Some more comments on 2003 movies.

I wrote about the "winners" of this year without mentioning Will Ferrell, who was in OLD SCHOOL and ELF, and certifies that the upcoming ANCHORMAN will be an instant hit.

Best Horror Movie: 28 DAYS LATER, which wasn't hard to give because not only was this good, but it was the only good horror movie of 2003.

Best Comedy: SCHOOL OF ROCK, which had some very good ingredients--Mike White wrote the script, Jack Black starred, and Richard Linklater directed.

Best Drama: MYSTIC RIVER, which places very heavy themes into a picture with some very heavy-hitting actors, directed by the old pro Clint Eastwood. Looking for emotional power? This was the movie.

Best of Both Worlds: LOST IN TRANSLATION, which could be classified as either a drama or a comedy. I could watch this a hundred times in a week and not get tired of it--well, OK, maybe I could.

Best Action Film: It was not a good year for action films, although many will likely just simply put X2 at the top of the list, but for sheer fun, yes, it's CHARLIE'S ANGELS 2.

Movies that were nearly completely ruined by their endings, or at least soured you a little:

1. ELF: The spirit of Christmas must revive Santa's sleigh!
2. 28 DAYS LATER: Let's make a cool zombie flick into a LORD OF THE FLIES type movie!
3. LOTR: RETURN OF THE KING: It's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard to say goodbye.

Movie that was nearly ruined by its beginning:

THE HULK, which took nearly an hour to set up Bruce Banner's anger issues and turn him into the title character.

Movies that I soured on after further rumination:

THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS. Let me explain, since I clearly gave good reviews of these movies. I thought RELOADED had the potential to be something memorable IF REVOLUTIONS paid off. Now, after REVO, I came up with my theories on what had happened, and what things meant, and felt satisfied...BUT then I couldn't get around something...why do I have to interpret anything? Why do I have to come up with things to sort out my confusion? The original MATRIX was such fun because it was pretty much a stand-alone movie--then the next two came out and completely confused the issue. So, although the films both have something to offer--they did, in retrospect, fall short.

And I believe, until Oscar winners are announced, that will be all I need to say about 2003 films.