Empire Magazine's 25 Best Movies 2004
Submitted by Rushmore on Tue, 11/23/2004 - 08:59
Tags:
- This was a list that empire magazine did of the 25 best moviees this year.
- The Ones I've Seen Will Have * Next To Them
- Eternal Sunshine Of The spotless Mind*
- Lost In Translation *
- Hero*
- Finding Neverland
- Collataral
- The Bourne Supermacy
- The Station Agent
- Kill Bill Volume 2 *
- Shaun Of The Dead *
- Dodgeball *
- Capturing The Friedmans
- Spider-man 2 *
- House of Flying Daggers
- Open Range
- Fahrenheit 9/11 *
- The Incredibles *
- Garden State*
- Before Sunset
- Dogville
- Anchorman: TheLegend Of Ron Burgundy *
- Zatoichi
- School of Rock *
- The Village *
- Shrek 2 *
- Oldboy
Bizarre.
That's all I got.
Bizarre.
Um... yeah...
I'll just assume the list was a single, eerily long typo.
honestly, looking at this list a second time now makes me less befuddled as downright angry. Somebody was PAID to make that list. Give me that person's job, dammit! :-)
Come now, it's not THAT bad. The top three choices are all wonderful movies, #5 is good, #6 and #7 are both pretty great, and it's got Garden State and Before Sunset on it. Obviously there are some films that don't belong, but I think they deserve some credit for these selections.
It's not that they're all bad choices...but the selection and the ranking are just BIZARRE.
Yes, AAA. When I first read the list I said that word aloud. Then I read you said it first in your comment, so I had to come up with some other way of voicing my disapproval, but really I just agree that the selection and the rankings are downright bizarre.
I can comprehend why some 'best' lists are arrived at, even if I disagree. There are things Rosenbaum appreciates in film that differ from what Ebert appreciates, for example, but their favorites make sense for their tastes. I can also understand how some lists (Empire's included) totally ignore foreign-language films, or truly independent films, or whatever - I may disagree, but I understand their tastes. But I am baffled by the selection and rankings for this list because I cannot discern any singular 'taste' or pattern. It seems as though 20 different people were asked two list their #1 most enjoyed movie of the year and they took each person's selection and placed it on the list alphabetically in order of the person's last name.
It's just, yeah... bizarre.
Well, I don't want to get into a position of defending this list, because I don't really care that much to argue for it. But I don't think it's THAT weird to see this conglomeration of films. C'mon, why can't someone like both the independent film and the mainstream comedy? Hell, I do. Regarding films of this year (or at least released in England this year), I enjoyed both Before Sunset and Dodgeball, both The Station Agent and Anchorman. Sure, the order is a little weird, but maybe it was made by a guy who loves to laugh, and some of these movies really tickled his funny bone. And then it was ranked by "favorite", not "best"...
On second thought, maybe I should stop talking right about now. :-)
BTW, check out Ebert's top 10 for this year. #1 is Million Dollar Baby. Then comes... Kill Bill Vol. 2. Then we have Vera Drake. And then - Spider-Man 2. Oh, and that's followed up by Moolaade, a film from Senegal. Good luck discerning a taste or pattern from that.
Then I find them both bizarre. :-)
But, I should probably hold my tongue. Because of how I now rate movies, my own (new) lists for individual years are turning out a little strange, too.
Yeah, Moolaade sounds cool. It's by the Ousemene fella - sadly he's supposedly the ONLY African filmmaker to get excited about. Talk about an untapped source of fantastically varied cultures and history!!!
I think you might discern a pattern if you check the advertisements in the magazine. Maybe it goes "largest to smallest" ;).