# Movies of 2003 that deserved better. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-of-2003-that-deserved-better/223827 "2004-01-10T14:22:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-of-2003-that-deserved-better/223827/1 "2004-01-10T14:22:30Z")
I just saw _Crime Spree_ with Gérard Depardieu, Harvey Keitel, Johnny Hallyday and Renaud. It’s a very fine comedy/crime movie that I missed when it was released. Keitel turned in my favourite comic performance of the year and the movie has some classic lines, “Gee boss, it’s not a science,” will be laugh out loud funny for years. Way way better than most stuff I saw in cinemas. Could Dopers please provide others I missed. By the way Gérard Depardieu is one of the best actors I have ever seen. I only post this so I don’t forget. ---
**Author:** ![WereOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ac91a4/32.png) [@WereOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WereOtter)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-of-2003-that-deserved-better/223827/2 "2004-01-10T22:44:39Z")
I don’t think very many people saw _And Now… Ladies and Gentlemen_. It was a 2002 film that didn’t get released in the USA until 2003. [http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0283883/](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0283883/) The trailers made it look like a crime-caper flick, but I thought it was the most romantic movie of 2003. It’s being released on DVD Jan 13. A very good choice for a romantic evening at home. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-of-2003-that-deserved-better/223827/3 "2004-01-11T09:04:04Z")
Nirgendwo In Afrika (Nowhere In Africa) was the Best Foreign Film and just recently came out on video/DVD. A German film with subtitles, it is very good, based on a true story of a family that left Germany during the war and moved to a remote part of Africa. Epic in scale, beautiful cinematography and a gripping story. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-of-2003-that-deserved-better/223827/4 "2004-01-11T09:12:28Z")
Elephant The Big Empty . ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-of-2003-that-deserved-better/223827/5 "2004-01-11T15:36:34Z")
Here are some numbers that will choke up a movie lover. I took a list of the “Top 250 Movies of 2003” and singled out ones that I thought were especially good, or seemed good (there are some I haven’t seen myself), that made under $40million. The results are shocking. The next time someone complains that there aren’t any good movies, they can just fuck off. There ARE good movies, but few go to see them. Some of these opened limited in 2002 and went wide in 2003. The totals are for its entire run. These are Domestic (North America) totals unless specified otherwise. 25Th Hour (Bv) $13,078,082 A Mighty Wind (Wb) $17,781,006 Adaptation (Sony) $22,418,199 American Splendor (Fine Line) $6,010,990 Antwone Fisher (Foxsearch) $21,078,145 Bend It Like Beckham (Foxsearch) $32,543,449 Better Luck Tomorrow (Par. Cl) $3,802,390 Bowling For Columbine (Mgm/Ua) $21,576,018 Bubba Ho-Tep (Vitagraph) $1,154,791 Camp (Ifc) $1,629,862 Capturing The Friedmans (Magnolia) $3,119,113 City Of God (Miramax) $4,795,285 ($20,599,285 Worldwide) Confessions Of Dangerous Mind (Miramax) $16,007,718 Confidence (Lionsgate) $12,217,840 Dancer Upstairs, The (Foxsearch) $2,377,348 Dark Blue (Mgm/Ua) $9,250,301 Dirty Pretty Things (Miramax) $8,078,656 ($13,078,656 Worldwide) Down With Love (Fox) $20,305,251 Elephant $1,266,955 ($7,368,627 Worldwide!) Far From Heaven (Focus) $15,872,397 Good Thief, The (Foxsearch) $3,517,797 Human Stain, The (Miramax) $5,364,701 ($11,021,652 Worldwide) I Capture The Castle (Idp) $1,179,035 In The Cut (Sony) $4,717,455 Intolerable Cruelty (Univ) $35,188,940 Laurel Canyon (Sony Cl) $3,663,356 Luther (Rs Ent.) $5,781,086 Magdalene Sisters, The (Miramax) $4,890,878 Mambo Italiano (Idp) $6,253,026 Man On The Train, The (Par. Cl) $2,542,020 Man Without A Past, The $921,847 Narc (Par) $10,465,659 Northfork (Par. Cl) $1,420,678 Nowhere In Africa (Zeitgeist) $6,180,200 Pianist, The (Focus) $32,543,587 Pieces Of April (Mgm/Ua) $2,397,565 Quiet American, The (Miramax) $12,988,801 Rabbit-Proof Fence (Miramax) $6,177,030 Raising Victor Vargas (Idp) $2,073,984 Russian Ark (Wellsprng) $3,011,013 Secret Lives Of Dentists, The (Manhattan) $3,707,346 Shattered Glass (Lionsgate) $2,128,485 Station Agent, The $4,739,269 Swimming Pool (Focus) $10,121,640 I’ve seen all but 11 of these. Some of the ones I missed came and went while I was moving over the summer, or were here and gone quickly during a time when I didn’t have any money. Here are some totals for current excellent films (I have seen all of them), some of which opened limited in December. 21 Grams $7,869,980 ($12,290,803 Worldwide) Big Fish $9,575,584 Cooler, The (Lionsgate) $1,976,406 Girl With A Pearl Earring $959,305 House Of Sand And Fog $6,056,533 In America $10,722,787 Lost In Translation $31,773,235 ($32,297,010 Worldwide) Peter Pan $35,826,145 Barbarian Invasions, The $806,045 Triplets Of Belleville, The $7,452,072 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-of-2003-that-deserved-better/223827/6 "2004-01-11T15:41:06Z")
I should have added that, in answer to the OP, most if not all of those films deserved better. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-of-2003-that-deserved-better/223827/7 "2004-01-11T15:43:43Z")
:smack: I didn’t notice that my cut’n’paste wasn’t complete. Here are some more. Spellbound (Thinkfilm) $5,728,581 Spider (Sony Cl) $1,642,483 Spirited Away (Bv) $10,055,859 Step Into Liquid (Artisan) $3,681,803 Swimming Pool (Focus) $10,121,640 Sylvia (Focus) $1,315,498 Talk To Her (Sony Cl) $9,285,469 Thirteen (Foxsearch) $4,601,043 Veronica Guerin (Bv) $1,571,504 Whale Rider (Newmarket) $20,779,666 Winged Migration (Sony Cl) $10,764,402