Thank you to Razvan for helping with the list!
How was film in 2003 for you? Please vote for your top EIGHT films in the poll.
REMINDERS:
By 31st July 2020 please send your rating for: Coming Soon: IFG 14: The Imitation Game (Morten Tyldum, 2014)
POSTPONED: The IFG Awards will now be later in the year, but please do send your nominations ASAP: Time to consider who you would have awarded the Oscars to for films in 2019. Coming Soon: IFG 2019 Awards
Please start thinking about any films you would like to nominate for selection. The poll to select the films for October, November and December will be published late July/early August.
Oasis of Fear 
This list has a number of movies that I know are highly rated but just have no use for, starting Lost in translation, one of the dullest films ever made; also not a fan of Elephant or, suprise, Spanish film Open Take my eyes.
So my votes went to charming Calendar girls, Memories of murder, Goodbye Lenin (a surprise from my home country), the outstanding House of sand and fog, Mystic river, David Gale, Return of the king and X2.
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I love Calendar Girls – that might be a good one to nominate for the IFG films. Bo one could hate it! Really liked House of Sand and Fog too,
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House of sand and fog was really a surprise; I didn’t expect all that much going in (have we done a Ben Kingsley poll btw?) but it totally drew me in.
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It was for me too! No, no Ben Poll yet, but he is on the list!
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oh God, I feel similarly about Lost in Translation…when I first watched it I was so indifferent… almost as much as the characters in it! 🙂 I have appreciated it much more in subsequent viewings but it is definitely one of my least favourite of S. Coppola’s films.
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I nevere even made it through the first showing… I watched it with 2 friends and after about an hour all of ways finally admitted we were deperate to leave the cinema!
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Watching the box of popcorn would have been more entertaining.
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I genuinely do not know anyone who claims they enjoyed this film where I believe it’s true.
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I know I should give it another go, but not for a while. Films take a lot to bore me, but that one managed it very well!
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Watch Kaili Blues! I dare you! haha I am traumatised!
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I might leave that one for now … 🙂
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Master & commander is also thought was dire – another wannabe franchise launcher with nothing behind it.
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I think I had heard a lot of hype about Lost in Translation and watched it eagerly…. my mistake. It would have made a nice short film – perhaps 7 minutes. Actually they should have just made the trailer.
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I also found Master and Commander very boring. I don’t know if i should give it another go… I remember watching it on a date with a boring guy so it might have been something he was giving off! 😀
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I also didn’t enjoy that much Master and Commander, I found it pretty average, but being nominated at 10 Oscars it just had to be included.
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lol 😂
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I was also bored by Lost in Translation, but being so highly rated by both the critics and general audience (plus the 4 Oscar nominations) I decided to include it. It’s been more than 10 years since I’ve seen it so maybe I will revisit it at some point to see if it’s still boring or maybe I was too young when I first saw it. 😛
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I get the feeling it might be even more boring second time around… although at least I would know what to expect and would ignore the dull performances and duller story and just treat it as a travel commercial for Tokyo.
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Haha, yeah I guess that would be a good way to approach it. 😛
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Nah… my parents also tried to watch it when it ran on TV and for months afterwards complained how boring it was, no kidding!
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Someone has voted for it!
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Raz did, see his comment – he wasn’t all that convinced either tho!
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I think he meant he decided to include it in the poll because of the Oscar nominations – I don’t think he has voted yet as he wants to watch some of the films.
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I did not vote yet.
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Ah sorry I thought you had – so who voted for that film, I wonder? I honestly do, I just don’t understand the appeal at all.
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Maybe they will enlighten us 🙂
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I went for Mystic River, Calendar Girls, Goodbye Lenin, House of Sand and Fog, Cold Mountain, Dogville, Take My Eyes, and The Barbarian Invasions. I needed more votes because I also loved City of God and The Swimming Pool. I really enjoyed a lot watching X-Men 2 and Return of the Kind at the cinema….it feels so long ago now… 🙂
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Dogville is a real masterpiece imo. Kill Bill, Memories of Murder, Oldboy and 21 grams conclude my top 5!
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I didn’t think 2003 was a particularly great year for movies, but nevertheless there are more than 10 movies that I rated 8/10 or higher. I have a top 8 at the moment, but there are also a few that I haven’t seen yet and out of these I think there might be 2 films that could get in (House of Sand and Fog and Good Bye Lenin!), so I’m gonna check them out before I vote.
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Also Dogville is another one that I missed and since I liked the latest Lars von Trier films this one might be worth checking out, but the 3 hour runtime is quite challenging. 😛
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I felt exactly the same – I love von Trier’s films and I started to watch Dogville not knowing that it was a bit like a theatre production – I got about 10 minutes in and turned it off. HOWEVER, about a year later I gave it another go and I loved it! Honestly, the story is so good that if you know what the format is going to be like before watching then after about 15 minutes it almost does not matter that there is no scenery. I love it.
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Interesting, thanks for the insight. I will be checking it out, don’t know how soon though.
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I watched it when it came out on DVD and was very impressed by its original approach. Didn’t even realise it was so long. More recently I watched Manderlay (2005) which is very similar and also an interesting to watch film. Controversial but fascinating…
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Maderlay was great as well – loved both of them.
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Both of those two are very good – enjoyed them both a lot.
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“Elephant” changed me forever. Also, I could have voted for MANY of these films. So my 8 were:
Elephant
Memories of Murder
The Barbarian Invasions
Dreamers
Mystic River
Finding Nemo
The Return
Oldboy (this one went in Cannes in 2004 and did not face “Elephant” in Cannes 2003. I do think it’s easier to stick to release date and not mix with production dates because this makes no sense to put together two films that literally premiered a year apart)
I could have voted for:
21 Grams
Identity
Lost in Translation
House of Sand and Fog
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Such a good selection and some I did not have enough votes for. After deliberation I went for:
Calendar Girls
Cold Mountain
Dogville
Elephant
Evil
House of Sand and Fog
Take My Eyes
The Return
Had to leave out:
The Swimming Pool
City of God
The Barbarian Invasions
Oldboy
Goodbye Lenin
The Dreamers
21 Grams
– all of those could have made it in if I was selecting them another day.
Alas, Lost in Translation would be right at the bottom with Finding Nemo.
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These are the ones I voted for:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
X2: X-Men United
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Bruce Almighty
Finding Nemo
Mystic River
Matchstick Men
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