Now that we’re more than a quarter of the way through 2004, it’s high time for me to solidify my list of favorite 2003 films. I generally wait for a few months after a year ends to decide on my favorites, since many of each year’s best films don’t screen widely until sometime in the following year. Including 2003 films that don’t screen near me until 2004 on a 2003 list is just a way of having roughly the same set of films to consider as real, actual critics. I care more about my own rankings than those of other critics, but it’s fun to compare lists nevertheless . . . (Technically, some of these are even 2002 films, but I don’t think they generally screened commercially in the states until 2003.)

Lots of movies I really loved didn’t make this list — so I think there may have been more great movies in 2003 than any other year in memory. The world really does keep getting better.

Anyway, here they are — my favorite films of 2003:

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2. The Triplets of Belleville
3. City of God
4. The Station Agent
5. American Splendor
6. Lost in Translation
7. Capturing the Friedmans
8. A Mighty Wind
9. In America
10. Bad Santa
11. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
12. Dirty Pretty Things
13. The Man Without a Past
14. Owning Mahowny
15. Pieces of April
16. Love Liza
17. The Concert for George
18. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
19. The Magdalene Sisters
20. Whale Rider
21. The School of Rock
22. Intolerable Cruelty
23. Raising Victor Vargas
24. Spider
25. Spellbound