2003: The Year in Movies
Comedies Shunned as Reviewers Release Best of 2003 Lists

As the “year in review” movie lists begin to trickle in from various media outlets, the trend for rewarding serious dramas and ignoring comedy flicks is as prominent as ever. This is a trend that began with the granddaddy of all awards, the Oscars, and now infiltrates every awards list in the country.

For example, the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics 2003 Awards nominees for Best Film are Lost in Translation, Mystic River, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and City of God. The 2003 Golden Satellite Awards Nominations for Best Motion Picture go to In America, The Last Samurai, Lord of the Rings, Master and Commander, Mystic River, Thirteen and Whale Rider.

Not a whole lot of chuckles, guffaws or knee-slaps in that group.

For good solid entertainment, you can’t beat a wickedly funny comedy. So why are they universally ignored come best-of-the-year time? 2003 was a banner year for family-oriented comedies. School of Rock, Freaky Friday, Elf and A Mighty Wind were among the best PG-13 rated comedies released in years but none will be an Oscar nominee for Best Picture. Eugene Levy’s astounding performance as Mitch in A Mighty Wind has earned him the 2003 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor so maybe, just maybe, the time is ripe for the Academy to give comedies their due.

Or maybe it is simply time for the Academy and other awards organizations to set up a separate category for comedies.

Another unfortunate trend in awards nominations is to reward only those films released at the end of the year. Films that come out in the spring or summer are summarily forgotten in favor of flicks that waited until December to make their debut. Edward Norton’s performance in Spike Lee’s 25th Hour was the crowning achievement of an acting career that gets better with each passing year but critics may have forgotten about it by now. Ditto for Seabiscuit. If that movie had been released last week, every critic in America would have put it on his or her “best of” list. Last year everyone had Gangs of New York listed as one of the best films of 2002 simply because it was released on Christmas Day.

The most successful movie of the year (so far) is undoubtedly Finding Nemo. It set box office records and will soon eclipse all numbers relating to sales and rentals of DVDs and VHS tapes. But because it does not fit the serious adult criteria for “best of” lists, its success will have to be measured in dollars as opposed to trophies.

Action and adventure movies, once the bane of the Academy, are starting to be recognized for their entertainment value. The trend started with Gladiator a few years back and since that time, more and more action flicks are getting credit for their cinematic value. Look for Master and Commander and Lord of the Rings to be nominated for several awards. Unfortunately, the highly entertaining Pirates of the Caribbean will be punished for its tongue-in-cheek cheekiness and for originating from a Disney theme park ride. That’s too bad since it was such a rollicking good time and helped kick Johnny Depp’s career into overdrive.

Lost in Translation, the slow-moving drama-dy is popping up on nearly every “best of” list and its star, Bill Murray, is being mentioned as a best actor candidate. I’ll admit that I liked the movie—though not nearly as much as some reviewers. Personally, I thought The Station Agent was a much better film if you like independent movies with quirky, memorable characters. At the end of the day I’d rather hang out with the three lead characters from The Station Agent than with the dour duo of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanson from Translation.

2003 MT Movie Guy Awards

Here’s a look at The Mountain Times Movie Guy’s picks for 2003. I’ve broken down best picture into a number of genre categories so the comedies can compete with other comedies, etcetera. At the time of this writing, I have not seen several of the big year-end blockbusters including Big Fish, Monster, House of Sand and Fog or Calendar Girls. The one 2003 movie I’m eagerly anticipating is Robert Altman’s new film, The Company, starring Neve Campbell and Malcolm McDowell. Altman continues to be the director that other directors look up to and his behind-the-scenes view of the world of professional ballet should be funny, thought provoking and original.

I picked Tim Robbins for Best Actor for his powerhouse performance in Mystic River. Why Robbins and not Sean Penn or Kevin Bacon in the same movie? If you have read Dennis Lehane’s excellent novel, you probably have a good idea of just how well Robbins captured the haunted nature of his character.

Some may question my pick of Jamie Lee Curtis as Best Actress in the relatively lightweight comedy Freaky Friday. 2003 was not exactly jam-packed with movies featuring great roles for women—as opposed to 2002, a year that gave us Far From Heaven, The Hours, Frida and Chicago. Curtis perfectly embodied the role of a teenage girl trapped into the body of her mother. Reminiscent of Tom Hanks’ miraculous achievement in Big, Curtis’s performance was touching, funny and I can’t think of another actress who could have pulled it off. You go girl.