2004 Film List (1 Viewer)

[Edwin Pereyra]

Joe Johnston's Hidalgo

~Edwin

 

[Eman_Ramos]

Two months into the year, and I'm finally able to update my list with a movie released this year.

The Passion of the Christ

One of the most powerful movies I've seen. I give it the rare *****/***** rating. Highest recommendation.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

Updated my list with Broken Lizard's Club Dread. A funny film which has it's fault, but not is good as the group's last film (Super Troopers). I'll go see The Passion of the Christ when the crowds die down. I don't have anything to see for the next two weeks.

And Seth, I'm a huge fan of Phillip's Road Trip and Old School (two huge guilty pleasures of mine). I was hoping for the same type of humor with Starsky and Hutch, but I guess that wasn't happening with the PG-13 rating. Oh well, maybe if it got an R, it could've been funnier. I don't know.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Updated with Millennium Mambo ( :star::star::star; ); also added a link to the blog's review of Robot Stories ( :star::star::star: ) and opted against including Space Patrol - Back To The Future! in the list, as it's 90% re-edit of a 1966 TV series.

 

[Brook K]

As predicted, I didn't see as many movies in February as January, but I got closer than I figured I would. Totalled 37 + 2 commentaries.

These are the films seen in February that I gave my highest rating to:

Cure (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Les Carabiniers (Jean-Luc Godard)
Sunrise (F.W. Murnau)
The Battle Of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo)
The Devil And Daniel Webster (William Dieterle)
Tunes Of Glory (Ronald Neame)
Week-End (Jean-Luc Godard)

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Updated my list with Kevin Smith's Jersey Girl and...

...a DTV title called Evil Alien Conquerors starring Chris Parnell and Diedrich Bader. Anyone see THIS thing yet? Hoo boy.

 

[Arman]

.

 

[David McIntosh]

Leynos's 2004 Film List

Criteria: UK Theatrical Release (Non-Festival)
Rating Scheme: Out of four stars

January

American Splendor :star::star::star:1/2
Lost In Translation :star::star::star::star:
Elephant :star::star::star::star:

February

The Dreamers :star::star::star:1/2
It's All About Love :star::star::star:
Osama :star::star::star::star:

March

The Barbarian Invasions :star::star::star::star:
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised :star::star::star:
Aileen: Life & Death of a Serial Killer :star::star::star:
S21 - The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine :star::star::star:1/2
Infernal Affairs :star::star:1/2
Power Trip :star::star::star:
Zatoichi :star::star::star:1/2
The Passion Of The Christ :star::star::star:1/2
Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine :star::star:1/2

April

Fog Of War :star::star::star::star:
Monster :star::star::star:1/2
Shaun Of The Dead :star::star::star:
Capturing The Friedmans :star::star::star:1/2
Kill Bill Vol. 2 :star::star::star:1/2
The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind :star::star::star:1/2

May

Bus 174 :star::star::star:1/2
At Five In The Afternoon :star::star::star::star:
The Company :star::star::star:1/2
Bon Voyage :star::star::star:
Japanese Story (DVD) :star::star::star:1/2

June

Twilight Samurai :star::star::star::star:
The Cooler :star::star::star:1/2
Intimate Strangers :star::star::star:
Deep Blue :star::star::star:

July

Fahrenheit 9/11 :star::star::star::star:
Flower of Evil :star::star::star:
Nathalie :star::star:1/2
Spiderman 2 :star::star::star:1/2

August

Last Life in the Universe :star::star::star:
Love Me If You Dare :star::star::star:

Edinburgh International Film Festival

Control Room :star::star::star::star:
The Purifiers :star::star:1/2
Untold Scandal :star::star::star:

September

Fear and Trembling :star::star::star:1/2
Supersize Me :star::star::star:
Ae Fond Kiss :star::star::star:
Collateral :star::star::star:1/2
Code 46 :star::star:1/2
Spartan (DVD) :star::star::star::star:

October

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow :star::star::star:1/2
Saw :star::star::star:
Wimbledon :star::star:1/2
Inside I'm Dancing :star::star::star::star:
Oldboy :star::star::star::star:
Layer Cake :star::star::star:1/2
Shark Tale :star:1/2
Saved! (DVD) :star::star::star:

----

Top 10 of the year so far:

1. The Barbarian Invasions
2. Lost In Translation
3. Fog Of War
4. Twilight Samurai
5. Elephant
6. Inside I'm Dancing
7. At Five In The Afternoon
8. Control Room
9. Osama
10. Oldboy

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is the worst film of 2004. It's an uninspired piece of shit. The film intentionally tries to be unintentionally funny, but it does not work at all. I did not laugh once during the film, nor did I find the 90 minute train wreck entertaining at all. How the fuck a mainstream studio (TriStar) released this garbage is beyond me. The film looks like it was made for $20 using my Panasonic MiniDV camera in my backyard no less. Complete and total shit. A waste of my 90 minutes. May anyone who is associated with that film burn in hell. If you go see the film, right when you leave the theater, an usher should punch you right in the face for spending $6 to see it. I wish an usher did that to me after I walked out.

I saw Secret Window right after that film and it was much better, by the previous film's standards. Secret Window is a decent film with some flaws, but has some good acting from it's leads.

Tomorrow and Sunday should see updates for Taking Lives and maybe The Passion of the Christ and Spartan.

 

[ChrisBEA]

Not sure I understand everyone's rules on these lists. But I may start a list here of films seen theatrically in the 2004 calendar year. I currently have them mixed into my list at the HTF 2004 DVD Challenge(see sig) But I may break them out and list thm over here. I should be able to get to that tomorrow. If anyone could give me pointers on this thread...please!

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

I saw Taking Lives this weekend. A shitty film which basically steals from every other cop thriller/drama from the past ten years. Too bad, D.J. Caruso showed tons of promise with his last film: The Salton Sea.

I'm all movie-pooped out this weekend. So next weekend, expect updates for Dawn of the Dead and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And maybe I'll see that Jesus movie too.

 

[ChrisBEA]

OK, I may be a little late joining this party and may not understand all of what you are doing. But here is the list of films I saw theatrically in the calendar year 2004, See my sig for a link to the HTF2004 DVD Challenge where I am tracking all of the DVD's I've viewed.
Ratings are based on 5 stars.

Total films seen in 2004: 131
*2003 releases seen in '04: 13
Best of 2004: The Passion of the Christ
Worst of 2004: Birth

January: Total Movies: 9
01/04/04: Paycheck :star::star:
01/06/04: *Cold Mountain :star::star::star:
01/11/04: *Big Fish :star::star::star:1/2
01/15/04: *Peter Pan :star::star::star:
01/18/04: *Torque :star::star:1/2
01/21/04: *The Cooler :star::star::star:
01/22/04: Along Came Polly :star::star:1/2
01/26/04: *Mystic River :star::star::star:1/2
01/29/04: The Butterfly Effect :star::star::star:

February: Total Movies: 8
02/01/04: *The Fog of War :star::star::star:1/2
02/02/04: *Monster :star::star::star:1/2
02/05/04: *Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World :star::star::star:1/2
02/08/04: Barbershop 2: Back in Business :star::star::star:
02/17/04: *The Triplets of Belleville :star::star::star:
02/19/04: 50 First Dates :star::star::star:
02/26/04: Miracle :star::star::star:
02/27/04: The Passion of The Christ :star::star::star::star:1/2

March: Total Movies: 9
03/04/04: Broken Lizard's Club Dread :star::star:1/2
03/09/04: Starsky & Hutch :star::star::star:
03/10/04: *Haunted Mansion :star::star:1/2
03/11/04: Hidalgo :star::star::star:
03/18/04: Secret Window :star::star::star:
03/21/04: Dawn of the Dead :star::star::star:
03/23/04: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind :star::star::star::star:
03/25/04: Taking Lives :star::star:1/2
03/30/04: The Ladykillers :star::star::star:

April: Total Movies: 11
04/01/04: Never Die Alone :star::star:1/2
04/04/04: Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed :star::star:1/2
04/05/04: Hellboy :star::star::star:
04/08/04: Walking Tall :star::star:1/2
04/13/04: Spartan :star::star::star:1/2
04/15/04: The Girl Next Door :star::star:1/2
04/18/04: Kill Bill: Volume 2 :star::star::star::star:
04/20/04: The Punisher :star::star:1/2
04/22/04: The Alamo :star::star::star:
04/26/04: 13 Going on 30 :star::star::star:
04/29/04: Man on Fire :star::star::star:

May: Total Movies: 9
05/02/04: Mean Girls :star::star::star:
05/04/04: Eurotrip :star::star:
05/06/04: Godsend :star::star:
05/09/04: Van Helsing :star::star:1/2
05/16/04: Super-Size Me :star::star::star:1/2
05/20/04: *Touching the Void :star::star::star:
05/23/04: *Oscar Shorts :star::star::star:
05/25/04: Shrek 2 :star::star::star:1/2
05/27/04: Troy :star::star:1/2

June: Total Movies: 14
06/03/04: The Day After Tomorrow :star::star::star:
06/09/04: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban :star::star::star:1/2
06/10/04: Jersey Girl :star::star::star:
06/12/04: I'm Not Scared :star::star::star:1/2
06/13/04: Garfield: The Movie :star::star:1/2
06/16/04: The Chronicles of Riddick :star::star:1/2
06/17/04: The Stepford Wives :star::star:1/2
06/19/04: Control Room :star::star::star:
06/20/04: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story :star::star::star:
06/21/04: The Terminal :star::star::star::star:
06/24/04: Around the World in 80 Days :star::star:
06/27/04: Fahrenheit 9/11 :star::star::star:1/2
06/28/04: Two Brothers :star::star::star:
06/29/04: The Saddest Music in the World :star::star::star:1/2

July: Total Movies: 10
07/01/04: Spider-Man 2 :star::star::star:1/2
07/08/04: King Arthur :star::star:1/2
07/10/04: Coffee & Cigarrettes :star::star::star:
07/11/04: Saved! :star::star::star:
07/12/04: The Clearing :star::star::star:
07/15/04: Anchorman :star::star::star:
07/18/04: Monty Python's The Life of Brian :star::star::star:
07/20/04: I, Robot :star::star:1/2
07/26/04: Catwoman :star::star:
07/29/04: The Bourne Supremacy :star::star::star:

August: Total Movies: 11
08/02/04: The Village :star::star:
08/05/04: Harold & Kumar go to White Castle :star::star::star:
08/08/04: Napoleon Dynamite :star::star::star:
08/09/04: Collateral :star::star::star:1/2
08/12/04: The Manchurian Candidate :star::star::star:
08/15/04: The Corporation :star::star::star:1/2
08/18/04: Alien vs. Predator :star::star:1/2
08/22/04: Exorcist: The Beginning :star::star:
08/23/04: Open Water :star::star::star:
08/25/04: Garden State :star::star::star:1/2
08/29/04: Hero :star::star::star::star:

September: Total Movies: 10
09/02/04: Suspect Zero :star::star:
09/05/04: Wicker Park :star::star::star:
09/09/04: Paparazzi :star::star:
09/14/04: Cellular :star::star::star:
09/16/04: Resident Evil: Apocalypse :star::star:1/2
09/19/04: Wimbledon :star::star::star:
09/23/04: Maria Full of Grace :star::star::star:1/2
09/25/04: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow :star::star::star:1/2
09/26/04: Shaun of the Dead :star::star::star:1/2
09/27/04: The Forgotten :star::star:

October: Total Movies: 14
10/02/04: Code 46 :star::star::star:
10/03/04: Shark Tale :star::star:1/2
10/04/04: Mr. 3000 :star::star:1/2
10/05/04: Ladder 49 :star::star::star:1/2
10/09/04: Taxi :star::star:
10/10/04: The Motorcycle Diaries :star::star::star:
10/14/04: Friday Night Lights :star::star::star:
10/16/04: Team America: World Police :star::star::star:
10/17/04: Shall We Dance? :star::star:1/2
10/23/04: I (Heart) Huckabees :star::star:1/2
10/24/04: The Grudge :star::star::star:
10/29/04: The Yes Men :star::star:1/2
10/30/04: Birth :star:
10/31/04: Saw :star::star:1/2

November: Total Movies: 11
11/03/04: Ray :star::star::star:1/2
11/06/04: The Incredibles :star::star::star:1/2
11/07/04: Alfie :star::star::star:
11/12/04: The Polar Express :star::star::star:1/2
11/13/04: Seed of Chucky :star::star:
11/16/04: After the Sunset :star::star:1/2
11/19/04: SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie :star::star::star:
11/20/04: Sideways :star::star::star::star:
11/21/04: Tarnation :star::star:
11/23/04: National Treasure :star::star:
11/26/04: Alexander :star::star:

December: Total Movies: 15
12/03/04: Christmas with the Kranks :star:
12/10/04: Blade: Trinity :star::star::star:
12/11/04: Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst :star::star::star:
12/12/04: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason :star::star:
12/14/04: Ocean's 12 :star::star::star:
12/17/04: Finding Neverland :star::star::star:1/2
12/17/04: Spanglish :star::star::star:
12/18/04: What the F@#& Do We Know? :star::star:
12/21/04: Closer :star::star::star:
12/23/04: Meet the Fockers :star::star:1/2
12/26/04: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou :star::star:
12/26/04: Kinsey :star::star::star:
12/30/04: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events :star::star::star:
12/31/04: The Aviator :star::star::star:1/2
12/31/04: Bad Education :star::star::star:1/2

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Hi guys! I'm back from the phenomenal SXSW Film Festival! No bullshit, this was THE best fest I've attended yet! And I've been to Sundance twice! I saw a BUNCH of movies I really dug, the parties were cool, and the people treated my colleagues and I like solid gold. for SXSW, trust me on this.

ANYway, here's some interesting nuggets:

Hellboy - Del Toro brought the movie in at the last minute, and during the post-flick Q & A he informed us that not even the studio had seen the final cut yet! Heh. Some of my enthusiasm may stem from the festive atmosphere in which I saw the movie, but I had a big red BALL with Hellboy. 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Before Sunset - Lots of people add the festival were smugly asking "Errr...did Before Sunrise really NEED a sequel?" - but I think it's a darn underrated movie, and this follow-up is another big winner. Another 4.5!

Coffee and Cigarettes - Del Toro, Linklater...and Jim Jarmusch?? Holy moley! The movie's a collection of short films, all of which offer a few actors (and musicians) who play themselves while...drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes! One short between Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan is a mini-masterpiece, Cate Blanchett plays two roles in one fantastic sequence, and one section that delivers Bill Murray with a duo of Wu-Tang Clanners is drop-dead hilarious. A few others are poignant; others are just weird. But if you dig Jim Jarmusch, you'll have a good time with this oddball experiment. Yup. 4.5.

Up For Grabs - 5 stars!!! This is an amazingly addicting documentary in the vein of Super Size Me and Spellbound. It's about all that hoopla that surrounded Barry Bonds' 73rd home run ball and the bizarre court case that followed. I just didn't want this thing to end. ESPN should buy it and show it twice a month.

Blackballed - An extremely funny little indie about a disgraced paintball champion who returns home after vanishing for ten years. This one won the Audience Award at the festival.

Knots - I never thought I'd say the following, but... John Stamos is freaking hilarious! No lie, he steals this fast-paced and enjoyable little sex farce. Steals it whole. Paulina Porizkova, Tara Reid, Annabeth Gish and Scott Cohen star as well. Fun little 'relationship' comedy.

Dead & Breakfast - Oooh, this one was right up my alley. It's just your typical zombie comedy musical. Erik Palladino, Jeremy Sisto, Gina Philips... all clearly having a good time dishing out the gory bits. Ever Carradine is like, mega-ultra-cute. Diedrich Bader and Portia de Rossi contribute kooky cameos, and this one lunatic called Zach Selwyn (who can also be seen as one of the six finalists on ESPN's 'Dream Job' and who also loves to drink beer) steals the show with his tunes. Horror fans will love this one...but keep in mind that I said that about lotsa other indie horror movies that many of you probably hated.

Code 46 - Michael Winterbottom's new one. It stars Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton and it can probably be best described as Gattaca meets....something else dystopian and bizarre. The two EFC crix I was with didn't dig it all that much, but I did. I'll be curious to hear reactions on this one as they trickle in.

Red vs. Blue - If you've ever played Halo for more than say....4454325443 hours, you'll eat this stuff up with a spoon. This is simply a collection of shorts that are also accessible at www.redvsblue.com . Basically a bunch of nutcases make movies out of Halo. Funny.

Public Domain - An acidic indictment of reality TV. I've reviewed this one already, so let's move on to...

Slasher - Like everyone in the world, I love a whole lot of John Landis' movies, so I was pretty psyched to see this, his latest. It's a documentary about one truly manic used car salesman. This one premieres on the IFC channel in a few months.

Surviving Eden - At last year's SXSW, I saw Greg Pritikin's Dummy, which I pretty much loved. This is his second flick. It's a comedy about one obese weiner who becomes a contestant on "Surviving Eden" and lets the success go to his head big-time. Cheri Oteri is truly hilarious, and Peter Dinklage steals the movie whenever he's onscreen. Keep an eye out for it.

...I'll be back with some more later on. I'm tired!

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

Saw the Dawn of the Dead remake tonight.

While the original is still one of the best horror films ever created, the remake is actually pretty good and I enjoyed it and had a blast. While the original is a serious horror film that contains plot, character development, lots of graphic violence and gore, and social commentary; the remake has none of that. Instead, the remake is a fast-paced action film which runs over a half an hour shorter than the original. With the exception that zombies are plaguing the earth and that the main characters go to the mall, the remake is almost a completely different film. It's not really a remake, more of a companion piece to the original.

If you're a fan of the original, I'd recommend giving the remake a chance. You just might enjoy it.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Updated with the last three movies from the Brattle Eye-Opener series, one of which even has distribution.

Funny Ha Ha - :star::star: - Won an Independant Spirit award. Not sure why.
Trilogy: On The Run - :star::star:¾ - Better than An Amazing Couple, but the gimmick still overshadows the movie
Past Perfect - :star::star:½ - Something of an endurance test; worth it in the end, but I would have turned it off long before that on video

 

[ChrisBEA]

Added Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Simply amazing a beautiful, bizarre movie. I love it in a very similar way to how I love Lost in Translation (a Lot). They are different but have some similar themes and I think they would play well together as a double feature. Carrey's best role to date!

 

[Chris]

The ending of "Taking Lives" is so stupid that several people laughed out loud when the twist came.. it's that bad.

STUPID!

 

[Jason Seaver]

Updated with David Mamet's rather spiffy Spartan - :star::star::star:½

 

[Seth Paxton]

I put up a couple of new reviews in the official threads.

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
10 of 10
Already in the hunt for best film of the year, at this point I have it slightly ahead of Dogville. It's a beautiful piece of romantic film. Maybe the best thing Kaufman has written, at least emotionally speaking.


Dawn of the Dead
9 of 10
What an awesome film. I went in expecting it to be good since the word of mouth had already gotten out, so I don't think it was just a case of "wow, I thought it was going to suck". The film delivered perfectly the way a horror film should. I really loved it.


So I've seen 3 2004 US releases so far and all 3 kicked ass and warrant repeat viewings. Considering that its still March I feel like I'm way ahead of the game.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Updated with Intermission, a pleasant enough Irish import with a smattering of recognizable-to-Americans actors. It's a good example of the talky ensemble piece. :star::star:¾