2003 Best Picture Nominees Ranked
featuring dancing murderers and depressed lesbians
One of my goals for 2025 is to watch every Best Picture nominee of the Academy Awards a.k.a. the Oscars from the year I was born to the present and rank them in order of my personal enjoyment of each. This is part 5 of 25 of that project. I’ll start the list at the bottom and work my way up.
5. The Hours (2002) dir. Stephen Daldry
⭐⭐💫
The time to hide is over. The time to regret is gone. The time to live is now. The story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.
I feel like on paper, I should like this movie more than I should. It's got great writing, a solid soundtrack, strong actors, and themes of identity and mental health explored through a classic novel. It literally has all the workings of a movie I would like, but I simply couldn't connect with this film on an intellectual or emotional level. Maybe it's the way the messaging and the plot feel undercooked, maybe the dialogue felt distant, but it's probably just because of Nicole Kidman's distracting prosthetic nose.
4. Gangs of New York (2002) dir. Martin Scorsese
⭐⭐⭐
America was born in the streets. In early 1860s New York, Irish immigrant Amsterdam Vallon is released from prison and returns to the Five Points, seeking revenge against his father’s killer, William Cutting, a powerful anti-immigrant gang leader. He knows that revenge can only be attained by infiltrating Cutting’s inner circle. Vallon’s journey becomes a fight for personal survival and to find a place for the Irish people.
This was one of my first Scorsese films and I still didn’t understand his appeal back then. The cinematography and editing in this are a mixed bag: there are some excellently shot scenes and others that were downright bad. Daniel Day-Lewis is a marvelous standout in his performance here, although Cameron Diaz was a surprising one for me. I had no idea she was a good actor. Overall, not my cup of tea, but the story is quite interesting and kept me entertained all throughout the runtime.
3. The Pianist (2002) dir. Roman Polanski
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece. The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman’s experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
Incredible film, but one that will likely not be all that memorable amidst the plethora of World War II movies out there. It's a tragic true story and one that needed to be told to be sure, but there's hardly anything notable here on a technical level aside from Adrien Brody's performance.
2. Chicago (2002) dir. Rob Marshall
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
If you can’t be famous, be infamous. Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.
This was such an unexpected cinematic masterpiece—I was floored by how good this was! I feel like this is the film Baz Luhrmann wishes Moulin Rouge was or at least thinks it is. It's alive, it's colorful, it's vibrant, and it's messy in a way that doesn't alienate the viewers but engages them. The cinematography, production design, editing, and performances were all amazing. I also have to give props to Rob Marshall for his direction, because you can tell by how everything is shot and structured that he is a director who truly understands the differences between the art of film and live performance and yet manages to effectively marry the two in an explosion of creative entertainment. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renée Zellweger were also amazing! I could watch their characters have a diva off all day.
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) dir. Peter Jackson
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The fellowship is broken. The power of darkness grows… Frodo Baggins and the other members of the Fellowship continue on their sacred quest to destroy the One Ring–but on separate paths. Their destinies lie at two towers–Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupt wizard Saruman awaits, and Sauron’s fortress at Barad-dur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor. Frodo and Sam are trekking to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power while Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn search for the orc-captured Merry and Pippin. All along, nefarious wizard Saruman awaits the Fellowship members at the Orthanc Tower in Isengard.
Upon rewatch, I can't believe that this was my least favorite Lord of the Rings film as a kid. It's a perfect film in my opinion! Every element here works together so harmoniously from the production design, score, script, and acting. The pacing is perfect and so many parts of the story are so memorable (and quotable) that it's hard to pick a favorite. Unapologetic 10/10!!
Which of these films have you seen and which ones do you like? Let me know!