I got the feeling that the film was leaning a little to heavily on what was being said instead of the cinematic, i.e., the visuals when we got to find out what was the problem with his life. Also, I found that it was not how Parker was behaving, but too on what he said, and not how he said it. After all, film is about the visuals, and I felt that Raimi (whose work I admire) was using too much verbal cues to get what he wanted out of each scene. Nonetheless, a very solid film... by the way I think I might be the only person who liked the first film better. but this is only my humble opinion...

Cheers ,

DVD Smurf

SM2 in the top 5 is the joke!

I thought Dogville was brilliant, and it is a 2003 film.

I know, I am the only one who liked The Village, but not for its horror. I liked the film for its message in regards to existensialism.

Cheers ,

DVD Smurf

Anyone find Roeper's Top 10?

I'm surprised Anchorman isn't on the worst list. I watched that last night and I have to say it was the most inane piece of tripe that I've seen since Zoolander. Truely the worst movie of the year for me.

I can understand how some of the bigger disappointments make the worst list compared to some flicks that no ones even heard of. Expectations play a big part.

I found it disappointed that Hero was not on his top ten list.

Yep, he definetly lost it.

Well if you guys think that is funny, you'll love this: Spider-Man 2 was my favorite movie of 2004. And no one is as shocked as I am (I disliked the first one). I think it's a great film, and it's a shame so many don't take it more seriously because they just consider it a "comic book" movie. It has some of the best acting and dialogue I've seen in a film in YEARS.

Of course you know what they say about opinions...

Go see Finding Neverland

SM2 is one of my favorite movies of 2004, but is it the BEST movie of 2004?

Blasphemy!

To be fair, I'm not sure if Hero is even eligible for his best of 2004 list since he might have reviewed it in a previous year. Of course the same could have been said for Dogville too...

The Best Film of 2004:





'Nuff said.

Any critic willing to admit they liked Spider-Man 2 gets a thumbs up in my book. My top 10 would include Garden State and Finding Neverland.

I don't have a problem with Spider-Man 2 being up there, but Kill Bill 2 doesn't do it for me. The article is interesting, but it seems all over the place at times.

I understand that reasoning. However, you can give a movie more stars than another without necessarily thinking either one's faults are equivalent. To take two examples, Ebert gave Catwoman one star, and Dogville two. From his reviews, it seems that he thought the former simply bad and the latter somewhat ideologically suspect, while appreciating the artistry behind it. I guess he tries to weight his stars appropriately.

In addition to listing his Top 10, he also listed his runner's-up that almost made it:

The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Closer
The Dreamers
House of Flying Daggers
Kinsey
The Merchant of Venice
The Passion of the Christ
The Polar Express
Ray
The Saddest Music in the World
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
The Terminal
Touching the Void
Twilight Samurai
When Will I Be Loved

The strange thing is, he gave 4-star reviews to several films that did not make his top 10 OR his runner's up:

The Fog of War
Spartan
Tarnation
Vanity Fair

Meanwhile, some of the films that DID make his runners up received only 3 1/2 stars:

The Saddest Music in the World
The Terminal

His reviews of The Assassination of Richard Nixon and The Merchant of Venice haven't been posted yet.

That's it EXACTLY. He does this every year. It's not a shock.

Yep. Too bad it's getting overlooked by most critics at this point in the year.

Spider-Man 2 was my number 2 movie of this year.

Sadly, Eternal Sunshine suffers the same fate as Spider-Man 2. Just as many critics can't look past the fact that Spider-Man 2 is a "comic book" film, they also can't look past the fact that Jim Carrey stars in Eternal Sunshine. Let's face it, in a perfect world, Carrey would already have an Oscar (he was brilliant in "Man On The Moon"). It's a shame his great performances keep getting ignored (although to their credit, the Golden Globes have recognized his work).

i was flipping channels the other day and saw some of ebert and roeper and noticed that ebert sounded like he was on helium. is he having health problems or was he just sick?

anyway, while i haven't seen all of the movies on that list, i considering how well recieved before sunset was, i am kinda surprised that it wasn't on there. as for kill bill, i have only seen volume one and while it looked cool, i certainly wouldn't put it on my top 10 list. maybe vol. 2 was better though.

Very surprised he didn't list the Terminal in the Top Ten, since he gave it an extremely positive thumbs up on the show. Either way, I understand his choices and have no problem with it.

Well, it's only my opinion, but I've seen both movies and liked Spider-man 2 better as well. Finding Neverland had some great performances, but in the end I felt a bit let down I guess. Didn't consistently entertain me and it also didn't stick with me after I had seen it. But that's only my opinion. I can definitely see how Ebert would leave it off his list though.

Someone in this thread said something along the lines of a great film makes you think and changes your view or something, but I think that is setting the criteria too narrow. Why can't something like Spider-man 2, if you found it entertaining and you liked it a lot, stack up against something maybe with more meaning and depth? Too often it seems people forget that sometimes it's all right for a film just to entertain you thoroughly and be a good film.

Therefore, I see no problem with a movie like Spider-man 2 being mentioned with the deeper, artsy films that generally get named at the end of the year to all the top 10 lists. I can't really say what my top 10 list is because there still is a bunch I want to see (Hotel Rawanda, Assasination of Richard Nixon, Love Song for Bobby Long, Sideways, Million Dollar Baby, Life Aquatic, Aviator, to just name a few.) But I guess my list would have to include:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Spider-man 2
Before Sunset
Kinsey
Miracle
The Girl Next Door
Baadasssss!
Wimbledon
A Very Long Engagement
Anchorman

That's a preliminary list in no order. I'm sure several films I have yet to see will knock a couple of those off (namely Anchorman, Wimbledon and The Girl Next Door.) Also very interested in In Good Company, but judging from others reaction, I very well might be the only one I guess.

Not.

Agreed. Maguire did a great job conveying how achingly his 'private' life was falling apart in sacrifice to doing good for others. No, it wasn't an epic like ROTK, but it is a great movie.
Uma isn't likely to get an Oscar nod in spite of how incredible her performance was in both parts of KB. Hats off to Ebert for putting it so high on his list and to the Globes for not passing her up for a nom.

WOW... No Garden State, Motorcycle Diaries, Collateral or Bad Education...and I will second or third or so on, Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind... damn you overzelous bastard!

Those all got 3.5 outta 4, he rarily has 3.5 outta 4 flicks on his top 10, as he rarely gives thumbs up to movies with less than 3 stars (Danny Deckchair being an odd exception).