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2003 Movies

Take a nostalgic look back at the top movies of 2003, celebrating the films, directors and actors that defined the year and left a lasting legacy in the world of entertainment.

2003 Academy Awards

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom
Country: United States of America
Outline: While Frodo and Sam edge closer to Mordor with the help of the shifty Gollum, the divided fellowship makes a stand against Sauron's new ally, Saruman, and his hordes of Isengard.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Directed by: Jonathan Mostow
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Kristanna Loken, Claire Danes
Country: United States of America
Outline: A cybernetic warrior from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a 25-year old drifter and his future wife from a most advanced robotic assassin and to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack.
Mystic River
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Emmy Rossum
Country: United States of America
Outline: The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them has a family tragedy.
The Bourne Identity
Directed by: Doug Liman
Starring: Franka Potente, Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen
Country: United States of America
Outline: A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and regain his memory.
Gangs of New York
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jim Broadbent
Country: United States of America
Outline: In 1863, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.
Equilibrium
Directed by: Kurt Wimmer
Starring: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs
Country: United States of America
Outline: In an oppressive future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system and state.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Directed by: Peter Weir
Starring: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, James D'Arcy
Country: United States of America
Outline: During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America.
Seabiscuit
Directed by: Gary Ross
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Banks, Chris Cooper
Country: United States of America
Outline: True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.
Matchstick Men
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Alison Lohman, Sam Rockwell, Bruce Altman
Country: United States of America
Outline: A phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.
Shattered Glass
Directed by: Billy Ray
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Zahn, Peter Sarsgaard
Country: United States of America
Outline: The story of a young journalist who fell from grace when it was discovered he fabricated over half of his articles from the publication The New Republic magazine.
Chicago
Directed by: Rob Marshall
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs
Country: United States of America
Outline: 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.
Runaway Jury
Directed by: Gary Fleder
Starring: John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman
Country: United States of America
Outline: A juror on the inside and a woman on the outside manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.
Phone Booth
Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell
Country: United States of America
Outline: Stuart Shepard finds himself trapped in a phone booth, pinned down by an extortionist's sniper rifle.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Directed by: George Clooney
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, George Clooney, Julia Roberts
Country: United States of America
Outline: An adaptation of the cult memoir of game show impresario Chuck Barris, in which he purports to have been a CIA hitman.
Holes
Directed by: Andrew Davis
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Tim Blake Nelson
Country: United States of America
Outline: A wrongfully convicted boy is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he joins the job of digging holes for some mysterious reason.
The Italian Job
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton, Charlize Theron
Country: United States of America
Outline: After being betrayed and left for dead in Italy, Charlie Croker and his team plan an elaborate gold heist against their former ally.
Pollock
Directed by: Ed Harris
Starring: Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, Robert Knott, Molly Regan
Country: United States of America
Outline: A film about the life and career of the American painter, Jackson Pollock.