The Top 10 Films of the Year
“A hero will be revealed.”
10. Spider-Man 2
I grew up with Spider-Man. I read the comics, watched the cartoons, and generally reveled in the idea behind a superhero with the abilities of a spider. I can’t really pinpoint the exact time I decided he was my favorite superhero, but as far back as I can remember he was always my number one pick. So naturally I was excited when I heard about the first movie adaptation that was being made, and literally watched the trailer for it every chance I got. When it came out, I loved it. I didn’t care how cheesy some of the dialogue was, how ridiculous the Green Goblin looked, or any other criticism most people had for it. I just loved watching my hero on screen.
The sequel, however, was a different story. It had everything I loved from the first movie, but less cheesiness (less) and more heart. It’s hard to relate to a genius millionaire (Batman), or an alien from another planet (Superman), or…another genius millionaire (Iron Man), but Spider-Man has always been a character I could understand and sympathize with. He’s just a regular kid, who has incredible powers thrust on him, and he has to cope with his regular ordinary life while having another life as a superhero. This movie is, and always will be, the greatest superhero movie ever made.
“Live your life at the point of impact.”
9. Crash
While I don’t think this was the greatest movie ever made, or even of the year (obviously), I do agree it’s a powerful film with some really amazing moments. There are two that stick out specifically that I thought were some brilliant pieces of cinema, and I won’t discuss them here because I think you should just watch the movie and enjoy it. The ‘message’ in the film is pretty blatant, and kind of redundant (in my mind) but I guess it’s something that needed to be done. I mostly love this movie for the acting, the visuals and the music. It’s beautiful.
“Beyond hope, there is a memory.”
8. Million Dollar Baby
Also not the greatest, but still very well made and enjoyable throughout. Clint Eastwood knows film, and his direction shines in this movie along with his acting chops. Not to mention Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman, who both do an excellent job as well. The ‘big moment’ in the movie (if you’ve seen it you know the one) completely took me off guard and changed the movie into an emotional, relationship driven film instead of a simple ‘boxing’ movie.
“Expect the incredible.”
7. The Incredibles
This is probably the first Pixar movie I enjoyed purely on an entertainment level. Most of the time Pixar has some really emotionally driven story lines that get to my heart and lead me to love the film cause I’m a big ol’ softy. This one however, was just, awesome. The animation is ‘incredible’ (yuk yuk) and the action sequences are amazing to watch. There are however some pretty clever ‘family’ themes throughout that I appreciated. But in the end, it was the fantastic visuals and highly entertaining action sequences that cemented my love for this movie.
“You and I are just pawns on a chessboard.”
6. House of Flying Daggers
I never saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I wasn’t really interested in seeing it, not for any particular reason, it just didn’t strike me as having anything special in it. The success of that film did seem to increase the popularity of Asian cinema, and I watched a bunch of them. They are usually very pretty and very fun to watch, but this movie was the first one that I saw that had a great storyline behind it as well, that really captured me. It’s a pretty typical love triangle type of story, but I think it was done exceptionally well, and the strong use of colours made it such a beautiful film to watch. The climactic battle scene in the snow is one of the greatest fights I’ve seen.
“A little guilt goes a long way…”
5. The Machinist
This movie is creepy. Not just because of Christian Bale’s creepy skinny body. But the atmosphere presented in this film is so creepy and it works so well for the story. I was so enthralled throughout and thought it was one of the most well-made thrillers I’d seen in a long time. The ending was such a mind blow for me and something I definitely wasn’t expecting, even when I was actively trying to figure it out (because a friend told me there was a big reveal at the end). A well written film with exceptional acting and some of the best atmosphere I’ve experienced.
“A romantic comedy. With zombies.”
4. Shaun of the Dead
The world would be a better place if Edgar Wright was overseer of every movie ever made. And they always starred Simon Pegg. Seriously. Everything those guys have done (together) has been fucking fantastic. This movie was the first exposure I had to them, and even hearing the title made me immediately think it was going to be great. I’ve said it before, but you have to watch this movie at LEAST twice to fully appreciate it, because there are SO many little foreshadowing moments and clever re-uses of previous shots, and in general it’s just a perfectly done comedy.
“In search of wine. In search of women. In search of themselves.”
3. Sideways
This is a film that, while critics all seem to love it, most of the ‘general population’ that I speak to weren’t impressed by it. I absolutely loved it. I am a huge fan of Paul Giamatti and he does so well in this movie, but really everyone in the movie is at the top of their game. Thomas Hayden Church is hilarious and there is a lot more comedy in this movie than I thought there would be in a film about wine tasting. I love how passionate Giamatti’s character is about wine, it’s something you don’t see much of in movie characters anymore. That passion combined with Church’s character’s ignorance is what sells the movie for me, and it’s one of the rare films I love that I can actually watch anytime without feeling like I just watched it.
“This is an adventure.”
2. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
I think I can safely say that this is my favorite Wes Anderson movie, hands down. Bill Murray gives probably my favorite performance of his ever, and the ensemble cast are all great as well (notably Willem Dafoe who is hilarious). I also really appreciated the special effects used throughout for the sea creatures/animals. They were not, as some people think, CGI at all. I really loved that choice because bad CGI can immediately take me out of a movie and the final scene is so fucking incredible and emotional that I could tear up just thinking about it. The use of Sigur Ros probably helps in that department.
“You can erase someone from your mind. Getting them out of your heart is another story.”
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Are you really surprised? It’s the movie this site was named after, done by my favorite writer and features Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey in the best thing he’s ever done. The story is brilliant: A man(Carrey) finds out his ex girlfriend(Winslet) erased him from her memory, so he decides to do the same. But as they are erasing his memories of her, they start at the END of the relationship and erase them backwards. So he sees all the bad stuff in their relationship that happened at the end, the stuff that led to their breakup. But as it progresses he remembers all the GOOD times they had together, and starts to remember the reason he fell in love with her in the first place. It’s a love story in reverse. Any relationship has ups and downs, but it’s the ups that you should cherish, and forget the downs. It’s a brilliant film and one of the greatest loves stories ever told. Charlie Kaufman is fucking genius.
“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot! / The world forgetting, by the world forgot / Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! / Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d.”
-Mary (Kirsten Dunst), reading Alexander Pope’s “Eloisa to Abelard”
Honorable Mentions
The Terminal: Tom Hanks delivers another great performance in this film about a man forced to live at an airport.
Finding Neverland: The story behind Peter Pan, with Johnny Depp as J.M. Barrie.
Hellboy: A very unique superhero movie. The title character has a love for kittens. That made me love him.
The Notebook: Hey, I’m a bit of a sap. Not amazing by any means, but a really emotional ending.
Man on Fire: More than just another Denzel action movie, this had heart to it as well as some great action sequences.
Mean Girls: A great teen comedy thanks to Tina Fey’s awesome writing.
Saved!: Hilarious.
Alan.
Thank you for giving some much needed love to Spider-Man 2. This is truly one of, if not the best superhero movie I’ve seen. Full of depth but so much fun. And I’ll watch anything with J.K. Simmons in it. Also, it was co-written by my favorite author Michael Chabon.
As a fellow Edgar Wright fan I need to insist that you (if you haven’t already) watch the show Spaced. Finally released in North America in 2008 after far too long it is written by Simon Pegg and (co-star) Jessica Stevenson, stars them (and Nick Frost) and every episode is directed by Edgar Wright. I sound like I’m trying to sell the dvd now, but it also has awesome commentaries with Patton Oswalt, Quentin Tarantino, Bill Hader, Kevin Smith and (oh, fuck!) Diablo Cody. Did I mention that it’s awesome?
Did you know the stop-motion animations in Life Aquatic were done by Henry Selick, who directed Nightmare Before Christmas?
Last thing. And I don’t want to become known as the guy that harps on your lists, but I need to know if any of these amazing 2004 movies were up for consideration at any point:
The Aviator, Closer, Kill Bill Vol.2, The Motorcycle Diaries and Born Into Brothels.
I’m tempted to say Garden State too, but I think I might invoke the “Juno”-style anger and I can’t defend it that well. It’s a pretty good movie, though.
By: jamesodinwade on January 6, 2009
at 11:59 pm
Well sir, I actually bought the Spaced box set last year when it was released! I watched through them all, and some of the commentaries, but I am probably going to watch all of the eps again soon. I loved it.
I did not know that tidbit about Life Aquatic! That’s awesome.
Here are my thoughts on the movies omitted that you mentioned:
The Aviator: I think this would have been #11 on my list, honestly. I forgot to mention it in the Honorable mentions. Whoops!
Closer: I liked it, but I definitely think it’s suited better as a play. But I do love Clive Owen as I’m sure you guessed.
Kill Bill Vol.2: I’m not a huge Tarantino fan (scandalous!) but I did love the Kill Bill movies. However, while I respect that he is up front with where he gets his material (ie steals it from the stuff he loves), I find it less appealing because of that reason. That isn’t to say I hate him and his films, they just generally wouldn’t make a top 10 list for me. Except possibly Reservoir Dogs, which is his only film I find brilliant.
Garden State: I loved this the first time I saw it, and I think it’s a great first film for Zach Braff. But I also find it a little ridiculous when directors direct themselves. There are a couple exceptions where it works (Eastwood is the only one I can think of off hand) but generally it seems hacky to me and I feel you should be either a director OR an actor, not both (for one movie I mean). But this definitely falls into the Juno category for me, as you predicted: too much kitsch and marketing involved for me to appreciate it honestly. Natalie Portman is great in it though.
The other two I haven’t seen! I’m considering updating these lists as I view more movies, if it warrants it. But generally I am trying to do lists ONLY when I feel I have seen enough of the movies that year to make a top 10 I can stand behind. (which is why I went from 06-04, and next will likely be 07 or early 2000s).
Whew what a long winded response! Sorry about that.
By: Alan on January 7, 2009
at 12:17 am