A "lifestyle change" meant a drastic decrease in my film-going habits so as of March I have yet to see some 2003 releases such as The Fog of War and Cold Mountain, for example. When bid to do so here's the list I came up with. Titles that showed up on last year's Top Ten (marked with an *) are here again to make this list consistent with the North American commercial release schedule.

1. Blue Gate Crossing* (Yee Chi-yen)
City of God* (Fernando Meirelles)
3. Irreversible (Gaspar Noe)
4. Capturing the Friedmans (Andrew Jarecki)
5. Friday Night (Claire Denis)
6. Raising Victor Vargas (Peter Sollett)
7. The Son (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne)
8. Down With Love (Peyton Reed)
9. All the Real Girls (David Gordon Green)
10. Bus 174 (Jose Padilha)