Second year of college, excellent year. New boyfriend, I was back to karate, and my academic career was taking off - I was finally going the places I wanted to at University. Thing is: my boyfriend at that time only wanted to see the wrong movies... So I didn't see any of the movies here at the cinema, had to rent them all later... well, with one petty exception, which will be explained.
My favorite movies of 2004:
Finding Neverlad: directed by Marc Forster, starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. Wonderful and magical. Depp is, as usual, astounding as J. M. Barrie, and Winslet only shows once again the outstanding actress she is. The kids are amazing! I just wanted to hug'em all... The entries into Barrie's imagination are simply a privilege. It's one of my favorite movies ever (Yes, I have many of them... What can I do? It's so difficult to narrow down some lists...), and it should've totally won the Oscar for best picture (though, being completely honest, I haven't seen Million Dollar Baby, the winner that year, nor The Aviator, Ray and Sideways, the other nominees...)
Closer: directed by Mike Nichols, starring Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. SUCH a slap on the face. Awesome. I love all of these actors - but the girls really stood out on this one. Not an easy job, though, cus these guys are phenomenal (and TALK about charming...). But Natalie Portman, who's ususally the embodiment of adorable, was so gorgeous here! And her eyes said it all, you could see her hurting throughout the entire story. As for Julia Roberts... this, for me, has gotta be one of the roles she played best. Why? She didn't flash us with her million-dollar smile; not even once - not the way she usually does. Her trademark was just not there. And she acted her ass off without it! She wasn't the pretty woman Vivian Ward, the horrible best friend Julianne Potter, the actress Anna Scott, nor the runaway bride Maggie Carpenter, who are all basically the same person. She was Anna, a photographer and an entirely different woman. Bravo. As for the story itself, the epitome of cynicism. Different from everything else - a great different.
Before Sunset: directed by Richard Linklater, starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. Wow, there's nothing left to say except "thank you". Thank you Richard Linklater and Julie Delpy (the writers) for this movie! Before Sunrise is not a movie that demands a sequel, quite the opposite, in fact. The reason for that is that sequels couldn't suck any little bit more, with rare exceptions. (Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and The Godfather 2, for example. Movies meant to be a trilogy, such as The Lord of the Rings, do not count, they're not sequels). So I got a little disappointed they'd made one. But OMG!!!! That was brilliant, are you kidding me? And actually, I'll daresay it's better than the first one. The dialogs ran more smoothly, they seemed more confortable in their own skin, and Delpy is just so much more interesting here! Both of them, really. And when Jesse sees Celine there, right there at the bookstore, the excitement in his eyes! If I'd been that girl, I would've been all "be-still-my-beating-heart" on the inside! Jeez, I had the butterflies when I saw him looking at her like that, like he'd just hit the jackpot... it's not often u get that damned second chance we all long for... Her song too, it hit it out of the park... As for the ending, perfect. Thank you very much!
50 First Dates: directed by Peter Segal, starring Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Sean Astin and Rob Schneider. "Awwwww!!!" That was what I just couldn't stop thinking half-way through the movie, till the very end. The cutest romantic comedy ever!!! And then it becomes just so unberably sad... oh God... I'm not a big fan of Adam Sandler, not my cup of tea, but he was great here! And I absolutely adore Barrymore, she's the cutest, and a great actress, for that matter. What about the walruses and the penguin???? Made me wish I lived in Alaska or something... (I've been wishing that every freaking day since the summer started... Beware ye: the summer in Rio de Janeiro is ruthless!). Besides, the idea of you making your partner fall in love with you all over again every single day... isn't that what any relationship should be all about?... Great great soundtrack, by the way.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: directed by Michel Gondry, starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, and Elijah Wood - with a very small appearance of Kirsten Dunst. I'm sorry. I fell head-over-hills in love with that movie - but never had the guts to watch it again. It was just so, so painful... I remember their acting being out of this world, just as the whole concept. But my memory, which is great 99% of the time, is completely wrapped around the pain I felt watching this movie, erasing almost everything else. So I can't actually talk about it the way it deserves.
Others worthy of notice that year:
Crash: very good - but Babel was so much better... if there'd been less stories... less is always more.
What I regret having watched in 2004:
A Cinderella Story: hehe, my "petty exception", mentioned at the beginning of this post. The only movie worth mentioning I saw at the cinema that year. My then-boyfriend had taken me to the movies to watch I don't know what movie, I think I completely erased it from my mind... well, I hated it, whatever it was. So to punish him, the next time we went to the movies I insisted on this one. A Cinderella Story. Well, to punish him, and because I think Chad Michael Murray is incredibly handsome and charming. But I admit it was going too far... Hilary Duff? AND Jennifer Coolidge? No one should be forced to go through that... indeed, very petty of me. The whole thing was lamentable, from beginning to end. I'm just not sorry I got to see hot Chad on the big screen.
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