Page 10 The Behrend Beacon Aid 2003 - The Year 'Mystic River' soars; 'From Justin to Kelley' bores by Daniel J• Stasiewski a&e editor Before everyone goes gaga over "Return of the King," it's important to remind people of real standout films of 2003 (both good and bad). Sure, most of the great films this year weren't special effects spectaculars, but the intimate character studies and heartbreaking performances will al ways trump a film that's grounded in a CGI fantasy world. Of course, there are the films that lack both the direction and motiva tion to become great, and the colos sal epic "Lord of the Rings" will crush them out of existence. Inevita bly, 2003 will be known as the year the last "Lord of the Rings" film was released by fan-boys and cine-geeks alike. But in that dust kicked up by wacky wizards and elvish warriors, let's not forget the films that actu ally made up this year in film. TN GOOD Sean Penn has an emotional outburst in "Mystic River." "Mystic River." Sure the year isn't over, but it's going to take one hell of a film to top Clint Eastwood's epic revenge drama "Mystic River." Eastwood tells a simple story with complex emo tions, creating a film that recalls the glory days of Hollywood film making. Performances by the cast (including Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney ) are the best of their careers, without question. "Mystic River" is American filmmaking at its best. Say "hi" to the picture perfect family from "Capturing the Friedmans." "Capturing the Friedmans." An drew Jarecki's documentary about a family torn apart by allegations of pedophilia is a riveting and at times disturbing film that tells its story more meticulously than most films, fiction or nonfiction. Not since "Hoop Dreams" has a documentary been as skillfully crafted. A tragic, emotional tale, "Capturing the Friedmans" is nonfiction storytelling at its best. Russell Crowe leads his crew into battle in "Master and Commander." THE BAD WARNER BROS. Keanu Reeves fights another boring battle with Hugo Weaving in "The Matrix Reloaded." "The Matrix Reloaded." The need less sequel to the 1999 sci-fi hit is so muddled by its own attempts at pro fundity that it loses its grip on the story and the characters. The mindless ac tion and silly dialogue are able to con tradict any of the "pseudo-philosphy," and worse, it made me stop caring about the franchise. This is actually worse than a "Star Wars" prequel. Pathetic. "2 Fast 2 Furious." The first film was awful, fast cars with an unbe lievable plot. For the sequel any sense of reality was thrown out the window, and worse, there was no Vin Diesel. The only time Paul Walker should be the leading man is in a Special Olympic relay race. Absolutely pointless. Paul Walker and Tyrese drive "2 Fast 2 Furious" into the ground. "The Real Cancun. The first Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini ality movie" is a failed attempt to "House of 1,000 Corpses." Rob are stepping out and stumbling Zombie's film vilifies suburban tra- sion fad. And we all know giving home in "From Justin to Kelly." ditionalism by killing off a bunch of 16 college students a free week's .. ... .. ~.., ~...11.1...-14.-Hf:' ;.•..010111. \- ... ~.,.., •, t •••• :400.,00.•••t '...:.•,k, :... . .„. •• iiiim , • j Friday, December 12, 2003 "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." Peter Weir's naval epic isn't the action movie people might expect, but as a character driven period drama, this film has no competition. In some ways, I was reminded of the techni cal precision in "Titanic" and in other, the character study of "Barry Lyndon." Give it time. This one is destined to be a classic. "American Splendor." The biopic of comic book writer Harvey Pekar is a brilliant fusion of reality and fiction, like nothing else I've seen this year. The funny and touching love story is a breath of fresh air when compared to the recycled ro- Hope Davis and Paul Giamatti are dazed and confused in "American Splendor." mances that are released every year. It's a film that lives up to its claim that "Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff." "Kill Bill: Vol. 1." Quentin Tarantino's homage to martial arts Midis - arid Sir - gib — Leone westerns is a stylish action adventure made for film fans by a film fanatic. The char acters are sketched out in dark, omi nous strokes that make the silent as- teenagers from the 1970 s who stumble on a house owned by a weird family of sadists. For a film that preaches non-conformity, it would have been advised not to fall into every horror cliché in the book. In "House of 1,000 Corpeses," the family that slays together stays together. "Cradle 2 the Grave." To blatantly steal from "Saturday Night Live," I liked this movie the first time, when it was called "Exit Wounds." Sure, Jet Li is always cool, but for every thing Li does that is interesting, there are 100 moments of boring, re cycled action. Uma Thurman duels with Chiaki Kuriyama in "Kill Bill: Vol. 1." sassins standout, not with flash, but with finesse. Simply amazing. "Angels in America." Okay, so this is a miniseries, but there's no way any studio would have ever produced a six-hour drama of this magnitude. Flawless performances, gorgeous production design and brilliant cin ematography all under the direction of Mike Nichols ("The Graduate") -- astounding. I've only seen part one, but if the second part is half as good as the first one, "Angels in America" still belongs here. God bless you, HBO. Honorable Mentions: -"Whale Rider," directed by Niki -"The Russian Ark," directed by Aleksandr Sokurov Emma Thompson makes her presense known in HBO's miniseries "Angels in America." Who would have thought these college kids from "The Real Cancun" would act a little crazy on spring break? vacation in Cancun with an open bar is going to result in an honestly dra matic portrayal of the spring break experience. Some critics praised this film for its bizarre look at youth today, but that's like saying "The Bachelor" is a study of American dating rituals. At least it wasn't por nographic. On second thought, it might have helped. "From Justin to Kelly." Never be fore have I seen a movie musical lacking so much in direction, acting and musical ability. This pathetic at tempt to make a quick buck off TV's "American Idol" lacks the production Daniel J. Stasiewski, A&E Editor 171r7 They ear number $339 million -Thee gross of "Finding Nemo." The Sae Disney collaboration became the 111, grossing animated film of *ll4ittia, $304 million - The told *MO* gross of "Pirates of the CattlitM_ swashbuckling epic was the *lt whey movie to be released with a PO-L3iaieo and the first Johnny Depp stuumist O&M the $lOO million mark. $9l million - The opuiss weginid gross for the love-it-or-hate-it seteribe Matrix Reloaded." The opening take led to a $2Bl million total gross, mak* the film the highest grossing R-Rated film of all time. $4B million-me lousy owing week end gross for the third installment Gene Matrix" trilogy, "The Matrix Resole tions." $8 million - The liudgetikilltDOW Boyle's honor film "28 Days Lease The British indie film ended up with &domes tic gross of $45 million. 200,000 - The number of "digiud ticipmts" in the battle sequences of "The Return of the King." 3,749 - The number of ftimigate that screened "X 2: X-Men United" in its open ing weekend, making the supetheto se quel the widest opening release in cinema history. 2 - The number of weeks it took the Ben Aftleclaennifer Lopez vehicle "Gig!'" to completely task. The critically battered film only grossed $6 million domestically. BOXOFPICEMOJO.COM Unrewarding awards Best Rave Orgy: "The Matrix Reloaded" Best Sex Scene Involving a Priest: "The Order" Best Stupid Grin: Paul Walker, "Timeline" Best Attempt to Flush a Career Down the Toilet: Denzel Washington, "Out of Time" Special Award for Surpris ingly Large Nipples: Meg Ryan, "In the Cut" Best Use of Leather: "Dare- devil" Best Use of Pubic Lice: "A Guy Thing" Loss of Innocence Award: Mandy Moore, "How to Deal" Best Cameo (or I want to be in a big movie and my daddy has a lot of money): Paris Hilton's club appearance in "The Cat in the Hat" Best Use of Superfluous Star Power: "Love Actually" Special Award for Contribu tions to the Power of Studio Films over Independent Productions: Jack Valenti for the MPAA Oscar Screener Ban behrcolls@aol.com
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