now at lumiere.net.nz
2004 Year in Review: Lists
The Lumière crew gathered around that most arbitrary of things – the list – before looking back on the year in movies.
Lists are problematic. They're far too precious, for a start – compact, bite-sized odes to "a few of your favourite things", as Julie Andrews will tell you. They also tend to operate on the basis of a finite ranking system, which is where it gets ugly, especially when a big-nosed publication conceives one of those super-sized, all-defining lists; where every shuffled entry in the pack is either too high, too low, or just missing altogether. Of course, here at Lumière, we're an arbitrary, nonchalant bunch that nobody really cares about anyway, so the whole list thing suits us just fine. It forms the guts of our 2004 Year in Review, which you don't have to give a shit about either, but can mull over here.
The Editors
1. Elephant
2. Before Sunset
3. Crimson Gold*
4. Twentynine Palms*
5. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
6. Primer*
7. Kill Bill Vol. 2
8. Capturing the Friedmans
9. Napoleon Dynamite
10. Nobody Knows*
HAVING settled on restricting our top ten to local, theatrical releases only, there came a point in our deliberation – a mutual resignation – that 2004 offered, well, very little to actually choose from. Hollywood, in particular, proved to be as mechanical as ever, rolling off sequels and remakes and no-risk demographic monsters like never before. Most, if not all the best stuff we encountered came via this nation's small pocket of film festivals, and so it seemed only right that we include those special festival films that screened this year, and may never again*. The remainder of this collaborative list consists of regular, general film releases, while excluding those many other festival selections we liked, but will consider in 2005 upon their expectant release.–Tim Wong/David Levinson
(also not considered: films such as School of Rock and Irréversible, which were official theatrical releases in 2004, but snuck into our various Top 10 lists the previous year)
Alexander Bisley
Lead Film Critic, The Dominion Post
» 21 Grams
» Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
» Capturing the Friedmans
» Collateral
» Control Room
» The Corporation
» Crimson Gold
» Dogville
» Donnie Darko Redux
» Elephant
» Fahrenheit 9/11
» Festival Express
» Goodbye Dragon Inn
» In America
» In My Father's Den
» In the Dark
» In This World
» Last Life in the Universe
» The Last Train
» The Man on the Train
» The Motorcycle Diaries
» Nobody Knows
» Old Boy
» The Return
» Spellbound
» Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring
» Tokyo Godfathers
» The Triplets of Belleville
» Zatoichi
TURKEY: The Passion of the Christ
1. 2046
Wong Kar-wai, HK/China/France/Germany, 2004 | wkw2046.com
2. Ethan Mao
Quentin Lee, Canada/USA, 2004 | marginfilms.com/ethanbeta
3. Mysterious Skin
Gregg Araki, USA, 2004 | greggaraki.com
4. Three...Extremes
Chan/Miike/Park, HK/Japan/Korea, 2004 | yesasia.com
5. Head-On
Fatih Akin, Germany/Turkey, 2004 | gegendiewand.de
6. Spider-Man II
Sam Raimi, USA, 2004 | spiderman.sonypictures.com
7. The Return
Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia, 2003 | kino.com/thereturn
8. Madame Satã
Karim Ainouz, Brazil/France, 2002 | uol.com.br/madamesata
9. Bad Guy
Kim Ki-Duk, Korea, 2001 | yesasia.com
10. Wild Side
Sébastien Lifshitz, France, 2004
5 Films to Watch Out For in 2005
1. Café Lumière
Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/Japan, 2003 | coffeejikou.com
2. Bad Education
Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2004 | lamalaeducacion.com
3. Saraband
Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 2004
4. Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow
Theo Angelopoulos, France/Greece/Italy, 2004
5. The Scarlet Letter
Daniel H. Byun, Korea, 2004 | a-letter.com
Film Critic, Sunday-Star Times
1. The Return
2. Old Boy
3. Hero
4. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
5. The Triplets of Belleville
6. Gozu
7. Gerry
8. 9 Souls
9. Dealer
10. Primer
See also:
» Comfortably Numb: Ten classics seen – and loved – on DVD in 2004 / David's Ten
» Ten Tele Things
Lists are problematic. They're far too precious, for a start – compact, bite-sized odes to "a few of your favourite things", as Julie Andrews will tell you. They also tend to operate on the basis of a finite ranking system, which is where it gets ugly, especially when a big-nosed publication conceives one of those super-sized, all-defining lists; where every shuffled entry in the pack is either too high, too low, or just missing altogether. Of course, here at Lumière, we're an arbitrary, nonchalant bunch that nobody really cares about anyway, so the whole list thing suits us just fine. It forms the guts of our 2004 Year in Review, which you don't have to give a shit about either, but can mull over here.
The Editors
1. Elephant
2. Before Sunset
3. Crimson Gold*
4. Twentynine Palms*
5. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
6. Primer*
7. Kill Bill Vol. 2
8. Capturing the Friedmans
9. Napoleon Dynamite
10. Nobody Knows*
HAVING settled on restricting our top ten to local, theatrical releases only, there came a point in our deliberation – a mutual resignation – that 2004 offered, well, very little to actually choose from. Hollywood, in particular, proved to be as mechanical as ever, rolling off sequels and remakes and no-risk demographic monsters like never before. Most, if not all the best stuff we encountered came via this nation's small pocket of film festivals, and so it seemed only right that we include those special festival films that screened this year, and may never again*. The remainder of this collaborative list consists of regular, general film releases, while excluding those many other festival selections we liked, but will consider in 2005 upon their expectant release.–Tim Wong/David Levinson
(also not considered: films such as School of Rock and Irréversible, which were official theatrical releases in 2004, but snuck into our various Top 10 lists the previous year)
Alexander Bisley
Lead Film Critic, The Dominion Post
» 21 Grams
» Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
» Capturing the Friedmans
» Collateral
» Control Room
» The Corporation
» Crimson Gold
» Dogville
» Donnie Darko Redux
» Elephant
» Fahrenheit 9/11
» Festival Express
» Goodbye Dragon Inn
» In America
» In My Father's Den
» In the Dark
» In This World
» Last Life in the Universe
» The Last Train
» The Man on the Train
» The Motorcycle Diaries
» Nobody Knows
» Old Boy
» The Return
» Spellbound
» Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring
» Tokyo Godfathers
» The Triplets of Belleville
» Zatoichi
TURKEY: The Passion of the Christ
Alistair Kwun
1. 2046
Wong Kar-wai, HK/China/France/Germany, 2004 | wkw2046.com
2. Ethan Mao
Quentin Lee, Canada/USA, 2004 | marginfilms.com/ethanbeta
3. Mysterious Skin
Gregg Araki, USA, 2004 | greggaraki.com
4. Three...Extremes
Chan/Miike/Park, HK/Japan/Korea, 2004 | yesasia.com
5. Head-On
Fatih Akin, Germany/Turkey, 2004 | gegendiewand.de
6. Spider-Man II
Sam Raimi, USA, 2004 | spiderman.sonypictures.com
7. The Return
Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia, 2003 | kino.com/thereturn
8. Madame Satã
Karim Ainouz, Brazil/France, 2002 | uol.com.br/madamesata
9. Bad Guy
Kim Ki-Duk, Korea, 2001 | yesasia.com
10. Wild Side
Sébastien Lifshitz, France, 2004
5 Films to Watch Out For in 2005
1. Café Lumière
Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/Japan, 2003 | coffeejikou.com
2. Bad Education
Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2004 | lamalaeducacion.com
3. Saraband
Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 2004
4. Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow
Theo Angelopoulos, France/Greece/Italy, 2004
5. The Scarlet Letter
Daniel H. Byun, Korea, 2004 | a-letter.com
Aaron Yap
Film Critic, Sunday-Star Times
1. The Return
2. Old Boy
3. Hero
4. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
5. The Triplets of Belleville
6. Gozu
7. Gerry
8. 9 Souls
9. Dealer
10. Primer
See also:
» Comfortably Numb: Ten classics seen – and loved – on DVD in 2004 / David's Ten
» Ten Tele Things
