My Favorite Films of 2004

**oscar jubis** · 07-08-2004, 11:44 PM

These are 16 films (8 in English, 8 Subtitled) I've seen since March 1st that I found particularly accomplished. These are the ones that in my opinion merit a second viewing. A list of the releases I found "worth watching" would be much longer.

ENGLISH

1.ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND.
My favorite movie of the year finally convinced me that Charlie Kaufman is a talent of the first magnitude. If released last year, this would have cost Ms. Coppola her Original Screenplay Oscar. The mise-en-scene is superb.

2.DOGVILLE
Rosenbaum hated it and Hoberman loved it. A rare occurrence. An allegorical parable that adds a twist to Trier's typical damsel-as-victim premise.

FAHRENHEIT 9/11
The most important political doc since The Panama Deception, or perhaps Hearts and Minds. Funny and tragic.

4. THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD
Guy Maddin's first film to get wide distribution remains true to his iconoclastic vision, even with Isabella Rossellini and Maria de Medeiros in the cast. Set in Depression-era Winnipeg, of course.

TOUCHING THE VOID
A ravishing recreation of a mountain-climbing accident. An incredible tale of survival told with great skill. Small screens not likely to do justice to its vistas.

6.BRIGHT LEAVES
The new doc from the director of Sherman's March, seen at the Miami Film Festival.

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKAHBAN
Darker and more poetic than the previous two installments. Mr. Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien) is a major talent. The cast includes Emma Thompson, Davis Thewlis and others not commonly found in summer flicks.

COFFEE AND CIGARETTES
Seventeen years in the making but not as ambitious as Dead Man or Ghost Dog. A formalist exercise consisting of conversations between two or more celebrities. Fame and its repercussions is a major topic, though certainly not the only one. Full of internal rhymes and jokes that slip by you if you're not paying attention (or if you haven't seen the great films directed by Jim Jarmusch).

I'm equally excited about 8 subtitled films, but I'll post about them in a couple of days.

**Johann** · 07-09-2004, 02:45 PM

Emma Thompson & Thewlis in Harry Potter? Maybe I'll see it...

Glad you saw Coffee & Cigarettes. To borrow a quote from Dietrich, I felt like a plant that was watered after Jarmusch's latest.

Don't you mean "spotless" mind? :)

Dogville . I'm an unabashed Trier disciple now. He could make the worst film ever and I would find merit in it somewhere...

I had an opinion on Fahrenheit. It's somewhere on this website. *smirks*

If Michael Moore is a American treasure, then Guy Maddin is a Canadian treasure. Madden is our best-kept secret. (Not too many people have heard of Winnipeg's son).

Need to see "Void" & "Bright Leaves".

**pmw** · 07-09-2004, 06:35 PM

Dogville, Fahrenheit 911, Touching the Void and Harry Potter (the last, a big suprise). Oscar, we come out fairly similar with our lists. I will post a Harry Potter review I recently put together. Should have made a forum for it as I found to be really entertaining!

Still have to see a couple that I've missed in the past few months....
P

**oscar jubis** · 07-11-2004, 03:35 PM

Originally posted by Johann
Don't you mean "spotless" mind? :)

I do. A gaffe on the title of my favorite film of the year! Perhaps my favorite American movie since Mulholland Drive!

If Michael Moore is a American treasure, then Guy Madden is a Canadian treasure. Madden is our best-kept secret.

Don't you mean "Maddin"? :)
I also love the films of fellow Canadians Cronenberg, Robert Lepage, Atom Egoyan, Denys Arcand and John Greyson.

**Johann** · 07-11-2004, 03:49 PM

A Ha! This is why I love your mind, oscar...

**tabuno** · 07-13-2004, 12:25 AM

Your list helps me to focus on some overlooked movies that I have yet to get to see, probably they will be necessarily DVD that will have to be rented. Your top two favorites are examples that I just never got around to...but your pinpointing them make it much more likely that I will make an effort sometime this year to rent them. Many thanks!

**oscar jubis** · 07-13-2004, 02:07 PM

You're welcome, tabuno. I strongly recommend, without reservations, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The dvd will be released on September 28th. Make sure you pick up the WIDESCREEN version, as the film is also being released in so called "full frame". Dogville and Saddest Music are not to everyone's taste. Fahrenheit is controversial. But I have not heard of anyone disliking Eternal Sunshine.

**oscar jubis** · 07-13-2004, 03:26 PM

Part II of my list of favorite films seen in the past 4 months (January and February releases here are 2003 films released in NYC and LA in December to qualify for awards).

1. HERO
Feels strange listing a 2002 movie, but Miramax finally plans to release Zhang Yimou's film in the US on 8/20. This is one of the most beautiful color films ever made. It will remind many of Crouching Tiger, the highest grossing subtitled movie, but Hero is more graceful and imaginative.

2.TWILIGHT SAMURAI
This winner of 12 Japanese Academy awards features a samurai like no other. Iguchi is not interested in geishas, fighting or sake. He's a family man who dreams of being a farmer. Call it a "revisionist" samurai flick. 72 year-old director Yamada puts all his skills in the service of storytelling, which is warranted when the story is this good.

3.TE DOY MIS OJOS (Take My Eyes)
The best film I've seen this year that has no distribution deal in North America. Winner of multiple festival awards and 7 Goyas (Spanish Academy). It deals with domestic violence but it's not a horror film because its female director and writers have not turned the husband into a monster, like so many other films dealing with this issue. Engaging, sensitive drama achieves the right tone.

4.Spring,Summer,Fall,Winter and... Spring
Provocative film from South Korea, from director Ki-duk Kim (Isle, Address Unknown). Spring defies audience expectations. Kim's new film, Samaria, received the Silver Lion for best direction at Berlin FF. Kim continues to ruffle feathers. Devout Catholic widower discovers his teen daughter is having sex with (much) older guys and decides to confront the johns, not his daughter.

5.Strayed
Andre Techine(Wild Reeds) directed this movie about a young widow (Emmanuelle Beart) fleeing with her kids as the Nazis invade Paris.

The Dreamers
Bertolucci, the last Italian master standing, celebrates youth and cinema circa '68.

The Return
Winner at Venice, the debut of Andrei Zvyagintsev concerns a man who returns to his family after a long absence. The Return is primarily concerned with how his two sons react to this mystery man. The film achieves mythic overtones.

The Clay Bird
A film from Pakistan. Winner of the Fipresci award at Cannes "for its authentic, moving and delicate portrayal of a country struggling for democracy". What I personally valued even more was the way The Clay Bird illustrates the need to separate "church" from state and the evils of orthodoxy.

**HorseradishTree** · 07-16-2004, 02:52 PM

Originally posted by oscar jubis

1. HERO
Feels strange listing a 2002 movie, but Miramax finally plans to release Zhang Yimou's film in the US on 8/20. This is one of the most beautiful color films ever made. It will remind many of Crouching Tiger, the highest grossing subtitled movie, but Hero is more graceful and imaginative.

Hmm...interesting. I really thought Hero wasn't that impressive, and found Crouching Tiger to be vastly superior. There were too many flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks and different interpretations and what not. In the end, I felt dissatisfied.

**oscar jubis** · 07-16-2004, 11:32 PM

I'm glad you read my post in foreignfilms and decided to join us. Welcome, arsaib4!
Thanks for the link to totcine, a "cinema magazine" in Catalan. I know of two Spanish webstores where you can buy Te Doy Mis Ojos: ociojoven and Fnac. I've had dvds delivered to my in-laws in Zaragoza (about 2 hrs. north of Madrid) because both sites charge a fortune to ship to North America. I could provide proper links if anyone is interested. There are many dvds available only in Spain including, believe it or not, Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight.
On the other hand, there's a webstore in the UK that charges a mere 1.25 pounds($2.30) to ship each dvd to North America:
http://bensons-world.co.uk
Where did you watch Te Doy Mis Ojos? Your opinion: are American distributors shortsighted? Or is an "issue movie" like Te Doy, no matter how good, poison at the box office?

**oscar jubis** · 07-20-2004, 01:05 AM

Tsai Ming-liang
I have watched every feature film directed by Ming-liang including Goodbye, Dragon Inn. I consider him one of the most important and accomplished film directors. I am really glad Wellspring plans to release the film in the U.S. I admire every one of his films. The River is his best, in my opinion. Some of the scenes involving father and son are simply unforgettable, including one of a sexual nature.
I appreciate arsaib mentioning Goodbye, Dragon Inn. Perhaps his most "minimal", as he says, because the whole film takes place in a single location, a theatre about to close permanently. But the film seemed to me to ellicit a wider range of emotions than most of Ming-liang previous films. I will have more to say about it upon its release, when members are more likely to post responses. I probably will write a post discussing Ming-liang's whole filmography.

Michael Haneke
As implied by arsaib4, Code Unknown displayed a level of maturity and intelligence not apparent in Haneke's previous films. I'm looking forward to the release of Time of the Wolf, starring Isabelle Huppert. Palm Pictures has acquired distribution rights for North America.

Ondskan
I reviewed this Swedish film in my Miami International Film Festival thread. It won the Audience Award. I am surprised it hasn't been picked up for distribution in the US, because its commercial potential is obvious. Worth-watching but nothing special, in my opinion.

**oscar jubis** · 07-20-2004, 07:33 AM

Originally posted by arsaib4
I think you accidentally just switched the two films, i was actually mentioning TIME OF THE WOLF

You wrote "The days of BENNY's VIDEO and FUNNY GAMES are far behind him as this is his third film in a row (after CODE INCONNU and LA PIANISTE)..."
I understood this to mean that Code Inconnu was the first of three films that constitute a departure (and perhaps an improvement) compared to "the days of Benny's Video and Funny Games". If not, what did you mean?

Rosenbaum's review is positive but he clearly states Time of the Wolf is not as good as Haneke's best: Code Inconnu and Seventh Continent, in his opinion.

**oscar jubis** · 07-20-2004, 05:59 PM

I haven't seen The Seventh Continent and it's not available on video, as far as I know.

**pmw** · 08-12-2004, 07:18 AM

Originally posted by oscar jubis
Tsai Ming-liang
I have watched every feature film directed by Ming-liang including Goodbye, Dragon Inn. I consider him one of the most important and accomplished film directors. I am really glad Wellspring plans to release the film in the U.S. I admire every one of his films. The River is his best, in my opinion. Some of the scenes involving father and son are simply unforgettable, including one of a sexual nature.
I appreciate arsaib mentioning Goodbye, Dragon Inn. Perhaps his most "minimal", as he says, because the whole film takes place in a single location, a theatre about to close permanently. But the film seemed to me to ellicit a wider range of emotions than most of Ming-liang previous films. I will have more to say about it upon its release, when members are more likely to post responses. I probably will write a post discussing Ming-liang's whole filmography.

I would love to read that Oscar. I just saw Goodbye Dragon Inn last night and I was blown away by it. Apparentally Tsai was walking by this theater when he noticed that they were closing it. He then made a film in a relatively short time period. I think it's so beautiful. Some of the most stunning photography. A friend had a hard time connecting to it in any emotional way, but I found the insular qulaity of the space, the inside/outside presence of the rain and the tension of the relationships to be really engaging.

P

**arsaib4** · 08-12-2004, 01:25 PM

I am glad you liked it Peter, here's a relatively young director (liang) that i don't have any reservations about in calling him a 'master'. GOODBYE DRAGON INN is by far the best film i've seen this year and hopefully Wellspring will release it soon.