2004 IN FILM

My favourite films released in the U.S. in 2004. Top 30 & many honorables. Also a "Best in Film" ballot for select categories of 2004. Here's the countdown:








30.         SEED OF CHUCKY

.

29.
TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE

.

28.                 CODE 46

.

27.                 MIRACLE

.

26.    A TALE OF TWO SISTERS

.

25.  LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

.

24.              COLLATERAL

.

23.      SHAUN OF THE DEAD

.
      THE BLIND SWORDSMAN:

22.         ZATOICHI

.

21.       TOUCHING THE VOID

.

20.           THE TRACKER

.

19.                 OLDBOY

.

18.              MOOLAADÉ

.

17.     MILLION DOLLAR BABY

.
                  THE SADDEST
16.       MUSIC IN THE WORLD

.

15.              TARNATION

.

14.          CRIMSON GOLD

.

13.      TOKYO GODFATHERS

.

12.            SPIDER-MAN 2

.

11. LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF

.

10.        KILL BILL: VOL. 2

.

9.    GOODBYE, DRAGON INN

.

8.                   BIRTH

.
             THE LIFE AQUATIC 

7. WITH STEVE ZISSOU

.

6.                   DOGVILLE

.

5.  HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS

.

4.           THE INCREDIBLES

.

3.                     OASIS

.

2.            BEFORE SUNSET

.
            ETERNAL SUNSHINE 
1.      OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

*****

ALSO ESSENTIAL. NOT RANKED.
(Other titles from 2004 I loved that could've placed)

LIGHT IS CALLING

BAD EDUCATION

.

ABOUNA [OUR FATHER]

.

HELLBOY

.

BRIGHT LEAVES

.

VIBRATOR

.

 

UNDERTOW

.

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE

.

PRIMER

. 

RIDING GIANTS

.

BAADASSSSS!

. 

HARRY POTTER &
THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

. 
 

COWARDS BEND THE KNEE

. 

THE RETURN

. 

ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS

. 

VERA DRAKE

. 

BON VOYAGE

. 

ALMOST PEACEFUL

. 

SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, 

WINTER... AND SPRING

. 

A TALKING PICTURE

. 

SPRINGTIME IN A SMALL TOWN

 
.

ANCHORMAN: THE
LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY

[Director's "Unrated" cut]

.

TORQUE

.

BORN TO FIGHT

.

STRINGS

. 

THE DREAMERS

. 

QUILL: LIFE OF A GUIDE DOG

. 

DIG!

. 

RYAN

.

WASP

. 

TIME OF THE WOLF

.

THE AVIATOR

. 

SON FRERE

. 

BLIND SHAFT

. 

TWENTYNINE PALMS

. 

JU-ON: THE GRUDGE

.

BRIGHT FUTURE

. 

7:35 DE LA MAÑANA

. 

THE BROWN BUNNY

. 

I HEART HUCKABEES

. 

RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE

.

CELLULAR

. 

DOLLS

.

MAN ON FIRE

.

DEAD LEAVES

THE STORY
OF MARIE AND JULIEN

. 

THE KEYS TO THE HOUSE

. 

COME AND GO [VAI~E~VEM]

.

AILEEN: LIFE AND 
DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER

.

THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS

. 

 RAJA

. 

THE STORY

OF WEEPING CAMEL

.

MEAN CREEK

. 

WINTER DAYS

. 

GOZU

.  

SECRET THINGS

. 

HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY

. 

I'M NOT SCARED

. 

SIDEWAYS

.

TRIPLE AGENT

.

 INFERNAL AFFAIRS

. 

INFERNAL AFFAIRS II

LORENZO

. 

DOWNFALL

.
 

GOOD BYE, LENIN!

. 

MARIA FULL OF GRACE

. 

WHEN WILL I BE LOVED

. 

AUTISM IS A WORLD

. 

CUTIE HONEY

\

DOWN TO THE BONE

****

2004

TOP 30

1. ETERNAL SUNSHINE.. (Gondry)
2. BEFORE SUNSET (Linklater)
3. OASIS (Lee Chang-dong)
4. THE INCREDIBLES (Bird)
5. HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (Yimou)
6. DOGVILLE (Von Trier)
7. THE LIFE AQUATIC.. (Wes Anderson)
8. BIRTH (Glazer)
9. GOODBYE, DRAGON INN (Ming-liang Tsai)
10. KILL BILL vol.2 (Tarantino)
11. LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF (Thom Andersen)
12. SPIDER-MAN 2 (Raimi)
13. TOKYO GODFATHERS (Satoshi Kon)
14. CRIMSON GOLD (Panahi)
15. TARNATION (Caouette)
16. SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD (Maddin)
17. MILLION DOLLAR BABY (Eastwood)
18. MOOLAADE (Sembene)
19. OLDBOY (Chan-wook)
20. THE TRACKER (de Reef)
21. TOUCHING THE VOID (Macdonald)
22. BLIND SWORDSMAN: ZATOICHI (Kitano)
23. SHAUN OF THE DEAD (Edgar Wright)
24. COLLATERAL (Michael Mann)
25. LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE (Ratanaruang)
26. TALE OF TWO SISTERS (Jee-woon)
27. MIRACLE (O'Connor)
28. CODE 46 (Winterbottom)
29. TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (Parker)
30. SEED OF CHUCKY (Mancini)

RUNNER-UP:

LIGHT IS CALLING (Morrison), BAD EDUCATION (Almodovar), ABOUNA (Haroun), HELLBOY (Guillermo del Toro), BRIGHT LEAVES (McElwee), VIBRATOR (Ryuichi Hiroki), UNDERTOW (D.Gordon Green), MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (Demme), PRIMER (Carruth), RIDING GIANTS (Peralta), BAADASSSSS! (Mario Van Peebles), PRISONER OF AZKABAN (Cuarón), COWARDS BEND THE KNEE (Maddin), THE RETURN (Zvyaginstev), ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS (Proenneke), VERA DRAKE (Leigh), BON VOYAGE (Rappeneau), ALMOST PEACEFUL (Deville), SPRING SUMMER FALL WINTER & SPRING (Kim Ki-duck), A TALKING PICTURE (de Oliveira), SPRINGTIME IN A SMALL TOWN (Zhuangzhuang), ANCHORMAN (McKay), TORQUE (J.Kahn), BORN TO FIGHT (Rittikrai), STRINGS (Klarlund), THE DREAMERS (Burtolucci), QUILL: LIFE OF A GUIDE DOG (Yôichi Sai), DIG! (Timoner), RYAN (Landreth), WASP (Andrea Arnold), TIME OF THE WOLF (Haneke), THE AVIATOR (Scorsese), SON FRERE (Chéreau), BLIND SHAFT (Yang Li), TWENTYNINE PALMS (Dumont), JU-ON (Takashi Shimizu), BRIGHT FUTURE (Kiyoshi Kurosawa), 7:35 DE LA MANANA (Vigalando), THE BROWN BUNNY (Gallo), I HEART HUCKABEES (O. Russell), RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE (Witt), CELLULAR (Ellis), DOLLS (Kitano), MAN ON FIRE (Tony Scott), DEAD LEAVES (Hiroyuki Imaishi), STORY OF MARIE & JULIEN (Rivette), KEYS TO THE HOUSE (Amelio), COME & GO (Monteiro), AILEEN: LIFE & DEATH OF SERIAL KILLER (Broomfield), FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS (Von Trier), RAJA (Doillon), STORY OF WEEPING CAMEL (Davaa/Falorni), MEAN CREEK (Estes), WINTER DAYS (lots of dudes), GOZU (Miike),  SECRET THINGS (Brisseau), HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY (J.W. Walter), I'M NOT SCARED (Salvatore), SIDEWAYS (Payne), TRIPLE AGENT (Rohmer), INFERNAL AFFAIRS (Wai-keung Lau), INFERNAL AFFAIRS II (Wai-keung Lau), LORENZO (M.Gabriel), DOWNFALL (Hirschbiegel), GOOD BYE LENIN! (Becker), MARIA FULL OF GRACE (Marston), WHEN WILL I BE LOVED (Toback), AUTISM IS A WORLD: LIVE ACTION (Sue Rubin), CUTIE HONEY (Hideaki Anno), DOWN TO THE BONE (Granik)