Best Movies of 2003

Editor: Piero Scaruffi
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Best of the decade | Best of 2002 | Best of 2004
The following list averages the opinions of my favorite critics plus mine.

Foreign movies show sometimes a year later, so if you can't find a title, check last year's ratings.


7.9 Chan-wook Park: Oldeuboi/ Oldboy
7.8 Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu: 21 Grams
7.5 Kim Ki-duk: Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom/ Spring Summer Fall Winter and Spring
7.5 Raoul Ruiz: Ce Jour-La'/ That Day
7.5 Matthew Ryan Hoge: The United States of Leland
7.4 Henrik Ruben Genz: En som Hodder/ Someone Like Hodder
7.4 Takashi Miike: Gozu
7.4 Christian Petzold: Wolfsburg
7.3 Lars Von Trier: Dogville
7.2 Marco-Tullio Giordana: La Meglio Gioventu'/ The Best of Youth
7.2 Andrei Zvyagintsev: Vozvrashcheniye/ The Return
7.2 Mark and Michael Polish: Northfork
7.2 Robert Lepage: Far Side of the Moon
7.2 Nimrod Antal: Kontroll
7.2 Ferzan Ozpetek: La Finestra di Fronte/ Facing Windows
7.2 Tsai Ming-Liang: Goodbye Dragon Inn
7.1 Joon-Ho Bong: Sarinui Chueok/ Memories of Murder
7.1 Jafar Panahi: Talaye Sorkh/ Crimson Gold
7.1 Bruno Dumont: Twentynine Palms
7.1 Gus Van Sant: Elephant
7.1 Wolfgang Becker: Good Bye Lenin
7.0 Manoel DeOliveira: A Talking Picture
7.0 Erik Van Looy: De zaak Alzheime/ The Alzheimer Case/ The Memory of a Killer
7.0 Abdellatif Kechiche: L'Esquive/ Games of Love and Chance
7.0 Jang Jun-hwan: Jigureul Jikyeora/ Save the Green Planet
7.0 Erik van Looy: De Zaak Alzheimer/ The Memory of a Killer
7.0 Asif Kapadia: The Warrior
7.0 Mitsuru Meike: The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai
7.0 Iciar Bollain: Te Doy Mis Ojos/ Take My Eyes
7.0 Pen-ek Ratanaruang: Last Life in the Universe
7.0 Bent Hamer: Kitchen Stories
7.0 Jean-Paul Rappeneau: Bon Voyage
7.0 Guy Maddin: Cowards Bend the Knee
7.0 Hugo Rodriguez: Nicotina
7.0 Bertrand Bonello: Tiresia
7.0 Savi Gabizon: Ha-Asonot Shel Nina/ Nina's Tragedies
7.0 David Mackenzie: Young Adam
7.0 Per Fly: Arven/ Inheritance
7.0 Vadim Perelman: House of Sand and Fog 3.5
7.0 Jonathan Lynn: The Fighting Temptations
7.0 Ulrich Seidl: Dog Days
7.0 Ron Shelton: Hollywood Homicide
7.0 Hector Babenco: Carandiru
7.0 Rakhshan Bani-Etemad: Under The Skin of The City
7.0 Jee-woon Kim: A Tale of Two Sisters
7.0 Sofia Coppola: Lost in Translation
7.0 Alan Parker: The Life of David Gale
6.9 Michael Haneke: Le Temps du Loup/ Time of the Wolf
6.9 John Crowley: Intermission
6.9 Anil Sharma : The Hero
6.9 Alex Proyas: Garage Days
6.9 Gore Verbinski: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
6.9 Monica Stambrini: Gasoline
6.9 Oxide and Danny Pang: The Eye
6.9 Delphine Gleize: Carnage
6.9 Tom McCarthy: The Station Agent
6.9 Denys Arcand: Les Invasions Barbares/ The Barbarian Invasions
6.9 Johnnie To: PTU
6.8 Wayne Kramer: The Cooler
6.8 Satoshi Kon: Tokyo Godfathers
6.8 Alexandre Sokurov: Otets I Syn/ Father and Son
6.8 Peter Hedges: Pieces of April
6.8 Florian Habicht: Woodenhead
6.8 Gabriele Salvatores: Io Non Ho Paura/ I'm Not Scared
6.8 David Gordon Green: All The Real Girls
6.8 Peter Greenaway: The Tulse Luper Suitcases
6.8 Emanuele Crialese: Respiro
6.8 Tom Shadyac: Bruce Almighty
6.8 Susanne Bier: Open Hearts
6.8 Clint Eastwood: Mystic River
6.8 Wachowski Brothers: The Matrix Reloaded
6.8 Jane Campion: In The Cut
6.8 Terry Zwigoff: Bad Santa
6.8 Peter Jackson: The Return of the King
6.8 Shari Springer: American Splendor
6.8 Sylvain Chomet: The Triplets of Belleville
6.8 Francois Ozon: Swimming Pool
6.8 Pablo Berger: Torremolinos 73
6.7 Jacques Doillon: Raja
6.7 Amos Gitai: Alila
6.7 Vahid Mousaian: Silence Of The Sea
6.7 Robert Schwentke: Tattoo
6.7 Eli Roth: Cabin Fever
6.6 Fred Schepisi: It Runs in the Family
6.6 Bernardo Bertolucci: Sognatori/ Dreamers
6.5 Constantin Costa-Gavras: Amen
6.5 Joe Dante: Looney Tunes: Back in Action
6.5 Julie Bertuccelli: Since Otar Left
6.5 Joel Coen: Intolerable Cruelty
6.5 Nicolas Winding Refn: Fear X
6.5 Joe Maggio: Milk and Honey
6.5 Philippe Caland: Hollywood Buddha
6.5 Andre' Techine': Les Egares/ Strayed
6.5 Ermanno Olmi: Cantando Sotto i Paraventi
6.5 Scott Hamilton: OT
6.5 Antonio Serrano: Lucia, Lucia
6.5 Clare Kilner: How To Deal
6.5 Peter Watkins: La Commune
6.5 Scott Roberts: The Hard Word
6.5 Dev Anand: Love at Times Square
6.5 Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger: Lawless Heart
6.5 Israel Adrian Caetano: Bolivia
6.5 Mars Callahan: Poolhall Junkies
6.5 Chris Rock: Head of State
6.5 Wiebke von Carolsfeld: Marion Bridge
6.5 James Mangold: Identity
6.5 John Malkovich: The Dancer Upstairs
6.5 Andrew Davis: Holes
6.5 Christopher Guest: A Mighty Wind
6.5 Baltasar Kormakur: The Sea
6.5 Shane Meadows: Once Upon a Time in the Midlands
6.5 Istvan Szabo: Taking Sides
6.5 Ridley Scott: Matchstick Men
6.5 Richard Linklater: School of Rock
6.5 Masato Harada: Bounce Ko Gals
6.5 Michael Winterbottom: In This World
6.5 Mike Figgis: Cold Creek Manor
6.5 Joel Schumacher: Veronica Guerin
6.5 Mark Rucker: Die Mommie Die
6.5 Peter Weir: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
6.5 Nikhil Advani: Kal Ho Naa Ho
6.5 Kamal Ahmed: God Has A Rap Sheet
6.5 Edward Zwick: Last Samurai
6.5 Mike Newell: Mona Lisa Smile
6.5 Philippe Muyl: The Butterfly
6.5 Isabel Coixet: Mi Vida Sin Mi/ My Life Without Me
6.5 Johnny To: Running On Karma
6.5 Patrice Chereau: Son Frere
6.5 Joao Cesar Monteiro: Vai E Vem
6.5 Bertrand Blier: Les Cotelettes
6.4 Joel Schumacher: Phone Booth
6.4 Barbara Albert: Free Radicals
6.3 Jim Sheridan: In America
6.1 Lawrence Kasdan: Dreamcatcher
6.0 Jon Amiel: The Core
6.0 Takeshi Kitano: Zatoichi
6.0 Marco Bellocchio: Buongiorno Notte
6.0 Hiner Saleem: Vodka Lemon
6.0 Michael Schorr: Schultze gets the blues
6.0 Christoffer Boe: Reconstruction
6.0 Wachowski Brothers: The Matrix Revolutions
6.0 Hsiao-hsien Hou: Cafe Lumiere
6.0 Jon Favreau : Elf
6.0 John Sayles: Casa de los Babys
6.0 Catharine Hardwicke: Thirteen
6.0 Vladimir Michalek: Autumn Spring
6.0 Casey LaScala: Grind
6.0 Robert Rodriguez: Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
6.0 Eric Eason: Manito
6.0 John Singleton: 2 Fast 2 Furious
6.0 Lucky McKee: May
6.0 Samira Makhmalbaf: A Cinq Heures De L'Apres-Midi
Ye Lou: Purple Butterfly
6.0 Neil LaBute: Shape of Things
6.0 Ole Christian Madsen: Kira's Reason
6.0 Mark Moskowitz: Stone Reader
6.0 John Henry Davis: Ordinary Sinner
6.0 Laetitia Colombani: He Loves Me He Loves Me Not
6.0 Roger Donaldson: The Recruit
6.0 Jonathan Liebesman: Darkness Falls
6.0 Ron Maxwell: Gods and Generals
6.0 David Dobkin: Shangai Knights
6.0 DOnald Petrie: How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days
6.0 Gary Hardwick: Deliver Us From Eva
6.0 David Ellis: Final Destination
6.0 Ron Shelton: Dark Blue
6.0 Michael Petroni: Till Human Voices Wake Us
6.0 Josee Dayan: Cet Amour-la
6.0 Jim Simpson: The Guys
6.0 Ed Solomon: Levity
6.0 Austin Chick: XX/XY
6.0 Aparna Sen: Mr and Mrs Iyer
6.0 Jordan Melamed: Manic
6.0 James Foley: Confidence
6.0 Matt Dillon: City of Ghosts
6.0 Neil Jordan: Good Thief
6.0 Tsui Hark: Vampire Hunters
6.0 Aluizio Abranches: The Three Marias
6.0 Todd Graff: Camp
6.0 Mark Waters: Freaky Friday
6.0 James Ivory: Le Divorce
6.0 Danny DeVito: Duplex
6.0 Audrey Wells: Under the Tuscan Sun
6.0 Richard Green: 7 Year ZigZag
6.0 Woody Allen: Anything Else
6.0 Bill Ray: Shattered Glass
6.0 Gary Fleder: Runaway Jury
6.0 Rosemary Rodriguez: Acts of Worship
6.0 Chih-Yen Yee: Blue Gate Crossing
6.0 Gonzolo Justiniano: El Leyton
6.0 Peter Webber: Girl with a Pearl Earring
6.0 Bille Woodruff: Honey
6.0 Dean Bell: What Alice Found
6.0 Nancy Meyers: Something's Gotta Give
6.0 Tim Burton: Big Fish
6.0 Anthony Minghella: Cold Mountain
6.0 Patty Jenkins: Monster
5.9
Steve Guttenberg: PS Your Cat Is Dead
5.8 Vincent Gallo: The Brown Bunny
5.7 Todd Louiso: Love Liza
5.6 Ivan Reitman: Old School
5.5 Kurt Voss: Down & Out With The Dolls
5.5 John McTiernan: Basic
5.5 Peter Segal: Anger Management
5.5 Justin Lin: Better Luck Tomorrow
5.5 Alfredo de Villa: Washington Heights
5.5 James Cox: Wonderland
5.5 Don Coscarelli: Bubba Ho-Tep
5.0 Susan Seidelman: Gaudi Afternoon
5.0 Claude Chabrol: La Fleur Du Mal/ The Flower of Evil
5.0 Keith Gordon: Singing Detective
5.0 Richard Day: Girls Will Be Girls
5.0 Gordon Chan: The Medallion
5.0 Abu-Assad: Rana's Wedding
5.0 Quentin Tarantino: Kill Bill: Vol. 1
5.0 Agust¡n Diaz Yanes: Don't Tempt Me
5.0 Kevin Costner: Open Range
5.0 Boaz Yakin: Uptown Girls
5.0 Larry Charles: Masked & Anonymous
5.0 Azita Zendel: Controlled Chaos
5.0 Michele Maher: Garmento
5.0 Andrew Stanton: Finding Nemo
5.0 Peter Sehr: Love the Hard Way
5.0 Claude Miller: La Petite Lili
5.0 Bruno Barreto: View From The Top
5.0 Chris Koch: A Guy Thing
5.0 Reggie Rock Bythewood: Biker Boyz
5.0 Mark Steven Johnson: Daredevil
5.0 Adam Shankman: Bringing Down the House
5.0 Antoine Fuqua: Tears of the Sun
5.0 Caroline Link: Nowhere in Africa
5.0 Jia Zhang Ke: Platform
5.0 William Friedkin: The Hunted
5.0 Robert Duvall: Assassination Tango
5.0 Dennie Gordon: What a Girl Wants
5.0 Catherine Jelski: The Young Unknowns
5.0 Linda Mendoza: Chasing Papi
5.0 John Whitesell: Malibu's Most Wanted
5.0 Yojiro Takita: Onmyoji
5.0 Dan Algrant: People I Know
5.0 Francois Velle: New Suit
5.0 Peyton Reed: Down With Love
5.0 Miles Swain: The Trip
5.0 Pavel Lounguine: Tycoon
5.0 Daniele Thompson: Jet Lag
5.0 Thaddeus O'Sullivan: The Heart of Me
5.0 Troy Miller: Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd
5.0 Rob Reiner: Alex and Emma
5.0 Jed Weintrob: On_Line
5.0 Peter Howitt: Johnny English
5.0 Clark Johnson: SWAT
5.0 Dan Ireland: Passionada
5.0 Carl Franklin: Out of Time
5.0 Peter Berg: The Rundown
5.0 Takeshi Yamazaki: Returner
5.0 Christine Jeffs: Sylvia
5.0 David Zucker: Scary Movie 3
5.0 Robert Benton: The Human Stain
5.0 Liz Garbus: Girlhood
5.0 Richard Curis: Love Actually
5.0 Philip Boston: Billabong Odyssey
5.0 Robert Cary: Anything but Love
5.0 Bo Welch: The Cat in the Hat
5.0 Ron Howard: The Missing
5.0 Farrelly Brothers: Stuck on You
5.0 Nigel Cole: Calendar Girls
5.0 Robert Altman: The Company
5.0 Cheryl Dunye: My Baby's Daddy
4.5 Dennis Dugan: National Security
4.5 Mike Tollin: Radio
4.5 Martin Campbell: Beyond Borders
4.5 David McNally: Kangaroo Jack
4.5 Shawn Levy: Just Married
4.5 George Clooney: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
4.5 Mina Shum: Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity
4.5 Daisy von Scherler Mayer: The Guru
4.5 Andrzej Bartkowiak: Cradle 2 the Grave
4.5 Dan Wolman: Foreign Sister
4.5 Seijun Suzuki: Pistol Opera (remake)
4.5 Paul Ryan: Home Room
4.5 Benny Mathews: Where's the Party Yaar
4.5 Deepa Mehta: Bollywood/Hollywood
4.5 Mathieu Kassovitz: Gothika
4.5 Jonathan Kesselman: The Hebrew Hammer
4.0 Mark Wilkinson: Dischord
4.0 Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle: The Battle of Shaker Heights
4.0 Ronny Yu: Freddy Vs Jason
4.0 Harald Zwart: Agent Cody Banks
4.0 Glen Morgan: Willard
4.0 Paul Hunter: Bulletproof Monk
4.0 Rick De Oliveira: Real Cancun
4.0 Elia Zois: Jersey Guy
4.0 Bryan Singer: X2
4.0 Jim Fall: The Lizzie McGuire Movie
4.0 Steve Carr: Daddy Day Care
4.0 Andrew Fleming: The In-Laws
4.0 Ang Lee: The Hulk
4.0 McG: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
4.0 Jonathan Mostow: Terminator 3
4.0 Charles Herman-Wurmfeld: Legally Blonde 2
4.0 Stephen Norrington: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
4.0 Michael Bay: Bad Boys II
4.0 Jan De Bont: Lara Croft Tomb Raider
4.0 Gary Ross: Seabiscuit
4.0 Jesse Dylan: American Wedding
4.0 Martin Brest: Gigli
4.0 Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato: Party Monster
4.0 Sam Weisman: Dickie Roberts - Former Child Star
4.0 Emile Gaudreault: Mambo Italiano
4.0 Tim McCanlies: Secondhand Lions
4.0 Len Wiseman: Underworld
4.0 Robert Capelli: Mail Order Bride
4.0 Robert Minkoff: The Haunted Mansion
4.0 Richard Donner: Timeline
4.0 Troy Beyer: Love Don't Cost a Thing
4.0 Norman Jewison: The Statement