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Dragonfire88's Picks for the Best Movies of 2004Dec 12 '05 (Updated Feb 27 '10) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line These are my picks for the best movies released in 2004. During 2004, I was able to see many movies in the theater. I have also rented movies made during the year. I decided it was time for me to get my list of favorite movies from 2004 done. I have been thinking on this for a very long time but just didn’t get around to writing it up before now. I didn’t see every movie released in 2004 and I still haven’t seen some that other people consider some of the best of the year. I do still want to see a few of those and if I feel that they fit into my favorites for the year, I’ll update to add them in. This list includes the movies that I liked the most for 2004. Other people may not agree with my picks, but that’s ok. I enjoy many types of movies and I think this list represents that. The list really isn’t in any particular order, though the last one I talk about is my favorite of the year. Collateral - Max was a cabdriver that worked nights in Los Angeles. He hoped to start his own business someday. He connected with a female passenger, Annie, before picking up his next fare. Vincent had several meetings in the city and wanted Max to drive him around all night. Max eventually agreed because of the money Vincent offered. After the first stop, Max learned that Vincent was a hit man. Max spent the rest of the night trying to figure out how to get away from Vincent. Collateral was very violent at times, so it isn’t for everyone. The movie did feature very good performances from Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story - Peter, the owner of a small gym, and his members found themselves learning how to play dodgeball to compete in a tournament to win enough money to save the gym. White Goodman, the owner of Globo Gym, hated Peter and was willing to do anything to close the gym down, including setting up his own dodgeball team and buying his way into the tournament. I really wasn’t interested in this movie when I first heard about it. I changed my mind after reading several good reviews on it and I’m glad I did. This turned out to be one of the funniest movies I’d seen in a long time even though the movie was rather predictable. Ben Stiller was hilarious without going overboard as White. That character really reminded of the character Stiller played in Zoolander. White just wasn’t as nice and was slightly smarter. I really enjoyed Alan Tudyk as Steve, a character that thought he was a pirate for some reason. There were several crude jokes used throughout the movie, so it isn’t for everyone. Miracle - I really don’t like sports, but two of my favorite movies from 2004 revolved around some kind of sport. Miracle tells the story of Herb Brooks, a former hockey player, and how he lead the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team to winning a gold medal. Most people, even if they aren’t hockey fans, probably already know the outcome of the historic game between the United States and the Soviet Union, but the movie is still very good and worth watching. The movie shows how Herb became the coach for the team and his methods for putting together the team and training them. Kurt Russell was absolutely amazing as Herb. Russell became Herb. I think this is the best performance I’ve ever seen Russell give. The Polar Express - This animated Christmas movie was based on a book by Chris Van Allsburg. The movie features a boy who was doubting the existence of Santa Clause who was picked to go on a magical ride on the Polar Express to the North Pole. Hero Boy made friends with a few other children on the train and they had a few adventures before reaching their destination. The movie was made with computer animation and characters were brought to life using some kind of motion capture technology. That did cause some of the characters to look a bit strange at times. Tom Hanks provided the performances for several characters, along with doing the voices for some of them. This is a new holiday classic that deserves to be seen. National Treasure - Benjamin Franklin Gates was a treasure hunter from a family that had been searching for a huge treasure for years without luck. Ben finally started to have some luck when he ended up mixed up with Ian who turned out to be a criminal. Ben figured out that the Declaration of Independence would play a part in locating the treasure, so he decided to steal it to protect it from Ian. Some people may feel this movie is too silly and unbelievable or even too much like the Indiana Jones movies. I did think it had the same sort of adventure feel without being a direct rip off of those movies. This is just a fun adventure movie that I think is very entertaining. The cast was fine, though no one gave an award worthy performance. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - This is the third Harry Potter movie and was based on the book of the same name. Harry and his friends are growing up and facing other adventures, like the presence of dementors on the grounds of Hogwarts. Harry grew a lot during the course of this movie even though he didn’t have to deal with some version of Voldemort. This was the first movie in the series to have a different director. He made some different choices that worked for the most part, but I still haven’t figured out why certain locations were completly moved. With any movie based on a book, things are changed or left out. I wasn’t too bothered by the changes in this one, except I do feel like some important explanations were cut. Spider-Man 2 - This sequel to the highly successful Spider-Man continued the excellence started with the first movie. Peter Parker continued his dual life as Spider-Man and regular college student struggling to make ends meet. Peter faced a new villain in Dr. Octavius who was injured in a horrible accident with one of his experiments. Peter had many things to deal with, including losing his powers. This movie was very entertaining and one of the best super hero movies I have ever seen. The action and special effects were amazing. Fans of the first movie or Spider-Man in general should see this one. The Manchurian Candidate - This is a remake of a movie that starred Frank Sinatra originally. I still haven’t seen all of the original, though I have caught a little bit of it on tv since seeing the new version. Denzel Washington played a man that had served during the Gulf War that was having strange dreams revolving around another man, Raymond Shaw, that had won a medal for his actions during a specific battle. Raymond became a politician, and with his mother’s urging, was hoping to run for Vice President. This movie was a wonderful thriller that has been overlooked by many people, possibly because of the timing of its release to theaters. Meryl Streep was absolutely wonderful as Raymond’s very controlling mother. The Incredibles - This animated masterpiece was made by Pixar, and further cemented their reputation for creating superior computer animated movies. This movie told the story of two super heros, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, that got married and then ended up having to live like normal people every day because people started suing super heros. The Spider-Man movies have touched some on a super hero trying to live like a normal person, but The Incredibles went further with the idea and showed how that would change a super hero if they were forced to live that way for years. The movie featured wonderful animation which most people expect from Pixar any more to go along with the wonderful story. The Phantom of the Opera (2004) - This was the long awaited movie version of the very popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. I fell in love with the music years ago and kept hoping I’d get to see the musical live. I was happy that a movie version was made so I could finally see it. The movie had beautiful sets and music. I think the cast did very well with the roles even though they sounded different from Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford. No one would sound just like them in the parts. Seeing the movie just made me want to see the stage version even more. I was finally able to see it when the touring company was in Columbus in August of 2005. After seeing the live version, I do think that the movie version was a good adaptation Well those are my picks for the best movies of the year. I also really enjoyed two movies that most people seemed to dislike, Van Helsing and The Stepford Wives. I did enjoyShrek 2, though I don’t think it was anywhere near as good as The Incredibles. Shrek 2 was entertaining. It just wasn’t one of my favorite movies. I did see The Aviator once it was released on DVD. The movie was good and had wonderful performances, but the pacing kept me from feeling it was one of the best made in 2004. Too many scenes seemed to drag a bit and I was left wondering more about what happened after the movie ended than the events that were covered in it. I know that many people feel that Million Dollar Baby was the best movie of the year. It even won the Oscar for best movie. I haven’t seen the movie, and since I’ve found out something related to the ending of the movie, I no longer want to see it. I know that ending would ruin the entire movie for me. Best Movies of 2003 ~ Best Movies of 2005 ~ Best Movies of 2006 ~ Best Movies of 2007 ~ Best Movies of 2008 ~ Best Movies of 2009 ~  |
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