I finally got on my butt and wrote up my Top 10 movies of 2004. Realize that these are the movies that only I saw last year. Sorry for all the true movie buffs out there who saw the real quality movies that weren’t put out in the box office]. You know…all those indie movies that 75% of Americans never hear about because it was advertised on TV. I love that. Anyhow, here it is:
10. The Terminal – Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks come together again to make a wonderful movie. It’s all taken place in an airport, yet it is entertaining and light-hearted throughout the two hours or whatever it was. I found it interesting the idea of learning all about America through an airport. Brilliant!
09. Friday Night Lights – Amazing sports movie! It was a toss up between this and Miracle for the best sports movie of 2004, and I went with this one. I just like football better than hockey (sorry cousins!), plus this movie seemed to be more than winning for your country or town or state. It had that feeling that life was more than the sport, and it was fun to see a whole town to come to that realization in the movie.
08. The Bourne Supremacy – Yeah, the editing really sucked, but I couldn’t get over the awesome story about a super cool government assassin who wants out. Conspiracies, great fights, and the best car chase ever!
07. Spider-man 2 – So far, this is the best comic movie I’ve seen. The comic feel was truly brought onto the big screen in Spider-man 2. The action was dopeness to the third level, doood. As much as I liked it, I could only put it at No. 7 because, when it comes down to it, the movie is just a comic book movie. Nothing much else to it.
06. Ray – This is the only movie I saw that got the Best Picture nomination in the Academy Awards. That’s too bad, but this movie does deserve it. Jamie Foxx is amazing, and it is a good biography of Ray’s life. The impact he made in our country through his music is extraordinary, and it was done well in this movie.
05. Garden State – I’m glad Natalie Portman totally redeemed herself in this movie after doing those abominations to the Star Wars series. Call me strange, but I really loved this movie. Very eccentric humor - the way I like it! Plus the message of the movie made me want to get off my arse and do something meaningful. Kind of ironic that I’m writing that while I sit here writing up this post.
04. Kill Bill Vol. 2 – Quentin Taratino is an amazing writer and filmographer. I love both these movies, but since the first came out in 2003, I’ll go with this one for 2004. Though the story as a whole is pretty terrible (glorifying bloody revenge and all), it was told extremely well. A very artistic film with action, cool.
03. The Incredibles – The whole Pixar collection is pure gold, The Incredibles does not come short for their newest installment. I watched this movie in the theatres three times. Yes, it’s that good! If Shrek 2 beats out this movie in the Academy Awards, I’m going to murder someone.
02. Collateral – I just realized…I have a lot of movies on this list about trained contract killers. Awesome. Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx was a great match up for this movie, and this movie took action to another level. The world does seem to look as hypocritical as Vincent says; it scares me sometimes.
01. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – This is my favorite movie of 2004 for its brilliance and cleverness. The acting was superb, the story telling was amazing, and the filmography was nothing short of artistic genius. There is nothing wrong with this movie. It is flawless. FLAWLESS!!!!!
So there you have it. For David’s list, go here. Here is a list of the rest of the movies I saw, just to show you how much money I spent in the theatres. What a waste.
50 First Dates, The Alamo, Alexander, Along Came Polly, Around the World in 80 Days, Cinderella Story, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hellboy, Hidalgo, I, Robot, Ju-on: The Grudge, King Arthur, Ladder 49, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Man on Fire, Mean Girls, Miracle, The Passion of the Christ, Saved!, Shark Tale, Shrek 2, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Spartan, Starsky and Hutch, Taking Lives, Troy, Van Helsing, Vanity Fair, Walking Tall, White Chicks, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!
Friday, January 28, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
Dude, I'm surprised "Cinderella Story" didn't make it in your Top Ten. =O)
I like your list better than mine. I know I will regret putting "13 Going on 30" on my top ten. But, I really liked it.
I regret not seeing RAY and THE INCREDIBLES in 2004. I just saw FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS this week. Awesome movie! I could have included that on my top ten too.
The Passion, Eternal Sunshine, and Collateral were the three movies that moved me the most strongly this year, and provided something to think about after the lights came back on.
How come no recognition for the Passion, Lem? It was a powerfully beautiful movie, at the very least, and at the most it was a terrifyingly humbling spiritual experience. I'm thinking about watching it again in a couple weeks, since Ash Wednesday's right around the corner.
Three things:
0. Where is Hero? (Best movie of 2004 IMHO)
1. Where is The Village? (Come ON man.)
2. Sports movies are lame; they're all the same.
Sorry, Jon. I just didn't feel right putting The Passion of the Christ as one of my favorites because I ended up liking the other ones better. I think I just have too many objections to the movie in the long run. I admit, I really was moved by it all the first time...you know...seeing our Lord tortured and crucified and all, but then I saw it a second time with Dustin and then I saw a lot of things I had problems with it from a Christian standpoint.
Anyhow, it's just too much of a touchy topic that movie is, and I also felt wrong throwing it up in my top ten just because I'm a Christian. Don't get me wrong, it is an incredible story and filmed very well. There's just stuff...forget it...talk to me in person if you want to know. Too much. Just too much.
As for you, Phil, three more things:
3. Hero didn't actually come out last year. It only came out last year in Hollywood. It's actually been out for a couple years now. So poo on you.
4. I never saw The Village, and if I did, I doubt it would have been in my top ten because I heard it was pretty much the worst M. Night Shyamalan movie out of the four.
5. If you're complaining about sports movies being all the same, you can complain that The Village is pretty much all like the other Shyamalan movies. They're all the same. Everyone watches those for the mystery and the really cool, unpredictable twist at the end. Just because you don't appreciate movies portrayed in sports doesn't mean that they're lame. I enjoy watching sports, much more sports movies.
Touchy response, Lem.
I just saw the Aviator. It was boring and long and it came off as self-indulgent. I didn't enjoy it very much.
Ok, I'll forgive you, but just because you haven't seen the Village. Everyone is wrong, it's easily the best Shayamalan movie. Since you haven't seen it, I can't say too much about it apart from that it's very different from his other films. In some ways it's backwards from what you'd expect. You might as well criticise Hitchcock for making the same film over and over... Anyhow, it's far better than Signs; it's got a lot more.... content to it.
Good point about Hero though; I hadn't thought about that. Would you put it on the top 10 if it were from this year?
Sports movies.... yeah.... whatever. I guess it's an acquired taste. One of the prerequisites being that you'd like watching sports, which I just can't understand. Playing sports I can at least understand.
I want to buy Collateral.
It's a bit of a stretch to compare Mr. Sixth Sense (I'm not going to try to remember how to spell his last name) to Hitchcock.
And why do you think Hitchcock's films are repetitive? That never occurred to me before. He was always thinking up new tricks to build suspense and make the screen draw you in.
I never saw the Village, though. Why do you think you liked when the majority of people who saw it were unimpressed, Phil?
I don't think Hitchcock is repetitive, but I think he reuses similar situations and styles in the same way that Shayamalan does and gets criticised for.
I think most people who saw the Village and were disappointed were disappointed because they couldn't enjoy it for what it was and were constantly trying to 'figure it out' because of the expectations they got from seeing his previous movies. If you go in thinking you know what you're going to see, you probably won't enjoy the film as much as you could have, unless the film is in fact unsurprising. I think it was mostly flawed expectations that ruined it for many people.
For you, Phil, I'll find The Village and watch it to see if I think it's one of my favorites of 2004. Being a fan of Shyamalan and his work, I owe him that much. I'll let you know.
I saw The Village a week ago. It's not much of a thriller. It should have been advertised and marketed as a drama. The story evolved around deception and secrets. Also, there are political undertones to this movie. Some say that this movie is a reflection of our society. I was pretty disappointed, BUT I was intrigued by the characters. You be the judge.
You're right about Natalie Portman and "Garden State." After those Star Wars movies, I'd forgotten that she was actually a pretty good actress. It goes to show you that a GOOD SCRIPT and a GOOD DIRECTOR play a big part in an actor's performance.
Mac
Post a Comment