The Best Films of the Year 2004

By Jack Kyser

1.     The Aviator

 Martin Scorsese’s brilliant epic, “The Aviator,” covers the life of filmmaker/ aviator/ tycoon/ playboy Howard Hughes. Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) dated famous women including Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) and Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale), built revolutionary planes, made expensive movies (“Hell’s Angels”), battled Senator Ralph Owen Brewster (Alan Alda), and fought vigorously with Pan Am head Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin.) “The Aviator” succeeds in every way possible, and features mind-blowing performances from DiCaprio, Blanchett, Alda and pretty much everyone in the cast. Scorsese triumphs again, and “The Aviator” will assuredly bring him the Academy Award he’s deserved for more than 30 years.

2.     Sideways/ Million Dollar Baby

“Sideways” is the best character study of the year. Miles (Paul Giamatti) takes a road trip with Jack (Thomas Haden Church) one week before Jack’s wedding. Miles, a wine enthusiast, wants Jack to experience the fine qualities of wine that Miles has been savoring for years. Jack, however, is interested in meeting as many women as he can before he gets married. Soon enough, Jack hooks Miles up with Maya (Virginia Madsen), a waitress, while Jack begins dating Stephanie (Sandra Oh.) What follows is a fascinating journey between two men who find more than just fine wineries on their trip.

“Million Dollar Baby” may sound like a traditional boxing movie, but I cannot tell you how much this film will take you by surprise. The ending has a sad power that cannot be denied, and Morgan Freeman, Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood all deserve Oscars for their extraordinary work.

3.     Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

 “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is a brilliant masterpiece from the screenwriter of “Adaptation” and “Being John Malkovich,” two of my favorite movies. Jim Carrey plays Joel Barish, a man involved in a relationship with Clementine Kruczynski, a down-to-earth, free-for-all woman who works at Barnes and Noble. When their relationship goes on the skids, Clementine goes to Lacuna, Inc., where you can get relationships completely erased from your memory, and has Joel swiped from her brain. Joel can’t believe she did it, so he goes and gets her erased too! But as three employees (Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst) of Lacuna delete brain cell after brain cell of the relationship from Joel, he realizes that he doesn’t want her erased any more and he fights back! This is a wonderful movie.

4.     Collateral/ Ray

 Jamie Foxx is the most accomplished actor of the year, giving great performances in both “Ray” and “Collateral.” In “Ray,” Foxx gives a performance that will probably win him an Oscar as the late singer Ray Charles. In “Collateral,” Foxx plays a taxi driver who is forced by hit man passenger Tom Cruise to drive to the locations of his targets. Both films are brilliant in their own ways, and supporting “Collateral” players including Cruise, Mark Ruffalo and Jada Pinkett Smith are also terrific.

5.     Kill Bill Volume 2

 “Kill Bill Volume 2” is even better than Quentin Taratino’s “Kill Bill Volume 1.” Uma Thurman is fantastic as The Bride, who is still taking revenge on Bill (David Carradine) and his Deadly Viper Assassination Squad for killing everyone, including her and an unborn baby in her stomach (Bill’s baby, by the way), at her wedding to another man. I can’t even begin to say which scene is my favorite of this film; the point is, “Kill Bill Volume 2” rocks.

6.     Finding Neverland/ Before Sunset

 “Finding Neverland” and “Before Sunset” don’t have a lot in common, but they’re sweet, beautifully written, and smart masterpieces. “Finding Neverland” tells the story of J.M. Barrie (Johnny Depp), the author of Peter Pan. The joyful film shows how a few young boys and their mother (Kate Winslet) inspire Barrie to write his famous classic novel. “Before Sunset,” the sequel to “Before Sunrise,” is about two people, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) who, in 1995, met on a train, spent a night in Vienna, and fell in love. Many years later, they meet again in Paris, and discuss topics most films are afraid to touch.

7.     Hotel Rwanda

 “Hotel Rwanda” is the overlooked true story of the genocidal horror in Rwanda that took place in the early 90’s, and focuses on Paul (Don Cheadle), a generous hotel manager who takes in refugees and gives them shelter at his hotel, not unlike the Oskar Schindler story. This is a powerful, eye-opening film from Terry George that reminds us what we take for granted.

8.     Spiderman 2

“Spiderman 2” is a great superhero movie because it knows how to entertain an audience yet still manage to make the title hero human and interesting. Unlike recent dull superhero films, “Spiderman 2” has great casting, special effects, and, surprisingly, storyline. If there is a film on my top ten list that the entire family will love, “Spiderman 2” is certainly the one.

9.     The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou/ In Good Company

 People have complained that Wes Anderson’s new film, “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,” is not as funny or as smart as Anderson’s last film, “The Royal Tenenbaums.” Well, I have something to say to those people: A director is all about diversity, and if you want “The Life Aquatic” to be the exact same film as “The Royal Tenenbaums,” well too bad. Bill Murray is great as an oceanographer who deals with pirates, death of a friend, his son (Owen Wilson), his ex-wife (Angelica Huston), and a strange ocean full of weird creatures.

“In Good Company” excels at being a sweet, delicate comedy about corporate takeovers and being in over your head. The film also features a great performance by Topher Grace, who is mainly known for roles in “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!” and “p.s.”

10.                        The Passion of the Christ/ Fahrenheit 9/11/ The Incredibles

Whether you agree or disagree with the content of these two controversial films, “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “The Passion of the Christ” should be seen anyway, mainly for their historical importance and artistic value. While I don’t believe a lot of what Michael Moore says, he tells his stories so convincingly in documentaries like “Bowling for Columbine” and “Fahrenheit 9/11” that you can’t help but be intrigued. Mel Gibson’s violent film about the death of Jesus Christ, “The Passion of the Christ,” lost most of its controversy once it opened and audiences saw that the film was not really anti-Semitic.

            On the other hand, there were many exciting animated films in 2004: “The Polar Express,” “Shrek 2,” “Shark Tale” – heck, even “Team America: World Police” was great (but not for kids.) But the best of the pack is “The Incredibles,” Pixar Studios’ follow-up to “Finding Nemo.” While this story of a superhero forced out of retirement isn’t quite as good as “Nemo,” it’s still worthy of the Best Animated Film Oscar.

Runners-Up: Friday Night Lights, The Bourne Supremacy, I ♥ Huckabees, Garden State, The Manchurian Candidate, The Terminal, Troy, Super-Size Me, Spanglish

Other Awards:

Best Picture – The Aviator

Best Director – Martin Scorsese, The Aviator

Best Actor – Jamie Foxx, Ray

Best Actress – Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby

Best Supporting Actor – Thomas Haden Church, Sideways

Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett, The Aviator

Funniest Movies: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Starsky and Hutch, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Napoleon Dynamite, Meet the Fockers, Club Dread

The Top Ten Worst Movies of the Year

1. Christmas with the Kranks
2. Against the Ropes
3. New York Minute
4. Raising Helen
5. Torque
6. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
7. The Whole Ten Yards
8. Soul Plane
9. Catwoman
10. Win A Date with Tad Hamilton!

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