In this thread, every poster here at KJ can post their own top picks of the year, just like critics or critics associations do....

I'm probably going to have to wait until I see The Aviator, Hotel Rwanda and Million Dollar Baby before I can properly make this list.

Libs' Top 10 (as of 12/18/04):
1. Sideways
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Garden State
4. Closer
5. Mean Girls
6. Fahrenheit 9/11
7. Shrek 2
8. Collateral
9. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
10. Spider-Man 2

Just Missed It: The Notebook, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Ray.

I'll post mine as soon as some of the well-reviewed movies will be released over here

I'll start it off, since I have been working on mine today.
these are fo course not finalized. I still plan to see around 10 movies from this year... and most of them seem to be strong, so this is far from the final cut...

Top Movies of the Year

1. Kill Bill
2. Before Sunset
3. Dogville
4. The Passion of the Christ
5. Sideways
6. Closer
7. Million Dollar Baby
8. Ray
9. Fahrenheit 9/11
10. Shrek 2

11. Hero
12. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
13. Collateral
14. Saved!
15. the Notebook
16. Vera Drake
17. Mean Creek
18. Friday Night Lights
19. Finding Neverland
20. Kinsey

21. Spider-Man 2
22. Touching the Void
23. The Clearing
24. The Motorcycle Diaries
25. The Bourne Supremacy
26. Jersey Girl
27. Mean Girls
28. Maria Full of Grace
29. A Home at the End of the World
30. The Terminal

31. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
32. The Manchurian Candidate
33. Taking Lives
34. Dodgeball
35. Being Julia
36. Napoleon dynamite
37. The Village
38. Saw
39. 13 Going on 30
40. Ocean’s 12

41. Open Water
42. Troy
43. Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgandy
44. The Day After Tomorrow
45. Secret Window
46. Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
47. Van Helsing
48. Along Came Polly
49. Mr. 3000
50. the Stepford Wives

51. Yu-Gi-Oh the Movie
52. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement



Top Actors:

1. Jamie Foxx, Ray
2. Ethan Hawke, Before Sunset
3. Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
4. Jude Law, Closer
5. Colin Farrell, A Home at the
End of the World
6. Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland
7. Paul Giamatti, Sideways
8. Jamie Foxx, Collateral
9. Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine
10. Liam Nesson, Kinsey
11. Paul Bettany, Dogville
12. Jim Caviezel, The Passion
13. tom Cruise, Collateral


Top Actresses

1. Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
1. Julie Delpy, Before Sunset
1. Uma Thurman, Kill Bill
4. Nicole Kidman, Dogville
5. Annette Benning, Being Julia
5. Hillary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
7. Julia Roberts, Closer
8. Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine
9. Helen Mirron, The Clearning
10. Catalina Sandigo Moreno, Maria…


Top Supporting Actors

1. David Carradine, Kill Bill
2. Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
3. Thomas Hayden Church, Sideways
4. Clive Owen, Closer
5. Peter Saarsgard, Kinsey
6. Freddie Highmore, Finding Neverland
7. Lucas Black, Friday Night Lights
8. Willem Dafoe, The Clearing
9. James Garner, The Notebook
10. Dallas Roberts, Home at the
End of the World

Top Supporting Actresses

1. Natalie Portman, Closer
2. Maia Morgenstern, the Passion
3. Kate Winslet, Finding Neverland
4. Patricia Clarkson, Dogville
5. Laura Linney, Kinsey
6. Sharon Warren, Ray
7. Regina King, Ray
8. Mandy Moore, Saved!
9. Sissy Spacek, A home at the End…
10. Virginia Madsen, Sideways
11. Liv Tyler, Jersey Girl
12. Daryl Hannah, Kill Bill


If I assign point values to the Acting categories.... 10 for #1, 9 for #2 and so on (#10 and on are all 1 point each).... then each movie scores as follows...

1. Closer: 28
2. Million Dollar Baby: 23
3. Kill Bill: 21
4. Ray: 19
4. Before Sunset: 19
6. Finding Neverland: 18
7. Dogville: 15
8. Kinsey: 13
8. Sideways: 13
10. Vera Drake: 10
10. the Passion: 10
11. A Home at the End of the World: 9

Counting the Top 10 Movies, here are how many nods each movie got...

Closer: 5
Ray: 4
Million dollar Baby: 4
Kill Bill: 4
Sideways: 4
Dogville: 4

I still plan on seeing....

Garden State
Control Room
the Choir
A Very Long Engagement
Bad Education
The Sea Inside
The Aviator
Meet the Fockers
In Good Company
Phantom of the Opera
Spanglish
the Assasination of Richard Nixon
the Merchant of Venice
De-Lovely
the Incredibles
Hotel Rwanda

The only oscar-worthy movies I saw were:

Kill Bill Vol. 2
Der Untergang (i.e. Downfall) - Raffi, I think you'd like that one
The Notebook


That's about it, I think

I searched and I can't sem to find an American release date this or next next year. Do you know by any chance?

I know that NEWMARKET is releasing it, but there is no date as of now. It stands at 8.3/10 at IMDB right now. It came out in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands and Poland so far and has been a great success everywhere, especially in Germany. In Netherlands it's holding on to the 3rd spot of the box-office for 5 weeks staright now. The reviews are great-to-brilliant over here and I must admit it's the best foreign movie I have ever seen and I am not even a fan of German cinema at all. If that movie was made in Hollywood, it'd get 6-10 Oscar noms for sure.

UK bought the movie some weeks ago and it is coming out in France in January, I think it should be in the USA some time before summer 2005.

edit

this is gonna change way too much...so, l'll post it a little later...

I didn't have my top 10 for 2003 fully crafted till about July of this year, so I think I'll refrain for now.

Same here. But my top 3 will probably end up being Closer, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and The Incredibles. MDB and TA still have a chance at coming into my top 3, and I have still yet to see Sideways, Hotel Rwanda and some others.

Yeah, about half of the movies I've seen released in 2003 I've seen this year. So... yeah, I'll have to pass on my list for now.

I do know that my Supporting Actress of the year will probably be Natalie Portman, and my Actress of the year might be Julia. Hilary or Imelda Stauton could get it, because I have yet to see Vera Drake either. Hilary would be the most likely after Julia.

I'm sure my list won't be complete until at least a few months into 2005, but I posted my progress thus far.

I try to catch all the year end films in theatres so I don't have to wait till May or June to complete my lists and only wait till around March till all the summer/early fall movies are released.

Well, here is my updated list, after seeing 6 more movies in the past 7 days...

In Bold are new additions.

1. Kill Bill
2. Before Sunset
3. Dogville
4. The Passion of the Christ
5. The Aviator
6. Million Dollar Baby
7. Sideways
8. Closer
9. Ray
10. Fahrenheit 9/11
11. Shrek 2
12. Hero
13. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
14. Collateral
15. Saved!
16. The Notebook
17. Vera Drake
18. Hotel Rwanda
19. Mean Creek
20. Spanglish
21. Friday Night Lights
22. Finding Neverland
23. Kinsey
24. Spider-Man 2
25. Touching the Void
26. The Phantom of the Opera
27. The Clearing
28. The Motorcycle Diaries
29. The Bourne Supremacy
30. Jersey Girl
31. Mean Girls
32. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
33. Maria Full of Grace
34. A Home at the End of the World
35. The Incredibles
36. The Terminal
37. The Manchurian Candidate
38. SAW
39. Taking Lives
40. Dodgeball
41. Being Julia
42. Napoleon dynamite
43. The Village
44. Meet The Fockers
45. 13 Going on 30
46. Ocean’s 12
47. Open Water
48. Troy
49. Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgandy
50. The Day After Tomorrow
51. Secret Window
52. Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
53. Van Helsing
54. Along Came Polly
55. Mr. 3000
56. the Stepford Wives
57. Yu-Gi-Oh the Movie
58. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

I'll post mine after seeing following pic's:

- A Home at the End of the World - D+
- The Aviator - A-
- Million Dollar Baby
- Anchorman - D+
- Sideways - B+
- The Phantom of the Opera
- Closer - A-
- The Manchurian Candidate
- Alfie - B
- Flight of the Phoenix - B+
- House of Flying Daggers - A-
- Meet the Fockers - A-
- Jersey Girl - A-
- Hotel Rwanda
- Spanglish
- In Good Company
- Birth
- Cellular
- The Grudge - B+
- Finding Neverland - A-
- Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
- Ray - C+
- Napoleon Dynamite
- Alien vs. Predator - B
- The Polar Express
- Saw - A
- Garden State
- Blade: Trinity - C
- Shaun of the Dead - B+

TOP MOVIES OF '04

#1 Shrek 2 - just great
#2 POTC - incredible
#3 Troy - beautiful
#4 Collateral - thrilling
#5 Spidey 2 - COOL!
#6 Kill Bill 2 - better then 1
#7 The Incredibles - FUN!!
#8 Team America World Police - roflmao
#9 Harry Potter POA - gets better each time
#10 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - hahahahaha

Well, my top movies of 2004 (now 60) is undergoing alot of changes. I'm rethinking alot of my rankings, but for now, this is my solidified top 10...

01. KILL BILL
02. Before Sunset
03. Dogville
04. Passion fo the Christ
05. Million Dollar Baby
06. The Aviator
07. Sideways
08. Fahrenheit 9/11
09. Ray
10. Closer


ALL KJ POSTERS: SEND IN YOUR TOP 10 of 2004 BALLOTS
I have decided to compile a list of the best of the year much like that of the gennin site with top 10 critics lists.... but I will make separate rankings for most mentions, most number 1's, and also rate them with point values.

So, post them in this thread or PM them to me. If you will post them in here, please also post that it's your final list.

My deadline will be February 17

I know alot of people, including myself, won't have their final Top 10's by then cuz they will be waiting to catch some films still in theatres from last year on watch them on DVD....
If you want to participate, just send in what you have by then!

I shuffled my top 10 a little bit, as reflected in my signature, after feeling how each movie stays with me over time.

1. Before Sunset (A)
2. The Aviator (A-)
3. Collateral (A-)
4. The Incredibles (A-)
5. Closer (A-)
6. House of Flying Daggers (A-)
7. Finding Neverland (A-)
8. Fahrenheit 9/11 (A-)
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (B+)
10. Mean Creek (B+)

Still plans to see: Million Dollar Baby, Sideways, Hotel Rwanda, Kinsey, Being Julia, Ray

I'll wait until the deadline and send in a day before that. All the great movies are just opening over here.

Oh and a funny fact...House of Sand and Fog is coming out in theatres here in February this year

Currently
1. Sideways
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Garden State
4. Closer
5. Maria Full of Grace
6. Mean Girls
7. Collateral
8. Shrek 2
9. The Aviator
10. Spanglish

Still left to see: Million Dollar Baby, Hotel Rwanda, In Good Company

for now:

01 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
02 Garden State
03 The Motorcycle Diaries
04 Sideways
05 Before Sunset
06 Closer
07 Spanglish
08 Dogville
09 Maria, Full of Grace
10 Spider-Man 2

Here is my current, tentative top 10:

(note: numbers 1 through 3 are unlikely to move even though I have yet to see Before Sunset, Garden State, MDB or Sideways)

1. The Village
2. Kill Bill Volume 2
3. The Aviator
4. House of Flying Daggers
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Alexander
7. Garden State
8. Closer
9. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
10. Collateral

Top 10 Unofficial (to leave any room for Sideways, The Aviator, Hotel Rwanda, In Good Company, Million Dollar Baby)

10. The Life Aquatic
9. The Polar Express
8. Kill Bill Vol. 2
7. Spider-Man 2
6. Collateral
5. The Grudge
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Dawn of the Dead
2. Shaun of the Dead
1. Saw

Today (they always change based on my mood):

01 Million Dollar Baby
02 Sideways
03 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
04 Kill Bill, Vol. 2
05 Collateral
06 Good Bye, Lenin!
07 Shaun of the Dead
08 Dogville
09 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
10 Maria Full of Grace

Sho' enough, my list changed again.

1. Sideways
2. Million Dollar Baby
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. Garden State
5. Closer
6. Maria Full of Grace
7. Mean Girls
8. Collateral
9. Shrek 2
10. The Aviator/Spanglish (can't decide, bleh)