Everyone knows I saw a lot of movies in 2004. Final total ended up being 122. Good thing quite a few of them were screenings that I didn't have to pay for. I'm not setting a goal for 2005. That's part of my whole resolution to stop being so obsessive :)
Most "best of" lists are usually Top 10 affairs (the freaks at CHUD do Top 15) so I'll be different as well and stick with my lucky 13 thing. Here are my Top 13 movies of 2004. A lot of these probably won't be winning any awards or anything. They are just films I liked for various reasons.
13) The Aviator - Scorsese's best film since "Goodfellas." This one will win some awards. A visually stunning film with outstanding performances by DiCaprio and Blanchett.
12) Ocean's Twelve - very different from it's predecessor and proof that sometimes different is good. In many respects I liked this one better than "Ocean's Eleven." Just an all around fun movie with a great cast.
11) The Bourne Supremacy - Another sequel that I liked better than the original. Edgy, smart action movie. Matt Damon is great.
10) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Charlie Kaufman is a great writer. This movie is no exception. Anyone who can get Jim Carrey to demonstrate that his acting actually has some range, has to be a good writer. A fucked up movie with good performances all around. Even Kirstin Dunst was less annoying than usual.
9) The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra - I'm thinking this one probably won't be showing up on too many other lists, which is kind of a shame. An homage to old, bad sci-fi movies, this is one of the funniest fucking movies ever. The filmmakers had no budget and they still went out and just got this thing made. It's stupid and hysterical and brilliant.
8) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Best film in the series so far. It is also my favorite of the books so they could have really screwed it up for me. Gary Oldman does a good job of portraying Sirius Black but I still would have cast someone else. It's a Harry Potter film. You either like them or you don't. I love them.
7) Hero - God bless Quentin Tarantino. This is a brilliant film and it would have been a shame if QT had not convinced Miramax to give it a theatrical release here in the US. It's a beautiful and amazing piece of filmmaking.
6) Finding Neverland - Johnny Depp is one of the best actors working today. In a career filled with memorable and amazing performances this is one of his best, so that has to say something about the caliber of this film. Nominations due all around for Picture, Actor, Writing.
5) Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - The fact that a Gwyneth Paltrow movie made my Top 5 for the year is borderline amazing. Of course, Jude Law and Angelina Jolie are in it too so that must offset the Gwyneth factor. This is just a fun movie. It requires an enormous suspension of disbelief. It's like watching a comic book. I loved virtually every frame.
4) Sideways - As far as the awards shows go, this is the film to beat this year. It's an amazing work. It is well written, well acted, and beautifully shot. I see lots of little statues in it's future. It's an important movie with performances that will be talked about for years to come. I love Johnny Depp in "Finding Neverland," but I don't think he can beat Paul Giamatti.
3) The Incredibles - I love all the Pixar movies. There isn't a one that I can't watch over and over again. That being said, this is my favorite Pixar film. I'm a comic book geek. I love superhero movies. The graphics are the best we've seen yet. The story is funny and the whole cast just pours themselves into their characters. I honestly can't say enough about how great this movie is.
2) Shaun of the Dead - This film brought us a whole new film genre. The "rom-zom-com." A romantic comedy about zombies. Who would've thunk? One of the best thinga about it is that it was totally a labor of love. The filmmakers are all friends who just wanted to make a movie. So they did. They scraped the money together and just went out and made the movie they wanted to make and they did it right. There is nothing low budget about this film. I can't begin to do this movie justice. The best I can say is go buy it or rent it or whatever. Just see it. It's funny and quirky and I loved it. It's a bloody brilliant film and it almost made my #1 spot for the year.
1) Garden State - There was never really any question what my favorite film of the year was. Zach Braff's directorial debut is not just my favorite film for this year but one of my favorites ever. This film has ended up on practically every "best of" list I've seen for the year. It's very non-traditional and slightly absurdist. The cast is great. The script is damn near perfect and it's a shame Zach didn't get a GG nom for it. I don't think the Academy will nominate him either, which just goes to show that most of them are probably idiots. This is a classic film.
Honorable Mentions: Alfie, Beyond the Sea, Collateral, Hidalgo, Kill Bill - Vol 2, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Napolean Dynamite, Phantom of the Opera, Primer, Spider-Man 2. There were a lot of good movies this year. It was one of the strongest years for film in a long while. 2005 has a lot to live up to.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all doing direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." -- Charles Dickens - "A Tale of Two Cities"
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