2004 - A Reflection

[Quorthon]

2004 gave us an unprecedented amount of crap driveled out of Hollywood's gaping maw in the form of PG-13 films. Awful awful awful.

Quorthon's Picks:

--Shaun of the Dead
--Dawn of the Dead
--Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
--Passion of the Christ (and I'm an atheist! Only lacked real character development)
--Kill Bill Vol. 2
--Exorcist: The Beginning
--Seed of Chucky
--The Machinist
--Troy (not as good as Gladiator or Braveheart, but seriously, what ever could be??)
--Club Dread
--Secret Window
--The Village (M. Night should be the only person allowed to make a PG-13 thriller, only he seems to be able to pull it off well.)

Biggest Disappointments:
--AVP (didn't even bother seeing it, PG-13)
--Saw

Quorthon left off a lot that he simply didn't have any expectations of, like Godsend, which was mildly uninspired.

[Pulpmariachi]

Though it's almost two months late, here's my favorites for 2004:

The Incredibles
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Kill Bill Volume 2
Collateral
The Aviator
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (which had my favorite scene of 2004: Sue Jorge plays Space Oddity in Portugese while pirates slowly approach)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Sideways
Shaun of the Dead

And my least favorites were stuff like.
Envy
Catwoman
50 First Dates (I was really angered that the movie also gave away The Sixth Sense ending, and though I've seen that movie dozens of times, it still pissed me off).
Shark Tale
The Passion of the Christ
Napolean Dynamite
The Village

[ZapRowsdower]

After much deliberation, I altered my list again.

1. As much as I loved Napoleon Dynamite, there are 11 movies I loved more. It is no longer on my top 10 for the year.

2. I don't know how I missed this, but Hotel Rwanda is my second favorite movie of the year. It would have been my first if not for the Passion.

3. I saw Million Dollar Baby a second time tonight, and decided it belongs on my top 10. This also helped in my decision to remove Napoleon Dynamite from my top 10.

4. I can't believe I gave Ray a mere 9.5. I loved that movie. So I gave it a 10, and moved it one rank higher than Napoleon Dynamite. Not quite on my top 10, but close enough.

5. Garden State somehow dropped off my top 10. That was a mistake on my part; the best indy of the year deserves a spot on my top 10.

[Phoenix]

Saw Finding Neverland last night, and man no one warned me it was going to be so emotional. If I was immune to small children crying and pure sweetness I could have held the tears in - but I'm a HUGE softie when it comes to movies like this. Haven't seen Million Dollar Baby yet, but for right now this is my choice for Oscar. Doubt it will win but I still am glad it was nominated.

Plus I agree with Smitty, Johnny Depp is FANTASTIC (as usual!).

[ZapRowsdower]

Merchant of Venice, The (December 31st, 2004)

What do you get when you place Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, and Joseph Fiennes in a controversial Shakespearian drama? If I have to tell you, you shouldn't be here.

10/10

[Bartwald]

Whoa, Smitty - I was reading many reviews of Merchant and they all described it as "average" or "kind of fun" at best; but that does not necessarily mean you are wrong, of course. Maybe I'll watch it after all.

[ZapRowsdower]

Really? Its rating on Rotten Tomatoes is pretty high, as is its IMDb rating...

but honestly, we all know the story, some of us may have even memorized the entire play... but the performers make it work.

[frankenjohn]

I'd love to see this, considering i'm like "John Bard."

[ZapRowsdower]

Bride & Prejudice

A successful mixture of Hollywood and Bollywood. This was a highly entertaining romantic comedy. Martin Henderson was a poor choice for the lead. He is the most generic actor out there today. Who is he? He was in the Ring. You probably still don't remember him. He was also in Torque... never mind, I KNOW you didn't see that. Very unmemorable performance by the lead, but the rest of the cast was great. I'd say it's a good satire of Indian movies.

8.5/10

[LivingDeadGirl]

Ladder 49 - 9/10

Finally watched this today & LOVED it....very emotional & real & heartfelt. Great performances by Travolta & Jaoquin Phoenix as always. And of course it made me cry... I'll most def. have to add this to my meager dvd collection.

[ZapRowsdower]

Untergang, Der (Downfall)

All I can say is "wow". Bruno Ganz was excellent. EXCELLENT. It is a very exhausting movie. Don't watch this in one sitting, it is very difficult. Not that it's a bad movie, but I think I deserved an intermission. Excellent movie though, one of the best movies of 2004. For this NOT to win the Oscar for best foreign film, the Sea Inside must have really been something.

10/10