Jump to Content

December 2003 Movies

Amy Renner Amy Renner

Dec. 22, 2008

Best Movies Released December 2003

Cheaper by the Dozen

100%

  • 4.1
Mona Lisa Smile

86%

  • 5
The Last Samurai

56%

  • 3.6
The Hebrew Hammer

100%

Honey

74%

  • 4.1
Paycheck

71%

  • 3.3
Love Don't Cost a Thing

90%

  • 3.8
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

92%

  • 4.7
Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabs - The Iraqi Connection

100%

  • 4
Calendar Girls

0%

  • 3.5
Prisoner of Paradise

50%

Crust

80%

The Fog of War

25%

  • 3
Girl with a Pearl Earring

0%

  • 3
House of Sand and Fog

0%

  • 5
Peter Pan

100%

  • 4.4
Cold Mountain

100%

  • 4.3
Japanese Story

50%

The Company

0%

  • 5
Stuck on You

75%

  • 4.7

View grid

Filter

On this Page:
December 5 • December 12 • December 17 • December 19 • December 25 • December 26 • December 31

Released Friday, December 5th

No Poster Available

Set in the late 1870s, this epic film depicts the beginnings of the modernization of Japan, as the island nation evolved past a feudal society, as symbolized by the eradication of the samurai way of life. We see all this happen from the point of view of an alcoholic Civil War veteran turned Winchester guns spokesman, Captain Woodrow Algren (Tom Cruise), who arrives in Japan to train the troops of the emperor, Meiji, as part of a break away from the long-held tradition of relying on employed samurai warriors to protect territories, as the emperor's new army prepares to wipe out the remaining samurai warriors. When Algren is injured in combat and captured by the samurai, he learns about their warrior honor code from their leader, Katsumoto, which forces him to decide which side of the conflict he actually wants to be on.

Tom Cruise, Edward Zwick, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shun Sugata, Shin Koyamada, Seizo Fukumoto, Timothy Spall, Billy Connolly

R Drama Action

56%

  • 3.6
Buy DVD Shop
Honey Poster

This is the story of Honey (Jessica Alba), a tough sexy dancer from the inner city, who becomes a successful music video choreographer, a career which is threatened when her mentor makes him either sleep with him... or get blacklisted within the industry. She ultimately decides to pursue her lifelong dream of opening her own dance studio for inner-city youths.

Jessica Alba, Mekhi Phifer, Bille Woodruff, Lil' Romeo, David Moscow, Zachary Williams, Joy Bryant, Lonette McKee

PG-13 Drama Musical

74%

  • 4.1
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

This documentary investigates the stories of the dozens of thousands of Jews who emigrated to Israel in 1948 from Iraq, making up 25% of the new nation's Hebrew population. Leaving an Iraq in the 1940s in which Jews lived in peace with Christian and Muslim neighbors, these emigres found themselves pitched into a new political environment in which they were not exactly welcomed, with Ben Gurion once saying of the Iraqi Jews, "We kicked out good Arabs and brought in bad Jews". Director Samir interviewed a quartet of elderly survivors from that time (who also happened to be Communists, which was another reason they were not welcomed), along with NYU film historian Ella Shohat, to make a film that combines their testimony with light-hearted fragments of the last 100 years of Jewish culture as documented in the movies, to demonstrate the sometimes thin, sometimes thick lines between Arabs, Jews, and those who have claim to both heritages (ie, the "Mizrahim", or Eastern Jews).

Samir Naqqash, Shimon Ballas, Sami Michael, Ella Habiba Shohat, Samir Jamal Aldin, Moshe Houri

Documentary

100%

  • 4
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

A chronicle of the true story of Kurt Gerron, a well known and beloved German-Jewish actor, director and cabaret star in Berlin in the 1920's and '30's. Among his greatest accomplishments, he co-starred with the legendary Marlene Dietrich in the film classic, "The Blue Angel." He also sang "Mack The Knife" in the original production of "Threepenny Opera." Ultimately, Gerron was captured and sent to a concentration camp, where he was ordered to both write and direct a pro-Nazi propaganda film.

Malcolm Clarke, Stuart Sender, Kurt Gerron, Renée Saint-Cyr, Ian Holm, Peter Lorre

Documentary

50%

Buy DVD Shop

Released Friday, December 12th

Love Don't Cost a Thing Poster

In this modern update of the classic 1987 teen comedy "Can't Buy Me Love", our hero is high-school senior Alvin Johnson (Nick Cannon), a brilliant, likable outcast who has come to regret the years of intellectual endeavors that prevented him and his un-hip friends from socializing, getting girlfriends and hanging out with the super-cool "Elite" kids. When queen of the Elites, Paris Morgan (Christina Milian) wrecks her mother's car, Alvin steps in and mortgages his future to help her out. The catch: In exchange for $1500 in car parts and Alvin's automotive expertise, Paris agrees to "fake a front" with him to convince the school that they're dating. The question is: can Alvin rein in his newfound ego before he loses his true friends, his chance for a scholarship and a shot at a real relationship with Paris?

Vanessa Bell Calloway, Troy Beyer, Nick Cannon, Christina Milian, Kal Penn, Steve Harvey, Nichole Robinson, Melissa Schuman

PG-13 Comedy Romance

90%

  • 3.8
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

Normally, the mantis shrimp only grows to about a foot long or so, but in this movie, a seven-foot-long one shows up in England (by way of the Philippines). Pub owner and failed boxer Bill (Kevin McNally) buys the creature, seeing it as his chance to become rich and famous, training the ferocious crustacean to box. Hitting the road with his amateur boxer best friend, Steve (Perry Fitzpatrick), a trainee hairdresser (Louise Mardenborough) and the giant sea creature, Bill heads to London to convince a TV network to feature the crustacean on an 'American Gladiators'-style event hosted by Ulrika Jonsson.

Mark Locke, Kevin McNally, Perry Fitzpatrick, Naomie Harris, Louise Mardenborough, Madhav Sharma, Enzo Cilenti, Ulrika Jonsson

Action Adventure

80%

Rent or buy Shop
No Poster Available

A speculative account of the life of Griet, a 16-year-old girl who appears in Johannes Vermeer's painting of the same title. Set in 17th century Holland, Griet is employed by Vermeer as a housemaid to care for his six children, his jealous pregnant wife and his uncommunicative mother-in-law. Tensions arise when Vermeer's wife suspects intimacy between her husband and the girl--and then climax, when the wife discovers that Griet borrowed her precious pearl earrings to sit for the now famous portrait.

Scarlett Johansson, Cillian Murphy, Peter Webber, Essie Davis, Alakina Mann, Judy Parfitt, Leslie Woodhall, Colin Firth

PG-13 Drama

0%

  • 3
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

A comedy about the oppositional relationship that evolves between a set of Siamese twins--conjoined at the torso--named Bob and Walt. They have used their "disability" throughout life to great advantage; for example, they excelled in High School by using the fact that they are joined at the hip to their advantage in sports, where they were a great hockey goalie and wrestling champion. Unfortunately, their different life goals may begin to threaten their happy union, as they vowed they would never split up. So, after graduation Walt wants to go to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, and although Bob opposes the move, he begrudgingly goes along. When the twins get to Los Angeles, the duo soon finds themselves landing a job on a TV show starring Cher, which results in quick fame and fortune, but will the new changes in their lives ultimately drive the twins apart?

Kristofer Meyer, Peter Farrelly, Matt Damon, Bobby Farrelly, Al Pacino, Charles Wessler, Greg Kinnear, Cher

PG-13 Comedy

75%

  • 4.7
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

New York City music executive Harry Langer (Jack Nicholson) is a man of some age and experience who generally dates younger women. His world is turned upside-down, however, when he has a heart attack while visiting the East Hampton beach home of the divorced playwright mother, Erica (Diane Keaton), of his latest trophy girlfriend, Marin (Amanda Peet). With his girlfriend having gone back to the city, Harry is left in the care of Erica and his doctor (Keanu Reeves), but the two men soon find themselves competing with each other, as they both fall in love with the same woman... the mom.

Keanu Reeves, Nancy Myers, Nancy Meyers, Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Jon Favreau

PG-13 Comedy Romance

91%

  • 4.8
Buy DVD Shop
ADVERTISEMENT

Released Wednesday, December 17th

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Poster

The third of the trilogy. As the shadow of Mordor grows across the land, Aragorn is revealed as the hidden heir to the ancient kings. Gandolf miraculously returns and defeats the evil wizard, Saruman. Sam leaves his master for the dead after a battle with the giant spider, Shelob; but Frodo is still alive--in the hands of the Orcs. And while the armies of the Dark Lord are massing--and the one ring comes ever closer to the Cracks of Doom.

Viggo Mortensen, Billy Boyd, Bernard Hill, Karl Urban, Barrie M. Osborne, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Liv Tyler

PG-13 Drama Action

92%

  • 4.7
Buy DVD Shop
ADVERTISEMENT

Released Friday, December 19th

No Poster Available

Academy Award®-winner Julia Roberts heads an all-star cast featuring Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Marcia Gay Harden in "Mona Lisa Smile", an uplifting and poignant drama about one woman's desire to enrich the lives of her students. In 1953, a time when women's roles were rigidly defined, novice art history professor Katherine Watson (Roberts) begins teaching at the prestigious all-female Wellesley College, which despite its academic reputation is an environment where success is measured by how well the students marry. Encouraging these women to strive for a more enlightened future, Watson challenges the administration and inspires her students to look beyond the image of what is, and consider the possibilities of what could be.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kirsten Dunst, Ginnifer Goodwin, Marcia Gay Harden, Dominic West, Mike Newell, Julia Roberts, Julia Stiles

PG-13 Drama

86%

  • 5
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

This action comedy spoof, said to be in the same vein as "Undercover Brother", but for Orthodox Jews, Adam Goldberg ("Saving Private Ryan") stars as a superhero detective who's out to stop Santa's evil son Damien (Andy Dick) from eliminating Hanukkah forever. It's based on the short of the same name, written and directed by Jonathan Kesselman during his days as a student at USC's Film School.

Andy Dick, Judy Greer, Nora Dunn, Jonathan Kesselman, Adam Goldberg, Peter Coyote, Rachel Dratch, Mario Van Peebles

Action Comedy

100%

Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

"Calendar Girls" is based on the true story of a group of women who bare all - or nearly all - for charity and become international celebrities as a result. The Women's Institute, in Great Britain, encourages the ancient skills of jam-making, flower pressing, knitting and baking. So when a group of extraordinary women are looking for a new way to raise money, they decide to take the annual WI calendar, normally featuring landscapes or flowers, and create something traditional - but with a twist. Behind the baked goods, the apple pressing and the flower arranging, the women are completely nude.

Ciaran Hinds, Celia Imrie, Nigel Cole, Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, John Alderton, Linda Bassett, Annette Crosbie

PG-13 Comedy

0%

  • 3.5
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense during the JFK and LBJ administrations, was one of the key figures in the Vietnam War. This documentary is built around 20 hours of interviews and additional archival footage of Mr. Namara, who later became president of the World Bank and broadened his global influence.

Julie Ahlberg, Robert McNamara, Fidel Castro, Barry Goldwater, Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Errol Morris, Michael Williams

PG-13 War Historical

25%

  • 3
Buy DVD Shop

Released Thursday, December 25th

Cheaper by the Dozen Poster

When Tom Baker (Steve Martin) gets a job offer to coach football at Northwestern University in Chicago, he and his wife, Mary, move to the big city, which is a big change for them and their 12 children, who range from preschool-age twins Kyle and Nigel all the way up to 22-year-old Anne who has already left home. With the recent publication of her long-in-the-works book, Mary feels demands outside the home taking away as much time as Tom's new job does, so the two are forced to try to find new ways of parenting their massive tribe, but they find their parenting styles aren't always completely compatible...

Liliana Mumy, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Ashton Kutcher, Chris Columbus, Steve Martin, Alan Ruck, Shawn Levy

PG Comedy Family

100%

  • 4.1
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

Based on the short story by Philip K. Dick, "Paycheck" is about world famous genius Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck), who does specialized projects for high-tech corporations. Once a job is complete, his memory is erased so as not to divulge any company secrets. Highly paid for his work, Jennings expects to earn $4.4 billion for his latest 5-year project, but upon completion of the job, instead of a big paycheck, he is given an envelope full of random objects and told that he has agreed to forfeit all payment. With his memory erased per usual, Jennings has no defense, until he discovers that the objects are clues to his past. Now, with the help of Rachel (Uma Thurman), the woman he has worked with and loved for the last three years, Jennings is in a race against time to put the pieces of his past together before the people he once worked for have him killed.

Michael Hackett, John Woo, Terence Chang, James Gray, Philip K. Dick, Scott Frank, Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart

PG-13 Action Adventure

71%

  • 3.3
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

Peter Pan is the boy who won't age, who lives in Neverland with other ageless kids, the Lost Boys. Tinkerbelle, a fairy, gives three children: Wendy, John, and Michael Darling the ability to fly; and soon they're off to Neverland, where they're soon in battle with the evil Captain Hook and his band of pirates.

Amy Pascal, Lucy Fisher, Rachel Hurd Wood, Freddie Popplewell, Rupert Simoneon, P.J. Hogan, Patrick McCormick, Douglas Wick

PG Action Adventure

100%

  • 4.4
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

Directed by Academy Award®-winner Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient", "The Talented Mr. Ripley") and based on Charles Frazier's best-selling Civil War novel of the same name, "Cold Mountain" tells the story of Inman (Jude Law), a wounded confederate soldier who is on a perilous journey home to his mountain community, hoping to reunite with his pre-war sweetheart, Ada (Nicole Kidman). In his absence, Ada struggles to survive, and revive her father's farm with the help of intrepid young drifter Ruby (Renee Zellweger).

Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Anthony Minghella, Renée Zellweger, Philip Seymour Hoffman

R Historical Romance

100%

  • 4.3
Buy DVD Shop
No Poster Available

This ensemble drama portraits the life of several dancers of a Chicago troupe, focusing on a young dancer who's on the verge of becoming a principal dancer, but finds herself distracted by other interests.

Christine Vachon, Neve Campbell, Pamela Koffler, Joshua Astrachan, Robert Altman, Barbara Turner, James Franco, Malcolm McDowell

PG-13 Drama

0%

  • 5
Buy DVD Shop
ADVERTISEMENT

Released Friday, December 26th

No Poster Available

Based on the acclaimed bestseller by Andre Dubus III. Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley) is living a lie to fulfill a dream. Once a member of the Shah of Iran's elite inner circle, he has brought his family to America to build a new life. Despite a pretense of continued affluence, he is barely making ends meet until he sees his opportunity in the auction of a house being sold for back taxes. It is a terrible mistake. Through a bureaucratic snafu, the house had been improperly seized from its rightful owner, Kathy Lazaro (Jennifer Connelly). The loss of her home tears away Kathy's last hope of a stable life—a life that had been nearly destroyed by addiction—and Kathy decides to fight to recover her home…at any cost.

Jonathan Ahdout, Kim Dickens, Vadim Perelman, Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly, Ron Eldard, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Frances Fisher

R Drama Historical

0%

  • 5
Buy DVD Shop

Released Wednesday, December 31st

No Poster Available

Sandy, a geologist, finds herself stuck on a field trip to the Pilbara desert with a Japanese man she finds inscrutable, annoying and decidedly arrogant. Hiromitsu?s view of her is not much better. Things go from bad to worse when they become stranded in one of the remotest regions on earth. Japanese Story is a journey of change and discovery for its two lead characters.

Sue Brooks, Gotaro Tsunashima, Matthew Dyktynski, Lynette Curran, Yumiko Tanaka, Kate Atkinson, John Howard, Bill Young

R Drama

50%

Buy DVD Shop
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
1.
Armor Poster
Armor
2.
A Sudden Case of Christmas Poster
A Sudden Case of Christmas
3. NEW
No Poster Available
Tinā
4. NEW
Zootopia 2 Poster
Zootopia 2
5. SAME
Mufasa: The Lion King Poster
Mufasa: The Lion King
6. NEW
No Poster Available
The Count of Monte Cristo
7. NEW
Daruma Poster
Daruma
8. NEW
Invitation to a Murder Poster
Invitation to a Murder
9.
Paddington Poster
Paddington
10.
The Silent Hour Poster
The Silent Hour

A Sudden Case of Christmas

Hello, Love, Again

An Almost Christmas Story

ADVERTISEMENT
Sky Peals
TBA
My Fault London
TBA
Good Fortune
TBA
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2
TBA
Porcelain War
TBA 2024
Armand
TBA
Sky Peals Official Trailer Clip Image
Sci-Fi
Sky Peals Official Trailer
Dear Santa Official Trailer Clip Image
Comedy
Dear Santa Official Trailer
Red One Official Trailer #2 Clip Image
Action
Red One Official Trailer #2
Daruma Official Trailer Clip Image
Drama
Daruma Official Trailer
Zootopia 2 Clip: ZOOTOPIA 2 “Gazelle” Clip Image
Adventure
Zootopia 2 Clip: ZOOTOPIA 2 “Gazelle”
Sky Peals Official Trailer Clip Image
Sci-Fi
Sky Peals Official Trailer
ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest upcoming movies buzz – be in the know before everyone else!

ADVERTISEMENT

More to Explore

Find and discover more on Movie Insider and across the web.

30-Day Free Trial

Watch thousands of movies 24/7 on Amazon Prime.

Go now
Production Listings

Find and discover movies filming now.

Go now