Movies
Best of 2004
A family of superheros and a killer bride make the cut in our critics' picks for the best movies of the year.
Stephen Shupe's Top 10
1. The Incredibles
It's American Beauty meets The Fantastic Four as a family of super-powered misfits fights the day-to-day doldrums of suburbia. Pixar's most entertaining outing yet combines the screenplay of the year with breathless visuals and unforgettable characters. The Incredibles makes saving the world and discovering your true self equally heroic feats.
2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Who says Harry Potter isn't cool? He certainly is when viewed through the lens of hip director Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien), who spins J.K. Rowling's literary yarn of wizards and muggles into cinematic gold.
3. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and
Spring
Forget The Passion. South Korean director Kim Ki-Duk's gorgeous morality tale about an old monk and an unruly apprentice offers the religious experience of the year.
4. Dogville
That devilish Dane Lars Von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark) directs
his Our Town in this twisted study of small-town life in Depression-era America. In the age of
16
Bush-bashing, Von Trier's artistry has taken on an extreme new form that will confound, frighten and fascinate adventurous viewers.
A group of essentially good kids goes upriver with a cruel plan for a big bully. Jacob Aaron Estes' lyrical film debut charts the troubled waters of teen alienation and retribution in which no one is guilty or innocent.
5. Mean Creek
6. I'm Not Scared
A kidnapping thriller with the power and terror of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, I'm Not Scared shows the mystery and corruption of the adult world through the eyes of a little boy who makes a shocking discovery.
Jayplay 12.9.04
7. Carandiru
Set in an overcrowded penitentiary where AIDS is rampant and savagery rules, Hector Babenco's fact-based bloodbath invites comparison to 2003's exhilarating City of God.
8. The Manchurian Candidate
Jonathan Demme's tense remake of John
Frankenheimer's paranoid political thriller paints a blood-red portrait of soldiers, senators and war that proved insanely timely this election year. Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber light up the screen as a mother-son
"team" brimming with malice.
9. Kill Bill, Vol.2
Bernardo Bertolucci's erotically charged look back to a time when the film students of France naively tried to change the world is a movie lover's dream.
Rigorous storytelling, distinctive characterizations and plenty of surprises distinguish Quentin Tarantino's second goaround with his blood-spattered Bride. It's his most satisfying entertainment in a decade.
Honorable mentions: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Polar Express, Saved!, Shaun of the Dead and Spider-Man 2
10. The Dreamers
Shupe's Worst 2004
1. The Chronicles of Riddick
A big, dumb, incoherent sci-fi sleeping pill that makes the new Star Wars movies look like models of flawless cinematic storytelling. How did this ever get into theaters?
2. Van Helsing
Mummy director Stephen Sommers ransacks Universal's vault to unleash a relentless monster mash that never stops pummeling you over the head with its sound and fury. Unwatchable.
3. Twentynine Palms
An American and his French girlfriend drive around the desert for two hours searching for... what? A place to bury this pretentious piece of soul-crushing "art", perhaps?
4. Alexander
Oliver Stone, how far you have fallen! This has got to be the worst historical movie since...
5. The Passion of the Christ
6. The Presentation OK, I'm cheating a bit here. Mel Gibson's film displays a technical virtuosity unworthy of a worst-of-the-year list. But who cares? This pointless horror show seems specifically designed to incite hatred – the antithesis of Christ's message.