2003 saw some huge sequels released such as the concluding part of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, two new “Matrix” films, “Terminator 3”, “X-Men 2”, and “Bad Boys 2”, while other franchises were just getting started such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Kill Bill”. It was a good year for the sequel too – all the ones mentioned fared superbly at the box office with the “Matrix” films taking a combined $1.2 billion worldwide, while Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” took that amount all by itself.

Whimsical, feel-good festive fun. Sing-a-long musicals and family entertainment. Bumbling cartoon characters, flying reindeer, talking animals, elves making toys, angels getting wings, they are all part of the Christmas movie. But there’s another side to a Christmas sat in front of the telly. The Dark Side. Pitch black film noir, offbeat comedy, sadistic horror. Killer snowmen, drunk Santa’s, capitalist in-fighting, sex fetishes and rampant orgies, terrorists, lunatics, Christmas tree robbers, murderers hiding in the attic, marriage breakdowns and the curse of the mother-in-law. No songs in sight, no talking animals …

Listverse.com posted an interesting Top 10 list of the very best movies looking at alcoholics and alcoholism. The list was created by Listverse.com user Kazorek who says, “Alcoholism has always fascinated me more than any other drug addiction. It is separated in its legality and social acceptability, so thus there exists a legion of alcoholics far greater in number than junkies of any other sort. An entire subculture, one that’s often miserable, exists within almost every human civilization – the culture of the alcoholic.”
Expecting Billy Wilder’s brilliant “The Lost Weekend” …