1. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring (Kim Ki-Duk) - A methodical meditation on life, love, loss, dedication and honor. I remain in awe of this work. A beautiful, beautiful film.
2. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater) - A humble, simple, gorgeous, human film.
3. Touching the Void (Kevin Macdonald) - A gripping, intense, story of survival amidst utter hopelessness.
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry) - Beautiful, dreamy, poignant, fascinating, and confusing.
5. 2046 (WKW) - Seemingly an amalgamation of prior WKW work, but as the piece unfolds I discovered my initial suppositions were lacking. WKW unveils a new dreamscape full of his usual heartbreaks and quirks and stunning visuals.
6. Sideways (Alexander Payne) - A character piece with great character writing and great character actors. A genuine and delightful film that remains faithful to its characters.
7. Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess) - Hilarious. Offbeat. Written by the MTV generation for the MTV generation.
8. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Stephen Hillenberg) - My love of this film is just further proof that I'm a big dumb kid masquerading as an adult.
9. The Incredibles (Bird) - Über amusing stuff.
10. Finding Neverland (Marc Forster) - Lovely, charming.
11. Spartan (Mamet) - Sharp, gripping, Kilmer is great. It has an almost Hitchcockian dedication to realism despite its contrivances. It crackles.
12. Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore) - Despite my opinion of Mr. Moore, this film amused and delighted me.
13. The Aviator (Scorsese) - Long, but mesmerizing.

• Twentynine Palms (Bruno Dumont) - Ballsy.
• Team America: World Police (Parker) - Gross, juvenile, hilarious.
• Ray (Hackford) - Great perfs by Foxx and Armstrong.
• Under the Tuscan Sun (Wells) - Cute.
• Super Size Me (Spurlock) - Interesting.
• The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (Anderson) - Different.
• Kinsey (Condon) - Intriguing.
• Zatoichi (Takeshi Kitano) - Whacky.

• BAADASSSSS! (Mario van Peebles)
• Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (Briski & Kauffman)
• Coffee and Cigarettes (Jim Jarmusch)
• Control Room (Jehane Noujaim)
• Dodgeball (Rawson Mitchell Thurber)
• The Door in the Floor (Tod Williams)
• The Five Obstructions (Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier)
• Ghost in the Shell 2 (Oshii)
• Hotel Rwanda (Terry George)

• The Bourne Supremacy (Greengrass) - The fast cuts and camera shaking gave me a fucking headache.
• I <heart> Huckabees (Russell) - Gross, stupid, unfunny. A poor attempt at Spike Jonze.
• Shark Tale (Bergeron & Jenson) - A disappointment.

I'm glad to see 2004 come to a close. I have high hopes for 2005.

My virtual cardboard box.