Ten Best Films of 2004

The Original BJ
Emeritus
Posts: 4312
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:49 pm

Post by The Original BJ »

1. Dogville (Lars von Trier)
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)
3. Sideways (Alexander Payne)
4. Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood)
5. Kinsey (Bill Condon)
6. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)
7. Bad Education (Pedro Almodóvar)
8. The Incredibles (Brad Bird)
9. The Return (Andrei Zvyagintsev)
10. Maria Full of Grace (Joshua Marston)
anonymous1980
Laureate
Posts: 6377
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 10:03 pm
Location: Manila
Contact:

Post by anonymous1980 »

I guess I must be crazy then. I just saw it for the seventh time on DVD. :cool:

You're also only the second person I know who out and out hated The Incredibles.

I haven't closed the book on 2004 yet. I still have to see Closer, Finding Neverland, The Motorcycle Diaries, In Good Company, and The Story of the Weeping Camel and then, I'll close the book and checking it every now and then for adjustments.

Oh and I thought you hated Dogville, Damien (or am I thinking of Johnny Guitar?)
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

Last night I saw The Incredibles, and that closes the book on 2004 for me.

As for The Incredibles: Geez, I anticipated it being a Goddamn Cartoon, but I never contemplated it to be completely witless and dull. From the reviews, I was expecting a satire on the nuclear family -- the kind of thing that The SImpsons does so off-handedly on a weekly basis -- but IMO there's nothing clever, funny or endearing about this movie. Mr. Incredible is charmless and is bereft of interesting traits and quirks, and everyone else is essentially on the same level of characters on Saturday morning TV.

Brad Bird especially missed the boat on having a hateable villain -- the kid was treated badly by Mr. Incredible and he wasn't nearly obnoxious enough for us to take delight in Mr. I's treatment of him. And when he grows up, he's not creepy or threatening enough to pass as a credible bad guy.

There was so much that could have been done with the idea of retired superheroes (the Simpsons would have had a field day), but they just seem like a dull dreary middle class suburban family. An when they resume superhero status, the movie is essentially just a dull action flick. In fact, if this thing was a real movie instead of a goddamn cartoon, it would have been dismissed as just another League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Scorpion King and Catwoman. I truly think anyone who likes this garbage has taken leave of their senses. (Are people incapable of judging goddamn cartoons the way they look at real movies?)

Anyway, my take on this year's releases:

4 Stars:

1. Kinsey (Bill Condon)
2. The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci)
3. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)
4. Home Of The Brave (Paolo di Florio)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

3½ Stars:

5. In Good Company (Paul Weitz)
6. Crimson Gold (Jafar Panahi)
7. Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore)
8. Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood)
9. Birth (Jonathan Glazer)
10. Dogville (Lars von Trier)
11. Bad Education (Pedro Almodovar)
12. A Dirty Shame (John Waters)
13. Notre Musique (Jean-Luc Godard)
14. Torque (Joseph Kahn)
15. The Distant Station (Alireza Raisian)
16. Mean Creek ((Jacob Aaron Estes)
17. Maria, Full Of Grace (Joshua Marston)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

3 Stars:

18. Distant (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
19. The Motorcycle Diaries (Walter Salles)
20. The Story Of The Weeping Camel (Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni)
21. End Of The World: The Story Of The Ramones (Jim Fields and Michael Gramaglia)
22. Good Bye Lenin! (Wolfgang Becker)
23. Saved (Brian Dannelly)
24 Blissfully Yours (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
25. Fear And Loathing (Alain Corneau)
26. I Heart Huckabees (David O. Russell)
27. The Assassination Of Richard Nixon (Neils Mueller)
28. A Head In The Clouds (John Duigan)
29. Friday Night Lights (Peter Berg)
30. Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle (Danny Leiner)
31. Zelary (Ondrej Trojan)
32. Mean Girls (Mark Waters)
33. Spider-man 2 (Sam Raimi)
34. The Merchant Of Venice (Michael Radford)
35. Shaun Of The Dead (Edgar Wright)
36. Osama (Siddiq Barmak)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

2 ½ Stars:

37. The Return (Andrei Zvyagintsev)
38. A Home At The End Of The World (Michael Mayer)
39. The Aviator (Martin Scorsese)
40. Baadasssss! (Mario van Peebles)
41. Hotel Rwanda (Terry George)
42. Los Angeles Plays Itself (Thom Anderson)
43. The Stepford Wives (Frank Oz)
44. Tarnation (Jonathan Caouette)
45. Ray (Taylor Hackford)
46. Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow (Kerry Conran)
47. Strayed (Andre Téchiné)
48. The Big Bounce (George Armitage)
49. Catch That Kid (Bart Freundlich)
50. Saw ( James Wan)
51. Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess)
52. The Door In The Floor (Tod Williams)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

2 Stars:

53. Beyond The Sea (Kevin Spacey)
54. Collateral (Michael Mann)
55. EuroTrip (Jeff Schaffer)
56. We Don’t Live Here Any More (John Curran)
57. Sideways (Alexander Payne)
58. Father And Son (Aleksandr Sokurov)
59. A Very Long Engagement (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
60. Being Julia (Istvan Szabo)
61. De-Lovely (Irwin Winkler)
62. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson)
63. The Notebook (Nick Cassavetes)
64. The Sea Within (Alejandro Amenábar)
65. The Girl Next Door (Luke Greenfield)
66. Stage Beauty (Richard Eyre)
67. The Five Obstructions (Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier)
68. Garden State (Zach Braff)
69. Open Water (Chris Kentis)
70. Hero (Yimou Zhang)
71. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter . . . And Spring (Ki-duk Kim)
72. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang)
73. Sex Is Comedy (Catherine Breillat)
74. The Mudge Boy (Michael Burke)
75. Twentynine Palms (Bruno Dumont)
76. Closer (Mike Nichols)
77. Anatomy Of Hell (Catherine Breillat)
78. Taking Lives (D.B. Caruso)
79. Raja (Jacques Doillon)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1 ½ Stars:

80. Phantom Of The Opera (Joel Schumacher)
81. The Incredibles (Goddamn Cartoon)
82. Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (Adam McKay)
83. Finding Neverland (Marc Forster)
84. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (Michel Godry)
85. The Village (M. Night Shyalaman)
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Heksagon
Adjunct
Posts: 1229
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 10:39 pm
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Post by Heksagon »

Latest, and not last, update

****

1. Bad Education
2. Million Dollar Baby
3. Twilight Samurai

***½

4. The Aviator
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Kill Bill, vol. 2
7. Zatoichi
8. Hotel Rwanda
9. Before Sunset
10. Vera Drake

***

11. In Good Company
12. The Incredibles
13. Evil
14. Finding Neverland
15. Hero
16. Super Size Me
17. Fahrenheit 9/11
18. Sideways
19. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

**½

20. Touching the Void
21. Mean Girls
22. Team America: World Police
23. Running on Karma
24. The Motorcycle Diaries

**

25. Spider-Man 2
26. Collateral
27. Outfoxed
28. Alexander
29. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
30. House of Flying Daggers
31. Dogville
32. The Passion of Christ



33. The Ladykillers
34. Ray
35. The Door in the Floor
36. Troy

*

37. Open Water
38. The Terminal
39. Goodbye Lenin

½

40. Shrek 2
41. Spartan

no stars

42. Closer
43. King Arthur

Clive Owen sure chose to appear in lousy films this year. Not that it had prevented him from getting an Oscar nomination, though.
anonymous1980
Laureate
Posts: 6377
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 10:03 pm
Location: Manila
Contact:

Post by anonymous1980 »

My updated list:

**** (4 stars)
Bad Education (Pedro Almodovar)
The Incredibles (Brad Bird)
Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)
Kinsey (Bill Condon)
Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood)

***½ (3½ stars)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)
The Aviator (Martin Scorsese)
Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore)
Zatoichi (Takeshi Kitano)
Sideways (Alexander Payne)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuaron)
I <3 Huckabees (David O. Russell)
Vera Drake (Mike Leigh)
Hero (Zhang Yimou)
Maria Full of Grace (Joshua Marston)
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (Quentin Tarantino)
Dogville (Lars Von Trier)
The Twilight Samurai (Yoji Yamada)
Imelda (Ramona S. Diaz)
The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci)
Mean Girls (Mark S. Waters)
Undertow (David Gordon Greene)

*** (3 stars)
The Return (Andrei Zvyagintsev)
Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (Mamoru Oshii)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Brad Silberling)
Spider-Man 2 (Sam Raimi)
Collateral (Michael Mann)
The Bourne Supremacy (Paul Greengrass)
The Polar Express (Robert Zemeckis)
Touching the Void (Kevin MacDonald)
A Very Long Engagement (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Osama (Siddiq Barmak)
Dawn of the Dead (Zack Snyder)
The Manchurian Candidate (Jonathan Demme)
Hellboy (Guillermo Del Toro)
The Terminal (Steven Spielberg)
Spartan (David Mamet)
50 First Dates (Peter Segal)

**½ (2½ stars)
House of Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou)
The Door in the Floor (Tod Williams)
Finding Neverland (Marc Forster)
The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson)
Ray (Taylor Hackford)
Jersey Girl (Kevin Smith)
Alexander (Oliver Stone)
The Ladykillers (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen)
Garden State (Zach Braff)
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Kerry Conran)
I, Robot (Alex Proyas)
Troy (Wolfgang Petersen)

** (2 stars)
The Village (M. Night Shyamalan)
Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (Joel Schumacher)
Closer (Mike Nichols)
Shrek 2 (Andrew Adamson)
Alien Vs. Predator (Paul W.S. Anderson)

*½ (1½ stars)
The Day After Tomorrow (Roland Emmerich)

* (1 star)
Van Helsing (Stephen Sommers)
User avatar
Sonic Youth
Tenured Laureate
Posts: 8003
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:35 pm
Location: USA

Post by Sonic Youth »

****
1. Son Frere
2. Bad Education
3. Code 46
4. Shaolin Soccer

***1/2

5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Red Lights
7. Vera Drake
8. Crimson Gold
9. The Return
10. Control Room
11. In Good Company
12. Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry
13. Notre Musique
14. Dogville
15. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
16. Before Sunset
17. Million Dollar Baby
18. Dig!
19. Main Hoon Na
20. The Story of the Weeping Camel
21. I Heart Huckabees
22. The Yes Men

***
23. Undertow
24. Born Into Brothels
25. Maria Full of Grace
26. Sideways
27. Cowards Bend the Knee
28. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
29. Fahrenheit 9/11
30. Tarnation
31. The Incredibles
32. Zatoichi
33. Hum Tum
34. End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones
35. Hero
36. Spiderman 2
37. Osama
38. A Dirty Shame
39. Primer
40. Kinsey
41. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
42. The Day After Tomorrow
43. The Ladykillers
44. Goodbye, Lenin

**1/2
45. A Very Long Engagement
46. The Corporation
47. Mean Girls
48. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkeban
49. Being Julia
50. The Aviator
51. In the Realms of the Unreal
52. Intimate Strangers
53. The Sea Inside
54. Ray
55. The Motorcycle Diaries
56. The Notebook
57. Bon Voyage

**
58. Garden State
59. The Mother
60. Facing Windows
61. Outfoxed
62. The Manchurian Candidate
63. I'm Not Scared
64. Super Size Me
65. Coffee and Cigarettes
66. Hotel Rwanda
67. The Bourne Supremacy
68. Touching the Void

*1/2
69. Zelary

*
70. House of Flying Daggers
71. Ocean's Twelve
72. The Brown Bunny

No Stars
73. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

N/A
Strayed (Blurry projection, moron sat in front of me, evening ruined.)
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Okri
Tenured
Posts: 3345
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:28 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Post by Okri »

I loved Touching the Void - it's around ten or eleven with me.
Cinephile101
Graduate
Posts: 114
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 5:41 am
Location: Knoxville and Atlanta

Post by Cinephile101 »

I tried to wrap up all my 2004 movie viewing before I left for my study abroad - I updated my rankings in my post below (currently 82 entries). Here's my top ten (NOT taken straight from the first ten in the ranked list) and a few awards.

The "just a good, odd little movie" award: Kitchen Stories
Most unfortunately under-the-radar movie: Since Otar Left
Great underrecognized performances of the year: Christian Bale, The Machinist (and not just because of the weight loss); Michael Madsen, Kill Bill V. 2
The "What the hell?" award: The Saddest Music in the World
Movie that has grown on me after initially not liking it too well: The Dreamers
Movie that has most stuck with me: Before Sunset
Movie least deserving of its level of acclaim:
-by audiences: Garden State
-by critics: Million Dollar Baby
Movie I just really, really hated: De-Lovely
Movies with good directors who dropped the ball: Coffee and Cigarettes, The Life Aquatic
Most pleasantly surprising movie: Shaun of the Dead

I pretty much groan looking at my top 4, 'cause they seem like such stereotypical young person choices. I'm pleased with it overall, though.
1. Before Sunset
2. Kill Bill Vol. 2
3. End of the Century: the Story of the Ramones
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. Kitchen Stories
6. The Agronomist
7. Shaun of the Dead
8. Touching the Void
9. Since Otar Left
10. Intermission
First runner-up: I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead
(I know that at least Sonic Youth disagrees vehemently with #8. I thought it was pretty damn good, and Simpson an eloquent interviewee.)
Did anyone else on here see Since Otar Left? It's really terrific but must have had a crappy distribution deal or something. You should really seek it out on video. Thematically, it's very similar to Goodbye, Lenin! - only it's much better (more nuanced, more sophisticated script, more subtle, less messy, less ridiculous, etc. etc.)
I've got to honest; I'd rather be sweeping the Pennines right now.
anonymous1980
Laureate
Posts: 6377
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 10:03 pm
Location: Manila
Contact:

Post by anonymous1980 »

--rain Bard wrote:did you get to see Before Sunrise too?

I did, actually. I was able to rent both copies of both movies at the same time.




Edited By Big Magilla on 1243662503
rain Bard
Associate
Posts: 1611
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 6:55 pm
Location: San Francisco
Contact:

Post by rain Bard »

did you get to see Before Sunrise too?
anonymous1980
Laureate
Posts: 6377
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 10:03 pm
Location: Manila
Contact:

Post by anonymous1980 »

My top 10 list now looks like:

01. Before Sunset (Linklater)
02. Kinsey (Condon)
03. The Incredibles (Bird)
04. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry)
05. Fahrenheit 9/11 (Moore)
06. Zatoichi (Kitano)
07. Maria Full of Grace (Marston)
08. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Cuaron)
09. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (Tarantino)
10. The Dreamers (Bertolucci)
criddic3
Tenured
Posts: 2874
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2003 11:08 pm
Location: New York, USA
Contact:

Post by criddic3 »

1. I was never bored.
2. Don Cheadle was excellent at conveying his character's plight.
3. It was an interesting view of history.
4. The film was well-made.
5. It wasn't a higher rating because, while I felt for the main characters, I never quite felt like I was drawn into the events unfolding. It seemed distant at times, unlike the emotions felt during Schindler's List, which I saw in the theater in 1993 when I was 15. I've seen that movie at least twice since that time. Doubtful that I will see Hotel Rwanda that many times.
"Because here’s the thing about life: There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand." -- President Joe Biden, 01/20/2021
Bog
Assistant
Posts: 878
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 12:39 am
Location: United States

Post by Bog »

There is still much I need to see...but one of my better years at this point in the game...

****
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
1. Million Dollar Baby
3. Before Sunset
4. Garden State

***1/2
5. Kill Bill Vol.2
6. Collateral
7. The Aviator
8. Sideways
9. Hero
10. Spiderman 2
11. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
12. The Incredibles

***
13. The Life Aquatic
14. Napoleon Dynamite
15. Kinsey
16. Shaun of the Dead
17. 13 Going on 30
18. Mean Girls
19. Dawn of the Dead

**1/2
20. Maria Full of Grace
21. Finding Neverland
22. Closer
23. Fahrenheit 9/11
24. The Passion of the Christ
25. Harold & Kumar go to White Castle
26. Troy
27. Super Size Me
28. Anchorman
29. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
30. The Girl Next Door
31. The Village

**
32. Touching the Void
33. Meet the Fockers
34. Starsky and Hutch
35. Dogville

*1/2
36. Saved!
37. The Door in the Floor
38. Taking Lives

*
39. Secret Window

1/2
40. The Day After Tomorrow (that way every film has something to show for it)
Sabin
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10747
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 12:52 am
Contact:

Post by Sabin »

I'm curious, criddic. Why three stars for Hotel Rwanda?
"How's the despair?"
criddic3
Tenured
Posts: 2874
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2003 11:08 pm
Location: New York, USA
Contact:

Post by criddic3 »

Updates....

I have decided to bold my new additions from now on.

* * * *
The Aviator
Baadasssss!
Bad Education
Born Into Brothels
The Clearing
The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Finding Neverland
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Hero
The Incredibles
Million Dollar Baby
The Notebook
The Passion of the Christ
Ray
Spiderman 2
The Twilight Samurai

* * * ½
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Before Sunset
Beyond the Sea
In Good Company
Kill Bill, volume 2
Maria Full of Grace
National Treasure
Shaun of the Dead
Sideways
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Spartan
Undertow
Wicker Park
William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

* * *
50 First Dates
After the Sunset
Being Julia
Birth
The Bourne Supremacy
The Chorus
Collateral
Dawn of the Dead
The Day After Tomorrow
De-Lovely
The Dreamers
Ella Enchanted
Hellboy
Hidalgo
Hotel Rwanda
House of Flying Daggers
I, Robot
Imaginary Heroes
Ladder 49
The Ladykillers
Latter Days
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Manchurian Candidate
Mean Girls
The Motorcycle Diaries
Open Water
The Phantom of the Opera
The Prince and Me
P.S.
Shrek 2
Super Size Me
Taking Lives
Team America: World Police
The Terminal
Troy
Saved!
A Very Long Engagement
The Woodsman

* * ½
13 Going on 30
Alfie
All the Way
Catch That Kid
Cellular
Closer
Confessions of a Teenaged Drama Queen
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Garden State
Harry and Max
Luther
Miracle
Napoleon Dynamite
Ocean's 12
The Saddest Music in the World
The Sea Inside
Spanglish
The Stepford Wives
Van Helsing
The Village

* *
Against the Ropes
Alexander
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
The Butterfly Effect
Cold Creek Manor
Dead Birds
The Door in the Floor
The Final Cut
The Forgotten
A Home at the End of the World
The 'I' Inside
Laws of Attraction
Man on Fire
People I Know
Secret Window
Vanity Fair
Walking Tall
We Don't Live Here Anymore
You'll Get Over It

* ½
Alien vs. Predator
Blade: Trinity
The Girl Next Door
Godsend
Meet the Fockers
Seed of Chucky
Shark Tale

*
Fahrenheit 9/11
Starsky & Hutch

(NO STARS)
Dogville
The Grudge

Total Films So Far: 119
"Because here’s the thing about life: There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand." -- President Joe Biden, 01/20/2021
Post Reply

Return to “2000 - 2007”