I Want to See the Best Movies of 2004

Cafe Society
1

When Oscar time rolls around, I want to be able to talk/argue about the major movies comprehensively. I’d say this has been a good year. The only movie I’ve seen that was really not worth it was Ocean’s Twelve. It wasn’t awful, it was just lazy, forgettable, not nearly as good as the first. And I didn’t like Sideways nearly as much as the critics did, but it definitely wasn’t bad either. Here’s what I’ve already seen:

Closer
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fahrenheit 9/11
Finding Neverland
Garden State
The Incredibles
Kinsey
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Napoleon Dynamite
Ocean’s Twelve
Ray
Saved!
Sideways
Spider-Man 2

I have plans to see the following:
The Aviator (probably)
Hotel Rwanda
I Heart Huckabees
The Merchant of Venice
Million Dollar Baby (probably)
The Motorcycle Diaries (probably)
Shaun of the Dead (probably)
The Woodsman

So what do I still need to see?

2

For fun, lighter fare, I’d add Kill Bill Vol. 2 (only if you’ve already seen Vol. 1), Hellboy, and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

And I totally agree with you on Ocean’s 12.

3

Try “A Day Without a Mexican”. Some might think its a bit heavy-handed and/or dated in its message (It’s based on a fairly old stage play), but I thought it was a good film.

4

My favorite English-language films (in order of preference) not on your list:

Before Sunset
Hotel Rwanda
Collateral
Team America: World Police
Kill Bill, Vol. .2
Million Dollar Baby
Baadasssss!
Spartan
Shaun of the Dead
Intermission
Code 46
The Aviator

Foreign-Language films:

Trilogy: After the Life
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring
Oasis
Goodbye Lenin!
The Motorcycle Diaries
Hero
Bad Education
Trilogy: On the Run
A Very Long Engagement

Documentaries/Non-Fiction:

The Five Obstructions
Control Room
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Broadway: The Golden Age
Tarnation
In the Realms of the Unreal

5

Whoops! Forgot Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (which I’d put right in front of Intermission*).

And to give you a frame of reference, the only films on your list that would find their way onto the list I submitted are Eternal Sunshine, Sideways, Spider-Man 2 and The Incredibles.

6

2004 wasn’t a great year for films IMHO, but these were the best I saw:
Spider-Man 2
The Bourne Supremacy
Team America: World Police
I, Robot
The Aviator

7

I personally thought that 2004 was a great year, movie-wise, especially for big-budget Hollywood productions.

Ones I liked:**
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Ella Enchanted
Kill Bill, Vol. 2
Spiderman 2
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkahban
I, Robot
Anchorman
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Hero
The Incredibles
Super Size Me
Finding Neverland**

What I didn’t like:
Alexander

What I still have to see:
A Very Long Engagement
Ray
Kinsey
House of Flying Daggers

8

Dammit dammit dammit!
I forgot The Incredibles! (Which was, perhaps, the best movie of 2004.)

9

I forgot that the new Harry Potter movie was from this year. I did see both Kill Bill movies, I left those off too. Oops.

10

Mean Creek is a movie not many talk about but I thought was very good. It’s available on DVD January 25.

11

Very good call, drm.

Marley123, I think Million Dollar Baby is worth your while, as is House of Flying Daggers and A Very Long Engagement.

I thought 2004 was a much better year for movies than the past few.

12

Definitely Hotel Rwanda, and I would put Dodgeball on the list as the best comedy of the year, excepting possibly Shaun of the Dead.

(…no, seriously!)

13

There seems to be very little talk on this board about Million Dollar Baby , which I assume is just a factor of the film not getting out to as many cities yet.

It is extraordinarily good.

14

Bad Education

And…I desperatly want to recommend the other Spanish film I saw that was definatly one of the best movies of the year…about the boy who finds a “monster” trapped in a pit by an abandon building. I can’t remember the damn title. Something like “I won’t tell”??? This is driving me crazy.
(Well, no reason you shouldn’t be able to argue the foreign language section too)

15

I just saw Dodgeball the other night, and I loved it. Of course, I liked Starsky and Hutch too. But Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, and all those Wilson Brothers play off each other very well, and it’s clear they like each other and are having a good time making the movies.

16

Before Sunset was the best movie of 2004.

17

Before Sunset is truly awesome, but not as a movie, more like a stage play. I don’t think I ever saw a movie where the characters were more real. It’s like a documentary. I’d be surprised if they don’t get an Oscar nod or two for acting, though I doubt they’ll win.

18

I still have some movies left to see before the end of the year, but at this point **Shaun of the Dead ** gets the nod for my favorite movie. That is not necessarily the same thing as the best movie. That was **Before Sunset ** without any doubt, it is the type of movie that stays with you long after seeing it and your appreciation only grows. I would love to see it get at least a couple of nominations, but I am betting it gets skunked completely.

19

This movie was Italian, and it was called I’m Not Afraid.

20
  1. Finding Neverland- It received my only A rating. I thought it was excellent. Very few flaws if taken as entertainment and not history.
  2. Aviator- Worthy if it takes Best Picture. I really enjoyed the flick. Great acting and direction all around.
  3. Mean Girls- A funny little picture. Not a “crap” comedy. Had real substance and humor. Kinda like Heathers but without the murders. Tina Fey has a career post-SNL.
  4. Bourne Supremacy- I liked it MUCH better than the original, which I thought was decent. If they’d just kept the camera still.
  5. Sideways- An enjoyable little film about nothing.
  6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- A complicated film that made me think. Kaufmann is always good for a solid script.
  7. Spider-Man 2- I am on the record as the only comic fan in the history of the world that disliked the first one. This one was excellent. From the story to the CGI. Just excellent.
  8. Girl Next Door- My first “crap” comedy entrant. This movie FLOPPED, but I think it will be one of those cult classics on DVD. Nevermind that the main guy looks exactly like I did in high school (Damn, I need to lose weight!).
  9. Dodgeball- Another crap comedy that had me laughing the WHOLE time.
  10. Incredibles- Again, I differed from fandom in my “meh” feelings about this one. I was inclined to leave it off, but the others floating around #10 were not much better. At least this one was pretty to look at.