2001. Look, I can tell you my favorite movies of 2001-3 right now. The Lord of the Rings is my favorite thing to ever reach the big screen. My favorite film of the trilogy is The Fellowship of the Ring, and that's my favorite movie of all time. I had a mixed reaction to the theatrical version, but the extended version blew me away. The Concerning Hobbits monologue that opens the main film is one of my all-time favorite movie scenes. Sam jumping into the river after Frodo is another all-time favorite movie scene.

After that, I also love Amélie. "The fool looks at a finger that points to the sky."

Spielberg I've mentioned is basically my favorite direction. Science fiction my favorite genre. And A.I. Artificial Intelligence is yet another masterpiece.


Spirited Away. I've mentioned the Ghibli films plenty of times in this series and will again. This isn't my favorite or second favorite or even third favorite Miyazaki film. But I do think he's one of the greatest filmmakers ever and this is yet another great film of his.

Monsters Inc. can round out a top five.

Yeah...it's been a while.  I haven't had a lot of spare time and, honestly, it gets harder as I get to newer movies because I've only seen most of them once or twice.  But...on to 2003.  

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - This is my least favorite of the three films.  It's okay.  A technically lovely film.  But I really didn't need three or four extended endings in an already very damn long film.  Still, I re-watched this in the theater when they were all re-released for Fellowships' 20th anniversary and it only felt marginally bloated, unlike every film that Jackson has made since. 



Kill Bill, Vol. 1 - This is a movie that's grown on me.  I liked, but didn't love it when it first came out.  You just have to realize that it's all about Tarantino making a revenge film and then putting every bit of film technique he knows on on the screen and doing it damn well.  Uma Thurman is great as The Bride.  



A Mighty Wind - I've mentioned I'm a big fan of Christopher Guest's mockumentaries.  This one isn't quite as biting as some, but I still really love it.  It definitely helps to be a fan of folk music.  The songs are honestly pretty damn good.  And the entire ensemble is just great as usual.  




As usual there are many films I've either not seen or not seen in far too long. Including; most foreign films; Oldboy (yeah, I know); Lost in Translation (I liked it when I saw it, but it's been 20 years); X2 (I remember this being decent...but I only vaguely remember it); The Station Agent (I liked this one too...but I barely remember it); 


So what's my favorite film of 2003? Ummm...yeah.  That's all I feel competent to actually talk about.  It's just been so long since I've seen any of the rest of the films from 2003...generally 19-20 years.  So...I'll go with A Mighty Wind in a squeaker over Kill Bill.  


And 2003 in film for those as need a look.

Hey, I'm here in a timely fashion for once. As promised, my favorite film of 2003 is indeed basically my favorite film of all time, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. (In extended edition, of course.)

It's a pretty good year for me with two other of my all-time favorite films. After Die Hard, Love Actually is my favorite Christmas movie. I watch them both most every year this time.

For a moment in time, X2 was my favorite superhero movie ever, before being surpassed the following year by Spider-Man 2. It captured all I loved about the first one and cleaned up the filmmaking into a better integrated and smooth story. It's still pretty close to my favorite X-Men movie, but these days I tend to give that title to Days of Future Past.

Then of course Finding Nemo.

I'll give #5 to Big Fish, which hits on some favorite themes of mine about stories vs. truth.

Honorable mention to a great year of movies: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, American Splendor, Oldboy...

Kill Bill

I do like A Mighty Wind a lot. I used to listen to the soundtrack over and over.

But Kill Bill is my favorite movie made since 1975. It’s like Tarantino specifically set out to make a movie I would like. I saw it six times when it first came out and I’ve seen it numerous times since then.

And...almost a month.  I blame the holidays and just being super busy at work.  So...2004.  

Shaun of the Dead - Oh man I love this movie.  I'm not a big horror fan and think that zombies are mostly incredibly boring.  But this is just so damn much fun.  A ton of it comes down to Simon Pegg just nailing Shaun and allowing you to root for him even when he's a terrible slacker who isn't treating Liz or his Mum or anyone else quite right.  This was really my introduction to Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright.  And it was a wonderful introduction.   And my son went as Shaun for Halloween when he was in about 6th grade. 



Kill Bill Vol. 2 - I loved Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 is just as good, if not better.  Tarantino makes a masterful revenge saga.  



The Incredibles - The only good Fantastic Four film we've ever gotten...or are likely to ever get. Pixar was absolutely hitting on all cylinders and gave us one of the great superhero films.  Everything about it rang true.  Far less cartoonish than almost any other superhero film.  



Spider-Man 2 - One of those sequels that is arguably better than the original.  Alfred Molina is nicely complex as Dr. Octopus...far moreso than Green Goblin.  One of the best "live action" superhero movies.  



Hellboy - This was a fun movie and Ron Perlman was the perfect Hellboy.  My younger son LOVED this movie, so I've seen it a ton of times.  I think that the big thing is that everyone seems to really be having fun and not taking this crazy stuff too seriously.  This is a movie that should be fun.  And it is.  



Kung Fu Hustle - Another film that's just fun.  The characters are very thin.  But it's so endearing and the humor isn't high-brow.  But it's a great movie to just put on and relax with some dumb fun and good martial arts. 




As usual there are many films I've either not seen or not seen in far too long. Including; most foreign films;  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (haven't seen this since it came out); Million Dollar Baby; Before Sunset; Hotel Rwanda; The Aviator; 


So what's my favorite film of 2004? Kind of a tough one.  A very strong year for genre movies.  I'm going to go with Shaun of the Dead, just because it makes me super happy.  


And 2004 in film for those as need a look.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is my choice.

But Kill Bill, Vol. 2 and Shaun of the Dead are both really really great movies.

I saw Kung Fu Hustle last year. I don’t think it’s really a contender for my favorite because I’ve seen Steve Zissou so many times. But seeing it mentioned makes me think I should see it again.

Another one I saw for the first time fairly recently was The Taste of Tea. That might have a slightly better chance to be a contender.

A quick glance tells me these would be among my favourites of the year:

Shaun of the Dead
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
House of Flying Daggers
Kill Bill: Volume 2
Kung Fu Hustle
The Saddest Music in the World
Team America: World Police
Clean
Immortal

I'd probably go with Kill Bill: Volume 2 unless I remember something else.