25 In 25: My Favorite Films of the First Quarter Century

2003

While there were really GOOD films in 2003, I had a difficult time making a list for this year.

2003 was the year I got introduced to Park Chan-wook... And for that, I will forever be grateful to the year. Old Boy also opened my eyes to international action/thriller cinema. Sofia Coppola gave us her fourth film, which remains my favorite. Lost in Translation also introduced me to Scarlett Johansson.

Master and Commander is a slept-on epic starring Russell Crowe, who was in the middle of an epic acting run. Paul Giammati gave us a generational performance as Harvey Pekar in American Splendor. And X2: X-Men United, one of the best superhero films of all time, graced our screens.

But nothing, and I mean nothing, compared to Quentin Tarantino's (QT) Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Pulp Fiction was the first film my friends and I saw together for our movie club. Back in 1994, as a 17-year-old punk, that film set me on a path to loving cinema. After that, I consumed Reservoir Dogs, and my love for QT was cemented. Then came his Four Rooms segment, followed by Jackie Brown (rewatch this one... it's a classic!). QT was on a roll. Nothing could have prepared us for what was to come next.

The reason this film works so well can be attributed to one thing and one thing only: Uma Thurman. If someone else had been in the role, if Uma hadn't bought in 100%, and if Quentin didn't write her character so well, this film dies on the vine. The physicality, the emotionality, and the conviction Uma gives The Bride are unparalleled in modern cinema. When Uma's character wakes up in the hospital and realizes her baby is gone, this scene alone should've won her an Oscar. But of course, since the studio insisted QT chop this film into two parts, the Oscars snubbed it in every which way.

Having just seen Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, an almost five-hour combination of volumes one and two, I've found a much deeper love and respect for Volume One. Again, with hindsight, I look deeper than the surface level and truly see what this film was trying to say. To say that this film was my favorite at the time of its release and remains my favorite of the year today would be an understatement.