Film Buff Jason Ihle's "The Best of 2004"
What follows is the year 2004 in movies from Along Came Polly to The Assassination of Richard Nixon. Although, technically, I did see Intermission and About Adam last year while in Europe.
I've seen 75 movies released in the US in 2004 (67 in theaters) and counting. I still have a rather extensive list of movies I'd like to see, most notably The Sea Inside, Tarnation and Before Sunset, but I'm ready to make the call on my top ten. My top two films are the two duking it out for the big critics awards across the country. Out of 102 Top Ten lists counted by moviecitynews.com, Sideways was mentioned 62 times and Million Dollar Baby has 45. The wannabe film critic speaks:
1. Sideways - Directed by Alexander Payne. Written by Payne and Jim Taylor. Simply one of the most easily likable films I've seen in a long time. Very funny with great doses of true humanity. Payne has made two films in the past that I thoroughly enjoyed (Election and About Schmidt) and this one surpasses both of those. Paul Giamatti has been a little-known, but great actor for years and here he may finally get the recognition he deserves. Also contains great performances from Thomas Haden Church (heretofore known only for a supporting role on NBC's "Wings") and Virginia Madsen (career highlight: Candyman).
2. Million Dollar Baby - Directed by Clint Eastwood. Written by Paul Haggis. I thought Eastwood should have stopped making movies after Unforgiven. I believed it to be the very top of what he was capable of accomplishing and it seemed a fitting note on which to retire. Then he struck with last year's Mystic River and then this film. Million Dollar Baby is so perfect in nearly every imaginable way. Eastwood hits all the notes pitch-perfect when it comes to storytelling, acting, directing - and so do Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank.
3. Vera Drake - Written and directed by Mike Leigh. This might be Mike Leigh's best film. It's about an abortionist in post-WWII England who doesn't see herself as such, but rather as a person who helps out young girls in trouble. Leigh makes the right choice in presenting Vera Drake as just such a kind soul and then shows us the breakdown she goes through when she is arrested and made to realize that she's been breaking the law. A heartbreaking story. Imelda Staunton should win the Best Actress Oscar for this. Phil Davis as her husband is also noteworthy.
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Directed by Michel Gondry. Written by Charlie Kaufmann. Yet another tale from the odd side from the deranged mind of Charlie Kaufmann. Jim Carrey plays a man who has his memories altered to forget about the pain of a devastating relationship with a woman played by Kate Winslet, who has already gone through the memory erasure process. I found it wildly touching and very true to life. Doesn't everyone want to be rid of the pain that comes with a bad breakup-But wouldn't erasing the bad memories also require erasing the good. Therein lies the heart of the film.
5. The Aviator - Directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by John Logan. Scorsese has made much better films. It's truly unfortunate that he did not win an Oscar for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or Goodfellas, but he will win it as a consolation prize for this film. It may not be quintessential Scorsese, but it's quite good with a dynamo performance from Leonardo DiCaprio the likes of which we've not seen since What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Cate Blanchett does a dead-on impersonation of Katharine Hepburn, but rather unfortunately it's mostly a surface role.
6. Maria Full of Grace - Written and directed by Joshua Marston. Here is a wonderfully and simply told tale of a young Colombian woman in a dead-end life who becomes a drug mule. She smuggles some 70 heroin pellets into NY in order to make a better life for herself. Catalina Sandino Moreno gives one of the year's most perfect performances.
7. Kill Bill Volume 2 - Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. I'm going to parrot Roger Ebert when I say that not only is this second installment better than the first, but it makes the first part better by completing the story and giving so much more depth to both Bill (David Carradine) and The Bride (Uma Thurman). I was lukewarm on Volume 1. After seeing the whole thing I recognize exactly where Tarantino was taking us. The two films really need to be spliced back together as one film to be great. As I understand it there will be a DVD version released as such. Carradine and Thurman are great.
8. Hero - Directed by Yimou Zhang. Written by Zhang, Feng Li and Bin Wang. Borrowing heavily from the martial arts style used in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the narrative style of Kurosawa's Rashomon, here is an absolutely beautiful looking film supported by a great story. Many critics have listed Zhang's latest film, "House of Flying Daggers," among the best of the year. I found it beautiful, to be certain (even if this particular visual style is growing stale), but without a story that impacted me in the same way.
9. Hotel Rwanda - directed by Terry George. Written by George and Keir Pearson. In 1994 Genocide was occurring in Rwanda and the world refused to wake up and take notice. To this day, few people have any clue what went on there (in addition to what goes on today in Congo and Sudan). This film tells the true story of a manager of a 5-star hotel who used his influence and ability to bribe in order to save more than 1000 refugees from certain death. He put them all up in his hotel and tried desperately to help even after the UN and all foreign nationals had fled. Don Cheadle has been an actor of surprising range and someone to watch since Devil in a Blue Dress. Here he gives another in a series of great performances.
10. Finding Neverland - directed by Marc Forster. Written by David Magee. With the potential for real sap and sweeping melodrama, Forster keeps this story very true, allowing the story to speak for itself. It has a score that (unlike so many Hollywood scores) refuses to cue emotions. Johnny Depp plays author J.M. Barrie as he realizes the story of Peter Pan by befriending a widow and her four young sons. Freddie Highmore gives the best child performance of the year, achieving emotional heights that most adult actors have never even sniffed. Johnny Depp continues to surprise me year after year. Don't be taken in by all the talk of Kate Winslet's performance in this. She has nothing to do and it's nothing special, but check her out in Eternal Sunshine.
Here is a list of films it's worth pointing out that I really admired or
enjoyed or both in 2004:
Baadasssss! by Mario Van Peebles
Bad Education by Pedro Almodovar
Coffee and Cigarettes by Jim Jarmusch
Collateral by Michael Mann
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story by Rawson Marshall Thurber
Garden State by Zach Braff
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Alfonso Cuaron
I Heart Huckabees by David O. Russell
In Good Company by Paul Weitz
The Incredibles by Brad Bird
Kinsey by Bill Condon
Ladder 49 by Jay Russell
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events by Brad Silberling
The Motorcycle Diaries by Walter Salles
Napoleon Dynamite by Jared Hess
Ray by Taylor Hackford
Spider Man 2 by Sam Raimi
Stage Beauty by Richard Eyre
In addition to the performances I noted in the top ten, here are some
others I thought were outstanding (can you tell I have an odd appreciation
for acting?):
Jamie Foxx in Ray - mesmerizing.
Jamie Foxx in Collateral - carries the film and overshadows Tom Cruise's
flashier role.
John Travolta in Ladder 49 - probably the best material he's been given in
ten years.
Meryl Streep in The Manchurian Candidate - solid as always.
Laura Linney in Kinsey
Peter Sarsgaard in Kinsey - may finally get some real recognition.
Topher Grace and Dennis Quaid in In Good Company - great chemistry.
Jeff Bridges in The Door in the Floor
Ben Stiller in Dodgeball - no one else could have played this part.
Cate Blanchett in Coffee and Cigarettes - plays herself and her fictional
cousin in the same scene together. Great stuff.
Clive Owen in Closer - for me the only standout performance in the film.
This guy should be the next James Bond.
Kevin Bacon in the Woodsman - very mature and internal performance.
Laura Dern in We Don't Live Here Anymore - she elevated the movie.
Annette Bening in Being Julia - mediocre film, great scenery chewing diva
performance.
Sean Penn in The Assassination of Richard Nixon - this guy can act the
pants off anyone.
Billy Bob Thornton in The Alamo - one of the film's few saving graces.
Peter O'Toole in Troy - the film's only saving grace.
Irma P. Hall in The Ladykillers - a bit of a caricature, but she was
really wonderful.
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Jason Ihle
NY