America must have been dying for laughs in 2004, because the comedy movies this year are not only plentiful, but…mostly decent?! A rarity. Here’s some of the films that couldn’t crack my list because of how funny 2004 was: Eurotrip, 13 Going on 30, The Girl Next Door, I Heart Huckabees, Dodgeball!!!
For a while, this one could have been one of the comedies of the year, until….it becomes something deathly serious. Morgan Spurlock’s monthlong diet of McDonald’s is a horrifying visual of how quickly an unhealthy diet can undo someone.
What does a Miyazaki movie that doesn’t quite perfectly connect look like? Something like this gem, a film with deep pathos, and a razzle dazzle on the eyes that will leave your mouth agape at what wonder you are witnessing. Plus, there’s the standard character complexity to go along with it, just not a perfect film. Oh…no? It’s still one of the year’s best.
One take Clint can deliver when he wants. This complex deep tale of a boxing trainer trying to atone for his sins using a surrogate daughter in Clint Eastwood’s hands is achingly subtle and beautiful. It’s easy too, when you’ve got Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman helping you out.
Charlie Kaufman is one of the most inventive screenwriters of all time. Take this trippy film: dude wants to forget his lost love, so a man who can erase memories goes into his head and eliminates all the memories of the one he lost. The directing is excellent too, as a great Jim Carrey navigates his own mind getting more terrified as he realizes what’s happening.
And we’re here! Edgar Wright likes to mock the rules of a movie genre while making a movie in that genre. This one might be his best, taking a page from George Romero’s book. A hungover walk to a convenience store and Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now have never been used to better effect.
Live action PG comedies are usually pretty crappy. Not so for this gem, showing the inner workings of Idaho nerds in high school and chat rooms. By the end of this, you’ll realize that you have an Uncle Rico too, and wanna dance to Jamiroquai’s Canned Heat.
Brad Bird’s superhero family film for Pixar. This movie is really exciting and fun for all ages, but gets elevated with it’s clever paralleling of super powers with traits of its characters and its Ayn Rand approved satirical elements about being incredible.
Big year for Rachel McAdams! She’s great as teen evil incarnate Regina George in this quotable study of high school life in America. Things like Fetch and the Slut Rule were invented here, and October 3rd is Mean Girls day. This movie shows why Tina Fey is one of the smartest funniest people working today.
Wes Mantooth. Sex Panther. Whore Island. Bilingual bloodfest. I’m kind of a big deal. I’m in a glass case of emotion. I love lamp. Every 5 minutes or so Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, and any one of the amazing characters in this movie gives us some great line above, or an exchange that has been repeated by some adult male somewhere, and many females as well.
Richard Linklater deepens his study of romantic connection with one of the unlikeliest and best movie sequels. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are sensational navigating reconnection and lost opportunity in a script they wrote with Linklater. It’s a movie that stays with you long after it’s over.
