20. Whale Rider (dir. Niki Caro)
A movie for families that’s not for little kids. This used to be a regular occurrence, but good luck finding one these days. A beautiful celebration of Maori culture – and a sharp critique of patriarchal society – Whale Rider features an absolutely stunning performance from Keisha Castle-Hughes, who at the time became the youngest nominee for Best Actress ever. A truly special film you should watch with your whole family.
19. Shattered Glass (dir. Billy Ray)
Anyone who laughed at Hayden Christensen’s turn as the sand-hating Anakin Skywalker in two Star Wars prequels ought to give this biopic a look. As the squirmy fabulist Stephen Glass, he’s absolutely perfect, worming his way into his colleagues good graces, letting his puppy dog eyes mask his pathological lies. Caught in the middle is the equally terrific Peter Sarsgaard as Glass’s editor. He’s not fooled but still has to deal with the fallout of this deception.
18. Matchstick Men (dir. Ridley Scott)
Speaking of deception… remember when we used to get a few good-to-great con artist movies every year? Well, that’s gone now, too. But in 2003 we got plenty, and this one still stands as the best. Nicolas Cage gives another excellent performance as Roy, a con man with lots of tics. In lesser hands, this would be annoying and overdone. But with Ridley Scott’s steady oversight, it’s a delightful dramedy, especially when Alison Lohman shows up as Roy’s long-lost daughter. Featuring a stacked cast of “that guys,” including Bruce McGill, Bruce Altman and Sam Rockwell, this is a hidden gem worth seeking out.
17. Big Fish (dir. Tim Burton)
After the disastrous Planet of the Apes remake, Burton returned strong with this adaptation that finds room for all his favorite things, but with the huge heart of past films like Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands. It’s a truly wonderful fable that’s among the year’s most visually stunning films. The only mystery is how Albert Finney missed out on a Best Supporting Actor nomination. (Well that, and how Burton lost his fastball after this.)
16. A Mighty Wind (dir. Christopher Guest)
Another knockout improvised comedy from Guest’s usual band of mischief makers. Except this one has a ton of killer songs: impeccably crafted parodies of every permutation of folk. It surely deserved an Oscar win for Mitch & Mickey’s duet “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” – written by real-life couple Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole – but it ran up against the buzzsaw of a film we’ll get to later.
15. American Splendor (dirs. Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini)
A strong case to be made that this is the best comic book movie of all time. Of course, Harvey Pekar is no superhero; just a schlubby file clerk whose misanthropic graphic novels capture a certain Midwestern malaise. Paul Giamatti has never been better as the raspy record collector, who stumbles his way into romance and cult fame.
14. Mystic River (dir. Clint Eastwood)
Eastwood’s epic Boston tragedy – adapted from a Dennis Lahane novel – still holds a lot of power. While it’s not immune to overacting and some procedural clichés, the bone-deep trauma still felt by a never-better Tim Robbins resonates. While he and Sean Penn won Oscars, the entire cast is tremendous, including Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney and Laurence Fishburne. If all you remember is the “Is that my daughter in there?!” scene, it’s time for another visit.
13. Millennium Mambo (dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien)
One of the most beautiful films you’ll ever see. But for a long time, it’s absolutely heartbreaking. Shu Qi is magnetic as Vicky, who’s stuck between two men who both seek to control her. Their abuse is tough to watch, but that makes the freedom she goes through hell to get that much more powerful.
12. Mondays in the Sun (dir. Fernando Leon de Aranoa)
A winning dramedy about the daily humiliations of being unemployed. While Javier Bardem is known for his larger-than-life villainous performances in No Country for Old Men and Skyfall, you may be surprised by how subdued he is here. He’s one of a group of men laid off from a port in Galicia. It’s immediately clear this is all due to corporate greed, and the men grow increasingly desperate just for a job and some dignity. Sadly, it’s not hard to see how timeless this story is.
11. Millennium Actress | Tokyo Godfathers (dir. Satoshi Kon)
It was simply too hard to split these two magical films apart and rank one higher than the other. Both are eye-popping visual miracles. Both are life-affirming gems. And both are absolutely essential if you love movies as much as I do.
10. 28 Days Later (dir. Danny Boyle)
It may be hard to fathom now, but there was a time when the film’s handheld digital photography, fast zombies and post-apocalyptic “humans are the real monsters” message were considered revolutionary. Even with dozens of imitators in the last two decades, Danny Boyle’s low-budget horror flick is still one of the most truly frightening films of the century. And still has the fictional character death that upsets me the most to this day.
9. Elephant (dir. Gus Van Sant)
Aside from Dave Cullen’s essential nonfiction book, no other work has grappled with the Columbine High School massacre has deftly as Van Sant’s film. With no initial script and mostly new actors, the Palme d’Or winner weaves in and out of the halls of the school where the slaughter takes place, but with no time for heroics, sentimentality or commentary. A Hollywood version would be an overwrought disaster, but this low-budget effort proves this way is much more effective.
8. In America (dir. Jim Sheridan)
The most moving film of the year can be a tough sit at times. This immigrant story – based partially on Jim Sheridan’s own life – is often tragic but ultimately uplifting. It’s a movie everyone should see, but it’s a hard sell for anyone who’s lost a family member. This is not an endless parade of misery, but it’s often so real it hurts. Yet there’s plenty of joy too, thanks to the performances of real sisters Sarah and Emma Bolger, as the Sullivans’ indefatigable daughters.
7. The Fog of War (dir. Errol Morris) | The Weather Underground (dirs. Sam Green, Bill Siegel)
With decades of hindsight, it’s easy to see that everyone who wanted a war in Vietnam was a criminal and the resisters – however violent they may have been – were noble. But anti-Communist propaganda is a hell of a drug. Both docs aren’t judgmental of their central figures. But anyone with half a brain can see invading Vietnam was a losing proposition for hundreds of reasons, and almost any tactic was justified to stop the slaughter of draftees and civilians. The Fog of War rightly won the Oscar, but any proper education on one of America’s greatest sins must include both films.
6. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (dir. Quentin Tarantino)
The more colorful – except in one key sequence – more “fun” half of QT’s epic tribute to martial arts films. Uma Thurman has never been better than here as the vengeful Bride, and her bloody trail from coma patient to exacting killer is arguably the most entertaining film Tarantino’s ever made. Maybe some day a full, uncut version of this saga will be widely available. But until then, there’s this eminently rewatchable chapter.
5. Lost in Translation (dir. Sofia Coppola)
Sofia’s best film, and one of the most insightful films about loneliness. It’s hard to believe Scarlett Johansson was just 19 when this came out. She was hardly an ingenue, but it’s still startling how good she is, especially against a seasoned pro like Murray, who pivoted after a decade of mostly shitty comedies to a more melancholy fit.
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (dir. Peter Jackson)
My least favorite of the trilogy, but filmmaking on this large a scale is impossible to resist. It’s still too long, with too many endings/codas. But as a conclusion to the finest trilogy ever made, it’s a tremendous achievement.
3. City of God (dirs. Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund)
A radically unglamorous crime film, focused mostly on the teens in the titular favela, where drugs and violence rule. Its status as a “film bro classic” is a little unfair. But if you were a kid who grew up on mainstream fare at your local multiplex, seeing this in college (like I did) was truly mind-blowing.
2. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (dir. Peter Weir)
“Oceans are now battlefields.”
While Pirates of the Caribbean was a much bigger financial success, this is by far the best (human) seafaring story of the year. Peter Weir’s eye for action is impeccable, but it’s the friendship between Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and Maturin (Paul Bettany) that makes the film endure. I still can’t believe we got four POTC sequels yet couldn’t get one additional adventure with the two of them.
1. Finding Nemo (dir. Andrew Stanton)
Most days, I think this is Pixar’s finest achievement. A gorgeously animated, touching story about the families we choose and the ones we get by fate. I still quote it regularly, think about the memes and Simpsons subplots it inspired, and applaud the rare case of celebrity voice casting (Albert Brooks) being the right choice.
Honorable Mentions
All the Real Girls (dir. David Gordon Green)
The Barbarian Invasions (dir. Denys Arcand)
Bend It Like Beckham (dir. Gurinder Chadha)
Bus 174 (dir. José Padilha)
Capturing the Friedmans (dir. Andrew Jarecki)
Cold Mountain (dir. Anthony Minghella)
Down with Love (dir. Peyton Reed)
House of Sand and Fog (dir. Vadim Perlman)
In the Cut (dir. Jane Campion)
Intolerable Cruelty (dirs. Joel & Ethan Coen)
Irréversible (dir. Gaspar Noé)
The Matrix Reloaded (dirs. The Wachowskis)
May (dir. Lucky McKee)
Owning Mahowny (dir. Richard Kwietniowski)
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (dir. Gore Verbinski)
The Room (dir. Tommy Wiseau)
School of Rock (dir. Richard Linklater)
The Station Agent (dir. Tom McCarthy)
Thirteen (dir. Catherine Hardwicke)
The Triplets of Belleville (dir. Sylvain Chomet)