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Film

Top five movies and upcoming releases

By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 24, 2003


Top five movies

1. Better Luck Tomorrow -- Asian-American honor students face crime and consequences. This Sundance Film Festival hit -- the best film of 2003, so far -- is the kind of artful anarchy MTV Films should promote, rather than Jackass and The Real Cancun.

2. The Good Thief -- Nick Nolte's best performance ever, playing an aging crook on a losing streak in Parisian casinos. Directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game).

3. Holes -- Times Xpress film critic Billy Norris, age 15, thinks this Disney adventure, based upon the award-winning novel, is great fun.

4. Ghosts of the Abyss -- James Cameron's artistic obsession with the Titanic disaster leads to an engrossing documentary trek to the wreckage. Shown in 3-D (not IMAX) only at Citrus Park 20 in Tampa.

5. Phone Booth -- The first decent popcorn flick of 2003 arrives. Rising star Colin Farrell gets trapped in a phone booth by a sniper in a tense, albeit illogical, thriller.

* * *

May 2: X-Men 2, The Safety of Objects, The Lizzie McGuire Movie

May 9: Daddy Day Care

May 15: The Matrix Reloaded

May 16: Down With Love

May 23: The In-Laws, Bruce Almighty

May 30: Finding Nemo, The Italian Job, Wrong Turn

June 6: 2 Fast 2 Furious, Prozac Nation

June 13: Hollywood Homicide, Rugrats Go Wild, From Justin To Kelly, Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd

June 20: The Hulk, Alex & Emma

June 27: Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle, 28 Days Later

July 2: Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines, Legally Blonde: Red, White & Blonde, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

July 9: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

July 11: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Forgotten

July 18: Bad Boys II, Exorcist: The Beginning, How to Deal, Johnny English

July 25: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Seabiscuit, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over

Aug. 1: American Wedding, Gigli, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (re-release)

Aug. 8: S.W.A.T., The Fighting Temptations, Matchstick Men, Shaolin Soccer

Aug. 15: Freddy vs. Jason, The Medallion, Uptown Girls

Aug. 22: Grind, Marci X, My Boss' Daughter

Aug. 27: Highwaymen

Aug. 29: Jeepers Creepers II

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