List-O-Mania 2004! The Best, The Worst, & The Near Misses

“I know it might sound ridiculous, like this is the scene of the movie where the guy tries to get a hold of the long lost son, you know, but this is that scene. This is that scene and I think that they have those scenes in movies because they really happen. And you've got to believe me, this is really happening.” 

- Phil Parma (Philip Seymour Hoffman in MAGNOLIA, 1999) 

It's LIST-O-MANIA 2004!

Starting with Film Babble Blog's 10 Top Best Movies of 2004:

1. SIDEWAYS (Dir. Alexander Payne)

2. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Dir. Michel Gondry)

3. MARIA FULL OF GRACE (Dir. Joshua Marston)

4. BEFORE SUNSET (Dir. Richard Linklater)

5. FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (Dir. Michael Moore)

6. THE AVIATOR (Dir. Martin Scorsese)

7. BAADASSSSS! (Dir. Mario Van Peeples)

8. THE INCREDIBLES (Dir. Brad Bird)

9. SHAUN OF THE DEAD (Dir. Edgar Wright)

10. RAY (Dir. Taylor Hackford)

Film Babble Blog's 5 Worst Movies of 2004:

1. THE STEPFORD WIVES (Dir. Frank Oz)

2. GODSEND (Dir. Nick Hamm)

3. THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT (Dirs. Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber)

4. CLOSER (Dir. Mike Nichols)

5. THE TERMINAL (Dir. Steven Spielberg)

5 Near Misses (You know, 5 flicks that almost had the right stuff, but were misguided or mishandled or just planned missed something):

1. THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU (Dir. Wes Anderson)

2. I HEART HUCKABEES (Dir. David O. Russell)

3. NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Dir. Jared Hess)

4. SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (Dir. Kerry Conran)

5. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (Dir. Jonathen Demme)

More later...