So here we are, a week into the 04, let's take a look at what rocked in 2003 baby

- Movies
For all out fun, Finding Nemo probably pleased most all people though Sinbad was particularly strong for traditional animation. LOTR ROTK was a standout of course, but expectation was so high, all the action of Matrix Reloaded was pretty dope save for the cave rave and the architect nonsense.. finally a sleeper hit for me was the thriller Identity.. who doesn't love a murder mystery with a nice twist at the end. X2 X-Men United more than gave us our yearly super-hero fix and next year looks promising with Hellboy and of course, Spider-Man 2

- Music
An okay year lacking any real 5 star albums but we still had very strong sophomore albums which came from Alicia Keys and Linkin Park. 50 Cent of course exploded with his first outing thanks to backing by Dre and Eminem, 2003 was also a new height for the Outkast duo

- Songs
Beyonce was hot for a while, so was 50 with In Da Club, eveyone loved Andre 3000's Hey Ya but right now feelin JJ (Lin Jun Jie) with I Don't Know... just piano... real nice. Jay Chou of course held it down with some solid songs on Ye Hui Mei but I really dug his pair of new songs off Hidden Track EP.. some songs came and went but all year I liked Evanescence's My Immortal, Fab's So Into You and John Mayer's Something Missing

- TV
This year in the absence of new Sopranos or Six Feet Under, The Wire held it down for high quality drama on HBO, I watched all the eps but I feel it'd be hard to get into .. the same holds for Everwood where its second season has been outstanding, at least the first half, but I don't expect a drop off at all. Another returning favorite for me was also Gilmore Girls, they kept it fresh and funny. It seems like ages ago but The Shield rocked FX hard early this year
For new series, it's definitely all about The O.C.. Pretty faces in sunny Southern California, what else do you want? It's fun and the angst though surreal and resolved with little believability is very watchable.. one show I almost omitted was the perrenial ER, which I haven't watched at all for a while so I wouldn't know but this year, I watched some episodes and it's been damn good, especially that explosive Thanksgiving episode.. yah I'm impressed
MTV kicked ass with their brand of reality tv (Real World Paris was tight, Punkd, Newlyweds, Rich Girls even Viva La Bam and them crazy kids in Wildboyz), you can just watch that stuff all day long.. that Jessica Simpsons, her silliness is so charming
Continuing a trend was all these shows that take a post-modern look at events passed, behind the scene type stuff (VH1 is very good at this) like the Fabolous Life, 80s Strike Back... etc.. they'll have to make shows about these shows in 2010... saddies

- Comics
Sleeper was the most exciting series this year, despite the low sales.. it consistenly made me look forward to getting the issue, despite the flashier run by Lee and Loeb on Batman, praise to Brubraker and the gritty art by Sean Philips

- Discovery
Jay Chou in Chinese pop, this kid is so good, the writing but also the music is most excellent and eclectic though the stronger songs are all ballads
Sunset Boulevard (1950) that I had the pleasure to watch recently is the quintessential film-noir, love and much respect
Esquire Magazine grabbed my attention this year though it has been in publication for damn near 100 years! Interesting read for guys and I love the features on industries, usually Hollywood, very LA but without all the bad ish, a lot more substance than other men magazines, for sure

Finally here are some ish I did this year
Quit masters program at SCU, that ish is so weak, tho I am still enrolled, who knows
Got back into comics tho my initial foray was a bit too enthusiastic, I think I hit a balanced stride where I'm no longer buying too much garbage
Piano lessons again, taking Chinese classes, writing and reading is good

2003 wasn't bad at all, let's hope 04 is even better