#2003 films

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

Anything Goes December

Down with Love / Renee Zellweger as Barbara Novak

This dress has been on my list since very early in this project, but I could never find a place for it, so it's going in now! It's a slightly caricatured version of an early 1960s sheath dress, made of sparkly lavender material. The "pouffe" around the bottom hem echoes the matching ostrich-trimmed wrap. Despite only getting a few seconds of screentime, it caught my eye and I found it memorable.

[stargirlies]

Eloise at the plaza.

(all grown up)

[inter-gal-actic]

BTS of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)🍦🧨

[drawinggoose]

Reblogging, 'cause it's Christmas and I love this film.

🎄 25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS → DAY FOURTEEN 🎄 TOKYO GODFATHERS (2003), dir. Satoshi Kon "God must be busy at this time of year."

[zegalba]

Promo shots of Monica Bellucci as Persephone in 'The Matrix Reloaded' (2003)

[anyataylorjoys]

THE DREAMERS (2003) dir. Bernardo Bertolucci

[iz0p0dz]

cal gabriel getting in a car crash and fucking exploding stimboard

[flowerblr]

UPTOWN GIRLS dir. Boaz Yakin

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

November: Oscar Winners

The Return of the King / Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn (King Elessar)

Year: 2003

Designers: Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor

I think everybody knows that the awards for this movie are kind of unofficial acknowledgements of the whole trilogy retroactively, but I did want to feature something from the actual third movie. There aren't too many new costumes in it, and most of the women's costumes have been covered in other posts. But the armorers outdid themselves with Aragorn's coronation armor. The detail really shows up on the screen.

The breastplate shows the symbol of the seven stars over the white tree in flower. At the top appears to be Tolkien's own design for the crown of Gondor (see below), which was just a repurposed war helmet. The actual crown that Aragorn wears is much nicer looking, but I'm a bit surprised they deviated from the book on this. Usually they tried hard to follow the book descriptions even when it might look silly--for example, their interpretation of the "wings of seabirds" on the helmets of the tower guard. (I personally don't think they got that right, but still, they weren't afraid of looking goofy.)

[nattally]

Andrelings💜

inspo

[inter-gal-actic]

Nicole Kidman at Cannes, 2003

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

When talking about The Matrix Reloaded, we need to remember a few things. Firstly, this is very much a “Part 1”. At the time, we knew a sequel was coming (there’s a trailer for The Matrix Revolutions at the end of the credits) and now you’ll have no trouble watching the films back-to-back so the inconclusive ending isn't an issue. Secondly, we should consider the entertainment factor. This movie has a lot of ideas that may or may not completely come together in the end. It definitely feels more than a little self-important at times. Does that matter when it also features what might be the most exciting, action-packed chase scene of all time, dazzling special effects and the kind of fight choreography most action films could only dream of? Maybe, but only so much.

Neo (Keanu Reeves) has done it. He got the girl (Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity), defeated the villain (Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith) and now navigates the Matrix like it’s his personal playground. Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) believes it’s only a matter of time before the prophecy is fulfilled and all of humanity is freed from the clutches of the artificial world. When the city of Zion learns a mechanical army will arrive to destroy it within 72 hours, those who’ve escaped the Matrix are divided by what they should do next.

Looking back, The Matrix is a hard science fiction film with elements that would fit more comfortably in a fantasy. I don’t mean the power fantasy that it is. All of the talks about prophecies and “the one”, the Oracle (Gloria Foster), the use of mythological and biblical names like Trinity, Morpheus, Zion, and Nebuchadnezzar make you wonder if the mechanical menaces are stand-ins for demons or Greek monsters. Some of it you assumed was just “sounds cool hacker lingo” but The Matrix Reloaded doubles down on the mysticism. Many of the programs we meet allegedly serve a function within the Matrix but you’re unsure how that could work. “People” like the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) and his wife, Persephone (Monica Bellucci) seem more concerned with their strained marriage and petty squabbles than maintaining a sense of order within the Matrix. At least programs like the Keymaker (Randall Duk Kim) can be traced to useful functions but others leave you scratching your head. I can’t say if it’s intentional or not that the digital entities we meet are virtually indistinguishable from the real humans living outside. Either it says something about the way the machines - once eager to prove their superiority to humans because of what made them different from their fleshy creators (as shown in “The Animatrix”) have “devolved” into beings concerned with petty subjects like who’s sleeping with who, childish grudges and amassing more power in a virtual world, or this series doesn’t really have a concrete direction and is just a neat concept that conveniently allows the Wachowskis (who once again write and direct) to bring their childhood fantasies to life for all to see.

The questions surrounding the film’s ultimate goal and the authorial intent can pull you out of it for a moment but you’ll be sucked back in by the incredible action scenes. It’s a shocker to see Agent Smith back (once again hinting at some confused objectives behind the scenes) but his first confrontation with Neo is the stuff of legends. Long, well-choreographed, consistently exciting and memorable, the scene makes you wonder “How did they do that”? over and over. Some have accused the special effects of being dated (wouldn’t be a surprise considering the film is now 18 years old) but that’s only the case if you watch the clip in isolation. As part of a continuous flow within the film, you don’t see the seams.

As impressive as the “Burly Brawl” may be, it’s nothing compared to the “Highway Chase”. The latter begins with our heroes pitted against the kind of opponents that could only come from the artificial world. As Neo desperately races to save his friends, Morpheus, Trinity and the Keymaker are pursued by “The Twins” (Neil and Adrian Rayment). They're programs from an older iteration of the Matrix that used ghosts, vampires, werewolves, etc. to maintain order rather than Agents. Our leather-clad, sunglasses-wearing superhero protagonists have to go up against phantasms who can become intangible at will. How do you defeat one of those? You can’t. All you can do is run. Racing down the highway at blinding speeds would be enough of a challenge. With these two on their tails AND Agents who are drawn to the flagrant rule-breaking? It seems impossible, which is why the sequence is so exciting. You’ve got no idea how this will end. To get out alive, our heroes will have to invent all sorts of new tricks, guaranteeing that you’ll be talking about this movie with your friends for weeks.

Those are only two scenes. We also have elaborate heists, sabotage that threatens everything, shocking revelations about the world inside and outside the Matrix, fascinating concepts introduced and loads of memorable characters. Some of The Matrix Reloaded doesn’t come together the way it should (or maybe it will in the next movie, don’t be too quick to judge) but this is the kind of picture that makes you go “WOW!” frequently - even if you don’t understand it all. (On Blu-ray, January 1, 2022)

[popclture]

Lost In Translation (2003)

[mandyoung]

SAW (2003)

[sophsun1]

I ain't gonna kill you, but by the time I'm finished with you, you gonna wish you was dead.

Holes (2003) dir. Andrew Davis

[anyataylorjoys]

MEMORIES OF MURDER (2003) dir. Bong Joon-ho