The Movies of 2004
(Movies Marked with a
Are Reviewed in Full)
NEW: Check the Films Marked with a
for Brief, Capsule-Length Responses!
(Includes films first exhibited to commercial audiences in the U.S. between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2004.
Consequently, certain entries, especially foreign films, are indexed here despite being produced in earlier years.)
Newest Special Features: The Oscars, my Top Ten Films, and The NicksFlickPicks Honorees! 
My Top Ten+ List
Click here for special commentary on this list!
  1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ² Dir. Michel Gondry. With Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst A 
  2. Oasis Dir. Lee Chang-dong. Sol Kyung-gu, Moon So-ri, Ahn Nae-sang A
  3. The Corporation Dirs. Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. Documentary. Critical history of corporations A
  4. Maria Full of Grace Dir. Joshua Marston. With Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yenny Paola Vega, Guilied Lopez A 
(tie) Osama Dir. Siddiq Barmak. With Marina Golbahari, Zubaida Sahar, Arif Herati A 
  5. Code 46 Dir. Michael Winterbottom. With Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri A
(tie) Notre musique Dir. Jean-Luc Godard. With Sarah Adler, Nade Dieu, Jean-Luc Godard A
  6. Before Sunset Dir. Richard Linklater. With Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff A 
(tie) Since Otar Left Dir. Julie Bertucelli. With Esther Gorintin, Dinara Drukarova, Nino Khomasuridze A
  7. I ♥ Huckabees ³ Dir. David O. Russell. With Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman A
  8. The Bourne Supremacy Dir. Paul Greengrass. With Matt Damon, Joan Allen, Brian Cox A 
  9. Dawn of the Dead ² Dir. Zack Snyder. With Sarah Polley, Jake Weber, Ving Rhames A 
(tie) Time of the Wolf Dir. Michael Haneke. With Isabelle Huppert, Anaïs Demoustier, Lucas Biscombe A
10. Birth Dir. Jonathan Glazer. With Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright, Anne Heche B+
(tie) The Return Dir. Andrei Zvyagintsev. With Ivan Dobronravov, Vladimir Garin, Konstantin Lavronenko B+
Coulda Been a Contendah...
(Had it opened in Ithaca in time for me to rank it)
    Blissfully Yours Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul. With Min Oo, Kanokporn Tongaram, Jenjira Jansuda A
Still Unseen from 2004:
Bright Leaves — Goodbye, Dragon Inn — Los Angeles Plays Itself — Moolaadé — Reconstruction — Red Lights
Other Releases from the Year 2004
- Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer Dirs. Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill. Documentary B
- Alexander Dir. Oliver Stone. With Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer D
- Alfie Dir. Charles Shyer. With Jude Law, Marisa Tomei, Omar Epps B
- Anatomy of Hell Dir. Catherine Breillat. With Amira Casar, Rocco Siffredi, Jacques Monge D
- The Assassination of Richard Nixon Dir. Niels Mueller. With Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Don Cheadle B
- The Aviator ² Dir. Martin Scorsese. With Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Alan Alda B
- Baadasssss! Dir. Mario Van Peebles. With Mario Van Peebles, Khleo Thomas, Nia Long C+
- Bad Education Dir. Pedro Almodóvar. With Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Lluís Homar B
- The Battle of Algiers [re-issue] Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo. With Brahim Haggiag, Saadi Yacef, Jean Martin A
- Being Julia Dir. István Szábo. With Annette Bening, Shaun Evans, Jeremy Irons C
- Born into Brothels Dirs. Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski. Documentary. Profile of children of Calcutta prostitutes B
- Breakin' All the Rules Dir. Daniel Taplitz. With Jamie Foxx, Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union B
- Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Dir. Beeban Kidron. With Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant F
- Brother to Brother Dir. Rodney Evans. With Anthony Mackie, Roger Robinson, Duane Boutte B+
- The Brown Bunny Dir. Vincent Gallo. With Vincent Gallo, Chloë Sevigny, Cheryl Tiegs C
- Cavedweller Dir. Lisa Cholodenko. With Kyra Sedgwick, Regan Arnold, Aidan Quinn C
- Les Choristes Dir. Christophe Barratier. With Gérard Jugnot, François Berléand, Jean-Baptiste Maunier C
- The Clearing Dir. Pieter Jan Brugge. With Robert Redford, Helen Mirren, Willem Dafoe B
- Closer Dir. Mike Nichols. With Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts A
- Coffee and Cigarettes Dir. Jim Jarmusch. With Roberto Benigni, Steven Wright, Steve Buscemi C
- Collateral Dir. Michael Mann. With Jamie Foxx, Tom Cruise, Jada Pinkett Smith B+
- Control Room Dir. Jehane Noujaim. Documentary. Profiles of al-Jazeera and CentCom news stations in Qatar B+
- Cowards Bend the Knee Dir. Guy Maddin. With Darcy Fehr, Melissa Dionisio, Tara Birtwhistle B
- Crimson Gold Dir. Jafar Panahi. With Hossein Emadeddin, Kamyar Sheisi, Ehsan Amani B+
- The Cutting Edge: The Art of Film Editing Dir. Wendy Apple. Documentary on the craft of film editing B
- The Day After Tomorrow Dir. Roland Emmerich. With Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum B
- Days of Being Wild [re-issue] Dir. Wong Kar-wai. With Leslie Cheung, Carina Lau, Maggie Cheung B+
- De-Lovely Dir. Irwin Winkler. With Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, Jonathan Pryce B
- Distant Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan. With Muzaffer Özdemir, Emin Toprak, Zuhal Gencer Erkaya C+
- Dogville Dir. Lars von Trier. With Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Stellan Skarsgård B+
- Donnie Darko [Director's Cut] Dir. Richard Kelly. With Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone A
- The Door in the Floor Dir. Tod Williams. With Jeff Bridges, Jon Foster, Kim Basinger D+
- The Dreamers Dir. Bernardo Bertolucci. With Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel B
- Enduring Love Dir. Roger Michell. With Daniel Craig, Samantha Morton, Rhys Ifans B+
- Facing Windows Dir. Ferzan Ozpetek. With Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Massimo Girotti, Raoul Bova B
- Fahrenheit 9/11 ² Dir. Michael Moore. Documentary/Political essay about the George W. Bush administration B
- Father and Son Dir. Aleksandr Sokurov. With Andrei Shchetinin, Aleksei Nejmyshev, Fedor Lavrov B+
- Finding Neverland Dir. Marc Forster. With Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Freddie Highmore D
- The Five Obstructions Dirs. Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier. With Jørgen Leth, Lars von Trier C+
- The Forgotten Dir. Joseph Ruben. With Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Linus Roache C+
- Friday Night Lights Dir. Peter Berg. With Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Derek Luke B
- Garden State Dir. Zach Braff. With Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard D
- Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry Dir. George Butler. Profile of Kerry's military service and antiwar activism B
- Good bye, Lenin! Dir. Wolfgang Becker. With Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova B+
- Grande école Dir. Robert Salis. With Gregori Baquet, Jocelyn Quivrin, Alice Taglioni D+
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Dir. Alfonso Cuarón. With Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson B+
- Hero Dir. Zhang Yimou. With Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung B
- A Home at the End of the World Dir. Michael Mayer. With Colin Farrell, Dallas Roberts, Robin Wright Penn D+
- Hotel Rwanda Dir. Terry George. With Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte B
- House of Flying Daggers ² Dir. Zhang Yimou. With Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau B
- I, Robot Dir. Alex Proyas. With Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, James Cromwell C
- I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Dir. Mike Hodges. With Clive Owen, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Charlotte Rampling D+
- In Good Company Dir. Paul Weitz. With Topher Grace, Dennis Quaid, Scarlett Johansson B+
- In the Realms of the Unreal Dir. Jessica Yu. Documentary. Speculative biography of artist Henry Darger B
- The Incredibles Dir. Brad Bird. Animated. With the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter B+
- Infernal Affairs Dirs. Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. With Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Eric Tsang B+
- The Intended Dir. Kristian Levring. With Janet McTeer, JJ Feild, Tony Maudsley C
- Kill Bill, Vol. 2 Dir. Quentin Tarantino. With Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen B+
- Kinsey Dir. Bill Condon. With Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Peter Sarsgaard B
- The Ladykillers Dirs. Joel & Ethan Coen. With Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans D
- Last Life in the Universe Dir. Pen-ek Ratanaruang. With Tadanobu Asano, Sinitta Boonyasak, Laila Boonyasak B
- Latter Days Dir. C. Jay Cox. With Steve Sandvoss, Wes Ramsey, Rebekah Jordan C+
- Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Dir. Brad Silberling. With Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning B
- The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Dir. Wes Anderson. With Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston C+
- A Love Song for Bobby Long Dir. Shainee Gabel. With John Travolta, Scarlett Johansson, Gabriel Macht D+
- The Machinist Dir. Brad Anderson. With Christian Bale, John Sharian, Jennifer Jason Leigh B
- The Manchurian Candidate Dir. Jonathan Demme. With Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep C+
- Mean Girls Dir. Mark S. Waters. With Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert B
- Meet the Fockers Dir. Jay Roach. With Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman C
- The Merchant of Venice Dir. Michael Radford. With Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins B
- Million Dollar Baby ² Dir. Clint Eastwood. With Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman A
- Monsieur Ibrahim Dir. François Dupeyron. With Pierre Boulanger, Omar Sharif, Gilbert Melki C+
- The Mother Dir. Roger Michell. With Anne Reid, Daniel Craig, Cathryn Bradshaw B
- The Motorcycle Diaries Dir. Walter Salles. With Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo De la Serna, Jorge Chiarella B
- Napoleon Dynamite Dir. Jared Hess. With Jon Heder, Efren Ramirez, Tina Majorino B
- The Notebook Dir. Nick Cassavetes. With Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner B
- Ocean's Twelve Dir. Steven Soderbergh. With George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon C
- Open Water Dir. Chris Kentis. With Daniel Travis, Blanchard Ryan, Saul Stein B
- OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism Dir. Robert Greenwald. Documentary/Political essay C+
- The Passion of the Christ Dir. Mel Gibson. With Jim Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci  B
- The Phantom of the Opera Dir. Joel Schumacher. With Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler, Patrick Wilson D+
- Primer ² Dir. Shane Carruth. With Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Casey Gooden B
- Proteus Dirs. John Greyson and Jack Lewis. With Rouxnet Brown, Neil Sandilands, Shaun Smyth B+
- p.s. Dir. Dylan Kidd. With Laura Linney, Topher Grace, Marcia Gay Harden D+
- Ray Dir. Taylor Hackford. With Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King C
- The Saddest Music in the World Dir. Guy Maddin. With Isabella Rossellini, Mark McKinney, Maria de Medeiros C
- Saw Dir. James Wan. With Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover D+
- The Sea Inside Dir. Alejandro Amenábar. With Javier Bardem, Belén Rueda, Lola Dueñas D+
- Secret Things Dir. Jean-Claude Brisseau. With Sabrina Seyvecou, Coralie Revel, Fabrice Deville B
- Sex Is Comedy Dir. Catherine Breillat. With Anne Parillaud, Grégoire Colin, Roxane Mesquida B+
- Shaun of the Dead Dir. Edgar Wright. With Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield C+
- Shrek 2 Dirs. Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon. Animated. With the voice of Mike Myers B+
- Sideways ² Dir. Alexander Payne. With Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen B+
- Silver City Dir. John Sayles. With Danny Huston, Chris Cooper, Richard Dreyfuss C
- Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Dir. Kerry Conran. With Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Giovanni Ribisi D
- Spanglish Dir. James L. Brooks. With Paz Vega, Adam Sandler, Téa Leoni C
- Spider-Man 2 Dir. Sam Raimi. With Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina C+
- Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring Dir. Kim Ki-duk. With Oh Yeong-su, Kim Ki-duk, Kim Young-min B+
- Springtime in a Small Town Dir. Tian Zhuangzhuang. With Jun Wu, Jingfan Hu, Bai Qing Xin C+
- Stage Beauty Dir. Richard Eyre. With Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Rupert Everett C
- The Stepford Wives Dir. Frank Oz. With Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler D+
- The Story of the Weeping Camel Dirs. Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni. Documentary B
- Super Size Me Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Documentary. Personal investigation into American obesity trends B
- Tarnation Dir. Jonathan Caouette. Collage exploration of filmmaker's family history B+
- Team America: World Police Dir. Trey Parker. With the voices of Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Kristen Miller C
- The Terminal Dir. Steven Spielberg. With Tom Hanks, Stanley Tucci, Catherine Zeta-Jones F
- 13 Going on 30 ² Dir. Gary Winick. With Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer B
- This So-Called Disaster Dir. Michael Almereyda. Documentary. Record of Sam Shepard's rehearsal process C+
- Touching the Void Dir. Kevin Macdonald. Docudrama. With Joe Simpson, Simon Yates, Richard Hawking C+
- Troy Dir. Wolfgang Petersen. With Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom D+
- Twentynine Palms Dir. Bruno Dumont. With David Wissak, Katerina Golubeva B
- The Twilight Samurai Dir. Yoji Yamada. With Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Mitsuru Fukikoshi B
- Undertow Dir. David Gordon Green. With Jamie Bell, Devon Alan, Josh Lucas B
- Vanity Fair Dir. Mira Nair. With Reese Witherspoon, James Purefoy, Romola Garai B
- Vera Drake Dir. Mike Leigh. With Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays B+
- A Very Long Engagement Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet. With Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Dominique Pinon C
- The Village Dir. M. Night Shyamalan. With Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt C
- We Don't Live Here Anymore Dir. John Curran. With Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Watts, Laura Dern C
- Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! Dir. Robert Luketic. With Kate Bosworth, Josh Duhamel, Topher Grace C
- The Woodsman Dir. Nicole Kassell. With Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Benjamin Bratt C
- The Yes Men Dirs. Chris Smith, Dan Ollman, and Sarah Price. Documentary. With Mike Bonnano, Andy Bichlbaum B
- Young Adam Dir. David Mackenzie. With Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan B
- Zatôichi: The Blind Swordsman Dir. Takeshi Kitano. With Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano, Gadarukanaru Taka D+
- Zhou Yu's Train Dir. Zhou Sun. With Gong Li, Honglei Sun, Tony Leung Ka Fai C
² Seen twice in a cinema; ³ Seen three times in a cinema; * Seen four times or more in a cinema