My TOp Ten movies of last year! (Sorry no Dolph films guys)

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My TOp Ten movies of last year! (Sorry no Dolph films guys)

Postby Tom on 02 Jan 2005, 22:54

2004: Top Ten.

1:Hero: From Director Yimou Zhang is this film that is right up there with Crouching Tiger. Great cast, action and gorgeous to look at.
2:Spiderman 2: The follow up to the superb first outing of Spidey is right up there with the best action films made. It’s got character, drama and a great story to go with the top draw action scenes.
3:Collateral: Michael Mann returns to the crime thriller for the first time since the classic Heat, and this is another superb piece of work. A distinctive look, excellent character scope and cracking dialogue make this a must see. Cruise is fantastic.
4:The Bourne Supremacy: Another great sequel. This is a magnificent follow up to a great thriller and it has all the espionage and intrigue expected of a top spy flick. This is Bond with brains and features a gut wrenchingly good car chase.
5:Kill Bill Vol 2: This is a great film and although I marginally prefer the first one, Uma Thurman is superb here as are Michael Madsen and an Oscar worthy David Carradine.
6:Harry Potter 3: I love a good fantasy film, and this is a great one. Stylish, visually glorious and featuring mature performances from the three young actors. Gary Oldman also adds his considerable class to it too.
7:Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind: Jim Carrey’s done box office fodder this year with Lemony Snicket but most will remember this gem from Midas touch screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman. Carrey must get his Oscar nomination now for this magnificent work.
8:Lost In Translation: Bill Murray lost out, most would say unfairly, in the Oscar race, to Sean Penn. Murray is superb though as is actress of the moment Scarlett Johansson.
9:Shrek 2: Brilliant animated movie that is even funnier than the first one. Antonio Banderas is fantastic as Puss in Boots.
10:Shaun Of The Dead: Best British movie in ages, this is so funny it hurts. The comedy is ingenious and simple and as well as that the horror and drama work too. This is an instant cult classic.

Honourable mentions: School Of Rock (I hated not including this in the top ten), House Of Flying Daggers, I-Robot, Big Fish, Dawn Of The Dead, Hellboy, Shade, Rundown, Anchorman, House Of Sand And Fog, Shattered Glass.

Best Actors:

Jim Cavezial- Passion Of The Christ
Bill Murray- Lost In Translation
Jim Carrey- Eternal Sunshine
Tom Cruise- Collateral
Toby Macguire- Spiderman 2

Best Actresses:

Uma Thurman- Kill Bill Vol.2
Scarlett Johansson- Lost In Translation
Maia Morgenstern- Passion Of The Christ
Jennifer Connelly- House Of Sand And Fog.
Zhang Zhiyi- House Of Flying Daggers.

Best Supporting Actors:

David Carradine: Kill Bill 2
Tony Leung: Hero
Ben Kingsley: House Of Sand And Fog
Albert Finney: Big Fish
Sylvestor Stallone: Shade

Best Supporting Actresses:

Maggie Cheung: Hero
Kate Winslet: Eternal Sunshine
Shohreh Aghdashloo: House Of Sand And Fog
Darryl Hannah: Kill Bill Vol. 2
Cher: Stuck On You

Worst Actors:

Steven Seagal: Out Of Reach + Belly Of The Beast
Ben Affleck: Paycheck
Wesley Snipers: Unstoppable
Dolph Lundgren: Retrograde
Brad Pitt: Troy

Worst Actresses:

Sylvia Di Santis: Retrograde
Kelly Carlson: Starship Troopers 2
Kata Dobo: Detention
Thandie Newton: Chronicles Of Riddick
Jacqueline Obradors: Unstoppable

Best Directors:

Quentin Tarantino: Kill Bill 2
Zhang Yimou: Hero + House Of Flying Daggers.
Michael Mann: Collateral
Sam Raimi: Spiderman 2
Michel Gondry: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Best Screenplay:

Charlie Kaufman: Eternal Sunshine.

Best Score:

Dan Tun: Hero + Shigeru Umebayashi: House Of Flying Daggers.

Best Cinematography:

Xiaoding Zhao: House Of Flying Daggers + Christopher Doyle: Hero

Best Editng:

Long Cheng: House Of Flying Daggers.

Best Production Design:

Tingxiou Hou and Zenshou Yi: Hero

Best Set Design:

Harry Potter 3

Best Visual Effects:

Spiderman 2

Best Sound:

Kill Bill 2

Best Soundtrack:

School Of Rock

Best Hero:

Tobey Maguire: Spiderman 2

Best Villain:

Tom Cruise: Collateral

Best Action Scene:

Bourne Supremacy Car Chase.

Worst Action Scene:

A hilariously limp swordfight showdown between Steven Seagal and Matt Schulze: Out Of Reach.

Biggest stinking, reeking, rotten Turkey’s:

Out Of Reach
Retrograde
Unstoppable
Starship Troopers 2
Belly Of The Beast

Biggest Surprise Of The Year:

Shaun Of The Dead: Although from the makers of the superb Spaced this came out of the blue, with a middle of the road trailer and the weight of British mediocrity on its shoulders. Shaun Of The Dead delivered with aplomb and is one of the best comedies of the last few years. Cracking stuff, far beyond expectation.

Most Unsurprisingly Bad Film Of The Year:

Out Of Reach: How can lard bucket Seagal still make action films. I used to be a fan, and watching oldies like Nico you appreciate what a bad ass he used to be.

Biggest Letdown:

Troy: A film that screams to be made into a classic epic, with such scope and grandeur ends up being an overblown, inaccurate star vehicle for Brad Pitt, who is desperately out of place in this film. Despite the requisite visuals, battles and general carnage this lacks character and only Eric Bana shines here.

Summery:

Another great year and even better than last year in terms of quality. There are more Oscar contenders this time and the blockbuster standard is again excellent. Despite no Lord Of The Rings this year, we have had a superlative Spidey film and two magnificent HK movies. There’s been the usual tripe but even mis-handled popcorn spectaculars like Around The World In 80 Days and Riddick were still watchable. There were very few films I saw in the cinema this year that were really stinky, but a fair few on video as expected. There were so many highly rated and audience friendly films to choose from I never had to settle for going to watch a rubbish film. Every month had something new and interesting to watch. In many respects this year was great for comedies. There were plenty of films to make you laugh.

This was on the most part a good year for sequels with Spiderman 2 and Harry Potter 3 raising the bar form their previous films extremely high. Alfonso Cuarons movie was a gloriously dark and visually stunning Potter film which had a soul to it the first two lacked. Kill Bill was a great conclusion and Tarantino has delivered another cult smash.

Next Year will be interesting as there are a lot of films with vast potential to be classics in their genres. We have Star Wars 3, Batman Begins, Chronicles Of Narnia, Sin City, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Kingdom Of Heaven, Brothers Grimm and War Of The Worlds. Sure not an oringal idea in sight but still all the great directors are coming out the woodwork and we could have some great fantasy films, action films and sci-fi. I am definitely excited. 2005 heralds an exciting time in movies and the upward rise since 2003 looks set to continue.
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Postby Jox on 11 Jan 2005, 12:11

I don't think Sylvia di Santis is so awful in "Retrograde", she was misscast I think (too young?), she just look off compared to Dolph's larger than life look.
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Postby Tom on 11 Jan 2005, 12:27

She really seemed to annoy me in it. Like Kylie Bax in Stormcatcher. I thought the general standard of supporting cast was pretty bad in that film, compared to Dolphs other films. What did you think of the film overall. The best way I could some it up would be that it should really have been a Lorenzo Lamas film. I saw a film of his recently that had the same cheap and rushed feel to it, with the cardboard sets. Dolph seemed really out of place and a but bored, especially compared to Direct Action.
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