So here, as promised, is my Top Ten - and Bottom Ten - for 2003:

TOP TEN

1. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
2. Donnie Darko
3. Spirited Away
4. Cypher
5. 21 Grams
6. City of God
7. Finding Nemo
8. Intacto
9. The Hours
10. Intolerable Cruelty

BOTTOM TEN

53. Rules of Attraction
52. About Schmidt
51. Tomb Raider 2
50. The Hulk
59. The Italian Job
48. Kill Bill Volume 1
47. Gangs of New York
46. Swimming Pool
45. Nicholas Nickleby
44. Respiro

I am sure that is bound to be contentious but there it is. As for this site, it will continue in the New Year with less regular reviews. Thanks to everyone for reading.

Kevin xx

LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING
Wednesday 17 December 2003
Stratford Picture House, London E15 VISIT

It is a reflection of what director Peter Jackson has managed to achieve since the release of Fellowship of the Ring back in 2001 that many people will leave 'Return of the King' and feel a moment of sadness, as I did, at the realisation that the trilogy is over. That's it. Unless Jackson somehow manages to secure the rights to 'The Hobbit', the story ends here.

We always knew this, of course - with JRR Tolkein's books recently voted the most popular in the UK, many will have reread them or perhaps discovered them for the first time. But knowing how the story ends has never been the most important part of the 'Lord of the Rings' experience. What has made the three films so special has not simply been the special effects or the locations or the acting, although all have been superb. It has always been the story and way it is told that has mattered most. Peter Jackson's greatest achievement is as a wonderful storyteller and the way he has interpreted Tolkein's often complex and frustrating creation has surpassed everyone's expectations.

In the process, he has produced three films that should stop people of my age continually rumbling on about the Star Wars trilogy and how special it was to them. OK, whatever, that was then, time to move on and accept that the 'Lord of the Rings' is better, in another class altogether. It makes me wonder what on earth George Lucas is going to do with the final part of his lacklustre Star Wars 'prequels', now that the standard has been raised so much higher?

Anyway, returning to the review, 'Return of the King' is every bit as brilliant as I expected it to be and, in my opinion, the best of the three films. Perhaps this is in part because there are no new characters to introduce - everyone is assembled for the final battle and over the previous films their personalities have been fleshed out and become familiar. This is particularly true of Viggo Mortensen's restrained portrayal of Aragon, the reluctant King, and of the competitive friendship between Legolas and Gimli, which has developed a comic timing that provides some relief from the blood and the battles.

But what is so genuinely impressive are the battles themselves and the way the special effects have been used so well. One of the truly stand out moments for me - when I leaned back and thought, "how did they do THAT?" - is when the horsemen of Rohan charge into the massed ranks of thousands of Orcs. It just looks fantastic and I can't wait to see it again. The other is the lighting of warning beacons calling for help for the Kingdom of Gondor, with bonfires lit on the top of the most stunning mountain scenery. It really is quite beautiful. In terms of special effects, without doubt the other triumph of this film is the recreation of Gollum, who has a far larger part to play as Frodo and Sam draw nearer to Mount Doom. Crucially, Jackson has managed to make the character feel like a genuine part of the cast, rather than a digitised extra, and one with can sympathise with (at least some of the time). I imagine there will be schoolchildren doing Gollum impressions and saying "my precious" all over the country for years to come, which is more than can be said for, I don't know, say The Phantom Menace's Jar Jar Binks!

So is it my film of the year? After so many, I thought it would be harder to choose but there really is no contest. 'Return of the King' deserves to be called an epic in a way that few films can claim, no matter how much they try. In my view, the trilogy as a whole is the first cinematic experience to come close to grand scale and emotion of one of my favourite of all films, Lawrence of Arabia. So on this one I'm with Christopher Lee, who has threatened to resign from the Academy if 'Return of the King' does as poorly at the Oscars as The Two Towers did last year. Film of the year without question.

So there it is. I did it. Eleven months and ten days since Donnie Darko and £255.30 later, I've seen 52 films in under 52 weeks. Twenty one of these were at Stratford Picture House and 10 at UGC West India Quay, so it's a shame there's no prizes for customer loyalty. I've enjoyed seeing films I probably wouldn't have made the effort to see on the big screen and most of all, the discipline of trying to write about them. Overall, it's been a good year for animated films, not such a good year for comic book heroes and I've been surprised by the number of foreign language films that would make it into my top ten.

Actually, that's not a bad idea - a top ten and a bottom ten. But not until I've seen Number 53 of the year, 'Return of the King', this Wednesday.

So, to those who said that as New Year's resolutions go, mine was totally unrealistic and that I'd fail by February, I say this: You forgot how stubborn I am. So who da man now?

And am I going to do this all over again next year?

Kevin xx

TOUCHING THE VOID
Sunday 14 December 2003
UGC West India Quay, London E14 VISIT

Recreating a true story in a docudrama style can be difficult to do without coming across like one of those terrible television reconstructions, presented by Michael Buerk and warning of the hazards of farming machinery or hedge trimmers. 'Touching the Void', however, in its portrayal of a disastrous and almost fatal climbing accident in Peru in 1985 really is quite brilliant.

Based on the book by mountaineer Joe Simpson, it recounts how he and climbing partner Simon Yates attempted to ascend the unclimbed face of a mountain in the Andes. Having successfully reached the summit, unexpected conditions of ice and snow lead to Simpson falling and badly braking his leg during the descent. Rather than leave him for help that would never arrive in time, Simon Yates tried to lower his friend to safety but further bad luck left Joe dangling in mid air over a cliff, likely to drag Simon off the mountain. Yates was then forced to take the devastating decision to cut the rope holding them together, letting Simpson fall into a crevasse. And yet against all probability, both men survive. Moreover, Simpson has staunchly and continually defended Yates's actions against the highly critical reaction of the climbing community in Britain.

Both men recall their ordeal in interviews that intersperse the drama and what makes this film so moving is the contrast between dramatic events on screen and the matter-of-fact, almost phlegmatic way they describe their incredible survival. Simpson's experience in particular is a staggering achievement, one that few would have endured, simply because there were so many times when the situation seemed utterly hopeless. What makes 'Touching the Void' so great is the way it brilliantly captures just how desperate Simpson's position really was. Particularly harrowing is his account of the terror and despair he felt, lying in agony, alone and in darkness on a ledge inside the crevasse. It makes his stubborn refusal to give up hope, including his decision to lower himself further into the depths of the ice to find a way back to the surface of the glacier, all the more remarkable and inspiring. Only once does Simpson's voice falter, when he describes the overwhelming fear of dying alone that gripped him after crawling down the mountain to the base camp and believing that Yates had already gone, thinking him dead. Throughout, it is impossible not to place yourself in Simpson's position and imagine what your own emotions and fears would be, or to try and understand the extent of the guilt that Yates describes after thinking he has sent his friend to his death.

As well as the intense emotional and physical experiences of the climbers themselves, the film wonderfully captures both the raw beauty and underlying menace of the mountains and how small and insignificant Simpson and Yates were by comparison. At every level, 'Touching the Void' is just completely compelling (if emotionally draining) drama. It thoroughly deserves a wider audience and, given that it is partly funded by Channel 4, may be on the television in the near future. Personally, I think the majesty of the Andes requires a big screen, so thoroughly recommend you go and see it now.

A great way to reach 52 films in 2003!

MASTER & COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
Saturday 29 November 2003
Stratford Picture House, London E15 VISIT

There will be those who see the somewhat misleading trailers for seafaring epic ‘Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World’ and mistake it for yet another Hollywood action adventure, another Bruckheimer film perhaps, one that jumps from battle to explosive battle with homicidal glee.

If that’s the type of movie you’re looking for, then you’re likely to be disappointed. Although there are dramatic, bloody battles bookending ‘Master and Commander’, the film is equally effective at showing the reality of combat – brief moments of absolute terror between long periods of mind-numbing boredom and routine. Set in 1805, almost entirely within the claustrophobic confines of Royal Navy frigate HMS Surprise, the film tells the story of an arduous journey hunting one of Napoleon's illusive privateers, the Acheron. It is this journey, not the battles themselves, that leads to growing paranoia amongst a deeply superstitious crew and that tests the resolve of Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey (Russell Crowe), a man unaccustomed to failure.

Central to the story is the relationship between Jack and his old friend Stephen, the ship's doctor. Stephen, is a man of reason, a pre-Darwinian naturalist keen to visit the Galapagos Islands, someone who doesn’t quite fit in when the officers dine and talk tactics and swap stories. When suspicion falls on one of the lieutenants, a weak and unpopular man who is believed to be a ‘Jonah’ bringing bad luck to the search for the French vessel, the doctor is exasperated when even the captain starts to believe it. However, he is more worried at Aubrey’s obsession with finding the Acheron and the lengths he is willing to go to destroy it.

Director Peter Weir lets this unfold at a thoughtful pace, fleshing out the central characters and allowing the story to build to a rousing conclusion, one that unites the captain's hidebound belief in duty with the doctor's passion for science. Russell Crowe is impressive as Captain Aubrey but Paul Bettany gives the strongest performance as the doctor, whilst there is also an excellent supporting cast, particularly the young actor who plays Lord Blakeney, a 12-year-old aristocrat who has recently joined the crew as a midshipman.

Overall this is an engrossing film with just a few flaws. Sometimes the pace is just a little too slow and Weir’s efforts to present the doctor as an outsider are a little heavy handed. Crowe’s accent does occasionally wobble a little and it was somewhat disconcerting to see the wide-eyed Hobbit stare of Pippin from Lord of the Rings amongst the crew (the actor, Billy Boyd, may find himself forever typecast thus). But ‘Master and Commander’ is nevertheless definitely worth seeing, if unlikely to feature in my ten favourite films of the year.