Ebert's Top 10 of 2004
 

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...SAYS/412190302

1. Million Dollar Baby
2. Kill Bill, Vol. 2
3. Vera Drake
4. Spiderman 2
5. Moolaade
6. The Aviator
7. Baadasssss!
8. Sideways
9. Hotel Rwanda
10. Undertow

Having only seen half of these films I can't argue against the 5 I've seen being on the list. I think if Mirimax hadn't split KB into two films, the single film would have taken the top spot.

Oh, and let me get the obligatory Ebert comments out of the way: He's lost it, he's fat, he's dumb, I don't agree with him so he's stupid, blah blah blah

I really liked Million Dollar Baby. I thought Kill Bill Vol. 2 was over the top, yet an awesome cinematic experience. Spider-Man 2 was too hyped up with pop-psychology and the beginning was too heavily based on the script, but overall a good film. The rest I have not seen yet... Will see Phatnom of the Opera today, and maybe Aviator. The good thing with Ebert is that he has on occasion interesting view points, but I am still perplexed over how he could have liked Speed 2.

Glad to see he has some love for two great films that other awards have overlooked, being Spidey and Bill.

No Finding Neverland? He's nuts!

I've seen no top 10 list love for Eternal Sunshine. I admit I haven't seen every movie this year, but I've seen a bunch and it was by far my fave.

KB is just soooooo over rated.

I'm glad to see the terrible The Passion of the Christ isn't on the list even though he gave it four stars.

It sucks Eternal Sunshine is so overlooked. I hope it finds love at the Oscars, though I doubt it will. I'd easily put it in my top 5.

What do you mean, "the beginning was too heavily based on the script"? That makes no sense whatsoever to me. :confused:

Spider-man 2 on a top-ten list is a joke.

I'd have RAY and CLOSER on my top ten, but I have yet to see all of the films Roger mentions.

How many of these are on DVD already? (KB2, Spidey 2, any others?)

No Eternal Sunshine, Finding Neverland, or Incredibles disappoints me. Although I havent watched all on that list, The Aviator isnt anywhere near those 3 films, and I would say the same for Spiderman 2. Of course its only opinion so.

Yes, because immensely popular movies have no place in any DVDTalk top ten list. :rolleyes:

That wasn't my reasoning. I enjoyed Spidey for what it was (i have the DVD after all) and I would give it a *** (out of four) rating. But that's not top-ten material imo.

I'd like to see your reasons for disagreeing with Roger. He gives excellent rationales for his choices. And we ALL have our personal top 10 lists. We just don't get the newsprint.

IMO a great movie can change you...you take something with you after you leave the theater. That to me is a great movie. Spider-Man 2 is a good movie...but you don't take anything way. BTW I'm a huge spidey fanboy, check my posts.

Agreed, but again, it's only opinion.

And the ten worst?

1. (tie) "Troy"
1. (tie) "Alexander"
2. "Christmas With the Kranks"
3. "The Girl Next Door"
4. "Dogville"
5. "New York Minute"
6. "The Grudge"
7. "White Chicks"
8. "Resident Evil: Apocalypse"
9. "The Whole Ten Yards"
10. "The Village"

Is that the Jewish version of Spider-Man 2?

Also in that article:

EBERT'S WORST FILMS OF 2004

1. (tie) "Troy"
1. (tie) "Alexander"
2. "Christmas With the Kranks"
3. "The Girl Next Door"
4. "Dogville"
5. "New York Minute"
6. "The Grudge"
7. "White Chicks"
8. "Resident Evil: Apocalypse"
9. "The Whole Ten Yards"
10. "The Village"

Sort of surprising considering he three of those movies (Troy, Alexander, and Dogville) 2 star ratings, which isn't exactly glowing but not bottom-of-the-barrel either. Yet a quick search of his site shows he gave one star of less to the following films not on that list:

1 star

Anatomy of Hell
Catwoman
A Cinderella Story
A Dirty Shame
Raise your Voice
Sleepover
Taxi
Team America: World Police

0 stars

The Perfect Score
The Prince and Me

Maybe those were the most dissapointing to him, because of higher expectations?

Troy was easily my favorite movie of the year. I can't believe Ebert did not rank Catwoman as one of the worst.

Ebert's lost it. He's fat and dumb. I don't agree with him and he's stupid.

He's said many times that the star ratings are relative. Perhaps he found those particular movies particularly objectionable for whatever reason.

Yes, but he is also the person who gave those original star ratings. If he found them so objectionable, why not give them lower grades in first place? And the fact that the ratings are relative makes it all make even less sense. A 2 star adventure epic trumps a zero star teen comedy on the awfulness scale?

The only thing I can think of is that after time and consideration, he has lowered his opinion of these films. Either that or he's simply trying to make a point with the list (take down these overdone epic wannabes from directors who should know better), and it is not a true reflection of his rankings of these films. Either way, I just found it curious.

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 :beer:,

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 :beer:,

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:


http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/MG/192924.jpg


'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.