John Behling
Before the Academy delivers its awards for cinematic excellence in 2003 (insert either groan or applause here), let's take a look at a different demographic: typical, film-going students and faculty from our very own SCSU. These very different lists should serve as a reminder that whatever your tastes may be - whether blockbuster or art house - they are in fact your tastes. And that means something; no matter who wins the little statues.
Rising against the tsunami force of trilogy-mania, a few directors who had bucked the mainstream in the early-to-mid-'90s did something phenomenal: they started making exciting, provocative films again - and I stopped being so depressed.
With the exception of "Gerry," it all started in the middle of summer when a beached British director envisioned the apocalypse...
1) 28 Days Later
Three things the U.S. wasn't expecting when Danny Boyle unleashed this low-budget infection: 1) George A. Romero's "Dead" Trilogy regenerated in washed-out-digital courtesy "Festen" cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle. 2) A repressed meditation on group survival, utopianism and life during wartime. 3) A scary horror film. Gasp!
2) Kill Bill
Tarantino the uber-geek applies his grindhouse education to the ultra-violent films of Kinji Fukasaku - and many, many others - with the same loving touch he put on '70s blaxploitation with "Jackie Brown." But references aside, this flick is a killa. And you've gotta give the man props for putting deadly phallic steel in the hands of a woman (Uma Thurman).
3. Gerry
Could be known as the OTHER buddy movie Matt Damon did in '03. Gus Van Sant's film stuck on me despite sweltering long-takes that should bore any viewer of the MTV-generation into a permanent yawn - but maybe that's exactly why I love it?
4. The School of Rock
Some tight-collared critics mourn the "deep" Linklater who penned "Waking Life." This movie, like rock music, isn't for them. A smart, meaningful movie within the conventions of a feel-good kids comedy, Linklater's newest may not unravel any deep metaphysical truths, but does manage to express the feeling I get when "Immigrant Song" by Zeppelin comes on my car stereo and I turn up the dial all the way.
5. Ichi the Killer
While 'Return of the King' may be the most violent and least sexual film of the year - disregarding the thoroughly disturbing man-boy-love vibe - this audacious work of art by Tokyo renegade Takashi Miike is teaming with sexualized violence. Cringes aside, there are many layers beneath the shock, including the indictment - or celebration? - of the viewer as sado-masochist.
6. Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Technically a "flick" not a "film" (shot on digital video). Every bit as brutal and self-indulgent as the fan-film of his blood-brother (Tarantino). However, if "Kill Bill" is slick like the RZA's soundtrack, 'Mexico' is down-and dirty like a bar-slumming Mariachi. It's all about squibs, wires and pure attitude.
7. Lost in Translation
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson play snobs cut loose in a beautiful, yet unintelligible universe. Soft-spoken and ethereal like Sofia Coppola's first ("The Virgin Suicides") and strangely satisfying for its non-conclusion.
8. Big Fish
Tim Burton favors the magical over the macabre in this adult faery tale. The most complete and satisfying fantasy world yet from the director who gave me some of my first nightmares ("Pee Wee's Big Adventure"). As pleasant as it is painful.
9. The Same River Twice
In the '70s, Robb Moss and a group of his friends floated down the Colorado River naked, and made a film about it. Twenty years later he reconnected with his travelmates to film a documentary about the passage of time, the "heaviness" of clothed-life in middle-age and how perplexing it is to have such a clear record of "then" and "now."
10. Cabin Fever
Sticky, clumsy and dirty, but with a hint of David Lynch, Eli Roth's debut is a wonderfully disjointed horror film, perhaps the best of the '70s horror tribute flicks ("28 Days Later" not withstanding).
John Behling is Diversions Editor of University Chronicle.
Brad Chisholm
Face it. Annual "Top Ten" movie lists are dominated by films that have yet to play medium-sized markets like St. Cloud, and for good reason. Studios hold the best stuff for the end-of-the-year qualifying run, and small companies especially want their films to accumulate some kudos before risking release to the hinterlands.
But 2003 was different. The people who give the Oscars decided to hold the Academy Awards ceremony in February 2004 instead of on the traditional March date. Independent distributors, such as Newmarket and Focus feared this compressed awards season would squeeze out their small-budget contenders, so they gambled and released their films to places like St. Cloud well ahead of the winter movie glut.
As a result, every film on my Top Ten list played on a St. Cloud movie screen during 2003 - a real first. My top three would otherwise never have gotten here this soon, if at all!
1. Whale Rider
Destined to be a classic, this is the endearing, triumphant story of a young Maori girl and her battle of wills with her steely grandfather as both strive to save the cultural traditions they love.
2. Dirty Pretty Things
Stephen Frears brings us a beautiful and understated thriller entirely populated by the doormen, taxi drivers, sweatshop workers and janitors who make up London's immigrant class.
3. Lost in Translation
Sofia Coppola's wry and real look at the unlikely friendship that develops between two Americans adrift in Tokyo: a neglected young bride (Scarlett Johansson) and a burned-out movie star (Bill Murray).
4. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The odds-on favorite to win the Best Picture Oscar, and why shouldn't it be? A much stronger finish than that of certain other trilogies we've seen.
5. Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World
A testament to good storytelling and character development. It's high adventure on the high seas without being a high-octane, explosion-filled bloodbath.
6. 28 Days Later
Okay, this one has the blood. Danny Boyle and friends breathe stylish new life into the "end-of-the-world-and-we're-the-only-people-left-except-for-the-zombies" genre.
7. House of Sand and Fog
An exquisite American tragedy for the 21st Century. A taut, atmospheric gut-punch of a movie. This is what the great playwright Eugene O'Neill would be writing if he wasn't dead.
8. Down With Love
Dismissed as a lightweight romantic farce, this is actually one of the smartest movie spoofs in memory. It's as if all we know of the early 1960s is just what was channeled through Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies.
9. Bend it Like Beckham
That old "talented child vs. traditionalist parents" theme is done up in sweet and entertaining fashion in this movie about a young woman and her soccer-stardom dreams.
10. Finding Nemo
Frankly, I was reserving this spot for "Cold Mountain," but realized I cared a whole lot more about animated characters Nemo, Marlin and Dorrie than about any of the real people in that much-lauded Civil War epic.
Brad Chisholm is Professor of Film Studies at SCSU.
