Looking back over 2004 in the movies, I find it all a bit passionless though there was a flick called "The Passion of Christ," which was really a blood and guts slasher flick for boys. "Aviator" was a beautifully made movie without much heart, and "Closer" was as hollow as a movie could be without being a photograph. Some of the other really fine movies came off as documentaries.
Which is not to say there weren't some movies with sex in them. The aforementioned "Closer" talked a lot of rubbish about it. "Vera Drake" took on its consequences, while "Kinsey" discovered and exposed it. A passion for wine was celebrated, as was a passion for caffeine and nicotine, and things best left in the past, including goofy sports.
What may be two of the best movies of the year, Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" and Pedro Almódovar's "Bad Education" have not been widely released, and therefore could not be listed here. "In Good Company" has not come around yet, nor has "The House of Flying Daggers." However our top 10 lists, or faves of the year, were remarkably easy to tally, despite these omissions.
Dana DuGan
Idaho Mountain Express writer
Sideways
The Motorcycle Diaries
A Very Long Engagement
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Kinsey
Door in the Floor
Goodbye, Lenin
Maria Full of Grace
Collateral
The Aviator
Guilty pleasure: Shaun of the Dead
Bob Benson
Magic Lantern Employee
1. Hero
2. Sideways
3. Before Sunset
4. The Motorcycle Diaries
5. Aviator
6. The Door in the Floor
7. The Incredibles
8. We Don't Live Here Anymore
9. Collateral
10. Spanglish
Steve Bynum
Magic Lantern Manager
Before Sunset
Fahrenheit 9/11
The Incredibles
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Garden State
Napoleon Dynamite
The Motorcycle Diaries
Shrek 2
Mayor of Sunset Strip
Finding Neverland
Jim Slanetz
Board Bin owner
Garden State
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Dodgeball
Sideways
Friday Night Lights
Ray
The Aviator
Napoleon Dynamite
Motorcycle Diaries
Kill Bill Vol. 2
Jeff Cordes
Idaho Mountain Express Sports Editor
A Very Long Engagement
Million Dollar Baby
Ray
Sideways
Garden State
Before Sunset
Maria Full of Grace
The Motorcycle Diaries
Facing Windows
Kinsey
Laura Gvozdas
Sun Property Management
Finding Neverland
The Aviator
The Incredibles
Before Sunset
Fahrenheit 9/11
Ray
Garden State
Harry Potter/Azkaban
Spiderman 2
The Bourne Supremacy
Rick Kessler
Magic Lantern Owner
(in no particular order)
Aviator
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Finding
Garden State
In Good Company
Maria Full of Grace
Million Dollar Baby
Ray
Riding Giants
Touching the Void
Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church in "Sideways." Photo courtesy Fox Searchlight
