Don Hosek - Movies I've seen in 2004

Each movie's given with a quickie review and the date that I've seen it. They're listed from best to worst. If a film has a number in brackets after the title, that indicates a film I've seen more than once, and which viewing I'm listing. I'd also point out that I do see revival and repertory stuff so not every film on the list will be a 2004 release. It will, however, be a film I saw projected on a screen in a dark room filled with strangers. Titles in bold are set in southern California.

  1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (3/?) It just blew me away. This is easily the best script from Kaufman yet.
  2. Big Fish (1/?) Tim Burton's back and man can he put together a great film.
  3. Spider-Man 2 (7/4) Damn, I can't wait for SM3
  4. Lord of the Rings: Return of The King (1/8) The culmination of the series and the best movie of the lot. Or at least the one that I saw with the most distance between viewing and re-reading the novels.
  5. Nicotina (8/27) Great Pulp-fiction-style outing
  6. The Incredibles (11/26) Another great film from Pixar, although not quite as good as the earlier outings.
  7. Fahrenheit 911 (7/5) Michael Moore's best.
  8. Shawn of the Dead (10/7) Funniest film of the year.
  9. Harold and Kumar go to White Castle (8/16) Damn near the funniest movie of the year.
  10. Moola'ade (11/19) Occasionally tedious and preachy but often funny.
  11. Sky captain and the World of Tomorrow (10/?) Great visuals, too bad it didn't do well enough to spawn a franchise.
  12. Without a Paddle (9/3) Amusing buddy film
  13. Supersize Me (6/?) I'm never going to McDonald's again.
  14. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (7/?) Cuaron tried, but the books are getting to long to fit into a movie.
  15. Shrek 2 (8/9) Not really better than the original, but still amusing at times.
  16. Collateral (8/12) Nice view of L.A. at night even if it makes no sense.
  17. I, Robot (7/22) Better than I expected from the preview, but not really Asimov.
  18. Dawn of the Dead (4/3) Interesting remake
  19. Paycheck (1/14) OK thriller.
  20. The Village (7/30) Hmm, maybe the bad acting and writing was on purpose... now that's a twist!
  21. A Day Without a Mexican (5/19) A few good jokes with a lot of misses in between.
  22. The Forgotten (9/29) Huh?
  23. The Whole Ten Yards (4/12) Unnecessary remake
  24. Cold Mountain (1/?) Deadly dull.
  25. Welcome to Mooseport (2/?) A sitcom on the big screen.
  26. The Ladykillers (3/?) Amazingly weak.