Movies in 2004 I loved, liked, and hated
This list was formulated before the last-second crush of movies (12/17) so it may be challenged by new releases…
Top Ten who have a chance at award recognition (in no order)
De-Lovely - beautiful, moving, innovative, and under my skin (and on my video shelf)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - beautiful, moving, innovative, and under my skin (and on my video shelf)
Garden State - intimate, funny, touching, and personal
Incredibles - adventure with maturity, humor with heart, and whiz-bang everywhere
Kinsey - timely and important, fantastically acted
Sideways - everything indie filmmaking should be
Finding Neverland - mythic and tender, takes the stink off the phrase “feel good.”
Ray - passionate and moving, interesting and inspiring
Super Size Me - hilarious and scary, educational and fun
Touching the Void - harrowing, fascinating, terrifying, amazing
Top Ten 1/2 Movies which brought me real joy in filmgoing but will go unlauded
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban - dark and exciting and brings this series to life in all new ways
13 Going on 30 - joy in a box. Funny, winsome, girl power meets 80’s nostalgia and the child within
Wimbledon - sweet, funny, and creatively shot
Saved - everything indie filmmaking should be except recognized by the industry
Stage Beauty - witty, clever script with just the right casting
Shaun of the Dead - funny and exciting and come on, zombies!
The Terminal - Tom Hanks’ eyes make me cry
Open Water - simple, nightmarishly real
Shall We Dance - the simple rapture of finding oneself
Ladykillers - offbeat character study with supreme payoffs
Mean Girls (OK I didn’t get to review this one, I saw it on video, but what a pleasure!)
Bottom Ten
Shrek 2 and Shark Tale - don’t think medium, think story! Thinly veiled commercial ploys with no real meat in them at all
Closer - mean spirited, left a bad taste in my mouth for more than a week
Kill Bill Vol 2 - dull and overdramatic, left a bad taste in my mouth for more than four months
Passion of the Christ - unbearable and horrifying, left permanent bad taste in my mouth
50 First Dates - you can never go home again
Sleepover - Why corporations should not make movies
Troy - Why corporations should not make movies
Whole Ten Yards - like Legally Blonde 2, so wretched it even taints the wonderful first film
Primer - it takes more than chutzpah to make a movie
