2003
American Splendor
(2003)
Harvey Pekar (comic book series American Splendor), Joyce Brabner (comic book series Our Cancer Year), Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 30 wins & 43 nominations.
An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
Battle Royale II
(2003)
Kenta Fukasaku, Norio Kida, Koushun Takami (characters)
2 wins & 1 nomination.
Three years after the failure of the last BR program, a second act is forged and a class of students are sent to an island with one objective: kill international terrorist Shuya Nanahara.
Beyond Re-Animator
(2003)
José Manuel Gómez, H.P. Lovecraft, Miguel Tejada-Flores
1 win & 4 nominations
Left to rot in prison for the past thirteen years after the blood-drenched events in Re-Animator (1985) and Bride of Re-Animator (1990), the misunderstood virtuoso of mayhem, Dr Herbert West, finds an unexpected ally in the person of the young medical doctor, Howard Phillips. Behind the thick walls of the impenetrable Arkham State Penitentiary, the blasphemous duo of dreamers set up a secret laboratory to test an entirely new reanimating serum, which--when combined with West's original phosphorescent reagent--can work miracles on the prison's inmates. Now, the stage seems set for the ultimate experiment; however, once more, this is easier said than done. Can the good doctors escape from this concrete pit of death?
Coffee and Cigarettes
(2003)
Jim Jarmusch
2 wins & 7 nominations.
Eleven separate vignettes are presented. In each, celebrities, playing semi-fictionalized versions of themselves (with the exception of the characters of various wait staff, and one actor playing a lookalike cousin of herself), meet in a food service establishment with coffee/tea and cigarettes involved. Beyond the topic of discussion that brought them together, they often talk directly about coffee and cigarettes, more often that coffee and cigarettes, and by association caffeine and nicotine, are not healthy, especially if they are the only things constituting lunch. Other recurring themes include the Lee family, cousinhood, celebrity worship, the connection between the medical and musical careers, and Nikola Tesla's belief that the Earth is a conductor of acoustic resonance. In all cases, the coming together for coffee/tea and smokes acts as a bridge to overcome disagreements, and/or makes uncomfortable situations less uncomfortable.
Final Destination 2
(2003)
J. Mackye Gruber (screenplay), Eric Bress (screenplay), J. Mackye Gruber (story), Eric Bress (story), Jeffrey Reddick (story), Jeffrey Reddick (characters)
4 nominations.
When Kimberly has a violent premonition of a highway pileup she blocks the freeway, keeping a few others meant to die, safe...Or are they? The survivors mysteriously start dying and it's up to Kimberly to stop it before she's next.
Gothika
(2003)
Sebastian Gutierrez
2 wins & 7 nominations.
A repressed female psychiatrist wakes up as a patient in the asylum where she worked, with no memory of why she is there or what she has done.
Grand Theft Parsons
(2003)
Jeremy Drysdale (story), David Caffrey (story), Jeremy Drysdale
N/A
There are times when it's right and proper to simply bury the dead. This is not one of those times... Gram Parsons was one of the most influential musicians of his time; a bitter, brilliant, genius who knew Elvis, tripped with the Stones and fatally overdosed on morphine and tequila in 1973. And from his dying came a story. A story from deep within folklore; a story of friendship, honour and adventure; a story so extraordinary that if it didn't really happen, no one would believe it. Two men, a hearse, a dead rock star, five gallons of petrol, and a promise. And the most extraordinary chase of modern times.
High Tension
(2003)
Alexandre Aja, Grégory Levasseur
6 wins & 6 nominations.
Alexia travels with her friend Marie to spend a couple of days with her family in their farm in the country. They arrive late and they are welcomed by Alexia's father. Late in the night, a sadistic and sick killer breaks into the farmhouse, slaughters Alexia's family--including their dog--and kidnaps Alexia. Marie hides from the criminal and tries to help the hysterical and frightened Alexia, chase the maniac, and disclose his identity in the end.
Identity
(2003)
Michael Cooney
6 nominations.
Malcolm Rivers has been convicted as the perpetrator of several murders and is sentenced to death. An eleventh hour defense by his lawyers and psychiatrist that Malcolm is insane based on new evidence has resulted in them meeting with the prosecutors and the judge to discuss if the verdict should be overturned. Meanwhile, on a dark night during a torrential rainstorm in the Nevada desert, a series of chain reaction events results in several people needing to stay at an out of the way motel managed by Larry. They are: ex-cop now limo driver Ed, and his client Caroline, a diva of a once famous actress; quiet adolescent Timmy, his stepfather George, and his mother Alice, who was seriously injured when Ed accidentally ran over her as she watched George change their flat tire; prostitute Paris, who was the unwitting cause of George's flat tire; newlyweds Lou and Ginny, whose marriage is based on a lie; and Police Officer Rhodes, who was en route escorting prisoner Robert to his new institution. They all can't leave the area because of washed out roads, all the other businesses around the motel are closed because of the storm, and all communication in and out is not functioning also because of the storm. One by one, they are murdered, the murderer leaving a calling card of a motel room key, starting with the room 10 key and working his way presumably to the room 1 key when the last person will be dead. Those still alive band somewhat together under Officer Rhodes and Ed's direction to find out which of the eleven is the murderer, and if, based on one of their theories, that they were brought to the motel by some force by the murderer as his intended targets. Whether those still alive can discover who the murderer is, discover why he has chosen to kill them, and be able to subdue him may well determine Malcolm's fate.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
(2003)
Quentin Tarantino, Quentin Tarantino (character The Bride), Uma Thurman (character The Bride)
Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 19 wins & 73 nominations.
The Bride wakens from a four-year coma. The child she carried in her womb is gone. Now she must wreak vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her - a team she was once part of.
Milwaukee, Minnesota
(2003)
Richard Murphy
3 wins & 2 nominations.
Having lived his entire life under the watchful eye of his overbearing mother, Albert must fend for himself when an unidentified automobile suddenly kills her. Free for the first time, Albert quickly responds to the bait dangling in front of him, putting his aggressors against one another in a race for his trust. Using his skills that make him a gifted fisherman, Albert turns the tables on his seemingly doomed fate, capturing the heart of the woman most eager to deceive him, and fooling the man most intent on destroying him.
Monster
(2003)
Patty Jenkins
Won 1 Oscar. Another 26 wins & 22 nominations.
Based on the life of Aileen Wuornos, a Daytona Beach prostitute who became a serial killer.
Mystic River
(2003)
Brian Helgeland (screenplay), Dennis Lehane (novel)
Won 2 Oscars. Another 52 wins & 116 nominations.
In the summer of 1975 in a neighborhood in Boston, 3 kids, Dave Boyle and two of his friends, Jimmy and Sean, are playing on the sidewalk when Dave gets abducted by two men and endures several days of sexual abuse. Eventually, Dave escapes traumatized throughout adulthood. Jimmy is an ex-con and a father of three, whose daughter Katie, is found dead and Dave becomes the number one suspect. Sean is a homicide detective, investigating Katie's murder, ends up finding himself faced with past and present demons as more is uncovered about Katie's murder. Learning Katie had a boyfriend, ballistics later turn up a gun belonging to the father, which then puts her boyfriend as the suspect. Will Sean find out who killed Katie? Will Jimmy make it through the investigation? And will Dave ever find out what really happened when he was abducted?
Oldboy
(2003)
Garon Tsuchiya (story), Nobuaki Minegishi (comic), Chan-wook Park (screenplay), Chun-hyeong Lim (screenplay), Jo-yun Hwang (screenplay), Joon-hyung Lim
24 wins & 14 nominations.
An average man is kidnapped and imprisoned in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. He then is released, equipped with money, a cellphone and expensive clothes. As he strives to explain his imprisonment and get his revenge, Oh Dae-Su soon finds out that his kidnapper has a greater plan for him and is set onto a path of pain and suffering in an attempt to uncover the motive of his mysterious tormentor.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
(2003)
Robert Rodriguez
3 wins & 4 nominations.
In the third movie of Rodriguez's "Mariachi" trilogy, a Mexican drug lord pretends to overthrow the Mexican government, and is connected to a corrupt CIA agent who at that time, demands retribution from his worst enemy to carry out the drug lord's uprising against the government.
One Missed Call
(2003)
Yasushi Akimoto (novel), Minako Daira (screenplay), Alexander Von David
N/A
People mysteriously start receiving voicemail messages from their future selves, in the form of the sound of them reacting to their own violent deaths.
Out of Time
(2003)
David Collard
4 wins & 7 nominations.
A Florida police chief must solve a vicious double homicide before he himself falls under suspicion.
Paycheck
(2003)
Philip K. Dick (short story), Dean Georgaris (screenplay)
2 wins & 2 nominations.
Michael Jennings is a reverse engineer and what he does is technical jobs for certain companies and as soon as he is done, his memory of the work he has done is wiped out. Now the longest he has been contracted is 2 months. But now billionaire, James Rethrick offers him a job that would last 2 years, maybe 3, and he promises that he will probably earn 8 figures. Michael agrees. Before beginning he turns in all of his personal effects. And when the job is done, his memory is erased and he learns he made over 90 million dollars over the three years. When he goes to claim it and his personal effects, he discovers that prior to the erasure of his memory he waived his rights to the money he earned and that the items that were given to him were not the ones he gave when he began. Later he is arrested by the FBI who say that he committed some act of treason and murder. It's while he is in custody that he escapes using some the items that he was given. He later meets with a friend who gives him some information that helps him understand what is going on. And at the same time Rethrick for some reason wants him so he is being pursued by Rethrick's people.
Saints and Soldiers
(2003)
Geoffrey Panos (story), Matt Whitaker
16 wins & 2 nominations.
After surviving a massacre in Malmedy, a location behind the German army in Europe, four American soldiers with only one weapon rescue the British pilot Oberon Winley (Kirby Heyborn) in a tree and they move together, trying to reach the allied forces and save a great number of allied soldiers from a German attack with the information got by Winley in his flight. While marching, each soldier discloses inner secrets to the rest of the group.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
(2003)
John Brancato, Michael Ferris, Tedi Sarafian
3 wins & 24 nominations
More than 10 years after 'Terminator 2', John Connor now exists only as a drifter - living 'off the grid', so no more Terminators from the future can hunt him down. Unfortunately, SkyNet does send another one back - and this one is called the T-X, even more powerful & advanced than the dreaded T-1000. However, another CSM-101 Terminator is also sent back to protect John against the T-X. Now, Skynet is patiently assuming control of civilian computer systems, under the guise of a computer virus. John has also met his future wife, Kate Brewster, whose father - a U.S. Air Force General - is in charge of the military computer systems & is leery of up linking SkyNet. However, when the SkyNet virus infects the U.S military computers & leaves the country open to attack, the machines begin their horrific takeover. Soon a nuclear war will result - and the war against the machines will begin. Can the outdated CSM-101 Terminator eliminate the highly advanced T-X - or will a darker future await man following the nuclear attack?