|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOP 10 - Best Films 2004 |
|
|
|
The Aviator
(Miramax Films) |
|
A tremendously lavish and lucid account of the life and times of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes and all the hats he wore as an industrialist, Hollywood hotshot, and aircraft enthusiast. Highly respected film director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter John Logan delve into the polished yet complicated life of the legendary aviation pioneer by showing us the complexities of a made man misunderstood to the countless masses from afar. Scorsese’s The Gangs of New York leading man Leonardo DiCaprio brilliantly paints a perplexed portrait of a bigger than life personality glaring with bursting personal issues of excess and strangely--emptiness. A masterful and stylistic epic concocted by the skillful Scorsese and his trademark visionary flourishes of detail and determination. Maybe now Scorsese can finally capture that elusive Oscar statuette that’s long overdue. As the mastermind behind The Aviator, Scorsese and his dependable screen icon DiCaprio are filmdom’s flyboys for the ages. |
|
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind
(Focus) |
|
One cannot go wrong when tapping the surefire services of resilient experimental screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Kaufman, the talented and twisted brainiac behind some of Hollywood’s topsy turvy treats such as Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, lends his creative craftiness once again to a comforting and chaotic cause: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Kaufman, aided by the delirious direction of Michel Gondry, conjures up a jubilantly spry and infectious memory lane romantic comedy that’s as cloudy as it is zestfully quirky. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet star as the unconventional lovebirds saddled in an array of neurosis and flakiness. The moral in Eternal Sunshine is loud and clear—love is a concept that one can tamper with all they want to but shaping it and ignoring it won’t bring you the true meaning of what it’s meant to be if it isn’t realized in its complete natural package. There’s a sense of incompleteness and despair in all its wacky conventions that makes Eternal Sunshine the inspired and cerebral yet loony love story that resonates beyond its outlandish premise. |
|
Fahrenheit 9/11
(IFC/Fellowship Adventure Group/Lions Gate) |
|
You can say what you will about Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore and his labeled left wing politics. And you can berate Moore all you want in his quest to question the Bush administration and its foreign policies regarding the war in Iraq. Although Moore and his fellow Hollywood bleeding heart distracters have the stones to question this country’s course for continued chaos mirrored in the shocking aftertaste of a post 9/11 disillusionment, you have to admire the gutsy spirit of the eye-raising commentary Fahrenheit 9/11. The split is so evident since conservatives feel that Moore and his political masterpiece is fraudulent propaganda while liberals hail it as truthful and indicative of what’s wrong with America’s reckless agenda. Whatever one’s point of view is regarding the effectiveness of Fahrenheit 9/11’s caustic take on George W. Bush’s presidency and the questionable war-related retaliation that soon followed, Moore’s divisive vehicle certainly made the political spotlight very interesting in the presidential year of 2004. Some will cite inaccuracies while others will applaud Moore’s constant inquiries regarding the alleged sneaky “behind-the-scenes” politicking to an otherwise unknowing public. Outlandishly opinionated and speculative but nevertheless audacious and inquisitive, Moore and his politically-aware project Fahrenheit 9/11 is one of the most challenging and intriguing water cooler topical cinema pieces to ever come off the tips of so many wagging tongues. |
|
Hotel Rwanda
(MGM/UA) |
|
Whenever the movies are used as a way to reflect the ugly human condition, the consensus for heartbreak and rage is always at a premium high. This certainly can be said for filmmaker Terry George and his blistering genocide saga Hotel Rwanda. Don Cheadle, always the adventurous actor in whatever challenging skin he decides to climb into at any given moment, plays a Hutu hotel manager named Paul Rusesabagina who caters to the affluent European tourists and other VIP prototypes at the swanky Hotel Milles Collines. Of course being a black African, Paul’s existence is considered ordinarily meaningless but he does have some clout because of his work-related credentials at his posh workplace that serves his comfy white superiors. But Paul realizes that the onslaught of crazed-minded and execution-happy regime that has taken over the political power in Rwanda may spell devastation for his Tutsi wife Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo) and her relatives. It certainly doesn’t help that the Rwandan militia would stop it nothing to rid its country of Tutsi refugees since it hates these people with a passion. Thus, Paul must negotiate and arrange to hide away as many of his family and friends as possible in an attempt to rescue them from their potential deadly fate at the hands of a ruthless bias government. To say that Hotel Rwanda is a riveting account of desperation and hungry hope is an understatement indeed. George does a marvelous job at enhancing the impact of this tragic historical happening that besieged this African country over a decade ago where over one million people perished. And Cheadle, in an Oscar-caliber performance, is fearless as the African businessman who puts everything on the line in order to salvage the livelihood of a doomed people on the verge of inhumane elimination. Truly a harrowing and important film not to dismiss. |
|
House of Flying Daggers
(Sony Pictures Classic) |
|
Filmmaker Zhang Yimou (“Hero”) delivers a poetically gorgeous and vibrant action-oriented love story that captures the willing imagination. Yimou’s House of Flying Daggers is an opulent study of colorful imagery and haunting spirit. Clearly, House of Flying Daggers is one of the finest breathtaking films to emerge from China in quite some time. With its combative yet ballet-driven movements and sensual feel to its romantic vibes, House deserves the hearty comparisons to Yimou’s aforementioned Hero as well as the highly touted Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The visual wonderment of Yimou’s penetrating narrative is absolutely a stunning spectacle to behold. And the choreography is impeccable in its rhythmic and raucous vibes. The radiant Ziyi Zhang (from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is the pretty pixie that’s also a blinded assassin-dancer embroiled in the intrigue concerning two feuding factions during the era of the Tang Dynasty. Now it’s true that Yimou invites the same old dazzling martial arts special effects that have now become a commonplace staple in this kind of highly stylized melodrama. But still, the frenzied flourishes are marvelous and one cannot help but to get caught up in the jolting violent confrontations that gives this high-wire entertainment its pronounced personality and zest. It would be in your best interest to take a stab at Yimou’s energetically stimulating Daggers. |
|
Kinsey
(Fox Searchlight Pictures) |
|
Sexologist/researcher Alfred Kinsey dared to go where society resisted—revealing the curious condition of human sexuality and daring to bring it out in the mainstream forefront. Considering the era in late 1940’s America where exploring sexual attitudes in the open was a hush-hush and audacious gesture to consider, Kinsey was the unlikely anti-establishment cultural icon to approach this titillating topic of sexuality as a relevant crusade that incorporated intellectual and intriguing forethought. With his breakout literate reads in the detailed manifestos “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male” and “Sexual Behavior in the Human Female”, the articulate and inquisitive Indiana University professor shook up the times and made it fashionable to give insight into a taboo subject that needed investigating if not understanding. Long before the likes of Playboy’s partyboy Hugh Hefner enlightened generations of horny coming-of-age males of all ages or impish Dr. Ruth Westheimer talking about sex as commonplace as eating a snow cone, Dr. Kinsey was the ultimate maverick for the sexual cynic. Undeniably, he made it fashionable to regard the concept of sexual practices as something to acknowledge more than just whispering behind guarded bedroom doors. Writer-director Bill Condon (“Gods and Monsters”) delivers a nostalgically nuanced bio-pic that captured the repressed spirit and gradual liberation of a physically intimate human need that’s wallowed in sensationalistic heresay of perversion and uptightness. Liam Neeson is absolutely involving as the champion behind sexual habits and the psychological motivations for how humans and amorous feelings are cultivated and shaped by our complex psyches. Unassumingly intoxicating in its frivolity and frankness, Kinsey arouses in more ways than one. |
|
Ray
(Universal Pictures) |
|
Brother Ray Charles—the beloved but massively flawed showman that used his music as an aphrodisiac for all to relish in its thumping spirituality and excitement. When the world lost Ray Charles in June of 2004, it lost its King of Cool…its Master of Musical Notes. But leave it to filmmaker Taylor Hackford and the uncanny and unflinching performance of actor/comedian Jamie Foxx to bring the late great Velvet-voiced One’s presence back to the mindset of millions that can reminisce one more time about Charles and his legendary impact on the American music scene. In the finger-snapping bio-pic Ray, Hackford’s energetic direction and Foxx’s skillful portrayal of the blinded superstar with the inspirational heft for rocking the joint certainly makes for a rousing and poignant tribute to the now silenced Ray Charles. For every unflattering label that was suitably anointed to the plagued singer (cheating husband, absent father to an army of children by various women, womanizer, business-oriented opportunist, drug addict, etc.) there was also a vulnerable talent that had his healthy share of adversity from the get go. For all the obstacles (i.e. being a poor Southern sightless black man) that he overcame to do his “thing”, Ray Charles will live on as one of the most complex yet courageous American icons to grace show business and make it his own redeeming oyster. |
|
Shaun of the Dead
(Rogue Pictures) |
|
Writer-director Edgar Wright and co-writer/Shaun star Simon Pegg deliver a hilariously droll and sharp-minded slash/slacker gem in the highly cheeky flesh farce Shaun of the Dead. Brilliantly bringing that sense of British stiff-lipped wit to the forefront, Shaun of the Dead is a wickedly stimulating romp that skewers everything from the ridiculousness of popular zombie serials to the upper-crest indifference of English society’s prissy-minded protocol. This is an impeccable social satire that works on many zany levels. Thankfully, we have been blessed with a series of well-made and paced cannibalistic creep shows that knew how to stay true to a goosebumpy genre that needed to reinvent itself in order to maintain its sadistic freshness. With such hard acts to follow as Danny Boyle’s riveting 28 Days and this year’s surprisingly adequate Dawn of the Dead remake, the wry and observant Shaun of the Dead definitely did not disappoint by any stretch of the imagination. |
|
Sideways
(Fox Searchlight Pictures) |
|
Usually when you pen a script about a buddy-buddy road picture with traces of the typical “self-discovery” angle to it, chances are that you’d get a “been-there-down-that” reaction. Well, there’s certainly nothing arbitrary about filmmaker Alexander Payne’s winning romantic black comedy Sideways. The consistently capable writer-director, who’s behind such socially sound fare as the uproarious Election and About Schmidt, is back at it again with Sideways as he spotlights the disenchantment of two opposite-type personality pals (Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church). Payne, one of contemporary cinema’s most ardent social commentators, once again resourcefully entices movie audiences into crawling under the skin of his damaged protagonists dripping with cynicism and quiet despair. Giamatti is an obsessed wine connoisseur/novelist with an empty love life who takes a road trip up the coast into wine country with his soon-to-be-married hormonal hound dog ex-actor buddy (Church). Both guys awaken themselves to new romantic experiences during this field trip when they eventually bump into free-spirit galpals (played by Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh). Sideways is infectious in its quirky strides and Payne’s narrative is keenly realized as a character study of lonely souls looking to belong emotionally within their own restrictive means. |
|
Team America: World Police
(Paramount Pictures) |
|
Raunchy renegades Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park) serves up what may very well be 2004’s other attention-getting political flick (joining the maligned Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11). In the mayhem-inducing marionette satire Team America: World Police, Parker and Stone make no bones about how to pour on the outrageousness. The tarnishing tandem leave no stones unturned and gleefully bash everything in sight from America’s jingoism pertaining to the troubled Middle East to that of preachy liberal Hollywood hellraisers (read: Michael Moore, Sean Penn, Barbra Steisand, etc.) and the self-righteous conservative agenda backing George W. Bush. It’s almost orgasmic to indulge in the blatantly irreverent and outlandish commentary that Parker and Stone cleverly feed through their wily wooden protagonists. Everything about Team America: World Police is perversely celebratory in its blasphemy. Perhaps the spunky splinters that pass for human debauchery on the big screen reminds us how really detached we are to the inane chaos and conflict that bombard our everyday dealings with a crazed world on the brink of disaster. If Fahrenheit 9/11 merely stuck its tongue out at what’s wrong with the political scene in this divisive country then Team America: World Police is a ribald middle finger waiting to be acknowledged. |
 |
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Copyrights are the property of their respective owners. The images displayed on this site are for newsworthy purposes only. All of the images on this site are either the property of CelebStar.net, used with permission of their respective copyright owners, or believed to have been granted into the public domain. |
||
|
All original content Copyright © |
|
CelebStar™ All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
||
|
|
