High Tension (2003) - ★★★½

Director: Alexandre Aja
Writer: Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur
Stars: Cecile De France, Maiwenn, Philippe Nahon, Franck Khalfoun

High Tension is a really good horror/thriller, sharing traits with classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween. Its strength lies with the searing performances and brilliant suspense building techniques, but its weakness is that it's too over the top. At times it goes so overboard that I felt some scenes should belong in a spoof of a horror movie, rather than an actual horror movie. It was the masterful ending that pushed the film into the depths of my memory, making it unforgettable. While I didn't love the film, I loved many things about it. It certainly shocked and surprised me.

Capturing the Friedmans (2003) - ★★★★★

Director: Andrew Jarecki

This documentary had my mind doing flips. Did he do it? Didn't he do it? He must have done it! But maybe he didn't... Capturing the Friedmans is one of the best documentaries ever made. The Friedmans was your average, loving family... until allegations against Arnold Friedman destroyed their world. He was charged with over 100 accounts of child molestation, as was his son Jesse. This documentary unfurls all of the drama, the history, the opinions, and the facts that surround such a dark, disturbing, and sad story.

Oldboy (2003) - ★★★★★

Director: Park Chan-Wook
Writers: Lim Chun-hyeong, Park Chan-Wook, Hwang Jo-yun
Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yu Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Ji Da-han

"Woah. Wow. What the f#ck?" 

That was my initial reaction to Oldboy. I loved this movie. LOVED IT! It's one of the craziest, mind bending movies I've ever seen. It also happens to be funny, charming, exciting, thrilling, and filled with cringe-inducing moments. I adored everything about this film. From the chillingly beautiful score to the stunning cinematography, I just found Oldboy to be a masterpiece from head to toe. The performances are just remarkable, as is the story. The twists and turns made my jaw hit the floor in shock, and they just kept coming! If there's one word to describe this film, it's "engrossing." I couldn't take my eyes away from the screen. To me, Oldboy will always stand up there with the very best movies cinema has to offer.

House of Sand and Fog (2003) - ★★★½

Director: Vadim Perelman
Writers: Andre Dubus III (Novel), Vadim Perelman, Shawn Lawrence Otto
Stars: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ron Eldard, Frances Fisher, Jonathan Ahdout, Kim Dickens

House of Sand and Fog is a very good movie. The story is interesting, and the performances are really touching. It's frustrating, because it's one of those films that make you watch an impossible situation unfurl into a catastrophe. I didn't particularly find it effective, or 'great' in a sense. I'm kind of on the fence with this one, because I know that it's a good movie, but it didn't really get to me. At times I feel a bit 'eh' when I think of this film, but then I remember Ben Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo's performance, which instantly raises it in my esteem.

Latter Days (2003) - ★½

Director: C. Jay Cox
Writer: C. Jay Cox
Stars: Wes Ramsey, Steve Sandvoss, Rebekah Johnson, Jacqueline Bissett, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Amber Benson, Khary Payton

Wow. I'm kind of in shock after watching Latter Days. This movie has cheap production written all over it. The set production is awful, the music is terrible, the make-up is horrendous, the editing is just bad, and it's chock full of shoddy performances. Even the farting sound effects were awful! I cannot believe that this is one of the most infamous LGBTI films. One of the important lessons in this film is "Beauty is only skin deep," yet it feels like they've barely pierced the surface of the issues surrounding the characters.

The Corporation (2003) - ★★★★

Directors: Jennifer Abbott, Mark Achbar

The Corporation is a highly informative, mostly riveting documentary that (as expected) both enraged me and left me a little depressed. There is so much material in this film that I was constantly learning something new, which in the end is the ultimate objective of a documentary (that, and making a difference). It teaches us about the rise of 'The Corporations', as well as the atrocities that have been committed and the atrocities that are still being committed. There is a diverse range of people interviewed throughout the film, from extreme left-wing film-maker Michael Moore to the actual managers of mega-corporations such as Shell. The style of the film looks very amateur (probably from primitive computer software) and they stated the obvious too much for my liking. What makes this a great documentary is that it has a huge array of interesting information, stories, and facts that at times really shocked me.

The Station Agent (2003) - ★★★★★

Director: Thomas McCarthy
Writer: Thomas McCarthy
Stars: Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Williams

The Station Agent wins the award for Best Surprise of the Year. I was flicking through channels looking for something to watch when I saw a young Peter Dinklage on screen. I decided to watch for a scene or two. Then, the movie was over. Without even realizing it, I had watched the whole film. This movie is so engrossing, so interesting, so beautiful that I couldn't tear my eyes away. It takes a good movie to catch your attention, and a great movie to keep you watching until the end. I didn't expect to love this movie, yet right now I'm calling it a masterpiece.

Lost In Translation (2003) - ★★★★★

Director: Sofia Coppola

Writer: Sofia Coppola
Stars: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johannson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris

Lost In Translation, is a film centered around a middle aged man that has a sense of emptiness on the inside and a newlywed that is growing apart from her husband as a result of neglect. This is a great film because of the way it presents the characters as just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl. When they discover each other in Japan and start hanging out, they bring purpose to each others lives and make life seem not so bad. It's one of the most heart-warming, hilarious and realistic comedies I've ever seen.

Master and Commander: Far Side of the World (2003) - ★★★★★

Director: Peter Weir
Writers: Peter Weir (screenplay), Patrick O'Brian (novels)
Stars: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany,  James D'Arcy

Beautiful music, remarkable scenery, masterful fighting and incredible ships are among the many splendid things Peter Weir's Master and Commander entails. Russell Crowe gives one of his most memorable performances as 'Lucky' Capt. Jack Aubrey, the master of the HMS Surprise. His best friend Dr. Steven Maturin, a naturalist and intelligent surgeon is played by Paul Bettany in his career defining role.

The movie begins when an enemy ship is spotted that is frequently referred to as 'The Ghost Ship' because of its speed, invincibility and tact in appearing out of nowhere in great speed. After a remarkably intense cannon battle, Aubrey manages to escape into the fog and avoid imminent disaster for a short while. The crew members are shown as rough, uneducated and superstitious in a raw and truthful way. When weather took a turn for the worse, they blamed an officer for being cursed, labeling him as the Jonah. After enduring constant intimidation and cruelty the Jonah committed suicide by holding on to a cannon ball and jumping into the sea; sinking to his death. This was an effective way of showing that it is human nature to find a common enemy with a majority.

The Cello and Violin are played to accompany the outstanding cinematography of the ocean and the Galapagos Islands. It made the film a delight to not only watch, but listen to. It truly is remarkable to have a film shot on the Galapagos Islands, yet this movie showed the world the beauty and uniqueness of the animals and scenery it bears. Russell Crow played a convincing strong and intelligent Captain that made the movie exciting to watch. The visual effects of the ship being hammered by a raging storm were remarkable and looked as real as if I were watching it happen in real life.

Master and Commander had an ending I won't soon forget. In a surprising yet entertaining twist, we find that after all the effort to take the Ghost Ship they must track it down and stop it again. I cannot stress enough how great this film is. It is definitely one of the best films of the 21st century. Although The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is a visually stunning movie in its own right, Master and Commander: Far Side of the World was even more riveting (hard to believe I know). With a great story, great acting, great music and marvelous locations, this film deserved to win Best Picture in 2003.

On a side note: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring should have won Best Picture in 2001.