Top 10 Films of 2004

1. "Collateral" (Michael Mann, USA)

2. "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" (Alfonso Cuaron, USA)

3. ''Sideways'' (Alexander Payne, USA)

4. ''Downfall'' (Oliver Hirschbiegel, Germany)

5. ''Antares'' (Gotz Spielmann, Austria)

6. ''Samaritan Girl'' (Kim Ki-Duk, South Korea)

7. ''Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind'' (Michel Gondry, USA)

8. "House Of The Flying Daggers" (Zhang Yimou, China)

9. ''Innocence" (Lucile Hadzihalilovic, France)

10. "Turtles Can Fly" (Bahman Ghobadi, Iran)

Other great films:

20:30:40 (Taiwan)
2046 (Hong Kong)
3-Iron (South Korea)

4 (Russia)

A tout de suite (France)

As It Is In Heaven (Sweden)

The Aviator

Before Sunset

Blood (Canada)

Coffee And Cigarettes
Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit (Canada)
Comment devenir un trou de cul et enfin plaire aux femmes (Canada)
Comme une image (France)

The Company

De-Lovely

Ecstasy In Berlin 1926

Eros

L'Esquive (France)

The Fourth Body

Garden State

Head On (Germany)

Home On The Range

Hotel Rwanda 

Howl's Moving Castle (Japan)

Immortel (France)

The Incredibles

Kill Bill: Volume 2

Kinsey

The Ladykillers

Un Long dimanche de fiançailles (France)

La Mala Educacion (Spain)

Ma mere (France)

Ma vie en cinémascope (Canada)

Melinda And Melinda
Mémoires affectives (Canada)
Million Dollar Baby

Murder Set Pieces

Notre musique (Switzerland)

Only Human (Spain)

The Passion Of The Christ

La Peau blanche (Canada)

The Polar Express

Pregi (Poland)

Quiet As A Mouse (Germany)

Shrek 2

Somersault (Australia)

Sotto falso nome (Italy)

Team America: World Police

Triple agent (France)

Tropical Malady (Thailand)

Tsumugi (Japan)

Tulse Luper Suitcases 2: Vaux To The Sea (UK)

La Vie est un miracle (Yugoslavia)
The Village

Visions Of Europe
Wilby Wonderful (Canada)
Wimbledon

The Woodsman

Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of 2004:

1. "My Summer Of Love" (Pawel Pawlikowski, UK)

2. "The Dreamers" (Bernardo Bertolucci, Searchlight)

3. "Or Mon trésor" (Keren Yedaya, Israel)

4. "Sex Is Comedy" (Catherine Breillat, France)

5. "Contra todos" (Roberto Moreira, Brazil)

6. "Anatomie de l'enfer" (Catherine Breillat, France)

7. "Rois et reine" (Arnaud Desplechin, France)

8. "9 Songs" (Michael Winterbottom, UK)

9. "Flower And Snake" (Takashi Ishii, Japan)

10. "The Masseuse" (Paul Thomas, USA)

Short Top 3:

1. "Wasp" (Andrea Arnold, UK)

2. "Little Terrorist" (Ashvin Kumar, India)

3. "Everything In This Country Must" (Gary McKendry, UK)

Other great shorts:

Convulsion Expulsion

Fajnie ze jestes (Poland)

Para vestir santos (Mexico)

Self-Contained

Top 3 Music Videos:

1. "Toxic" (Joseph Kahn, Britney Spears)

2. "Take Me Out" (Jonas Odell, Franz Ferdinand)

3. "Drop It Like It's Hot" (Paul Hunter, Snoop Doggy Dog)

Other great music videos:

Call On Me

Protege-moi (France)

Top Commercial:

"Geico Lawyer" (Geico)

Other great commercials:

Karate Explosion

TV Top 5:

1. "Lost: Season 1" (ABC)

2. "Wonderfalls" (Fox)

3. "The Wire: Season 3" (HBO)

4. "The Sopranos: Season 5" (HBO)

5. "Six Feet Under: Season 4" (HBO)

Other great TV shows:

24: Season 4

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "Lorenzo" (Mike Gabriel, Disney)

2. "Ryan" (Chris Landreth, NFB)

3. "Gopher Broke" (Jeff Fowler, USA)

Other great cartoons:

Birthday Boy (South Korea)

Weak films of 2004:

36 quai des Orfèvres (France)
Les Aimants (Canada)
Birth
The Blue Butterfly (Canada)
Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason (UK)
Camping sauvage (Canada)
Childstar (Canada)
Les Choristes (France)

Closer
Como fazer un film de amor (Brazil)
Dans une galaxie près de chez vous - le film (Canada)
Le Dernier tunnel (Canada)
Elles étaient cinq (Canada)
Fahrenheit 9/11
Hellboy
Jack Paradise (Canada)
The Life Aquatic
Maria Full Of Grace (Columbia)
Monica la mitraille (Canada)
The Motocycle Diaries
Mothers And Daughters
Nouvelle-France (Canada)
Ray
The Sea Inside (Spain)
Shark Tale
A Silent Love (Canada)
Spanglish
Spider-Man 2

The Terminal
Troy
Twist (Canada)
Vera Drake (UK)

Weak shorts:

Priere pour refusniks (France)
Si cinq rois valaient cette dame (France)
Two Cars One Night (New Zealand)

Weak cartoons:

The Guard Dog

Top Musical of 2004

"De-Lovely" (Irwin Winkler, MGM)

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004) *****

By far the best Harry Potter movie ever made, and a genuine masterpiece of the fantasy genre. It's much darker than other installements, with truly amazing cinematography, but what really sets it apart from the others is the incredibly story - as flawless (and daring) an example of bold narrative deconstruction as has ever been attempted in a mainstream Hollywood movie. Superbly directed by Alphonso Cuaron, it's a cinematic and dramatic triumph in every respect.

Collateral (2004) *****

Michael Mann's masterpiece.

Sideways (2004) *****

Downfall (2004) *****

Tropical Malady (2004) ****

Turtles Can Fly (2004) ****

Powerful Iranian film about Kurdish refugees.

Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004) ****

House Of The Flying Daggers (2004) ****

The Aviator (2004) ****

'Innocence (2004) ****

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004) ****

Samaritan Girl (2004) ****

Antares (2003) ****

The Dreamers (2004) ***