The Casual Movie Critic

After X-Men was probably the best comic book movie adaptation to date, X2 raises the bar even higher providing great entertainment and bringing to life some of the most beloved comic book characters ever, with careful attention to detail, subtle hints and foreshadowing that enchants the die-hard fans. However, X2 also stands on its own as an adventure movie that anyone can enjoy even if they see the X-Men for the first time in action.

I surprised myself adding this movie to the list, but while I was revisiting a number of other movies, I found myself remembering mostly the bad things about them, while in Cypher's case I remembered mostly the pleasant surprises. A action-scifi thriller that's confusing enough, smart enough and twisted enough in its plot, without explicitly pointing out to the viewer "look a smart twist is coming, watch out!" as most movies in this category tend to do. This is my vote of confidence for a genre that has huge potential for good movies, which usually fall into the traps of too many special effects, or over-styling or simply over-hype.

This year had several great documentaries, that some will find more "meaningful" than Spellbound: The Fog of War, My Architect, Capturing the Friedmans to mention only three of the five Oscar nominated movies this year. However, Spellbound (who was actually a 2002 Oscar nominated documentary, but has seen a wider release only late in 2003) documents stories that happen in hundreds in your city, tens on your street, might be about your next-door neighbour family, or yet, might be even about your own kids. It is about the excitement of sometimes pushing our children to become competitive since very young, either by transferring into them glory dreams that the parents could not fullfil or by tracing out for them a future that they should decide on their own. But is also about giving our kids all the support that parents can give - sometimes only moral, othertimes material as well, in order to help them become better, help them achieve their own dreams, or help them ascend to better opportunities through school and learning than the parents had. Spellbound does a great job of presenting all these situations honestly, without judgement, leaving the viewer to learn what they choose to.

Teenager problems movies are often either too trite or too preachy. Thirteen manages to not only thread the line between the two extremes, but given the efforts of writer/director Catherine Hardwicke and co-writer and star Nikki Reed, the movie is very honest about the teenage issues, temptations and the possible ways out.

Quentin Tarantino brings to screen an hommage to a few of his favorite genres (japanese movies, manga) and a delight for videofiles which can spend the entirety of five screenings of Kill Bill searching for references and influences in the movie. Or you can just admire the lavish yet gritty visuals of the movie or the perfect use of soundtrack. Or you could wait, academy style, for volume 2 before judging the entire movie.

Pieces of April manages to pack in only 90 minutes pure unrestrained humor, drama, dark humor and completes it with a feel-good ending that finally matches the Thanksgiving theme of the movie, avoiding being tacky and overbearing by going over the top and being almost ironic in the depiction of the family coming together and bringing along anyone they met in the process.

Fighting for the position of the most hyped movie of the year, Sofia Coppola's achievement is however a worthy one. Lost in Translation appeals not only to those that felt alienated and lost in a foreign country but, more importantly, to those that simply felt alienated and lost in their life and struggled to find back their way. Lost in Translation is a gentle movie with strong comic moments that may overshadow the true story at times, but that enhance it by contrast and dry irony.

Another small gem of the year, The Station Agent is about learning to accept who we are, what life has given us and opening up to let others into our lives. With an abundance of movies about love, we find a movie about friendship, a friendship born between the most apparently unlikely characters, a friendship that is not going back to childhood moments, but brings together three souls, each lonely in their own way and for their own reasons. With three equally great performances by Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Carnavale, The Station Agent is bound to win the hearts of those who see it.

How do you get to pick your #1 movie of the year? For me, this year, it is the most memorable film that I have seen, the most daring and original in form and structure, with strong acting and powerful (albeit slightly surrreal) drama. Lars von Trier's Dogville is staged like a theatre play, with mockup props and with entire action taking place on the same set. It employs a narrator voice-over that is dreaded by many, but that keeps the story flowing. It is a movie unlike any other you've seen, in a lot of aspects and for me all worked well. Dogville will be considered a 2004 movie in USA and therefore is not likely to make the critics lists until next year. Similarly Nicole Kidman's performance, one of the best for me this year, is expected to be noted in 2004. For me, it is the best movie of 2003.