The Best of 2003

Picture: The Return of the King
The film is so huge that you would think it would be a straight out fantasy adventure film. However, it has plenty of intimate moments with the characters that make this movie as personal as it is exciting.

Director: Peter Jackson (The Return of the King)
Peter Jackson did more than direct a movie, he created a world, but most importantly, he never let the fantasty overshadow his actors or the characters they were playing. In this final installment, despite the many moments of wow-inducing special effects, it is the characters you care about most.

Actor: Bill Murray (Lost in Translation)
Bill Murray gives the performance of his career as a fading movie star in Japan to make a whiskey commercial. He is still hilarious with his droll comic timing but has added a subtle depth of emotion that makes his middle-aged angst touching without being schmaltzy.

Actress: Charlize Theron (Monster)
Turning a serial killer into a fully fleshed out human being is a difficult task, but is exactly what Charlize Theron accomplished. The normally glamorous actress gained thirty pounds and was made nearly unrecognizable by unflattering make-up and false teeth. And yet, her performance goes far past mere outward appearances. This is one of the greatest acting accomplishments of all time.

Supporting Actor: Sean Astin (The Return of the King)
In a film with such a big cast, Astin stands far above them all. Sure, he is given the most dramatic scenes, but he is amazingly effective in them all.

Supporting Actress: Renée Zellwegger (Cold Mountain)
Amongst all the heavy drama, Renee's down-to-earth Ruby is a breath of fresh air in Cold Mountain. Her funny, sympathetic, and human portrayal is the reason Oscars were invented.

Screenplay: Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation)
Sofia Coppola proves she is as talented a writer as she is a director with this intelligent, funny, hip, and sweetly innocent yet world-weary script.

And here are some of our personal favorites that didn't make the above list.

Eric - Hugh Jackman acts tough and distant as Wolverine, but it is James Marsden's pleas to save Jean Grey at the end of X-men 2 that gives this movie it's emotional center. Even though his eyes are covered by a visor, he is still able to convey grief and desperation with only the inflections in his voice. His part is small but he makes you remember that scene.

Patrick - Marcia Gay Harden is hilarious as the professor of etiquette in Mona Lisa Smile. She was just like my seventh grade Home Economics teacher Miss Borton, proper and ladylike but with her own inner-demons and plenty of moxie lurking just beneath this veneer. She provides the comic relief and steals every scene she is in.

Scott - Anyone who saw Love Actually and wasn't moved by Emma Thompson's performance, must be dead inside. In a very large cast, it is Thompson who steals the movie. When she opens the Christmas gift from her husband and realizes because of what the gift is, that he is having an affair, her reaction is heart wrenching. And the following scenes, when she must hold herself together for her family's sake, only adds to the poignancy of the moment.