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Best PictureLost in Translation
Best Picture was a tight race again this year. A single first place vote could have flipped the order of the top two, but there is no disputing the fact that these selections are far and away our dual favorites for 2003. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King becomes the third film from the franchise to place in the top three for Best Picture, but once again, Peter Jackson’s masterpiece is the bridesmaid instead of the bride. Which movie did we like better? Well, we picked it for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay, so it’s probably not much of a surprise. Lost in Translation is the Calvins Award winner for Best Picture of 2003. Lost in Translation is the exploration of what happens when strangers in a strange land meet cute then decide to use one another to stave off their loneliness and boredom for a little while. The joy of the film, though, is the May/December friendship (or is it romance?) between lead characters Bob Harris and Charlotte. While it might be forged based on desperation, the revolution of their socializing leads to one of the most emotional, believable on-screen relationships in recent cinema. The night owls are as dissimilar as any two people could be, but their insomnia allows for twin journeys of self-discovery. By the time Bob and Charlotte put on wigs and (badly) sing karaoke, it’s impossible not to love them as characters. We were swept away by the performances, the writing, the direction, and the country itself. Lost in Translation is a masterpiece. The ebb and tide of Calvin voting on The Lord of the Rings franchise is humorous to track. We like the direction so much that we might as well rename our award for Best Director "The Peter Jackson Trophy." When it comes to Best Picture, we have seen all three movies as one of the best three of the year but not the best. The Royal Tenenbaums eked out victory over The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001 despite the fact that Fellowship received more first place votes. The Two Towers, which the group considers to be a superior film to its predecessor, fell to third place. BOP’s staff was universally smitten with Hugh Grant’s poignant scene stealing in About a Boy, and we felt Adaptation’s quirky surprises superseded the known commodity of the hobbits. 2003 sees The Return of the King again receive the most first place votes while failing to receive the uniform popularity of its main competitor. In short, those at BOP who love the films in this trilogy really, really love them while the rest of us haven’t quite been passionate enough in our support to ever earn any of them victory. While I’m certain this devastates Mr. Jackson (ha!), he’ll have to console himself with his solid gold house and rocket car. Or he could just buy and sell BOP a billion times over to gain revenge. We picked it as the biggest hit of the summer, so readers shouldn’t be surprised to see Finding Nemo finishing third in our balloting. We have been praising this one for so long now that we’re running out of superlatives. Dory and Marlin’s heroic search for little Nemo is certain to be a staple of family cinema for generations to come. We recognize that very few matters in the world are black and white, but BOP is still completely blown away that Michael Eisner would allow the kind people at Pixar to leave the fold at Disney. In the immortal words of Men at Work, it’s a mistake. Perhaps the most famous thing to come out of Brazil since the Girl from Ipanema, City of God follows a group of kids through their life in the brutal slums and shanty towns of Rio, including the ironically named one in the title. The poverty stricken characters cheat, steal and yes, kill to survive, while the populace at large tries to pretend they don't exist. We mostly follow a photographer names Buscapé, who finds he doesn't have a criminal aptitude and becomes an observer to make it through the mean streets. Anchored by dynamic direction from Fernando Meirelles and a solid naturalistic cast, City of God is not to be missed. Newmarket Film Group is quickly establishing itself as the little distributor that could. BOP had already selected their breakthrough effort, Memento, as a top three choice for Best Picture in 2001. In 2003, we found Whale Rider equally impressive, and it earns the fifth spot on our list. The tale of a female prodigy predestined to lead a tribe historically ruled by men is heartbreaking, frustrating and eventually joyous. It also announces the presence of Keisha Castle-Hughes on the world stage. She will be the staff’s sentimental favorite to take home the Oscar in a couple of weeks. Kill Bill Vol. One doesn’t deliver on what the title promises, but we are still captivated enough with the movie to name it our sixth favorite of 2003. Quentin Tarantino gets knocked around a lot for his personality and rightly so. There is no disputing the fact that the man has style, though. His slick efforts are on full display here as QT has created a wildly enjoyable combination of female protagonist and antagonists. We can’t wait to see how it all turns out (although we have a pretty solid idea of how it ends), but for now, the first volume of the paired set is the perfect appetizer. So, you like Best Picture lists that reward pirate movies? Well, you’re in one. Err, reading one anyway. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl finishes seventh in our vote. I could repeat the same list of reasons for its popularity that we have mentioned innumerable times before, but there is little point. Let’s be honest about the cause of the success here. Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp. Extraordinary acting performances and a unique narrative structure impressed us so much that we included the Harvey Pekar biopic American Splendor on our list. Based on the atypical underground comic book about an Everyman and his daily grind, the film deals with subjects such as cancer, love, music and family in a distinctly different manner. Paul Giamatti's portrayal of the writer/file clerk is punctuated with commentary from Pekar himself. It's an underappreciated little movie and we look forward to more from up-and-coming writer/directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. X2: X-Men United continues its trend of sneaking onto the bottom of our lists as it finishes in ninth place. Our writers are not as a rule huge fans of the comic book adaptation, the new It subgenre of cinema. This is exemplified by the selection of The Hulk on our Worst Picture list and Ben Affleck’s Worst Performance near-victory. In point of fact, X2 is the first comic book film to ever make our top ten for Best Picture, which speaks volumes about the movie’s quality. We have a tie for our final spot. The Matrix Reloaded seemed like a frontrunner coming into the year, but the heightened expectations for it probably hurt its overall candidacy. BOP is still satisfied enough with the effort as demonstrated by its inclusion on multiple lists, and it’s a worthy nominee for Best Picture. We are just sad that only one of the two 2003 Matrix releases was good enough to merit inclusion while the other wound up more appropriately placed among the dregs of the year in cinema. Let’s hope there is at least one more film in the franchise so that the Brothers Wachowski might find redemption after this misstep. The other tenth place selection is Bend It Like Beckham, the marvelous celebration of teen dreams squared off against parental expectations. One of the sweetest, most optimistic movies in recent memory, it’s going to be remembered for introducing the world to Keira Knightley. In this film, though, the eye-opening performance is offered up by current ER resident Parminder K. Nagra. Her acting performance creates a character who is the type of daughter every parent dreams of raising. Rather than list near misses as we have done in other categories, we have done something special for Best Picture. Below, you will find the BOP 25 of 2003. (David Mumpower/BOP)
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Friday, December 27, 2024
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