2004TopTenMovies

                 Matt's Ten Favorite Movies of 2004

First Standard Disclaimer: The name of this list is "Matt's Favorite Movies of 2004"--not "Matt's Idea of the Ten Best Movies of 2004". Some movies, like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Harry Potter and Whatever He's Up To Now might have been "better" movies, I didn't appreicate them as much as I did the movies on this list.

Second Standard Disclaimer: I only ranked the movies I saw this year. Therefore, Bon Voyage, technically a film from 2003 is on this list. I haven't yet seen House of Flying Daggers or Million Dollar Baby, but it may appear on next year's list (although I doubt it).

Honorable Mentions: The Bourne Supremacy Much better than The Bourne Identity and probably the best action movie of the year. I wish I were doing a Top 11 list. And as Casey Kasem says, "And now, on to the countdown!"

10: Bon Voyage Somewhere on my all-time top ten movie list is The Story of Adele H, a
       Francois Trufaut film about the daughter of novelist Victor Hugo who drove herself insane in
       pursuit of a worthless French soldier in the 1860's. That was Isabel Adjani's first major role,
       and thirty years later, she proves that she's still got "it". She plays a spoiled French actress at
       the outbreak of World War II whose greatest concern about the invading Nazis is how much
       more difficult it will be to find a flattering hat in the shops.   (This film came out in 2003.)

9. Shaun of the Dead I think I'm giving this movie credit for the great film it could have been,
       not the good movie that it is. For the first hour or so, the "zombies" that show up in the
       movie aren't really dead--they've just got crummy jobs or they have nothing to read on the
       bus. I was beginning to think, "a zombie movie about living people--brilliant!" But then the
       zombies turned out to be more typically "undead" and the plot became more predictable.
       But it could have been great!

8. Before Sunset At the time I saw this movie, I wrote in my blog that it ended at the exact
       moment that I lost interest in the characters. Up until that moment, however, it was a great
       buzz. By the way, we are VERY EXCITED to learn that Julie Delpy has signed on for
       The Da Vinci Code.

7. Vanity Fair Reese Witherspoon is so charismatic, I'd even watch her play June Carter Cash
       in a movie. I'd even watch her try to get away with playing a young whipper-snapper like Becky
       Sharp, even when it's clearly evident that she's about seventeen months pregnant.

6. Sideways A good subtitle would be Woody Allen Goes to Wine Country, but I haven't heard
       anyone else say that they got a Woody vibe from the movie. was very enjoyable and I'm
       gratified that Lowell from Wings seems to have something of a career.

5. Spider-Man 2 Roger Ebert calls it the greatest comic book film of all time (Sorry, Fahrenheit
       911), and it certainly is one of the best. The movie rises and falls on the appeal of Tobey
       Maguire, who is certainly one of the most accessible actors of the current era.

4. Good-bye, Lenin! This is the first film on this list to qualify as a movie I'd want to watch again
       more than once.   It's a hilarious tale of the last days of East Berlin, and a troubled young man
       who thinks that the fall of the Berlin Wall will kill his mother. (This film came out in 2003.

3. Bright Young Things This is a terrific movie about Britain in the heady days before World
       War I and the beautiful, thoughtless creatures that set its fashions and tastes. It's fresh and
       lots of fun.

2. Finding Neverland If there's a surprise on this list, this is it. I've never seen any version
       of Peter Pan from beginning to end; I've never been a big fan of Johnny Depp or Dustin
       Hoffman, and I've thought that Kate Winslet seems to "miss" as much as she "hits". Well, she
       certainly "hits" here--as do four engaging young actors who shine as her children. Johnny
       Depp is even better than he was in Benny and Joon and Pirates of the Caribbean, the two
       movies I liked him in.

1. The Passion of the Christ We live in political times, and for better or
        worse, this movie can't really be judged on its merits alone. Yes, it's a good
        movie-- but that it caused literally millions of people to examine and
        question their faith made it more than just another trip to the multi-plex.
        In my book, that makes it a great movie. Will it stand the test of time?
        Probably better than The Majestic and Lilo and Stitch, two other top
        favorites in recent years (and by the way, I still stand by their selections),
        but who knows? In the meantime, I'm glad I saw it --twice.