Article
The Best of 2004
Written by Eric, Patrick, Scott
First Posted: January 2nd, 2005
Shrek 2 was the biggest hit of the year.
Scott:
There have been some critics that have complained about 2004 being a weak year for movies. I'm forced to disagree. Out of all the movies I saw that were released this past year, I would rate more than thirty of them as excellent and many more that were pretty good. And the quality movies ranged the full spectrum from low-budget films out of Indiewood to the full-blown Hollywood spectacles.
In an election year, especially during an election year when the country is at war, it's important to laugh and 2004 gave us plenty of reasons to laugh. From the boys that gave us South Park came one of the year’s funniest films and Hollywood’s best comments on the current international crisis; Team America: World Police. England gave us one of my favorite movies of the year, the zombie-comedy Shaun of the Dead, creating not only a hysterical comedy, but fully developed characters.
Normally, sequels aren’t something to look forward to, but 2004 proved that sequels don’t have to be throwaway moneymakers. Spider-man 2, The Bourne Supremacy, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban all improved upon their predecessors. Showing that when care and attention is paid, a sequel can actually be a good thing.
And when it came time for drama, 2004 provided that as well. My pick for the year's best movie, The Aviator, is the epitome of what big budget Hollywood can produce. Filled with big stars and loaded with excess, it still brings the story down to the level of one very extraordinary man. No less extraordinary, but on a much smaller budget, is Hotel Rwanda. This is a movie about a true hero and features one of the great performances of the year from its star, Don Cheadle. And lastly, near the end of the year came a knockout performance from Clint Eastwood in his self-directed Million Dollar Baby.
And lest I forget, way back at the beginning of 2004, came three terrific films worth remembering. Tarintino finally killed Bill in the sequel to last year's hit. Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey learned about The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Mel Gibson pissed off a bunch of the liberal elite by proving that people will pay money to see a movie about Jesus Christ, and although hardly anyone on the right or the left stopped to look at it as a movie, if they had, they might have noticed that The Passion was actually a good one.
Yes, there were plenty of good movies released in 2004, and you didn't have to look sideways to find them.
Patrick:
I was a bit less enamored of 2004's cinematic offerings than Scott. Over the last 12 months I saw only 27 new releases on the big screen and only a handful of them are movies worth remembering.
Kill Bill: Vol 2 was the first truly great movie I saw in 2004. Tarantino actually improved on Vol 1 with sparser action and more character development. The 3rd Harry Potter movie was by far the best yet. Too bad they've changed directors for the next one.
The best performances I saw this year belong to Annette Bening and Jamie Foxx. She was truly amazing in Being Julia a diva part if ever there was one. Jamie Foxx was in 2 of the years best movies. First opposite hitman Tom Cruise in Collateral and then doing a brilliant impersonation of Ray Charles. He's the breakout star of the year.
In my opinion it was the comedies that were the best in 2004.
Last spring came The Saddest Music in the World, not only the funniest movie of the year but also one of the most truly original and creative. In the summer we got Napoleon Dynamite, the best teen comedy to come along in years - refreshing and quirky - with funny characters.
Finally, the year ended with yet another laughfest, Meet the Fockers. Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman are simply hilarious as Roz and Bernie Focker. They are a classic comedy duo. Dustin is sillier than he has ever been and Barbra is more relaxed and funny than she has been in decades.
Eric:
Children's movies had a great year. There was Spiderman 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Lemony Snickets: A Series of Unfortunate Events for the older kids. The younger ones had The Polar Express, Shrek 2, SpongeBob: The Movie and my personal favorite, The Incredibles. What makes most of these movies good is that, with the exception of SpongeBob and Lemony Snickets, they can all be enjoyed by adults as much as children.