In an annual series, Every Movie Has a Lesson is going to look back twenty years to revisit, relearn, and reexamine a year of cinema history to share favorites, lists, and experiences from the films of that year. When measuring back as far as twenty years or more, I feel like “favorites” that have stood the test of time have aged to become some level of “best.” I feel like a bunch of those populate my reflective look back at the best of 2004.
As with every year, I need to offer a personal level of clarification when I build and justify lists like the one you’re going to read below for 2004. That challenge is that there can often be a distinct difference between a movie that is considered one of the “best,” respected and revered on technical and artistic levels, and something held dear as a personal and subjective “favorite.” I find myself torn between “bests” and “favorites” all the time, every year present or past, when creating any “10 Best” list as a credentialed film critic. Call it an occupational hazard.
NOTE: Poster images from IMP Awards
MY TOP 10 FILMS OF 2004
1. Million Dollar Baby
2. Infernal Affairs
3. Before Sunset
4. Spider-Man 2
5. ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDy
6. the notebook
7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
8. Finding Neverland
9. The Butterfly EffecT
10. HOTEL RWANDA
In 2004, I turned 25 and was an my third year of a solid teaching job I would have for seven years. If I wasn’t doing “Thirsty Thursday” happy hours with teacher friends or driving to spend weekends with my then-fiance, I was trying to catch as many movies as I could. With The Lord of the Rings gone, Spider-Man 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Bourne Supremacy and The Incredibles were appointment public popularity movies and did not disappoint. As a busy guy, one way or another, I couldn’t see everything, and many of these movies ranked above weren’t seen in 2004 and took circling back to in the decades since. Looking at these two lists of ten, it was a softy year for sure.
Three examples of that were #2, #3, and #9. Asian cinema had made its mark after a big splash in 2000 with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but Infernal Affairs (the basis of Martin Scorsese’s future Best Picture winner The Departed) and Hero were home media watches. 1995’s Before Sunrise was before my time, meaning it took more adulthood to completely appreciate its sequel Before Sunset. It’s my pick for the best of the Before trilogy from Richard Linklater, and occupies a sweet Criterion boxed set now.
While #2 and #3 and more have shuffled greatly, Million Dollar Baby has held the #1 spot unchallenged since 2004. I think it’s Clint Eastwood’s best late-career directorial work where the crushing feelings still hit. Staying in the feels department, there’s no denying The Notebook, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Finding Neverland, and Hotel Rwanda and their Kleenex-destroying power. If there’s a surprise addition to the feels department, it’s The Butterfly Effect at #10. My expectations were so low from that Ashton Kutcher vehicle, that its painful and longing take on over-corrective time travel hit like a ton of bricks. It counts as a buried treasure these years later.
