Top 10 Movies of 2004 By Daniel Longino
Despite the fact that 2004 was hardly the year of totally awesome movies that 2003 was with "City of God" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," there were still some good films to be found.
1. THE INCREDIBLES Directed by Brad Bird.
The folks at Pixar make the best films around. No other group of filmmakers can achieve such mainstream appeal and still have geek cred. "The Incredibles" is Pixar's sixth massive hit and sixth "A" movie. No one else can boast that consistency, and teaming with "Iron Giant" director Brad Bird only continues the stream of excellence.
2. NAPOLEON DYNAMITE Directed by Jared Hess.
The most re-watchable, quotable and funniest film of the year, "Napoleon Dynamite" is an amazing film because it gives the viewer something brand new. (Some critics incorrectly say it cribs from Todd Solondz and Wes Anderson, but they aren't looking closely.) "Napoleon Dynamite" is endearingly funny, sweet but not schmaltzy, and Jon Heder attacks the titular role of Napoleon with an unparalleled comedic brilliance.
3. KILL BILL: VOL. 2 Directed by Quentin Tarantino.
Despite the fact that the second installment of Tarantino's "Kill Bill" showed why it really should have been one film in the first place, "Vol. 2" is able to succeed on entirely different terms than "Vol. 1," anchored by the excellent performance of David Carradine.
4. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND Directed by Michel Gondry.
Charlie Kaufman continues to prove that he's the most clever screenwriter in Hollywood, and director Michel Gondry's visual style gels perfectly with Kaufman's sci-fi-meets-romance script.
5. SUPER SIZE ME Directed by Morgan Spurlock.
Morgan Spurlock eats nothing but McDonald's for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 30 days. Instead of being a simplistic pro-vegetarian and anti-meat film, "Super Size Me" is more a complex indictment of Spurlock's own love/hate relationship with McDonald's.
6. CONTROL ROOM Directed by Jehane Noujiam.
This is an excellent documentary (and yes, it really is a documentary) about Middle Eastern news channel Al-Jazeera. Extremely informative and engaging, "Control Room" is a film that every American should see.
7. SHAUN OF THE DEAD Directed by Edgar Wright.
The best - and only - rom-com-zom film ever made. As funny as it is gory, Britain's "Shaun of the Dead" is every geek's wet dream.
8. GARDEN STATE Directed by Zach Braff.
While Zach Braff still has to work on his endings (this one seems forced), "Garden State" proves he's in the visual ranks of today's top directors like Wes Anderson and P.T. Anderson.
9. PRIMER Directed by Shane Carruth.
So, the most realistic portrayal of time travel ever put to film still doesn't make sense after multiple viewings, but "Primer" is still a tremendous accomplishment for writer-director-editor-producer-star Shane Carruth, who captures every shot with only one take and still engages the viewer in a true mystery.
10. THE BLIND SWORDSMAN: ZATOICHI Directed by Takeshi Kitano.
Takeshi Kitano's take on the Zatoichi character, a blind Japanese samurai who has appeared in more than 20 films, is stylized bloody art, with a Tarantino-style nonlinear narrative. Some may be turned off by the computer-generated blood and climactic tap-dancing sequence, but fans of samurai films will eat up all the limb-hacking.
The Scene Stealers By Costa Caloudas and Daniel Longino
BEST DEBUT Jared Hess
The "Napoleon Dynamite" writer-director and full-time married Mormon Jared Hess gave the most totally flippin' sweet - and funniest - movie of the year. His debut was filmed for next to nothing and completely independent of a studio - a sign that creative and innovative filmmaking can still make its way without big stars or big bucks.
WORST DVD 'Star Wars Trilogy'
George Lucas is a cancer on the world. As blasphemous as the changes on the 1997 re-release were, the DVD changes go even further, digitally adding whiny wimp Hayden Christensen to the film. Worst of all, Lucas offers no original version. His insanity becomes more clear as he desperately tries to re-write history and manufacture "what he intended" the films to be. Apparently Lucas "intended" them to be computer-generated crap factories.
THE BOVIS AWARD (bo-vis. adj. totally awesome but in that really stupid way.) 'You Got Served'
Take a semi-popular R&B/pop dance group, mix in a singer's half brother who just so happens to also be an R&B/pop singer and have them battle an evil dance crew from the O.C. that look like Sum-41 in a $5,000 challenge for the money in Steve Harvey's hat. The result? The most bovis movie of the year. You know how we like it ... straight 'hood. This one's for Lil' Saint.
THE BEN AFFLECK AWARD FOR CAREER SUICIDE Ben Stiller
Between the "Something About Mary" rip-off "Along Came Polly," the disaster "Duplex" and the horrendous "Envy" (directed by AU alumnus Barry Levinson) 2004 was a trifecta of turd sandwiches for Stiller (the only reason "Dodgeball" was funny was because of Vince Vaughn). The only highlight Stiller had was that "do it" line from "Starsky & Hutch" - and the movie was only mildly funny at best. The only thing that could rejuvenate him to his "Heavyweights" villain brilliance would be the upcoming "Meet the Fockers," but that looks like another stinker.
WORST INTERRACIAL BUDDY COMEDY 'Taxi'
How can Queen Latifah have such a super-powered taxi cab, and what police force would hire someone that always laughs during every skit? The world may never know.
BEST INTERRACIAL BUDDY COMEDY 'Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle'
The story of two dudes in search of White Castle is way better than you'd expect. Most jokes are actually smart and the characters have depth. It also has the official return of "Doogie Howser."
WORST MOVIE OF THE YEAR 'Soul Plane'
Every stereotype you ever thought about black people is true, according to this movie, aka the worst movie of the year. Imagine what the studio's notes on the script must've looked like: "We need more 9/11 jokes!"
MOVIE YOU DIDN'T SEE BUT REALLY SHOULD HAVE 'Sideways'
Paul Giamatti plays a divorced wine junkie and failed writer. Ned from "Ned and Stacy" plays a former soap-actor who's looking to cheat on his fianc?e with as many women as possible. This is one of those must-buy-on-DVD-the-day-it-comes out flicks.
THE PHARRELL AWARD FOR OVER-EXPOSURE Jude Law
The British actor appeared in every single film of the year. Well, not every one, but the Law-man has been in: "I Heart Huckabees," "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," "Alfie," "Closer," "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" and "The Aviator." Jude, we're sick of your face.
MOST OVERRATED MOVIE 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'
The third "Harry Potter" movie is only slightly less whack than the first two. "Azkaban" received buttloads of critical praise merely on the fact that it was helmed by "Y Tu Mam Tambi?n" director Alfonso Cuar¢n, but the movie itself stinks of "Harry Potter," bad computer-generation images and been-there-done-that plots.
MOVIE TO WATCH FOR IN 2005 'Sin City'
Robert Rodriguez co-directed with Frank Miller the adaptation of Miller's graphic novel with a huge cast including Benecio Del Toro, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Michael Madsen, Bruce Willis, Elijah Wood, Jessica Alba and Brittany Murphy. Also, Quentin Tarantino directed a portion of the film. The trailer shows its risky style (it looks frighteningly like the comic), and it is either going to be incredibly awesome or a big mess. "Sin City" opens April 1.
