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January 23, 2005
2000 and Four Pennies.
So even though we're only a few weeks in, I've already seen some pretty decent flicks in 2005. I saw "Kinsey" and "Closer" in theaters and "My Life Without Me," "We Don't Live Here Anymore" and "Napoleon Dynamite" on DVD.
2004 though, was absolutely insane. I was thinking I probably saw like 15 or 20 movies. Not so much. I counted out my ticket stubs and racked my brain and my best guess puts me at 33 flicks in theaters last year. Crazy. 37 trips to the theaters total (Incredibles, Super Size Me, Fahrenheit 9/11 and ESOTSM all twice). Madness. So, with Joe Wrenn as my inspiration, I'm gonna play film critic, and list my top ten films of the year.
Now bear in mind I don't claim to have seen every flick underneath the stars in 2004. I never got around to seeing that "Sideways" flick. Or "Million Dollar Baby" and any number of other critically acclaimed films. I did see "The Aviator" and "Hero" though, and I didn't see what all the fuss was about.
Point is, 2004 is in the books, and this is gonna be Pat's 2004 list. So it's not the be all and end all of '04, it's just what I happened to catch in theaters in 2004. Which explains the abundance dumb comedies and the lack of foreign films. Anyway, top ten... counting down. In reverse. That was probably redundant.
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#10 - The Bourne Supremacy
Basically Matt Damon being badass for two hours with some Brian Cox thrown in for good measure. Oh, and like half the movie takes place in Berlin. Always nice. |
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#9 - Supersize Me
More entertaining, and in some ways more effective than "Fahrenheit 9/11" at pushing its message, Morgan Spurlock is a pretty solid filmmaker. At least, this time. We'll see if he has the legs that Michael Moore does. And I don't mean legs literally. He's in pretty good shape. Especially considering the circumstances. |
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#8 - Kill Bill: Volume 2
Overall better than the first half, not as action-oriented, but well, David Carradine is the man. So there you go. I'm fine shelling out for two separate tickets, and I'm sure Miramax made more money as a result, but from an awards perspective, I think it would have done well to be one big Tarantino epic. Because as it stands, I don't think it's getting any awards. But it should. |
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#7 - Shaun of the Dead
Rivaling "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" for that coveted spot in my brain as "best British comedy of all time." Not totally sure if it's better, I'll have to think about it some more. I'm sorry Shaun. No, I'm sorry Shaun. |
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#6 - Big Fish
Technically a 2003 release, but I saw it in 2004, so goddamnit, it's a 2004 movie. Point is, Tim Burton had a little trouble there for a little while, with the whole PotA remake, but this puts him back in the right direction. I might add that I sat in the third or fourth row of a huge theater when I saw this, and that made an already surreal movie even moreso. |
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#5 - Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
Neil Patrick Harris. Oh, and getting married to a bag of pot. That is all. |
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#4 - Garden State
It's odd, because people who live in Vermont fucking love it there, but it sucks. New Jersey people I think hate it there, but in my experiences, it's a pretty awesome state. They cram a lot in a little space. Zach Braff throws a lot of random stuff out there, and most of it sticks. Oh, and Natalie Portman is always a good thing. My favorite bit, is its IMDB page lists the languages as English and Klingon. Awesome. |
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#3 - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Easily Wes Anderson's most bizarre movie yet. Also probably his best cast yet, if only for the Goldblum factor and the topless chick. Numerous reviewers have said that the plot takes a backseat role to quirkiness. I might agree with that, but I also think that's not neccessarily a bad thing. |
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#2 - Team America: World Police
True story, the first time I saw the trailer for this, I actually cried. Like a little girlie girl. I was at work, and I downloaded it, and since I couldn't laugh outloud, I kept it in and got all teary eyed. So beautiful. In the theater I was allowed to laugh. And I did. Really hard. A lot. Awesome soundtrack, too. |
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#1 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
If I made a 2003 list, I'm sure "Adaptation" would have been at the top. But this is probably even higher than "Adaptation" on the all-time Pat List. The writing, the cinematography, the score, the cast (I love David Cross), the fact that Michel Gondry is a crazy French dude... everything... it all comes together quite beautifully. I saw it twice in theaters and that wasn't nearly enough. I've also seen it a few times on DVD now, and it's still not enough. Paaaaatrick. |
Posted by pat at January 23, 2005 08:56 PM