The 10 Best Films Of 2004

3. “Birth”
Nicole Kidman plays a widow about to remarry when a boy (a preternaturally eerie Cameron Bright) arrives at her swanky dinner party. The child, all of ten years of age, creepily claims to be Kidman’s husband, sharing with her knowledge only he would have taken to the grave. People looking for an answer to the boy’s claims are looking in the wrong direction, as what happens afterwards is more intriguing — a total collapse of the mental and emotional resources of this woman, perfectly captured by Kidman’s glacial visage. A critical re-evaluation is due for the majority of people who wrongly dismissed this Jonathan Glazer (“Sexy Beast“) film in its year of release, correctly rendering how emotionally violent the film is, particularly the sequence when the boy disrobes and joins her in the bathtub without warning and the haunting sea-side conclusion. Whatever the real answer to the central mystery may be, it’s shattering when you realize that the real damage has already been done.

2. “The Motorcycle Diaries”
Rendered with a deeply soulful and compassionately resonating lens, Brazilian director Walter Salles‘ affecting portrait of a young Che Guevara — far before his time as a Cuban revolutionary — is a luminous (and subtle) reflection of a thoughtful explorer waking up to the consciousness of the planet. Gael García Bernal plays Guevara when he was a young medical student then known as Ernesto (or his other nickname “Fuser”) traveling across South America with his best friend (Rodrigo de la Serna) before graduating and dealing with impending adulthood. But what is meant to be a bourgeois travelogue of hedonism and adventure turns into something deeper; a voyage that radically and inexorably transforms them as they become acutely attuned to the inescapable timbre of human suffering growing all around them. Deeply empathetic and heart-stirring.

1. “Dogville”
Nicole Kidman betrays her porcelain surface as a loner in small-town America who finds herself welcomed and then victimized before turning the table on her assailants. “Dogville” would fit neatly into the pantheon of cinematic stories about martyrs had mischief-prone Lars Von Trier not stuck to his experimental roots, playfully deconstructing the tragedy on a stage illuminated only by chalk and with a storyline that relies heavily on narration. Instead, it’s a provocative, hate-filled invective lobbed at American values from a conscience-less gag maker determined to pervert the cinematic form. Not for the ideologically squeamish, but still a fascinating take on the established boundaries of visual storytelling.

Honorable Mentions:
2004 wasn’t exactly the strongest year in the world of cinema and as mentioned, we struggled to come up with 10 films we felt very strongly about as a “Best of The Decade” film. Regardless, films that we discussed and considered include Pedro Almodovar‘s rare non-female-led drama “Bad Education,” a solid film, but perhaps his least successful this decade, and that’s even counting “Broken Embraces“; Michael Mann‘s “Collateral” which isn’t perfect, but is perhaps one of his most engaging of the aughts (plus it boasts that rare great Tom Cruise performance). Some of our writers wanted to include Edgar Wright‘s zombie-comedy “Shaun Of The Dead” and the intensely enjoyable Pixar film “The Incredibles” but neither made the cut (though many argued vehemently for the Pixar film; that’s what Best Animated Films of the Decade is for). This writer, your editor-in-chief, would like to also state that Jean-Pierre Jeunet‘s “A Very Long Engagement” is not a perfect film, but is also underrated and still has value, not to mention gorgeous aesthetics (it’s also a nice change of pace for the filmmaker). Another strong 2004 effort that didn’t quite make our list was “The Sea Inside” by Alejandro Amenábar, which in some ways feels like the poor man’s “The Diving Bell & The Butterfly,” only because the latter negotiates a similar subject matter and is just so bloody good. Also notable are Li Yang‘s exceptional, documentary-like coal mine drama “Blind Shaft,” about two con-men, one of whom suddenly develops a conscience, “Maria Full of Grace,” which is perhaps best remembered now for giving us the very excellent Catalina Sandino Moreno, Peter Berg‘s muscular and adept “Friday Night Lights,” Shane Carruth‘s sci-fi-ish thriller “Primer,” and Guy Maddin‘s two fantastical snowglobe reveries, “The Saddest Music In the World” and the silent “Cowards Bend The Knee.” Mike Leigh‘s working class, family tragedy “Vera Drake” is also a commendable piece of work.

Three others we forgot that deserve merit: Steven Soderbergh‘s popcorn-art free-for-all “Ocean’s Twelve” (which despite its reputation as far too loose, might just be the most enjoyable of the series) and Dylan Kidd‘s (“Roger Dodger“) second-chances drama “PS,” which features excellent performances by Laura Linney, Topher Grace and Marcia Gay Harden. Oh yeah, you know what else is great? “Mean Girls” with Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams, no joke.

Films intentionally off this list (though some advocated for them) were David O. Russell’s gonzo, existentialism picture “I Heart Huckabees” (though Wahlberg is great in the picture; the rest of it is a severe mess), “The Aviator” (which still at least looks beautiful), “Sideways,” and “Ray.”

Your thoughts on 2004?

— Kevin Jagernauth, Kimber Myers, Drew Taylor and Rodrigo Perez.