Top 10 Films of 2004

by Brian Eggert
10/12/2007

Academy Award upsets followed 2004’s movie year, as Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby beat out Scorsese’s The Aviator. After losing for Best Director on classics like Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and The Age of Innocence, it’s hard to imagine that The Aviator wouldn’t earn Scorsese the much-deserved Oscar. Today, not much is said about Eastwood’s picture, although The Aviator is still discussed as timeless moviemaking—and will likely continue to be discussed for years to come. Scorsese’s loss goes down in history as one of Oscar’s greatest screw-ups, right up there with Citizen Kane losing to How Green was My Valley.

Granted, with Scorsese’s eventual win on The Departed, over Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima coincidentally enough, it’s hard to complain that he didn’t get one two years earlier. The Aviator was my personal favorite of that year—a year filled with numerous cult classics. Several of the movies listed below were love-them-or-hate-them, which as you can see, I loved. It was an eccentric year in cinema, where even the Harry Potter film distinguished itself from tradition. Almost every film is different for its filmmaker; each director or writer tries something that they’ve never done before, and it’s a joy to see fine talent do new things.

10. I Heart Huckabees

David O. Russell’s much maligned comedy about nothingness, connectedness, disconnection, and existentialism doesn’t care if you like it, doesn’t mind if you don’t get it, and may not even want you to enjoy it. It’s in its own little world: a weird, hilarious, screwball comedy plane where its characters endlessly argue in brilliantly written dialogue supported by surreal imagery. With his impressively eclectic and talented cast, Russell’s totalitarian directing style clashed with actors’ egos, specifically Lilly Tomlin’s (the results of which can be found on YouTube). But for all his off-screen downfalls, Russell’s work on Flirting with Disaster and Three Kings has made him one of the most inventive modern directors around. He always seems to gather impressive rosters as well; here we have Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Naomi Watts, Dustin Hoffman, Mark Wahlberg, and the disgruntled actress Tomlin to entertain us with their oddities.

9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This film, the best of the Harry Potter franchise, speaks volumes for visionary director Alfonso Cuarón, whose style is visible in every scene. Initiating the dark future for Potter, we also meet fascinating characters, both tormented and lovable, through performances given by Britain’s best. Characters are no longer romantic, even though J.K. Rowling’s magical atmosphere is, never dissipating from her world when depicted on film. Rowling originally wanted Terry Gilliam (Brazil, 12 Monkeys) to make the first Harry Potter film, but the studio decided to go with a more family friendly director. Cuarón and Gilliam’s styles are much alike. Had Gilliam been chosen, perhaps all the Potter movies would have the same wonderful blend of macabre humor, active visuals, and dark villains that make this film’s distinct personality fully realized by Cuarón. Read the review HERE 

8. Million Dollar Baby

Unsuspecting viewers were surprised with the turns in Clint Eastwood’s pensive boxing film, which ultimately evolves into much more than just a boxing film (as most great boxing movies do; see Raging Bull or Gentleman Jim). Its secrets were widely kept by audiences and its effect was undeniable. I myself was shocked by Hilary Swank’s performance. She’s an actress of potentially great skill but has had a career filled with duds, and then somehow earned two Oscars. By no means is she one of the best actresses working today; she’s just gotten lucky… twice. Clint Eastwood has become an artist of gentle, subtle storytelling. Profundity screaming in silence through every scene, Eastwood’s calm has resonated through films like Unforgiven, Mystic River, and Letters from Iwo Jima. Best Picture and unfortunately Best Director at the Academy Awards, the film’s appeal is incontestable. Part of that, I believe, is Eastwood’s Bergman-esque ability to make silence thoughtful.

7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Charlie Kauffman is… unique. His stories are birthed from his own strange point of view. Case in point, when asked to adapt The Orchid Thief into a screenplay, he wrote his script about his own troubles in adapting that book, calling the movie Adaptation. Eternal Sunshine, as the lazy movie trailer calls it, is directed by Michel Gondry, who keeps Kauffman’s natural creative spirit while enhancing the romantic sensibility. The result had been called one of the most original stories in years (though Philip K. Dick readers might claim otherwise). Jim Carrey plays a version of Kauffman, with Kate Winslet as his girlfriend; the two obviously love each other but have hit a rough spot. A company offering to erase unwanted memories becomes the perfect out for not addressing their problems and just walking away pain-free. This high concept, part romantic comedy, part science fiction, is Kauffman’s most emotionally satisfying movie.

6. Spider-Man 2

Blockbuster entertainment at its best, this masterpiece comes very close to being the best superhero movie ever made (that honor goes to Batman Begins). Director Sam Raimi improves on the first insanely successful Spider-Man film, keeping with the series’ concentration on Peter Parker’s balancing act between his personal life and his hero alter ego. The villain keeps true to the comics, allowing nostalgia to play a part in this movie, whereas with the first film, Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin costume looked more like an astronaut's. Raimi has more freedom to apply camera tricks he used way back on The Evil Dead movies, particularly in the Dr. Octopus “awakening” scene, since he proved himself financially and creatively on the first film. Perfectly cast, the players give life to the series, as though the comic books literally came to life—just as the comic book-style writing and direction embrace cinematic needs while also remaining, in a way, cartoonish. Read the review HERE

5. Shaun of the Dead

How could a spoof movie make it into the Top 10 of 2004? Because Edgar Wright’s film isn’t a spoof flick, but rather a cinematically aware homage to classic zombie movies, directed with full embrace of the subgenre’s tropes, all the while making them just as edgy and credible as the source material. Jokes aren’t underlined with cheeky, referential blatancy; they’re imbedded into the story—a hilarious romantic comedy stricken bloody by a zombie infestation. British actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star as slackers caught in their routine, living as figurative zombies, going to work, to the pub, playing video games, and obsessing over their possessions. British humor is laced in every scene, as our heroes are forced to break their sluggish routine due to an outbreak of undead. The two shine as pseudo-heroes, hilariously using anything ranging from a cricket bat to old vinyls to protect themselves. This film works as both comedy and horror, making you laugh one moment and jump in fear the next. An instant comedy and cult classic, it jump-started the careers of Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright here in the states with its innovative swansong to archetypal horror films like Dawn of the Dead (1978), The Evil Dead, and 28 Days Later.

4. Kill Bill Vol. 2

Though perhaps not the vision Quentin Tarantino originally perceived, the two Kill Bill films have been nothing less than astonishing. His original concept for The Bride was a 3-hour samurai-esque revenge flick; however, marketing guru’s at Miramax (Bob and Harvey Weinstein) went for profit, splitting the two films into two shorter releases. The director has received guff for being unoriginal, as his films heavily draw from 1960s and 1970s cinema, so much so that they can be seen as postmodern love letters to that era of rebellious film. And yet no one who has seen a Tarantino film can say they’ve seen anything like it before (perhaps after, as he has many imitators, but never before). This second part is less satisfying than the first from a standpoint of simple, actionized entertainment. Yet, it affects the viewer on a surprising emotional level, particularly when we meet The Bride’s daughter. Tarantino’s sense of humor and grandiose dialogue fill each screen moment, just as his pronounced dramatic sensibilities pop up in unexpected moments. While yes, Tarantino’s movies are derivative, no one recycles quite like him.

3. Spartan

David Mamet’s talent for confident, harsh, iconic, and staccato-styled dialogue has earned him a Pulitzer Prize and critical recognition for both his stage and film work. Actors do not necessarily act when performing his words; they speak what he writes, either correctly or not. And as Mamet often directs his own screenplays, more often than not performers properly deliver. Spartan shows Mamet’s ability to create intellectual entertainment without special effects or elaborate stunts—simple storytelling is his best and only cohort. In this enigmatic kidnapping narrative, every line of Mamet’s dialogue has double meanings, ones unrealized as such until the plot has time to move forward. Val Kilmer plays Mamet’s severe agent who is called in when “she” is kidnapped. Not until well into the film do we discover who “she” is, and this is why Kilmer’s agent character is assigned. We enter into Mamet’s wonderfully conceived lone-wolf logic created for the character, as Kilmer’s special agent stalks down and adapts through Mamet’s labyrinthine story. So while curtains are repeatedly pulled back to show room after room of story and character developments, Kilmer’s resolute persona makes the narrative seem mainline.

2. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Working with writer-director Noah Baumbach, filmmaker Wes Anderson co-wrote and directed this colorful dramedy on par with his own Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. With his dark sense of dry, straight-faced humor, Anderson gives us another melancholy masterpiece, one that may require multiple viewings to appreciate (critics were, for the majority, turned off by its unapologetic disavowal of normalcy). The humor isn’t as apparent as Rushmore’s, or as emotionally satisfying as The Royal Tenenbaums’, but everything about this production told me Anderson was at his best. This film centers on a Jacques Cousteau-type of undersea explorer and filmmaker, Steve Zissou (Bill Murray, in another Anderson-induced role fastened with woeful energy). Anderson’s picture revels in its quirks, which never cease to be vibrant or emotive. Ocean creatures are represented by stop-motion animation and the music is comprised of acoustic versions of early David Bowie classics. Every detail is meticulously conceived, and yet it all seems so random. As possibly the greatest modern comedic filmmaker of his time, Anderson’s idiosyncrasies create the illusion of minimalism. But like any great minimalist filmmaker, creating subtlety is actually the more painstaking process—the sign of a true auteur.

1. The Aviator

As the greatest living director alongside Ingmar Bergman, Martin Scorsese constantly redefines himself. He’s always been known as rebellious and as a risk taker. His reputation for gangster pictures and his long partnership with actor Robert DeNiro precedes him. While he’s often unfortunately stereotyped as a director obsessed with violence, he’s made unimaginably moving pictures such as The Age of Innocence, or comedies like After Hours and King of Comedy. His newfound partnership with Leonardo DiCaprio has again emerged as an incomparable duo, particularly now that The Departed is on the filmographies of both. But it was with The Aviator that Scorsese proved himself both commercially and artistically successful after years of accomplishment only in the latter field; furthermore, he turned DiCaprio into a real actor. Whereas before DiCaprio was best known for his pretty face, here we see how truly versatile he can be, playing the disturbed and obsessive icon Howard Hughes with unrivaled skill (in a performance that deserved an Oscar). Scorsese offers his own love of history, particularly film history, to Hughes’ spree of women attractions and Hollywood favorites. Katherine Hepburn is played with uncanny likeness by Cate Blanchett, who won an Oscar for her performance. Kate Beckinsale gives Ava Gardner appropriate va-va-voom; Alan Alda slithers beautifully as Senator Ralph Brewster, Hughes’ enemy and competition; and there’s even a notable bit cameo by Jude Law playing Errol Flynn with fitting boisterousness. Scenes in Hollywood’s Golden Age, a favorite era of Scorsese’s (and of mine), are enhanced through seamless CGI as are Hughes’ incredible flight sequences. This is a film about awe, about how a misunderstood American legend operated under his own limitations—which in some cases were as limitless as the sky, and in others were as confined as a small room. This is a film both brilliant and entertaining on every level, further instilling Scorsese’s place in film history as one of the best. 

Honorable mentions:
BAADASSSSS! , Before Sunset, The Bourne Supremacy, Collateral, Dawn of the Dead, Fahrenheit 9/11, Finding Neverland, Hellboy, Ocean’s Twelve, and Sideways