It’s that time of the year again. You know the one, the time when Hollywood stops screening movies for a few weeks and we all have to come up with something interesting to talk about to justify our existence and reason for being. Enter the year end Top 10 list, as many people who visit this site regularly know, I’m not a fan of the “”Top 10″” list and always resisted doing one, until I did my first one ever last year. I must admit, it is an interesting exercise to see how good my memory is, and to see if I can even come up with a list.
Creating this list has been a daunting task, not because there were so many great films that I simply couldn’t narrow the list down, or even that there were so many god awful films that it was hard to select 10 gems, no 2003 was truly a mediocre year for the film industry. There wasn’t much that I truly loved, or hated, everything was basically right in the middle for me. Honestly, most of this year has been a blur to me, with no real standouts. This year, I would say that I haven’t been doing my full duty and only attended about 150 screenings this year, but I have seen most of the things that “”matter”” with the exception of “”Big Fish,”” “”Cold Mountain”” (I have absolutely no interest in seeing CM), and “”Finding Nemo.”” I’ve been really lax in my Documentary film going and haven’t caught “”Fog of War,”” “”Biggie and Tupac,”” “”Tupac Ressurection,”” and a couple of other notable Docs. And I avoided stuff that I knew that I would absolutely loathe like “”Cat In The Hat,”” “”Gigli,”” “”Master of Disguise,”” and a few others.With all that said, and all the disclaimers aside, here are my top ten films of 2003. Drum roll please……..1) X2: X-Men UnitedI’ve made no secret of my love of this movie, so this choice should come as no surprise to anyone. From the moment I saw that incredible teaser trailer to the finish product “”X2″” delivered on all fronts (except for the crappy graphic novel.) Like the first film, the second one relies more on character development than large scale action sequences. You would think that with so many primary characters in this ensemble that folks would get lost in the shuffle, but the writers Zak Penn, David Hayter and Bryan Singer deserve kudos for delivering a tightly focused script, with crisp dialogue and fully developed characters. There doesn’t seem to be a wasted scene or moment in this film and every character seems to evolve and grow by the end. The only exceptions to this are Deathstrike and Cyclops (James Marsden). Everything about X2 is just bigger, better, cleaner, and more clearly defined than the original. There are so many subtexts in this film that you will discover something new every time you watch it. This is truly a crossover film that everyone will enjoy – even non-comic book fans. It’s a flawless adaptation.2) THE COREYeah, I know most folks absolutely loathe this movie. When I walked into this film, I was ready to jump on the hate bandwagon, but you know what, this film was a surprising gem. Everyone made a big deal about whether or not the film’s science was accurate or not, but honestly I don’t look to Hollywood for a science lesson or any kind of lesson. The science in “”The Core”” worked within the context of the film. The film’s story moves along at a brisk pace with fine performances by the stellar cast of some of my favorite actors including Hilary Swank, Del Roy Lindo, and the always fun Stanley Tucci. This movie is like Armageddon only with better acting and cheesy effects, but it still worked for me. I’m not ashamed (ok, I am) to say I actually teared up a little during this film. And unlike other Hollywood blockbusters (who will remain nameless), PEOPLE ACTUALLY DIE in this film, so you really feel the tension, and believe in the plight of these characters.3) SHATTERED GLASS“”Are you mad at me?”” Who knew Hayden Christensen could act? Well he proves his chops in this bio picture about the disgraced “”New Republic”” writer Steven Glass. The film quietly shows us how this “”kid”” managed to pull the wool over the eyes of distinguished news editors. Whenever he would get into trouble he would disarm the situation by asking “”Are you mad at me?”” You can see how this simple response would throw people off. My only problem with the film would be the fact that the sets looked fairly cheap, and that it obviously wasn’t filmed in Washington, DC. Other than that, anyone interested in the field of Journalism needs to see this film it really gives an insider’s look at the inner workings of a major political magazine. Seriously, “”Are you mad at me?””4) THE BARBARIAN INVASIONSThis small French Canadian film about an old man with cancer dying with dignity and his estranged son doing everything in his power to make this happen is truly a portrait of the power of love, friendship and family. St