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BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
encompassing production design, costumes, and makeup
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Inventing one fantasy world is a challenge: Jackson and his team created, by my count, at least half a dozen distinct cultures with a passionate zeal. The result? A fannish heart near breaks with a desire to visit them. More important: these cultures interact marvelously with a give-and-take that feels authentic. When Aragon gives up his Ranger duds and dons the leather armor emblazoned with the White Tree of Gondor, it means something.
almost as great
American Splendor
(purposefully ugly, deliberately downtrodden: it's tedious reality, so precisely heightened and highlighted that's almost fresh)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
(from a china cup to a doctor's instruments to the scars nearly every character bears, here's a world of thrillingly exquisite detail)
Big Fish
(one part circus, one part fairy tale, and one part waking dream: this is the beautifully oddest-looking film of the year)
worth a look
Peter Pan
A Mighty Wind
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Down with Love
ASSSORTED BESTS AND WORSTS OF THE YEAR
Best entrance, by sea: Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Best exit, by sea: Albert Finney, Big Fish
Best entrance, by air: The duck with the plastic six-pack skeleton wrapped around its foot, Winged Migration
Best exit, by air: John Noble, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Best entrance, by train: Peter Dinklage, The Station Agent
Best exit, by train: Edward Herrmann, Intolerable Cruelty
Best entrance, from the future: Kristanna Loken, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Best exit, into history: Scarlett Johansson, Girl with a Pearl Earring
Best soldier: Faramir, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Worst soldier: Joaquin Phoenix, Buffalo Soldiers
Best cool old lady: "Chiyoko Fujiwara," Millennium Actress
Best teenager: Jamie Lee Curtis, Freaky Friday
Best nudity, female: The bun lady, Calendar Girls
Best nudity, male: None, of course
Best song, karaoke: Bill Murray, "More Than This," Lost in Translation
Best song, dinner music: Billy Boyd, "The Steward of Gondor," The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Best song, silly: "Potato's in the Paddy Wagon," The New Main Street Singers, A Mighty Wind
Best freak, circus category: Danny DeVito, Big Fish
Best freak, noncircus category: Hugh Jackman, X2: X-Men United
Best reason not to get out of jury duty: John Cusack, Runaway Jury
Worst accent: Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain
Worst accents: Kate Hudson, Alex and Emma
Best dummy: the dummy, Dummy
Best mummy: "Bubba Ho-tep," Bubba Ho-Tep
Worst mommy: Marcia Gay Harden, Casa de los Babys
Go, girl: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider
Go home, girls: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Lui, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Lies, and the lying liars who tell them:
Hayden Christensen, Shattered Glass
Ewan McGregor, Big Fish
Joaquin Phoenix, Buffalo Soldiers
Alison Lohman, Matchstick Men
Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger, Down with Love
Anthony Hopkins, The Human Stain
Edward Burns, Confidence
Robert Downey Jr., The Singing Detective
Al Pacino, The Recruit
Kevin Spacey, The Life of David Gale
Kate Hudon and Matthew McConaughey, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Charlize Theron, Monster
Dude, where's your career, inexplicable-hit division: Steve Martin, Bringing Down the House/Cheaper by the Dozen
Dude, where's your career, flop division: Harrison Ford, Hollywood Homicide
Sand Pirates of the Sahara Award for Best Flashbacks: Secondhand Lions
Most misleading titles:
Levity
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Most apropos titles:
Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd
Deliver Us from Eva
--MaryAnn Johanson
02.13.04
Looking back at 2003.
Also:
Best and Worst Movies
Best Performances
Best Writing and Direction
2003 Films Ranked
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