Written by Tyrone BruinsmaHonorable Mentions: -The Animatrix [Dir. Andy Jones, Mahiro Maeda, Shinichirō Watanabe, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Takeshi Koike, Kōji Morimoto, Peter Chung] -Aragami [Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura] -Basic [Dir. John McTiernan] -Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman [Dir. Curt Geda] -Big Fish [Dir. Tim Burton] -The Brown Bunny [Dir. Vincent Gallo] -Capturing the Friedmans [Dir. Andrew Jareki] -Darkness Falls [Dir. Jonathan Liebesman] -Dead End [Dir. Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa] -Dogville [Dir. Lars Von Trier] -Fear X [Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn] -Freddy vs. Jason [Dir. Ronny Yu] -Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. [Dir. Masaaki Tezuka] -Gothika [Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz] -House of 1000 Corpses [Dir. Rob Zombie] -The Hunted [Dir. William Friedkin] -Kill Bill Vol. 1 [Dir. Quinten Tarantino] -Looney Tunes: Back in Action [Dir. Joe Dante] -Lost in Translation [Dir. Sophia Coppola] -Mimic 3: Sentinel [Dir. J. T Petty] -The Missing [Dir. Ron Howard] -Monster [Dir. Patty Jenkins] -Mystic River [Dir. Clint Eastwood] -Northfork [Dir. Michael Polish] -One Missed Call [Dir. Takashi Miike] -The Recruit [Dir. Roger Donaldson] -The Singing Detective [Dir. Keith Gordon] -S.W.A.T [Dir. Clark Johnson] -A Tale of Two Sisters [Dir. Kim Jee-woon] -Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines [Dir. Jonathan Mostow] -Twentynine Palms [Dir. Bruno Dumont] -21 Grams [Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu] -Untold Scandal [Dir. E J-yong] -Wrong Turn [Dir. Rob Schmidt] -X2: X-Men United [Dir. Bryan Singer] 20. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas [Dir. Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore]Dreamworks last 2D animated film before completely committing to 3D, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is easily one of the studios most underrated efforts. A Swashbuckling fantasy adventure with one of the best voice casts you could ask for. Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer and Dennis Haybert are the standout cast, with Sinbad's character perfectly suiting Brad Pitt while Pfeiffer devours the role of a villainess. The script by Gladiator writer John Logan is solid, the animation that mixes 2D and 3D elements is great and the action scenes are great. My only issue is that climax isn't as epic as I would like, but it's still a great emotional note to end on. 19. Hulk [Dir. Ang Lee]While hardcore Hulk fans are divisive on the MCU iteration of Bruce Banner, general audiences like Mark Ruffalo's take. Back in 2003 however, Ang Lee and Eric Bana's interpretation of the green hero was completely divided. Universal wanted a big fun summer blockbuster to match Sony's Spider-Man and Fox's X-Men; and Ang Lee technically gave them that inside a more thoughtful Greek tragedy take on the character. Hulk is one of the most ambitious, auteur takes on a famous Superhero with real studio money. The unique visuals and editing choices make both similar and dissimilar to the competition, while the tone leans more into a drama by way of Frankenstein's Monster. The effects were groundbreaking for the time (even if somewhat goofy), Lee's direction and control over the narrative he told was solid and the eventual big action scenes we got were more than solid. It is a bit dark and mature for kids (The Hulk's biggest audience) but works for adults and I appreciate it. Plus, this is one of Danny Elfman's best superhero movie scores. 18. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [Dir. Marcus Nispel]Controversial opinion, but this is the second-best Texas Chainsaw film. The original film is great and Hooper's 2nd installment was fun...but the rest of the films sucked in one degree or another. As much as the Michael Bay/Platinum Dunes remakes were derided in their time, some of their installments were still great. This reimaging of Tobe Hooper's classic updates the horrors for a modern audience, while still retaining visual ideas and themes instrumental to the series that lesser entries forgot about or screwed up. It's well crafted, intense, violent and the cast really stands out: especially R. Lee Ermey and Jessical Biel. If you haven't seek this or just not in a while, I recommend watching it-it'll be better than you think. 17. The Matrix Reloaded [Dir. The Wachowskis]While none of the Matrix sequels can hold up to the 1999 original, there's still a lot I like about Reloaded. The action is great, the visuals are stunning, the expansive view of the world is solid and bringing back Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith is great. The main reason I like the film is the intent (if not the execution) of the Architect's explanation of the Matrix (and sequels themselves) wherein resistance of conformity is part of said conformity. It's also a way for the Wachowskis to shoot down the nihilistic extremist "red-pill" movement that unfortunately spawned from the first film. What can I say? It still works. 16. Open Range [Dir. Kevin Costner]Kevin Kostner's 3rd directorial effort yields one of the best westerns of the 21st century. A return to form closer to his debut film Dances with Wolves; Open Range is a western with great actors, great visuals, gorgeous visuals and awesome shootouts. It's the closest we've had to a classic John Ford western in a long time and a great send off to Robert Duvall as it was his last film. Haven't seen it? Seek it out. 15. Phone Booth [Dir. Joel Schumacher]Phone Booth is one of those great small-scale thrillers you love to see. The story of a sleazy businessman played by Colin Farrell trapped in a phone booth by a sniper on the phone, quickly turns into social commentary, character examination and high intensity. Colin is a great leading man here, a reminder of his abilities early in his career. The script was crafted by exploitation schlock master Larry Cohen (originated with Alred Hitchcock in the 60s) and directed with skill by Joel Schumacher. While pop culture continues to give the late director a lambasting for Batman and Robin, his skill on thrillers like Flatliners, A Time to Kill, Falling Down and 8mm prove his abilities. Phone Booth still holds up to this day and likely inspired films like Buried and Grand Piano. 14. Finding Nemo [Dir. Andrew Stanton]The critically acclaimed, childhood classic and box office smash that remains one of Pixar's highlights. The story of a father Clownfish looking for this abducted son down the Australian coast is a monument to the power of animation. The voice cast does amazing work, especially Mel Brooks as the lead. Andrew Stanton proves himself as a masterful visual director, with Pixar's muscle on display after the team become well versed in marine biology. It's a classic for a reason and one of the most beloved films of the early 21st century. 13. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [Dir. Gore Verbinski]At the time, this was a mad house driven production by Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer that Disney and Michael Eisner almost killed. While overplayed and cash cow for the Mouse, the original Pirates of the Caribbean is this gorgeous mix of Stephen Sommers The Mummy, Errol Flynn swashbucklers and its own original creation. The script is solid, direction and effects are great, the cast is solid (with Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow used the right amount) and manages to balance comedy, drama, romance, action and horror like...well Stephen Sommers The Mummy. While the series was in constant decline, the original holds up. 12. Tears of the Sun [Dir. Antoine Fuqua]While not a box office hit or critical darling, Tears of the Sun is both one of the best military action films of the 21st century and one of the best films by both Bruce Willis and director Antoine Fuqua. The story of Navy Seals rescuing foreign doctors in a fictious Nigerian coup, only to instead try to save all the doctors' patients results in great drama, tension and action. The climax of this film is consistently one of the best modern military shootout scenes alongside those of Black Hawk Down and Lone Survivor. While Antoine Fuqua goes between great films like Training Day, Tears of the Sun, The Equalizer and The Magnificent Seven to lesser works like Shooter and Infinite-he's still one of America's best action directors. 11. The Triplettes of Belleville [Dir. Sylvain Chomet]This quirky, darkly humorous and mostly dialogue free piece of French animation is one of the most endearing films you'll find. The story of a supportive grandmother helping her grandson train for the Tour de France before he's whisked away to America by evil men, is a charming story that occasionally gives into intentional grotesquery and darkness. The director would make a similar work called The Illusionist years later, but The Triplettes of Bellville is the superior film. 10. Matchstick Men [Dir. Ridley Scott]After making Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and Hannibal-Ridley Scott decided to make a smaller scale crime comedy in Matchstick Men. While often forgotten for his more populist works like Alien, Thelma and Louse and The Martian-unique entries like this are worthwhile detours in the legendary director's work. Matchstick Men follows Nicolas Cage as a con man with OCD who gets embroiled in a unique situation and that's about all I'm going to say. It holds all of Scott's visual skills, ability to work with great actors and knowing what a great story is. Check it out if you haven't. 9. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World [Dir. Peter Weir]From the director of The Cars That Ate Paris, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Witness and The Truman Show comes one of the best historical naval war films ever made. Russell Crowe as the captain of a ship fighting a behemoth enough, the film is about naval codes, loyalty and using one's wits to defeat an enemy. Its production values are outstanding, its attention to historical details and accuracy are wonderful and its execution of the battles are amazing. Honestly, if this had beaten Return of the King for Best Picture-wouldn't be mad. 8. Identity [Dir. James Mangold]The career of James Mangold is a fascinating one. One of his earliest jobs was being a writer on Disney's Oliver and Company; before directing a variety of films including the neo noir thriller Cop Land, the psychological drama Girl Interrupted the fantasy romance comedy Kate & Leopold, the music biopic Walk the Line, the western remake 3:10 to Yuma, the crowd pleasing prestige film Ford V.S Ferrari and action films like Knight & Day, The Wolverine, Logan, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. But in 2003, he directed a psychological horror/slasher film in the form of Identity. Written by the man who gave us the Jack Frost horror films; Identity is one of those well-crafted, highly polished and committed studio horror films. The premise borrows heavily from Agathe Christie's "And Then There Were None", while wrapping up with an insane yet awesome resolution that has more going on than you think. Luckily, the film has a committed and gifted ensemble cast to make it truly a work of horror art. 7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [Dir. Peter Jackson]Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings remains one of the most culturally, artistically and revolutionary films of all time alongside the original Star Wars and Ben-Hur. The climatic conclusion to this trilogy sees epic battles, emotional high points and production refinements that started with Fellowship of the Ring. While I have minor issues (like the overly long wrap up), none of those can deny the film's true grandeur. The cast brought their A-Game to this film, the coordination in production and shooting were unlike anything we'd seen and it still remains a high-watermark of film as art and blockbuster cinema. Deserving of all those Oscars? Yes, yes it is. 6. The Last Samurai [Dir. Edward Zwick]But, my favorite epic film of 2003 remains The Last Samurai. While it is a story told before, I think this remains one of the best iterations ever. Tom Cruise as haunted soldier who slaughtered Native Americans comes over to Japan to putdown the Samurai rebellion, but then sides with them against the unstoppable might of modernization. Its easily director Edward Zwick's best film alongside Glory and Blood Diamond, with writers Marshall Herskovitz (Traffic) and John Logan (Gladiator) helping him flesh out the story, characters, themes and history. But its epic battles and katana duels are the reason to see this as they're some of the best to date. Seriously, The Last Samurai is still awesome. 5. High Tension (Switchblade Romance) [Dir. Alexandre Aja]One of the best entries from the New French Extremity horror movement (alongside Martyrs), High Tension follows a woman visiting her best friend's family home before a mysterious man begins murdering everyone. While I won't give away anymore, it's a film whose unravelling enables a plethora of society, psychological and thematic elements. This film has been regarded "dumb" by American commentators; it is anything but. Plus, the filmmaking execution is pure splatter slasher gorefest and its director would go on to make other great horror films like 2006's The Hills Have Eyes, Piranha 3D and Crawl. Don't spoil yourself, just watch it 4. Ju-On: The Grudge [Dir. Takashi Shimizu]Japan gave us easily one of the most terrifying films of all time in Ju-On The Grudge. This film (and its admirable remake) presented a story about Japanese spirits as vengeful viruses that curse the world, all stemming from a titular grudge for the resting spirits. The film fits alongside Japanese classics like Ring and Pulse, where the horror is able to be essentially endless and unstoppable. And the sound...oh god the sound of Kayako will haunt your nightmares. 3. Memories of Murder [Dir. Bong Joon-ho]Before he made The Host, Snowpiercer and Parasite: Bong Joon-ho made this mature (yet often darkly funny) historical murder mystery based on South Korea's first serial killer. Memories of Murder deserves to be considered amongst the greats in this genre like David Fincher's Zodiac and Se7en, Chinatown and The Silence of the Lambs. It's a film with historical foundations, built with amazing filmmaking and characters performed expertly by its elite cast. It's really just so amazing to see unfold and is a must watch for all lovers of detective, noir or murder mystery films. 2. Bad Boys 2 [Dir. Michael Bay]After failing to make the Oscar-bait war drama Pearl Harbour work, Michael Bay made is ultimate masterpiece. Bad Boys 2 is a film with striking imagery, a diseased color pallet, violent and chaotic action, deplorable characters, no sense of care for humanity or political correctness...and I love it. Bad Boys 2 improves on the foundation Bay made with the original 7 years prior and made something that is all at once: a sincere artistic expression, ultra-violent destruction porn, blockbuster entertainment and designed to be disliked by almost everyone. So much craft and skill went into it, it's packed with visuals and ideas for analysis and still rocks as an action film. Michael Bay is a great filmmaker and deserves both more appreciation, and examination than what nerd/film culture gives him. 1. Oldboy [Dir. Park Chan-wook]Oldboy is one of the best films ever made. Period. It's the film that started the boom in South Korean New Wave, is a masterclass in neo noir + Greek tragedy storytelling, has one of the most impactful narratives ever, has one of the coolest fight scenes in the hammer hallway showdown and its series of reveals will leave your jaw on the floor. It's perfect. It should be required viewing for all lovers of cinema and deserves to be recognized amongst similar masterpieces like Blue Velvet. It's that good and easily the best film of 2003.
Oh and the Spike Lee remake from 2013 REALLY sucks, don't watch it.
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Written by Tyrone BruinsmaDishonorable Mentions: -Biker Boyz [Dir. Reggie Rock Bythewood] -Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle [Dir. McG] -Cold Creek Manor [Dir. Mike Figgis] -Daredevil [Dir. Mark Steven Johnson] -Dark Waters [Dir. Philip J. Roth] -The Foreigner [Dir. Michael Oblowitz] -Hangman's Curse [Dir. Rafal Zielinski] -The Haunted Mansion [Dir. Rob Minkoff] -Heart of America (Home Room) [Dir. Uwe Boll] -In Hell [Dir. Ringo Lam] -Infested [Dir. John Olson] -Inspector Gadget 2 [Dir. Alex Zamm] -Jeepers Creepers 2 [Dir. Victor Salva] -The Jungle Book 2 [Dir. Steve Trenbirth] -Kangaroo Jack [Dir. David McNally] -The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [Stephen Norrington] -Lightning: Bolts of Destruction [Dir. Brenton Spencer] -Red Water [Dir. Charles Robert Carner] -Scary Movie 3 [Dir. David Zucker] -Spy Kids 3D: Game Over [Dir. Robert Rodriguez] -Tiptoes [Dir. Matthew Bright] -2 Fast 2 Furious [Dir. John Singleton] 10. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life [Dir. Jan De Bont]I know we’ve developed this guilty pleasure appreciation for Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in her Tomb Raider films, but they’re still pretty bad. This one is a mild improvement over the first one, with the prologue scene looking and feeling very much like a Tomb Raider video game. But then the film takes a dirt nap on fun for almost the rest of the movie with a generic action plot playing out. It only briefly wakes up when random shadow tree monsters come out to reenact James Cameron’s Aliens. It’s not offensively bad and there is fun to be had with everyone knowing what kind of film they’re in, it’s just often dull. 9. Timeline [Dir. Richard Donner] Despite the later Richard Donner making masterpieces like The Omen, Superman, The Goonies and Lethal Weapon-he'd occasionally have a lacking effort like Timeline or the poorly aged Conspiracy Theory. Timeline should be a fun sci-fi story about going back in time to explore the 100 Years War in medieval Europe, but ends up feeling closer to a badly written Syfy channel movie with a big budget. Aside from the dumbing down of historical accuracy and Michael Crichton's original book, the film is just kind of boring. None of the action is particularly engaging, the story is cliche and there's nothing interesting or original about the film. The cast is largely dull aside from Billy Connolly and it's the kind of film I hope gets re-adapted into a better version. Best thing I can say is Donner's direction is mostly solid. 8. Dreamcatcher [Dir. Lawrence Kasdan]This is easily one of the weakest Stephen King adaptations brought to film and it’s rather easy to see why. This film has a lot of Stephen King’s usual tropes that by this point were incredibly stale, with the plot having far too much going on. The main plot revolves around Xenomorph rip-offs dubbed “Shit Weasels” by Morgan Freeman and his unusually bushy eyebrows, but it also involves psychic friends, childhood bully trauma and a viral outbreak. While the cast gives it their best, the ludicrous story, overly serious tone and bizarre elements make it a confusing watch. Something like this would work in a book or even a tv show, but as a film-it comes off like a farcical b-movie that thinks it’s ultra-serious art. 7. The Core [Dir. Jon Amiel]One of the rare post-9/11 disaster films (not made by Roland Emmerich), The Core is unfortunately one of the worst in the genre. A film about a team of scientists drilling to the center of the Earth to restart our planet’s core should be a fun film…it’s not. The scientific community slammed this movie as completely inaccurate to the point Dustin Hoffman was campaigning for better science in films because of garbage like this. The cast is mostly fine, but they lack the outsized personalities of Independence Day or Armageddon in order to be memorable. And the film takes itself way too seriously when there should have been some monsters to fight like Journey to the Center of the Earth. It’s not fun enough to be entertaining, and not accurate enough to be a scientific artifact. 6. The Room [Dir. Tommy Wiseau]The pinnacle of “So bad it’s good cinema”, this overly ambitious drama (later dubbed a dark comedy to save face) turned out to be a great unintentional comedy in some of the worst ways. Tommy Wiseau’s film was riddled with production failures, creative missteps and all the worst writing, acting and storytelling auteurship has to offer. This film has become legendary for a reason, becoming meme fuel that lasts to this day. There’s nothing I can say about this film that hasn't already been said, but it’s still bad. It might be more entertaining because it’s so bad…but it is still bad. 5. House of the Dead [Dir. Uwe Boll]The first film to bring notoriously aggressive and terrible filmmaker Uwe Boll attention from cinephiles: House of the Dead is a complete failure. The original video game was basically a junkier version of Resident Evil (Cops show up to a mansion with zombies and find a lab), but Boll turned that simple enough game into a disjointed mess. This film is both overly written in character narration and backstory…but underwritten in terms of plot and development. People show up to an island where there's zombies and…that’s it. There’s one truly awful attempt at a slow-motion Matrix shootout scene that feels like something from a parody and nothing else worth mentioning. There is a terrible dialogue back and forth that more or less amounts to: “Why did you want to be immortal?” “To live forever”. Uwe Boll didn't write the script, but that feels like something he’d have shoved in. Nothing happens, you don't remember the characters, it’s not scary or exciting and it has nothing to do with the video game. Can we have someone like Joe Lynch make an accurate version of the game? That’d be great. 4. The Cat in the Hat [Dir. Bo Welch]One of the notoriously bad films, a truly abysmal adaptation of Dr Seuss’s work-The Cat in the Hat is pathetic. This overly designed world packed with largely unlikeable (and one racist) characters is ugly and sometimes disturbing. It was a poor decision to make this film live action as the sets, CGI and costumes all feel like they came from the hell of the uncanny valley. The writing is awful in attempting a feature length adaptation of a book you can read in under 5 minutes, while trying to match Mike Myers comedic style. Speaking of Myers, this is easily one of his worst films alongside The Love Guru-completely unfit for the tone this film should be. It honestly feels like an anti-comedy and is often far too inappropriate for kids. I have no idea why Emmanuelle Lubeski was the cinematographer on this, considering he’d shot A Little Princess, Sleepy Hollow, Y Tu Mamá También and Ali before this and would go on to shoot: Children of Men, Burn After Reading, The Tree of Life, Birdman and The Revenant. Dakota Johnson is actually fine in her role with the material she has, but the rest of the value one can obtain from this is in the memes or ironic value. I don’t care what random YouTube videos say, this is not some secret anti-comedy “masterpiece” like people say Freddy Got Fingered is. 3. The Real Cancun [Dir. Rick de Oliveira]It’s a reality movie. Like a reality tv show…but put in a cinema. They spent $7.5 Million on this movie and made about $5 Million back. Some producers thought this was something to put on cinema screens. Follow some people to Cancun and interview them…and Snoop Dogg is there too. You know…there’s actually a few ways this idea COULD have worked. You could have made a found footage comedy like Project X (granted that would be 9 years away) or even a Hostel/Turistas style horror film: capitalizing on the sensationalism of foreign destinations. You could have made an insightful documentary on the exploitation, commercialization, fetishization and colonial aspects of foreign holiday destinations. Or you could have just made straight up porn. Any of those would be better than this brain rot content. Oh and reality television is just as staged as scripted content, with producers, writers and editors manipulating what you see for the sake of an “entertaining” show that follows a formula. So yeah, the fact this non-content got produced and put in cinemas is an insult to the artform. 2. Gigli [Dir. Martin Brest]A film of…moderate intent brought down by unintentionally bad writing, bad performances, studio meddling, unfortunate publicity and being a lesser version of another film. Gigli was intended to be a crime drama that confronted themes of toxic masculinity and sexuality…but was reduced to a pathetic crime comedy that fails to understand its subject matter. The film’s main cast gives terrible performances, with only Al Pacino being any good and Jennifer Lopez unfortunately being the weakest. The film’s story is basically: a criminal kidnaps a disabled person for ransom against a federal prosecutor, tries to bang a lesbian and…well nothing really happens. There’s no good jokes, with the film’s tone and score playing out more as a drama. It’s also really bad at understanding those with Tourette's or non-straight women, coming off as ableist and homophobic. It’s also just a less interesting version of Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy that at least was more or less Kevin Smith trying to understand lesbians. It’s a bad drama, a bad comedy, a bad crime story, a bad story about lesbians and feels like a chore to watch. Oh and who could forget the line “It’s turkey time…gobble gobble”? Cringe, absolute cringe. 1. Gods and Generals [Dir. Ronald F. Maxwell]What’s worse than failed intentions, so bad it’s good comedies and reality tv movies? Neo Confederate Propaganda of course. I won’t get too in-depth but if you’re interested-please check out this video [Why Gods and Generals is Neo-Confederate Propaganda (and Objectively Sucks) - YouTube]. The long and short of it is Gods and Generals tries to paint the motivation for the Confederate South’s war with the Union being to “retain a simple Southern life”, when that is a lie.
Here’s the harsh reality, there’s a concept known as “The Lost Cause” myth which is basically right wing and southern propaganda to deny that slavery was the key point in the American Civil War. This continues to this day, but it is a myth. The Southern Confederacy believed that blacks were not equal to whites and should be kept as slaves, a free labor workforce so the whites could get rich and do nothing. You know how modern-day right-wing boomers complain about liberal college students wanting to make money and do no work? That’s what Confederate slave owners were. The American Civil War was basically fought because the South wanted to keep black oppressed as slaves and not lose a cushy, financially stable life at the exploitation of human life. Gods and Generals is essentially propaganda for this myth; painting Confederate soldiers as heroes, Union soldiers as pillagers and even racists, making all the black characters lovers of their white masters and the confederacy, and making those against the war idiots. It uses writing, music, cinematography and the obfuscation of details to push these ideas. Gettysburg director Ronald F. Maxwell would have you believe that this is a “no spin zone” and treats each side fairly…but so does every other person indulge in bad faith arguments. The Confederate characters get the most screen time, the most sympathy, and have their history most modified to seem reasonable. It’s deceptive filmmaking at its best…or worst I guess. It’s a shame because Gettysburg holds up as a well-made and more honest depiction of Civil War history, even though Ronald F. Maxell went off the wagon in recent years. While I will say the film’s performances range from great to mediocre (especially with the clunky dialogue), the score is resonant (if manipulative) and its filmmaking is efficient as propaganda despite being simple. However, it has one massive flaw: it’s boring as all hell. There are many films that are openly thematic, political or promote a wrong-headed idea-but can have some entertaining factor. Passion of the Christ can be viewed as a splatter horror film regardless of how you see its religious message. Gone with the Wind is a visual spectacle despite also being sympathetic to the Confederacy. But regardless, if you watch the original 3.5-hour version or the 4.5-hour director's cut, you’ll be left bored. You’re better off watching anything from Ben Hur to Lawrence of Arabia or the Lord of the Rings trilogy if you’ve got that time. Many people forget this movie exists as it only made $12.5 Million at the box office against its $56 Million budget, along with receiving a critical mauling. Its main purpose is purely for historical re-enactors and promoters of the Lost Cause myth. But it’s easily the worst film of 2003, because aside from being a disingenuous “both sides'” film that’s just Confederate propaganda: it’s an incredibly long and boring waste of your time. Skip this film if you can. |
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