13. Blind Shaft – A nice confirmation that art theatres show brain-numbingly crappy movies, too. My lord, this was boring. The message was received in the first 10 minutes but then we had to watch it play out for the next hour and a half. The only positive of seeing this film was that I got to see the preview for Danny Deckchair, which has to be the worst trailer I’ve ever seen.
12. A Dirty Shame – John Waters is old and while not quite out of touch, he’s still a bit behind the times. This was his "Eyes Wide Shut" although it was about 10 times more enjoyable than that laborious film. We saw this in a creepy basement theater in Northampton full of loud, drunk college kids so the setting was right on and we laughed throughout but, like most of his latter films, it lacked the punch of his earlier works and the cohesiveness of his middle works. A fun and willing cast failed to really deliver for some reason and the ending was a tremendous letdown. It’s unfair to compare this to Pink Flamingos but watching fake sexual deviance and perversion is much less fun than seeing the real thing.
11. Fahrenheit 9/11 – The world is in trouble. I was upset that the hubbub about this film kept people away just because of their hatred of commie-liberal-antiUSA figurehead Michael Moore. A horrifying mix of bad politics and bad rock music. A total downer.
10. Mean Girls – Reminded me of that Seinfeld episode where they discuss wedgies and Elaine says something about how girls didn’t do that sort of thing to each other, instead opting to tease each other until someone develops an eating disorder. A little too cartoony and a little too long but fun overall. Saw this in the dead zone that was North Adams, MA on a dark, dark night surrounded by high school age kids who barely laughed during the entire film. I guess it takes a bit of distance to see the humor in the hyperunreality that is high school.
9. Saved! – There was a faction of True Love Waits kids at my high school and while they didn’t necessarily throw bibles at people, they were pretty intense about their love of Jesus and abstinence. Creepy. I could have watched Martin Donovan mixing modern slang and religious propaganda all day long.
8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – I wanted this movie to be much, much weirder. It took the premise to an interesting place plotwise and stylewise but I wanted it to really dive off the deep end. I don’t know really what I wanted, but I wanted more of it.
7. Super Size Me – Kind of like Raging Bull but with less punching in the face.
6. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring – It would be interesting to see this film set in the seasonless hell of southern Florida. Maybe set on a floating island in the middle of a pond in DisneyWorld or something. Get Eisner on the phone, STAT!
5. Coffee and Cigarettes – When it was bad, it was painfully bad but when it was good, I was in heaven. I’m a sucker for great endings and this one had a perfect whisper of a final sketch that made me forgive the many, many dull spots.
4. Spiderman 2 – Somehow more comic book-y and more human at the same time. Much less Doc Ock than I was hoping for and expecting which was quite a disappointment. Once again Bruce Campbell steals the show and provides what could be my favorite line all year, "It helps maintain the illusion."
3. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle – With the exception of How High, I love stoner movies. This was completely over the top and bizarre for the sake of being bizarre but made me laugh out loud more than any other movie this year. If they had ended up at Taco Bell this may have ranked at #2.
2. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou – Once again, I spent the entire time watching a Wes Anderson film with a smile plastered on my face. Imaginary animals? Gun fights? Jeff Goldblum in a blood-soaked I’m a Pepper shirt? I loved every minute of it. His strangest and most absurd film by far but who am I to complain?
1. Before Sunset – I’m not usually a fan of romantic films unless they feature Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn or a combination of the two. Julie Delpy is no Audrey Hepburn but I do like her spunk and Ethan Hawke is pretty gawky and charisma free when compared to Cary Grant but it didn’t matter in this movie. I had never seen Before Sunrise and had read that the best way to see this movie was to have watched the first one 10 years ago and never seen it since, so the movie would be just as hazy in the viewer’s mind as it is in the character’s. Well, I rented them 10 days apart and it did not hinder my appreciation of the films. Before Sunset is the superior film, mostly because of the back-story it comes with. What did happen to them? Where did they end up? I had to wait 10 agonizing days to discover the answers, my daydreams filled with what if scenarios involving these two star-crossed lovers. The dialogue and casual conversation seemed even more realistic in this sequel and the way they danced around each other and their feelings for most of the movie was awkward and painful enough for me to buy it completely. I dreaded the end of this film because I had no idea how they would satisfactorily wrap things up but was blown away by what I feel was the best ending to a film I’ve seen in years. A perfect film for those of us who spend too much time revisiting the past and imagining the various paths our lives could have taken.
2004
LISTS
dan
mitch
sujan
chris m.
amy w.
kaci
donovan
bill w.
jeremy
