Film Comment’s End of Year Critics’ Poll 2003

BEST FILMS OF 2003

1. Lost In Translation
Sofia Coppola, U.S.

2. Mystic River
Clint Eastwood, U.S.

3. Elephant
Gus Van Sant, U.S.

4. Kill Bill Volume One
Quentin Tarantino, U.S.

5. American Splendor
Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini, U.S.

6. The Fog of War
Errol Morris, U.S.

7. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Peter Jackson, U.S.

8. Capturing the Friedmans
Andrew Jarecki, U.S.

9. The Son
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium

10. The Man Without a Past
Aki Kaurismäki, Finland

11. demonlover Olivier Assayas, France	12. Unknown Pleasures Jia Zhangke, China
13. Ten Abbas Kiarostami, Iran	14. School of Rock Richard Linklater, U.S.

15. Spider David Cronenberg, Canada/U.K.

16. Finding Nemo Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich, U.S.

17. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Peter Weir, U.S.

18. Bus 174 José Padilha, Brazil

19. To Be and To Have Nicolas Philibert, France

20. Platform Jia Zhangke, China

21. Spellbound Jeffrey Blitz, U.S.

22. City of God Fernando Meirelles, Brazil

23. Dirty Pretty Things Stephen Frears, U.K.

24. 21 Grams Alejandro González Inárritu, U.S.

25. Irreversible Gaspar Noé, France

26. In America Jim Sheridan, Ireland/U.K.

27. La Commune Paris, 1871 Peter Watkins, France

28. Raising Victor Vargas Peter Sollett, U.S.

29. All the Real Girls David Gordon Green, U.S.

30. The Triplets of Belleville Sylvain Chomet, France

31. Love and Diane Jennifer Dworkin, U.S.

32. Lilya 4-Ever Lukas Moodysson, Sweden

33. Sweet Sixteen Ken Loach, U.K.	34. In This World Michael Winterbottom, U.K.	35. 28 Days Later Danny Boyle, U.K.	36. Friday Night Claire Denis, France
37. Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary Guy Maddin, Canada	38. The Magdalene Sisters Peter Mullen, Ireland	39. Cold Mountain Anthony Minghella, U.S.	40. The Secret Lives of Dentists Alan Rudolph, U.S.

41. The Weather Underground Sam Green & Bill Siegel, U.S.	42. Pistol Opera Seijun Suzuki, Japan	43. A Mighty Wind Christopher Guest, U.S.	44. The Man on the Train Patrice Leconte, France	45. Japón Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/ Germany
46. Chi-hwa-seon Im Kwon-taek, South Korea	47. The Good Thief Neil Jordan, Ireland/ U.K./France	48. Bad Santa Terry Zwigoff, U.S.	49. Divine Intervention Elia Suleiman, Palestine	50. Whale Rider Niki Caro, New Zealand

BEST UNRELEASED FILMS OF 2003

1. Goodbye Dragon Inn
Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan

2. Crimson Gold
Jafar Panahi, Iran

3. Dogville
Lars von Trier, Denmark

4. Distant
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey

5. Bright Leaves
Ross McElwee, U.S.

6. The Saddest Music in the World
Guy Maddin, Canada

7. Good Morning, Night
Marco Bellocchio, Italy

8. S21: Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
Rithy Panh, Cambodia/France

9. Since Otar Left
Julie Bertucelli, France/Georgia

10. The Story of Marie and Julien
Jacques Rivette, Japan

11. Coffee and Cigarettes
Jim Jarmusch, U.S.

12. The Best of Youth
Marco Tullio Giordana, Italy
(tie) Zatoichi
Takeshi Kitano, Japan

13. Los Angeles Plays Itself
Thom Anderson, U.S.

14. The Brown Bunny
Vincent Gallo, U.S.

15. Raja
Jacques Doillon, France

16. Springtime in a Small Town
Tian Zhuangzhuang, China

17. The Return
Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia

(tie) Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter & Spring
Ki-duk Kim, South Korea

18. Vibrator
Ryuichi Hiroki, Japan

19. Turning Gate
Hong Sang-soo, South Korea

20. Young Adam
David Mackenzie, U.K.

21. Funny Ha Ha
Andrew Bujalski, U.S.

22. Time of the Wolf
Michael Haneke, Austria

23. An Injury to One
Travis Wilkerson, U.S.

24. Blissfully Yours
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand

25. The Five Obstructions
Jorgen Leth and Lars von Trier, Denmark

Participants: John Anderson, David Ansen, Nicole Armour, Paul Arthur, Mike Atkinson, Marjorie Baumgarten, John Caps, Michael Chaiken, Chris Chang, Godfrey Cheshire, Travis Crawford, Edward E. Crouse, Gary Crowdus, Mike D’Angelo, Manohla Dargis, Hazel-Dawn Dumpert, Justine Elias, FX Feeney, Scott Foundas, Chris Fujiwara, Graham Fuller, Susan Gerhard, Larry Gross, Tom Gunning, Ernest Hardy, Dennis Harvey, James Harvey, Elizabeth Helfgott, J. Hoberman, Robert Horton, Gary Indiana, Harlan Jacobson, Kent Jones, Kristin Jones, Dave Kehr, Lisa Kennedy, Glenn Kenny, Sarah Kerr, Stuart Klawans, Michael Koresky, Nathan Lee, Dennis Lim, Phillip Lopate, Alice Lovejoy, Tim Lucas, Cynthia Lucia, Guy Maddin, Greil Marcus, Todd McCarthy, Maitland McDonagh, Wesley Morris, Chris Norris, Geoffrey O’Brien, Mark Olsen, Gerald Peary, Richard Peña, Mark Peranson, Tony Pipolo, Richard Porton, Alissa Quart, Rachel Rosen, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Paul Schrader, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Gavin Smith, Roger Smith, Gregory Solman, Christine Spines, Chuck Stephens, David Sterritt, Bob Strauss, Erik Syngle, Amy Taubin, Anne Thompson, Desson Thomson, Joumane Trad, Kenneth Turan, Giulia D’agnolo Vallan, David Walsh, Armond White, Mike Wilmington, Tom Zummer.