The 100 Project: Top 25 Movies of 2004

During 2005 I began working at Blockbuster. This meant I had the opportunity to see tons of releases from 2004 that normally would’ve passed me by. As a result, The 100 Project moves beyond top 10 lists to top 25s where it will stay for its remainder. With that in mind, we’ll skip all the long-winded pleasantries and get right to it.

My Top 25 Movies of 2004

• According to my Letterboxd account, I have watched 126 movies released in 2004; over 100.
• I saw 6 movies in theaters; my lowest total since 1988. 2 make the top 25. 
• For the first time, I've seen all 5 of the nominees for Best Picture. 3 of them make the top 25.
• Only 4 movies in the top 25 have a female protagonist, but 3 of them make the top 10.
• Along with protagonists of various human shades, the top 25 also includes one who is red, another who is green, and one made of plastic.

25. Hotel Rwanda

Genocide is a tough topic, so it’s not one you’ll likely watch more than once or twice. However, it’s one you should most definitely see. It made Don Cheadle a star before the MCU got their hands on him. It’s deserving because he carries a film that might otherwise be overwhelmed by its subject.

24. Man on Fire

Director Tony Scott and star Denzel Washington get together for one of the more somber movies in either of their filmographies. The final act is an amazing depiction of a man on a murderous mission. The overall result is a revenge flick with brutality borne out of tenderness.

23. Team America: World Police

Sure, it’s juvenile in every sense of the word. I mean, the most memorable part is an over-the-top raunchy sex scene. That might not sound too silly until you realize that we’re talking about a movie entirely populated by puppets with clearly and purposely visible strings. I’m supposed to be better than this, but I’m not.

22. Hellboy

I wasn’t a huge fan of this the first time I saw it. I’ve seen it a few more times since and my appreciation and admiration of it keeps growing. Ron Perlman is amazing and the creature effects are still great. Give me a few more years, this might climb a few more spots.

21. The Machinist

This is another of those movies that just sticks with me. I’ve only seen it once, years ago, but it’s memory feels fresh. An emaciated Christian Bale, worn beyond usefulness by a lack of sleep, is usually the first image I get when his name is mentioned. And that’s coming from a huge Batman fan.

20. Super Size Me

Speaking of movies that stick with me, here’s this doc about a guy who decides to eat nothing but McDonald’s three times a day for a month. As frightening as it sounds, the results are at least as scary. Even though some things changed with regard to menu options, I dare say things have actually gotten worse. Just the other day I was watching a video comparing portion sizes at KFC in the US and the UK. Yup, we Americans are pigs.

19. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

That it’s on this list tells you that I really like it. What tells me that is the amount of times I’ve been tempted to throw a wrench at some jackass’s head with all my might. In these flights of fancy, the person invariably asks why I would do such a thing. My reply is always the same. “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”

18. Collateral

The difference between Jamie Foxx’s character in this film and his character in a film coming up later on this list is long journey. Yet, he pulls it off with ease. Let’s give the man his props for his range. That said, the real revelation is Tom Cruise as a villain. Wow. At some point, he won’t be physically able to go on impossible missions. At that point, please get him more bad guy roles.

17. Saw

While the traps were memorable, the original movie in this now long-running franchise is not about them, as the sequels seem to be. The same goes for the twist ending. This is slow-build situational horror as opposed to the flat out torture porn of its successors. Those movies are fun in a sadistic way. This has some of those elements, but more importantly, it’s just good.

16. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Sometimes, a movie is just funny. This is one of those. Sure, it recognizes some differences between the 1970s, when it’s set, and 2004, when it was released, but it’s not really about that. It’s about a never-ending stream of jokes. And almost all of them hit. This is arguably the most quotable movie on this list, too. Who hasn’t said to someone, “I’m kind of a big deal.”

15. Mean Girls

I’ve always thought that the power structure in high school, particularly among girls, was overly militarized for cinematic purposes. This movie does the same. It just does it better than most others. It’s funny, smart, and timeless. Sadly, for star Lindsay Lohan, this is where she peaked.

14. Friday Night Lights

There have been several movies made telling us that, in Texas, football is life. This is the best of the bunch. It gives us the best characters which adds to the emotion of the football at its core. It helps that the football itself is often gut-wrenching, allowing us to forgive any liberties taken with the true story its based on. FYI, if you didn’t know, there is a companion piece to this movie. 2015’s Carter High is about the opponent in this film’s penultimate game.

13. Sideways

This is another I only saw because of the 5 movie a week allowance at Blockbuster. Nothing about it seemed interesting from the blurb on the back of the box. When I watched it, I was pulled in and overwhelmed with empathy. The writing is superb, and Paul Giamatti is so good in the lead role my heart breaks for this guy, over and over.

12. Mysterious Skin

Speaking of my heart breaking, it happened several more times during my viewing of this movie. It deals with child molestation and never lets us off the hook. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives arguably his career-best performance in service of a devastating piece of work. And in case you were wondering, this is another ending that just sticks with you no matter how hard you try to shake it.

11. Shrek 2

As much as I love the original Shrek, this one is not far behind it. It takes what the first movie and builds on it, becoming even more relentless in its deconstruction of the fairy tale. The jokes are just as sharp, if not sharper. To top it all off, the story of Shrek and Fiona is advanced in an organic and heartwarming manner.

10. Spider-Man 2

I really like Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man movie. I LOVE this one. It captures the struggle to be Spidey better than any live-action movie we’ve gotten. It also gives us the best, most sympathetic villain of the lot, as well (no disrespect to Michael Keaton’s vulture). I’m not arguing with anyone who has this among the best superhero movies ever made.

9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I was already a fan of Jim Carrey before seeing this. Kate Winslet, on the other hand, was just the chick from Titanic. At least, that’s what she was to me. The two of them, along with the writing and directing, weave a labyrinthine and absorbing romance. When the credits started rolling, I had gained a greater respect for Carrey, and Winslet had become THE Kate Winslet.

8. Ray

I’ve already raved about Jamie Foxx in my entry for Collateral. However, this is his crowning achievement as an actor. He channeled the legendary Ray Charles and never faltered, not even for one frame. He disappears into the character, and the character rewards us by pulling us along through myriad emotions, both in song and between them.

7. Maria Full of Grace

I feel like a broken record when I say this is a devastating movie, but that’s precisely what it is. It’s also the most obscure film on this list. It’s about a young woman in Colombia who becomes a drug mule tasked with smuggling product into America. Let’s just say that nothing about her mission is safe. The payoff is that there is so much more to her than that.

6. Million Dollar Baby

I don’t watch as much boxing as I once did, but when I do, I’m very analytical about it. I tend to break fights down as I watch them. This is true when I’m watching boxing movies, too. I say this to demonstrate how good this film is. I love it and the emotional ride it takes me on despite having some of the worst boxing scenes ever filmed.

5. Shaun of the Dead

Before sitting down to watch this, I had no clue that zombies could be funny. In this case, they’re really funny. Better than that, the people who are not zombies are downright hilarious. If you can’t tell, I have a blast watching this film. It’s not as much of a deconstruction as it is the zombie concept taken to absurdist extremes. And I laugh, absurdly.

4. Kill Bill, Vol. 2

Kill Bill, Vol. 1 appeals, in a sense, to my loins. I don’t mean that in a sexual way, but that it’s all visceral thrills. The Bride gains our empathy through her conviction in her actions. This volume appeals to my intellect. We learn about her and what drives her. Just as important, we learn about Bill. In the first volume, the fighting is the point. This time, it’s about what fighting may gain or lose her.

3. The Incredibles

What if there was actually a good Fantastic Four movie? What if their powers were related to their personalities in natural ways? What if their relationships to each other were real and relatable? What if the villain had a justifiable position even though his means are unacceptable? The Incredibles is that movie.

2. Kung-Fu Hustle

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 2 cups of all-purpose flour into a mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of kung-fu, 1 tablespoon of chosen one, 1 teaspoon Looney Tunes, ½ teaspoon Mel Brooks musical, ¼ teaspoon irreverence extract, 1 ½ cups milk, 1 egg. Stir until batter is smooth. Pour mixture into a cakepan. Bake in oven until laughter is uncontrollable.

1. Napoleon Dynamite

I enjoy putting this movie on for people who have never seen it. Sometimes, they stare at the screen blankly and politely suffer through it. In truth, most start off that way. About halfway through, some express their displeasure. The phrase WTF usually makes its way into their line of questioning. Occasionally, someone will chuckle right with me, all the way through. My point is, either you LOVE this movie, or you HATE this movie. And if you’ve never seen it, I have to find out which. That’s how much I adore Napoleon Dynamite.


Honorable Mentions (alphabetically): Bad Education, Birth, The Bourne Supremacy, Dumplings, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, House of Flying Daggers, Ocean's Twelve, Saved!, The Wooden Camera, The Woodsman