AltWeeklies Wire
Celebrating the Underhyped Movies of 2004new
Plenty of fine films opened to little or no fanfare this year. New Times reviewers pick their favorite movies that didn't draw the adulation they deserved.
The Pitch |
Bill Gallo, Melissa Levine, Jean Oppenheimer, Luke Y. Thompson and Robert Wilonsky |
12-27-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Various Directors, 2004's Best Films, Control Room, I Heart Huckabees, Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut, Kitchen Stories, Mean Creek, My Architect, Overnight, She Hate Me, Silver City, Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War, Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space, The Corporation, The Manchurian Candidate, The Mother, The Story of the yearinreview 2004, The Terminal, The Twilight Samurai, Tokyo Godfathers, Weeping Camel
Small Movies Came Up Big in 2004new
New Times critics pick as their top film of the year Alexander Payne's Sideways, which juxtaposes a wine freak's brittle angst with his friend's doofy recklessness.
The Best 10 Movies of 2004new
2004 was not an especially great year for movies, but here are 10 that stand out above the rest.
Jackson Free Press |
Paul Dearing |
12-23-2004 |
Reviews
Carrey-d Awaynew
Delightfully evil, Lemony Snicket gets a lot of good laughs.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
12-23-2004 |
Reviews
Sea Worthynew
By making Life Aquatic bizarrely unrealistic, Wes Anderson has created a masterpiece.
Tucson Weekly |
James DiGiovanna |
12-23-2004 |
Reviews
Epic Tone and Milquetoast Lovers an Ill Fitnew
The director of Amélie reunites with that film's star, Audrey Tautou, for this World War One love story.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
12-22-2004 |
Reviews
People Who Need Peoplenew
You can Fockerize Meet the Parents all you want, but this new movie is a lame sequel to the comic hit of 2000.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
12-22-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Jay Roach, Meet the Fockers
Living in the Real Worldnew
Bill Cosby's animated kids get a live-action makeover.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
12-22-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Fat Albert, Joel Zwick
We All Live in a Yellow Submarinenew
Bill Murray won't get the elusive Oscar for this one -- for all its visual majesty, The Life Aquatic is too slight -- but the film is nevertheless a funny, bewildering, and giddy spectacle.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
12-22-2004 |
Reviews
High-Flying Tycoonnew
Scorsese's best film in years is a work of bravura, classic Hollywood filmmaking.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
12-22-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Martin Scorsese, The Aviator
At Least It's Not Catsnew
The plodding stage musical finally comes to the big screen, its relentlessly bombastic score intact with a vengeance.
Austin Chronicle |
Steve Davis |
12-22-2004 |
Reviews
Life Unguardednew
Time to rally round The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Wes Anderson's accursed comedy and the film of the year.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Edward E. Crouse |
12-22-2004 |
Reviews
Head of the Classnew
Almodóvar's latest film is a lurid, contrived, gratuitously sexy (especially homo-sexy) thriller with a smirk on its face and a cigarette holder sinking hot ash into the shag carpet.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
12-22-2004 |
Reviews
The Phantom Menacenew
Joel Schumacher mucks up Andrew Lloyd Webber. Only his phans will be shocked and disappointed.
Seattle Weekly |
Steve Wiecking |
12-22-2004 |
Reviews
Murder and Masksnew
Almodovar takes a plunge into film noir, where false identities mean more than the criminal truth.
Seattle Weekly |
Tim Appelo |
12-22-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Pedro Almodóvar, Bad Education
