultimate chick power movie. Yes, this flick is ultra violent, but in a cartoonish way. And how about that soundtrack. Tarantino uses pieces of music here that you would never think would work, but they perfectly compliment the imagery on screen. Volume 2 is slated to open on Feb. 20th. That just so happens to be my birthday. I can't think of a better present.

9. MYSTIC RIVER
With Mystic River, I believe Clint Eastwood has fashioned his best film in terms of overall direction. Unforgiven is a really good movie, but Mystic River is a great one. Eastwood has carefully woven together a mystery about friendship, loyalty, redemption and dark secrets. Mystic River is also a film about how a terrifying incident can not only shape who someone is, but who he will become. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins are extraordinary in this picture.

8. IN AMERICA
Director Jim Sheridan is best known for his brilliant collaborations with Daniel Day-Lewis (see My Left Foot and In the Name of the Father). He hasn't made a film since The Boxer, and with In America, he's given us an intimate, heartfelt tale about an Irish family struggling to make it in America. Paddy Considine and Samantha Morton are stellar here, but it is the young, real sister team of Sarah and Emma Bolger that will steal your heart with their innocence and honesty. In America manages to pull the heartstrings without being an all out sap-fest. This is a wonderful movie.

7. IRREVERSIBLE
Irreversible would have been the most controversial film of the year if more people had heard of it. I just noticed it on Entertainment Weekly's worst of list. While watching this movie, I can see why so many have contempt for it, but to me, the shocking and provocative Irreversible is one of those films that I can't shake out of my brain. While repulsive and cynical, it is unfair to call this picture pointless. With audacious and brutal energy, director Gaspar Noe dares you to look at a bleak world, but at the same time, dares you to look away, and he does so in reverse (think Memento). Irreversible shows us, with grotesque, in-your-face fearlessness, how fragile life can be. This brilliant movie isn't for the faint at heart, and certainly it isn't meant as entertainment value, but it is brilliant nonetheless.

6. LOST IN TRANSLATION
I was not a fan of Sofia Coppola's Virgin Suicides, so I went into her new film Lost in Translation with skepticism. After this stunning movie was over, I was overwhelmed by Coppola's maturity from her first film to her second. Bill Murray gives the performance of his career and is assisted by a stunning Scarlett Johansson. I bought into this interesting, heartfelt relationship, and admired the way Coppola uses Japan as a third character. In the end, Lost in Translation proves that a whisper is worth more than a thousand words.

5. WHALE RIDER
This majestic family drama is a fascinating look into tradition, an unfamiliar culture (to me anyway), and woman's rights all set to the backdrop of a breathtaking New Zealand landscape. Whale Rider features a brilliant performance by young Keisha Castle-Hughes as a girl who desperately wants to earn the respect of her old fashioned grandfather. Try as she might, she angers him more than she pleases, as she sets out to change his way of thinking. With its stunning cinematography and gorgeous scenery, this well acted culture lesson is punctuated by a sequence featuring some of the most beautiful creatures on Earth. Whale Rider is the perfect family film and deserved to be a bigger hit.

4. DIRTY PRETTY THINGS
Dirty Pretty Things is the best picture of the year that many of you may never have even heard of. Director Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity) fashioned this Hitchcockian thriller/drama about an upscale London Hotel that harbors a bizarre black-market ring. The film is expertly crafted with tiny doses of black comedy that never go over the top; but Dirty Pretty Things' strongest attribute is a brilliant, heartbreaking turn by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who, along with Bill Murray in Lost in Translation, gave the best performance by an actor in 2003. Amelie star Audrey Tautou plays against type as a Turkish immigrant.

3. SEABISCUIT
As I watched Gary Ross' magical Seabiscuit, I couldn't help but get a lump in my throat. Beautifully acted by everyone involved, this wonderful movie is much more than a sports film. This depiction of four characters who would profoundly impact each other's lives during the Great Depression is incredibly uplifting and very inspirational. Further proof that summer movies don't have to have things that go "BOOM!" to be effective.

2. FINDING NEMO
Those guys over a Pixar really are amazing. I wouldn't call Finding Nemo the best of Pixar's efforts (I love the Toy Story films), but I would call it the best looking. The underwater vistas in this extraordinary family/adventure lend themselves beautifully to computer animation. This film is also perfectly cast featuring the voices of a hilarious Albert Brooks and a zany Ellen DeGeneres. Like the best of Disney animated features, Finding Nemo doesn't shy away from serious subject matter (the loss of a parent here is quite devastating), and like Disney's best, this picture doesn't merely appeal to children, but rather the child in all of us. This visual splendor dazzles with a story that transends age barriers.

1. LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING
It may be a tad pretentious to call Return of the King the best film of the year given that so many other film fans and critics have done the same, so...I'm going to call it the best film of the year anyway. Is this movie perfect? Of course not, but no other movie this year affected me quite the same way this one did, and when it was over, I was hard pressed to pick which of the three I like the best (especially after experiencing all three in a row, during Trilogy Tuesday). Now, I sort of view it as one glorious epic - just the way Peter Jackson and his fearless crew intended. I honestly believe that these films have raised the bar for movie-making. The passion and effort that went into this series is unmatched and the greatest trick of all is that the characters never got lost in the barrage of incredible special effects work. The Lord of the Rings series, like the books, will go down in history as classic cinema. And even though Peter Jackson was forced to compromise some of the material, he never lost the spirit of Tolkien's beloved work. Long live the King and long live Mr. Jackson.

WORST OF 2003!

As usual, I won't bore you with a big old list of crap that I endured during 2003. I will reveal what I felt was the worst picture of the year. Actually, it's tie.

BULLETPROOF MONK
Chow Yun Fat is a major talent. There's no doubt about it. Why American filmmakers have yet to exploit that talent is beyond me. Time and time again, this terrific actor has appeared in one weak American effort after another. Some mediocre (see Anna and the King, The Corruptor) and some just plain awful (see The Replacement Killers). Chalk up another one in the awful category. Bulletproof Monk is so bad, I don't even know where to begin. Let's start with chemistry or the lack thereof. What friggin' genius thought it would be cool to team up Chow Yun Fat with Seann William Scott? This was the worst idea in the history of bad ideas. Obviously, the producers of this movie thought that they'd be duplicating the magic that Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker brought to Rush Hour (overrated), or the chemistry that Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson brought to Shanghi Noon. Too bad this movie isn't remotely funny. Even the martial arts trickery is dull. What a waste of talent and money.

HOUSE OF THE DEAD
House of the Dead found new ways to destroy the art of film. This movie is disjointed! This movie is full of bad acting (save for a cameo by Clint Howard)! This movie isn't scary! This movie doesn't make sense! Did I mention that this movie is based on a video game? If you weren't aware of this fact, you will be while you watch it (should you decide to waste your valuable time). During the horribly conceived action scenes, they actually intercut clips directly from the game. House of the Dead is beyond awful. House of the Dead is...UBER AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2003 has come to an end, but we have 2004 to look forward to. At a glance, some of the movies I'm most excited to see are The Passion of Christ, Spider-Man 2, Club Dread, Anchorman, The Aviator, Hellboy, and, of course, Lord of the Rings: The Complete Extended Trilogy (even if I do have to experience it on a boring old television set).