In 2004,
Mark Zuckerberg launched TheFacebook;
Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia were admitted to NATO;
The First and Second Battle of Fallujah took place;
The Summer Olympics took place in Athens, Greece;
The Boston Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino and won their 6th World Series;
George W. Bush was reelected as president of the United States;
The Nintendo DS was released;
Janet Jackson accidentally exposed her breast during the halftime show of the Super Bowl;
Ken Jennings won his first game on Jeopardy!;
The Apprentice, Lost, Pimp My Ride, Deadwood, Entourage, Rescue Me, CSI: NY; Veronica Mars, Boston Legal, Desperate Housewives, Battlestar Galactica, The Biggest Loser, and Project Runway premiered;
Friends, Frasier, Sex and the City, Angel, The Man Show, Rugrats, and The Drew Carey Show ended;
Jack Champion, Coco Gauff, Millie Gibson, Peyton Kennedy, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Darci Lynne, Apple Martin, Marsai Martin, Noah Schnapp, and Victor Wembanyama were born;
While Tug McGraw, Spalding Gray, Uta Hagen, Mercedes McCambridge, Marge Schott, Paul Winfield, Peter Ustinov, Carrie Snodgress, Estee Lauder, Tony Randall, Archibald Cox, Forrest Tucker, Ronald Reagan, Ray Charles, Marlon Brando, Fay Wray, Julia Child, animator Frank Thomas , Big Boss Man, Janet Leigh, Rodney Dangerfield, Christopher Reeve, Pierre Salinger, Theo Van Gogh, Howard Keel, Yasser Arafat, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Bobby Frank Cherry, Terry Melcher, Arthur Hailey, Reggie White, Jerry Orbach, Susan Sontag, and Artie Shaw died.
There are my top ten films released in 2004:
Mel Gibson’s shockingly violent film was a lightning rod of criticism and fundamentally changed his legacy.
Few, if any, other portraits of the death of Christ have seemed to revel in the violence of it, but that part of the film seems fundamentally accurate to me. Crucifixion was a horrific, painful death and attempts to sanitize it run the risk of diminishing it.
There are parts of the film’s theology which are uncomfortable to me, but most of its depictions are supported in scripture or in the faith tradition.
It’s an important, searing film and it’s relevance continues to grow.
Watching this is a glimpse into the mindset of many devoted Christians, providing an insight into the motivations and forces behind a lot of the trajectory of America in the twenty years since.
9) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Introverted and bookish Joel Barrish (Jim Carrey) and free spirited Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) have a tempestuous relationship.
After a nasty fight and break up, Clementine hires Lacuna to erase her memories of Joel. When he discovers her plan, a bitter Joel hires them to do the same for him.
While at his house preparing his mind for the procedure while he sleeps, Lacuna employee Patrick (Elijah Wood) uses Joel’s memories in an attempt to seduce Clementine. While his fellow employee Mary discovers she had an affair with Lacuna’s founder, Howard (Tom Wilkinson) who erased her memories.
As Joel’s memories of Clementine disintegrate, he resists and tries to salvage his memory of her.
Carrey has rarely been better. Winslet deservedly received an Oscar nomination. Dunst, Jackson, Wilkinson, and Mark Ruffalo give the layered, nearly perfect performances you would expect from such heavy hitters.
Charlie Kaufman’s reputation as a genius avant-garde screenwriter who makes experimental films with wide appeal was cemented here and deservedly earned him an Oscar.
Michael Gondry has a reputation as a difficult director and his output since has never reached these dizzying heights; retrospectively most of the credit for the film has been assigned to Kaufmann which seems fair considering his output has been of a more consistently higher quality.
The film has justifiably amassed a following as one of the preeminent films of the 21st century. It’s a trippy, whimsical, sappy, poignant film explores how bad relationships make us who we are as much as good ones. It’s a beautiful reflection on the isolation, heartache, and pain of trying to connect with anyone else in this world.
8) Mooladé
Octogenarian director Ousmane Sembène paints a powerful, emotional picture of life in modern Africa where barbaric traditions such as female genital cutting are still practiced well into the 21st century.
It’s an eye opening portrait of the way in which Africa is still far behind what we, in the west, expect as standard behavior.
As Collé (the second of her husband’s three wives) fights against the practice of female circumcisions, she puts a magical protection (the titular Moolaadé) around a number of defiant girls to protect them.
The patriarchal, traditional forces in their community combat Collé’s protection of the girls and her desire for change.
It’s a devastating portrait of the reality of these women and inadvertently hints the effects of colonialism were not entirely bad because they spread western ideals of equality.
The first part of Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy is a masterclass in tone and genre bending, an innovative and fun take on the zombie genre.
I’m not sure Wright has ever made a better film. So far, his work without Pegg is not my cup of tea.
Nick Frost is delightful. Lucy Davis is great.
The addition of Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy gives the project a respectability it wouldn’t have otherwise had.
Simon Pegg has been one of the low key most impactful stars of the 21st century. He’s in big projects (Mission: Impossible) and his output is consistent, but he seems to hover just below the surface of household names.
6) Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
I don’t remember it being a hit at the box office, but it found life on home video and cemented Will Ferrell, Steve Carrell, and Paull as a bona fide stars (poor David Koechner).
It has heart, but it’s a ridiculous movie where the jokes are flying at a relentless, breakneck pace.
From here, Ferrell and Adam McKay built a mini comedy empire (eventually broken down because of ego and miscommunication), but their greatest contribution will undoubtedly be Ron Burgundy, one of the best comedic creations of the 21st century.
5) The Aviator
It’s a fascinating character study of Howard Hughes, a towering figure in American life. I loved Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn, erstwhile lover of Hughes. She’s phenomenal and deservedly won an Oscar.
I love movies about Hollywood, especially old Hollywood, so this checks all my boxes. Smoky back room government sausage making is an added bonus.
Alan Alda is fantastic in one of his infrequent big screen roles as Senator Owen Brewster. Alec Baldwin is great as Hughes antagonist and fellow airline owner Juan Trippe. Gwen Stefani and Kate Beckinsale give admirable performances as Ava Garner and Jean Harlow.
Leonardo DiCaprio would not have been my first choice to play Howard Hughes, but he’s excellent. This was at the midpoint of Scorsese’s second act moving from De Niro to the more youthful Leo.
It’s Scorsese at his best and DiCaprio rounding into powerhouse form.
4) Downfall
A sympathetic portrait of Hitler’s final days shouldn’t work, but I found it to be a stark reminder that despite the tendency to mythologize Hitler as an unfathomable personification of evil, he was a man who had hopes and dreams and friends. He laughed and cried like everyone else, but his ambition was pure evil.
Bruno Ganz is incredible in the central role, turning what could have been a broad caricature into a fully realized character.
By deconstructing him the film does an incredible service, allowing us to honestly see what Hitler did and hopefully learn how to prevent it from happening again.
Plus it provided us with some of the best memes of the 21st century.
Titta Di Girolamo, a lonely middle aged businessman, is still paying for a mistake he made years ago: a bad investment for the mafia. As punishment, they force him to live alone in a hotel and make daily deliveries to the bank.
He’s cut off from his wife and children (who barely conceal their hatred) and has developed a heroin habit (to numb the pain of his existence).
He has an infatuation with a maid at the hotel, but from a safe distance, an imagining of what his life could be. Encouraged by an encounter with his more gregarious step brother, he make overtures towards a genuine relationship with her, but when she misses a date (because she’s in a car wreck), he spirals into self-destructive nihilism.
This was Paolo Sorrentino’s arrival to US audiences. The film is ponderous and feels like the sort of intellectual film parodied in public imagination.
I found it to be a moving exploration of modern isolation and the unintended consequences of our actions, announcing Sorrentino as one of the heirs to De Sica, Fellini and Bergman.
2) Illusion
As famed film director Donald Baines (Kirk Douglas) nears death, he reflects on his life, particularly the illegitimate son he abandoned.
Baines is visited (Christmas Carol-style) by the ghost of a previous collaborator and given glimpses of this son at various stages of his life.
It’s a poignant look at the sacrifices of the life of an artist. What do you want as a legacy: an important career or a family that loves you?
The movie sings because of the casting of Douglas (in his final film role).
Years after a stroke impaired his ability to speak, Douglas continued to act and bravely brings his baggage to bear. You can’t help but feel he’s exploring similar feelings about his own family and legacy, openly questioning if the sacrifices of his long public life mattered.
Director Michale Goorjian takes a lot of big swings that don’t always work, but the raw openness of Kirk Douglas is worth the price of admission and has stayed with me.
In Before Sunrise (1995), Jesse, an idealistic American fresh out of college, meets Celine, an opinionated French girl, while traveling through Europe. After spending the night talking about their worldviews and personal philosophies, they make love and promise to meet again in six months.
This sequel takes place nine years later. Jesse returned to Vienna as agreed; Celine did not. Married with a son, he’s written a novel based on their encounter and is at a Parisian bookstore to promote it. Celine comes to explain why she didn’t meet him as planned: her grandmother died.
As they talk about their lives, their feelings are rekindled, but the movie ends ambiguously as Celine sings to Jesse and reminds him he has to catch a plane.
Despite his Texas roots, Linklater’s dialogue and idea driven films are closer to European cinema.
Ethan Hawke rarely makes a bad movie, but his work with fellow Texan Linklater is the best stuff he’s done.
Julie Delpy’s great as Celine, but as a similar character in 2 Days in Paris (2007), and its sequel 2 Days in New York (2012), she is much more annoying without Ethan Hawke to support her. Adam Goldberg and Chris Rock are funny, but they’re incapable of elevating her performance.
This is a great film about the petty squabbles, quiet moments of intimacy, and meandering conversations which are the hallmark of a good relationship.