Belated Best Of’s: 2003

Best Films (in no particular order, with a few from 2002 that I missed at the theater)

-The 25th Hour: Spike Lee
-Mostly Martha: Sandra Nettelbeck
-The Son: Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
-The Russian Ark: Alexander Sokurov
-Divine Intervention: Elia Soleimon
-Lilya 4-Ever: Lukas Moodyson
-Bend It Like Beckam: Gurinder Chadha
-The Good Thief: Neil Jordan
-8 Women: Francois Ozon
-Femme Fatal: Brian De Palma
-Bloody Sunday: Paul Greengrass
-Raising Victor Vargas: Peter Sollett
-Master and Commander: Peter Weir
-Lost In Translation: Sofia Coppola
-The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Peter Jackson

Best Old Films (i.e., films I saw for the first time in 2003 and were released before 2002)

-Ordet: Carl Theodore Dryer (1955)
-Sweet Smell of Success: Alexader Machendrick (1957)
-The Piano Teacher: Michael Haneke (2001)
-Les Bonnes Femmes: Claude Chabrol (1960)
-Les Cousins: Claude Chabrol (1959)
-Close Up: Abbas Kiarostami (1990)
-Where Is the Friends House: Abbas Kiarostami (1987)
-Bob Le Flambeur: Jean-Pierre Melville (1955)
-Cleo From 5 to 7: Agnes Varda (1962
-Vagabond: Agnes Varda (1985)
-The Gleaners and I: Agnes Varda (2001)
-Hearts and Minds: Stephen Whittaker (1974)
-L’Aventura: Michelangelo Antonioni (1960)
-The Golden Coach: Jean Renoir (1952)
-Funny Games: Michael Haneke (1997)
-The Puppetmaster: Hou Hsiao-Hsien (1993)
-Les Enfantes Du Paradis: Marcel Carne (1945)
-Claire’s Knee: Eric Rohmer (1970)
-Meet Me In St. Louis: Vincente Minelli (1944)
-The Singing Detective: Dennis Potter/John Amiel (1986)

Best Books (any year, because books take time and the really good ones are rare)

-Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley: Peter Guralnick
-Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music That Seduced the World: Ruy Castro
-Atonement: A Novel: Ian McEwan
-Angle of Repose: Wallace Stegner
-American Tabloid: James Elroy
-Ghost Light: Frank Rich
-Theodore Rex: Edmund Morris

Best Music to come…