Top 5 Films of 2004 | January 5, 2005

I found it quite easy coming up with my “Top 5 Films of 2004” list, because there really haven’t been many films that have stood out to me this year. Spiderman 2 was fun, and is possibly the best comic adaptation I’ve seen. I had high hopes form both Hero and House of Flying Daggers but neither lived up to my expectations. While they both looked stunning, the flow and narrative just didn’t capture my interest in the same way as Croaching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Even Farennheit 9/11 failed to impress, being far too crude and emotionally manipulating for my liking – The BBC’s The Power of Nightmares documentary doing the same job, much more intelligently.

So here is my top 5 list. What were your favourite movies of 2004?

Posted at January 5, 2005 9:16 AM

Comments

Tom said on January 5, 2005 9:37 AM

My top five has to be…

1. Finding Neverland
2. Shaun of the Dead
3. The Village
4. The Incredibles
5. The Motorcycle Diaries

Small Paul said on January 5, 2005 9:41 AM

Hang on. How can you get away with having Return of the King in there? It was released in 2003…

Chris Vincent said on January 5, 2005 9:44 AM

I really must agree that Shaun of the Dead was awesome. It was funny in a way that seems to be missing these days in American comedies, which have obviously changed to appeal to more immature audiences; most humor in movies these days is based around sex, flatulence, and pot, which is fine in small doses, but tiring as the entire basis for every joke. Shaun of the Dead made me laugh harder than any other movie in recent memory.

Phil Baines said on January 5, 2005 11:03 AM

“Hang on. How can you get away with having Return of the King in there? It was released in 2003…”

Maybe he is thinking of the DVD Special Edition, a seperate film in it’s own right. I have all three Special DVD’s; thats about 11 hours of film!

The Motorcycle Diaries, now there is a great film!

Jarno said on January 5, 2005 12:03 PM

Here’s my top five:

5. Mean Girls
4. Bad Santa
3. Collateral
2. Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind
1. Garden State

Andy you should check out Garden State if you haven’t seen it yet.

Joshua Porter said on January 5, 2005 1:11 PM

Garden State was my #1 as well. It had all the emotions, like great movies should.

Another great one was The Aviator, which just came out. It’s a fantastic character study of Howard Hughes, with phenomenal acting from both Leonardo Di’Caprio and Cate Blanchett.

Toby S. said on January 5, 2005 1:42 PM

My favourite film of 2004 has to be Layer Cake as it is very though provoking, yet suprising and somewhat confusing at times.

Not sure about #2.. i’ll think on that one.

Rob McMichael said on January 5, 2005 2:04 PM

This would be my list

1. — Napoleon Dynamite —
Amazing comedy, so original and a ultimate cult classic.

2 — Garden State —
A very clever romantic black comedy, a must see

3 — Incredible —
Just good fun and great animation

4 — Shaun Of The Dead —
A classic british comedy

5 — Infernal affairs —
Wasn’t this year but thats when I saw it too. (Plus andy got away with it)

Allen said on January 5, 2005 5:39 PM

I thought Hero was really good, almost as good as CTHD… I really loved the storyline of it… with the twists in the last third of the movie.

My top (in no order)

Anchorman
Incrediables
Shrek2
The Terminal

Shane said on January 5, 2005 7:19 PM

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Garden State
3. Napoleon Dynamite
4. The Incredibles
5. Finding Neverland

Eternal Sunshine was brilliant…pure genius. Innovative and funny and heart-breaking. Garden State was just about as well-written and well-acted of a movie as you will find from a first-timer. Napoleon…so funny…GOSH! If you don’t like it you’re an IDIOT! Just when I thought Pixar couldn’t get much more clever…the Incredibles was maybe their best yet. Finding Neverland…the combination of two of the most talented actors in the world. Went in with low expectations and came out beyond impressed.

Shane said on January 5, 2005 7:20 PM

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Garden State
3. Napoleon Dynamite
4. The Incredibles
5. Finding Neverland

Eternal Sunshine was brilliant…pure genius. Innovative and funny and heart-breaking. Garden State was just about as well-written and well-acted of a movie as you will find from a first-timer. Napoleon…so funny…GOSH! If you don’t like it you’re an IDIOT! Just when I thought Pixar couldn’t get much more clever…the Incredibles was maybe their best yet. Finding Neverland…the combination of two of the most talented actors in the world. Went in with low expectations and came out beyond impressed.

It was a pretty good year for movies considering that the LOTR trilogy was done. What I want to know is what movies are you looking forward to this year?

Richard Earney said on January 5, 2005 8:04 PM

Lost in Translation?

Andy Budd said on January 5, 2005 8:27 PM

OK, the official chronology may be a bit off. Infernal Affairs was a 2003 film, but didn’t get released in the UK till 2004. Return of the King was released around Christmas 2003 but I cheatingly included it in this years top 5. I could argue that I was actually referring to the extended edition, but In all honesty I wasn’t. However it was playing in Cinemas in 2004 and was better than most of the films released in 2004.

Napoleon Dynamite seems to get a big thumbs up. I haven’t seen it yet but have heard very good things so it’s on my list.

I actually went to see Garden State over the weekend. I did enjoy it, but I couldn’t honestly say I liked it enough to put it in my top 5. It starter off well, but seemed to loose it’s way a little towards the middle. Good to see that Natalie Portman can actually act. Who’d have known after her stinker of a performance in the new the last two Star Wars movies.

Again, I enjoyed Lost in Translation, but not enough to regard it as a top 5. My mem ory of the start of the year is a bit hazy, but I’m sure there must have been more good films around than I remember.

Brian Behrend said on January 5, 2005 8:36 PM

1. Garden State
2. The Incredibles
3. Anchorman
4. Kill Bill Vol. 2
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Claus Jacobsen said on January 6, 2005 12:14 AM

OK! I didn’t see Return of the King untill late jan 2004, so i guess it validates for me :) and I really didn’t go and see that many movies, but my top 3 would be:

1. Return of the King
2. The incredibles (cartoons with depth?)
3. House of flying daggers (Very nice ballet, but rather poor acting, oh yes and the soundeffects are incredible!)

Matt said on January 6, 2005 1:19 AM

Forget Lord of the Rings, Napoleon Dynamite is without doubt the greatest story ever told (this year anyway). The other good ones were:
Garden State
Infernal Affairs (anyone seen the two sequels?)
Eternal Sunshine
Lost in Translation
House of Flying Daggers

Greg said on January 6, 2005 6:41 AM

1. Garden State
2. Closer
3. Eternal Sunshine
4. Before Sunset
5. The Incredibles

Garden State was fantastic. The scene where Largeman (Braff) talks about losing a sense of home was the most real moment in any movie that I can remember.

I changed this list a little from what I originally posted on my site, but I had yet to see Before Sunset (glorious dialogue!). The Bourne Supremacy, Saved, and Spider-Man 2 are also worth mentioning.

Ian Lloyd said on January 7, 2005 11:50 AM

In no particular order:

Shaun of the Dead
The Bourne Supremacy
The Incredibles
Shrek 2
21 Grams

But there have been so many good ones that I missed out on this year (because of travelling) - looking forward to catching up on some of the Brit flicks that did the business.