My Top 15 Movies of 2004

Besides the fact that I have nothing else better to do, I’ve chosen to rewrite my top movies of 2004 list. I n addition to extending the list from ten to fifthteen, I’ve added two that I've just recently on to the list and redone the order. So here it goes, again:

1. Before Sunset - (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94% positive out of 143 reviews)

This is still number one on my list. With only a cast of two, Ethan Hawke and the sumptuous Julie Delpy, and nothing but ninety minutes of walking through the streets of Paris, talking about everything from about life to the universe, it demonstrates that a good movie does not need a all-star cast nor a terribly large budget. In addition, it strays away from the typical Hollywood elements: romance and love is more than about infatuation between a good looking guy and a pretty gal; marriage is not always ideal, and that cheating on a spouse is sometimes deeper than just the matter of sex with another. The conversations were definitely interesting. At times it seemed as if Hawke was referring to his own personal like, and explaining the reasons to why he left Uma Thurman (and all this time, I just thought he was a schmuck for doing so).

I hope there will be a sequel to this movie. It will be interesting to see what Hawke, Delpy and director Richard Linklater may come up with, if we are fortunate enough to get another sequel. It is sad that this movie may have not gotten the green light with the movie studio, had Linklater not achieved success with School of Rock. Before Sunrise was a great prequel, and I have heard nothing but praise for Slackers and Dazed and Confused (as well as a lawsuit for the last one). If I didn’t see this one, the way I did in a theater all to my own, this would have been number two. But the whole experience just added more to movie, as if I was either one of them and listening to what the other has to say.

If I could only have the last scene as my screensaver, with Delpy dancing away to Nina Simone’s Just in Time, I wouldn’t feel so bad staring at my computer all day. Fucking great ending!

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92% positive out of 199 reviews)

I can’t say how much I had anticipated this movie ever since I saw the trailer. Watching the trailer and playing that EMO song over and over again didn’t do much to calm my anticipation. The months leading up to its release, I watched director Michel Goundry’s music video dvd, The Works of Director…, only to be astound to find some of the videos that I enjoyed were directed by this guy. Just weeks before I got the dvd, my roommate and I were just dumbfounded by the White Stripes’ I Fell in Love With a Girl video, wondering if the entire video was actually built from Legos. The weird and trippy Cibo Matto’s Sugar Water, my little cousin’s favorite, Chemical Brother’s Star Guitar and Massive Attack’s Protection were the others that I’ve seen before but never knew it was by him. With all that said, I was afraid that I would be building too much hype for this movie, but (thankfully) it succeeded in ways I would have never thought it could.

Some how, everything was perfect with this movie. I just love the whole setting of the story and I think the movie captured the essence of what Long Island is about: it is usually boring and dull, but it can be wonderful and beautiful at times also if you know where to look. While most of the cast was great, some how I felt Kristen Dunst’s role was just written in so that she may just jump around in a t-shirt and panties (which couldn’t make me any happier). Was glad to see Elijah Wood playing an “acknowledged” weirdo and wished he had gotten beat up more severely by Winslet’s character for all the whining he did from Lord of the Rings. Too bad David Cross was limited in the movie; it would have been nice to see him say a thing or two more.

With more I wish to say, but too lazy to type it out, with great actors, great director and great writer (Charlie Kaufman), and hope there will be more future collaborations between writer and director. With that said, I want my Adaptation dvd back!!!

3. Kill Bill Vol. 2 - (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 85% positive out of 209 reviews)

The other film that I had much awaited since watching Kill Bill vol. 1. I prefer this part over the first because this is where the bulk of the story is contained. Don’t get me wrong. I loved volume one and I’ve actually seen it three times as opposed to once with this volume. Frankly, as cool as the first volume was, with all its gore and martial arts, there was more dialogue and satire in this volume, stuff which Tarantino does best. The lame and often inaccurate translations in the scenes with Gordon Liu’s Pei Mei, reflecting on the awful translation of past eastern movies (actually, it still happens). David Carradene’s Bill character collapsing instantly from the “Five Point Palm trick,” is so typical anti-climatic endings of old kung-fu movies. I’m refereeing to where the hero is this great master, who spends all his energy and time to beat up the millions of dominions of the big honcho villain. Anticipating that the last final fight with the main villain will be as exciting as the previous fights, the hero uses the most powerful technique to kill the villain off, leaving no pleasure to the audience of an long and bloody fight.

That is what I love most about this movie (as a whole), is how parts of it are Tarantino’s way of acknowledging the influence of the Hong Kong movies he grew up with in the past. It is sad that there are not many people left in the Hong Kong film industry that remembers what a good movie is or how it is made.

4. The Incredibles - (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96% positive out of 196 reviews)

I cannot stress this fact enough, PIXAR IS NOT DISNEY and I am damm glad Job’s choose to breakaway from the money grubbing Eisner and the rest of his Disney crew. With that off my chest, I think Brad Bird finally gets the recognition he deserves, with this movie, if he did not do so with his previous work the Iron Giant. I am glad that as advance with animation and graphics as Pixar is, they are not carried away with it and left out what is most important…the plot! Although labeled as a children’s movie, it still has a lot of humor and jokes that would leave the kids wondering what are the grown-ups laughing at.

Although the development of the characters and the pace of the movie were not as great as Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc or the quintessential Toy Story series, it was nevertheless enjoyable. With all that said, it seems as if Pixar can’t wait to get rid of Disney since Cars doesn’t look as pretty in comparison with the previous movies. It is as if Pixar just spared the details in order to get something out that looks decent. I certainly can’t wait til the contract is over between the two. Can you imagine what kind of movie Pixar would make with out being restricted to only movies with G ratings? I rather leave the imagining to them.

5. Sideways – (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96% positive out of 157 reviews)

I finally got to see this one before it was taken off screen. But with the success it is having, I think it will be here to stay at least til the Oscars (boooo!).

Not too sure what to write about this movie. I was glad to see a movie that does not have humor crammed down the throat (i.e. Team America). The characters (to me) are neither sympathetic nor hated, but are just human beings that are trying to live out the remaining half of their lives as they see fit. It’s a bit hard to describe, but it is nice to have movies with heroes who are not perfect, as in About Schmidt or Punch-Drunk Love. Maybe I’ll relate to this movie more later on when I’m in my own mid-life crisis (*gulp*).

6. Throwdown – (Rotten Tomatoes rating: N/A)

I’m not sure why I am a big fan of Johnny To's gangster films. It could be the way he portrays the action sequences with the camera work that he does.

With the mixed blessings of CGI, a lot of the HK action films and kung fu flicks abuse it (such as Stormraiders or the Man Called Hero) rather than exploit it (Hero and House of Flying Daggers). Still, call me old fashion but I still prefer the old-style action flicks, with fighting that can only be described as “raw.” While the fighting sequences were not as great as Druken Master II or Ong Bak (haven’t seen it, but its finally coming out soon), the movie builds up with anticipation leading up to those scenes and just all hell breaks lose.

What I particularly love about the movie is how To makes these scenes “artsy,” as if it was from a Wong Kar Wai movie. In particular is the brawl at the pub, as the camera slowly pans across the room, people are being tossed here and there, tables are broken, all happening under a hue of red light that surrounds the room with an old Japanese tune (believed to be sung by Paula Tsui). Then, the fight leads out into the streets where the camera pans from a distance, so one could see all the carnage that is going on.

Still, this movie has not taken the spot of my favorite To movie, the Mission. The characters were not as well developed and Cherie Ying’s character could have been done away with, for it slowed the movie down and had nothing much to do with the hero’s plight. With past criticism about To’s movies being biased against women, I wonder if he just threw that character in to shut them up.

7. Super Size Me – (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92% positive out of 143 reviews)

It seems as if there is a grown trend of making movies/documentaries. I think this movie has done well as being entertaining and educational at the same time. Although the movie may be biased by bringing up a lot of one-sided views, it does offer possible alternative options and answers to the problem that the general public may not know with regards the fast food culture. At the same time, I also applaud this movie for trying to make the public aware of one of the many problems in America, over Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911, which (to me) was an obsessed man’s attempt to express his discontent. Its ironic that one of Moore’s arguments was Bush was not doing enough for America, when has his movie done much to improve America by spreading propaganda to the general uninformed public? Maybe he should have done a movie on why America has only two candidates to choose from and what is keeping the independent candidates from being elected into office. For shame….

[note: I am a Democrat! =P ]

8. Dogville - (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 69% positive out of 137 reviews)

I take pride in being able to say I’m one of the few people who saw this movie. Moreover, I’m one of the few who actually saw the WHOLE movie. The setting of the whole movie is on a stage, with outlines marking the houses and trees, as well as containing a couple of actually props here and there. The problem with the movie is that it is REALLY slow (typical of Lars von Trier’s movies), but the key is to just keep staring at Nicole Kidman! If you give it a chance and actually sit through the movie, you will grow sympathetic Kidman’s character and won’t even realize that there are no doors, or an actual sun or moon in any of the scenes. Maybe I’ve been desensitized to his endings, ever since Dancer in the Dark, but nevertheless loved its ending. It may be the best solution to our problems!

9. Garden State - (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 88% positive out of 153 reviews)

After some thought, I’ve decided to bring this movie up on the list. Although my gripe with the movie was that the plot was somewhat shallow, it succeeded in presenting an adventure of finding oneself and what is important from the many confusing things that may surround us. The movie accomplished the journey through its use of terrific soundtrack, which included (personal favorites), Zero 7, Thievery Corporation and Nick Drake as well as the Shins and many others. The only other movie I can recall that incorporated a good soundtrack that well into the movie was the Royal Tenenbaums.

10. Bad Education – (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 87% positive out of 63 reviews)

This latest Pedro Almodóvar film is a lot less commercial than his previous one, Talk to Her. Most people would probably be turned off instantly with its plot, a Christian priest who has sexual molested one of his boys, as well as the NC-17 scenes of sex amongst transvestites and gays (for an artsy porn flick, the Dreamers or Young Adam would probably be more comfortable for most). After squirming in the chair and thinking to myself “why the hell am I here watching this movie,” somehow, I think those scenes were necessary for the film to succeed. At first, one would probably be laughing at what these characters were doing to exact revenge on one another and be disturbed by those obscene parts. Only later on, does one realize that the later is not disturbing as it may seem, if not, even humorous in comparison to what these characters were doing for revenge. The film itself was a bit confusing at times since it jumped back and forth within time. In the end, movie does succeed in triumph in being humane when everything collapses on itself.

11. Team America – (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 78% positive out of 166 reviews)

To those who have not seen this movie because you think it is just pointless humor, well…FUCK YOU! The movie has no aspirations to be neither artsy nor piece for all times, but it succeeds much better than most comedies (and movies in general) out there in being funny and entertaining (i.e. Fat Albert, Garfield, Taxi and etcetera). So, why not indulge the funny bone with American stereotypes and satire? If anything, I think this movie does more in promoting the truth than Fahrenheit 911. Well maybe not, but at least the audience knows this IS bullshit. Matt Stone and Trey Parker should be pleased that some are heralding this movie as the Dr. Strangelove of this generation. It would be sad if these guys are the Kubrick of our generation (damm you, MTV!).

12. Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself – (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 85% positive out of 73 reviews)

I guess I’m fond of dark comedies and this was rather light and touching for a movie with not one, but two attempted suicides. There are definitely humorous parts in the movie, some in which one may feel guilty for laughing. Then again, who says we cannot laugh when we’re down?

13. Closer – (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 67% positive out of 149 reviews)

My only gripes with the movie was that it could have been less confusing with the timeline of the story and that Julie Roberts only in succeeded in the portrayal of a ditsy slut. She didn’t do much to convince me as a person who would have two guys fighting for her. Other than that, Jude Law was pretty convincing as being a dick. Both, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen were the best in the movie and I can only look forward to their future works.

14. Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events - (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 69% positive out of 118 reviews)

Having heard about the Lemony Snicket’s series years ago on NPR (HEY! it beats most other radio stations out there and at least it recognizes good music!), I was hoping this series would eventually triumph over the Harry Potter books. It was something about the gloomy, but humorous nature of these books, which I hoped kids would be reading over the general “fairy tale” crap. Although I’ve never read the books to assess whether this movie was a good adaptation or not, I thought it succeeded in bring the extra-ordinary settings and circumstances and dark nature on to the screen. The movie and its plot are as far-fetched as those tales found in Big Fish (great movie, but not ranked here because released in later 2003). I hope to see more sequels to come and glad it is getting the attention it deserves. Hopefully people would realize there is an alternative to Harry Potter!

15. House of Flying Daggers - (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 88% positive out of 106 reviews)

If people must use CGI in kung-fu flicks, this is how it should be done. While I loved this movie a lot more than Stormraiders, and believe it to be better than most of the recent HK movies, it would be sad if this is the best coming out of HK. I cannot really think how this is an art house movie, besides the fact that its a foreign film. At least Hero, had a moral. This didn’t have much of anything, besides wonderful scenery and costume, flashy scenes, and some romance. Maybe people here have only been recently introduced to Infernal Affairs, but I’m growing sick of these “betrayal after betrayal after betrayal” elements. Worst of all, it is Andy Lau who is doing all this betraying-s…AGAIN! WTF?

This is way I wanted to be alone. Without myself. I mean without that self I already knew, or thought I knew. Alone with a certain outsider, whom I already felt obscurely I would no longer be able to get rid of, as it was I myself: the outsider inseparable from myself.
~ Luigi Pirandello