Below are movies that I saw in 2004. I'm putting them in order of my favorite, to least favorite. Some people put their movie lists in order of "best" to "worst," but seriously, how do you compare movies as incredibly different as "Fahrenheit 9-11" to a movie like "Ray." If there is a number next to the title, that number corresponds to how many times I saw that particular movie.

1. Fahrenheit 9-11 (2)

I LOVED this movie. Despite its faults, there are things in this movie that absolutely cannot be argued with. I much preferred the second half of this movie, when he shifted the focus from Afghanistan to Iraq. What does it say about the state of the media in this country, that the only time we talk about certain issues is when Michael Moore brings it up. But I've said more than enough about this movie in the past year, that I don't need to go into it any further here.

2. The Incredibles (2)

This movie was incredible. Its another gem from the Pixar people that in many ways is more of an adult movie than a kid's movie. This was by far the funnest movie I've seen all year. And the fact that it was so well done, only adds to my excitement at this movie. Everything from the voice talent, to the music was a notch above excellent.

3. Kill Bill: Volume 2

I hope this movie doesn't get overlooked at the Oscars. I have a feeling it might. Nonetheless, this was a GREAT movie. I'd go so far as to say that the two "Kill Bill" movies are easily as good as "Pulp Fiction." Can't wait til they make a good dvd set of these, so I can add them to my collection.

4. Big Fish

This movie reminded me of my dad and how he loved to tell stories. Anyone who knows my dad, and has seen this movie knows what I'm talking about. There are some really great scenes in the movie, and is definitely one of Tim Burton's greatest creations.

5. Collateral

No one has ever captured the feel of a city as well as Michael Mann did with "Collateral." Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise (and even Jada Pinkett-Smith) all gave really great performances.

6. Finding Neverland

see number 4. Depp did a great job. The movie can be a bit over sentimental at times, but as anyone who knows my movie tastes can tell you, that's not too big of a fault. Winslett is the best actress working today. The work that she does in her movies puts her on a different level than anyone else. This movie is no exception.

7. Team America

I have never never never never laughed so hard in a movie, as I did during this movie. This movie is beyond hilarious. Puppets, nudity, gore, and politics, what else do you need?

8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Charlie Kaufman really takes his game to a new level with this one. Can't wait to see what other kind of fiendish ideas are circulating around his head. Michel Gondry is as great, and head trippy, as he always is. He's finally made a movie that lives up to the promise of his video directoral days. Can't wait to see what he does next.

9. Spiderman 2

The best superhero movie ever??? Close, but not really. For my tastes, I'll take both "X-Men" movies, the first two "Superman" movies, and the first "Spiderman" movie as well. But this one may be one of the greatest superhero sequels ever made. It takes the characters from the first movie and puts them into newer and more interesting predicaments. Spiderman with erectile dysfunction...who knew?

10. Hero

All nationalist propoganda aside, this movie was really well done. It was a gorgeous movie, from the first frame to the last.

11. The Manchurian Candidate

I liked this remake a lot. I thought that Demme really captured the paranoid feel that a movie like this needed. There were some really creepy scenes in this movie. Not perfect, but neither was the original.

12. Super Size Me

It isn't often that I can say that a movie changed my life, but I have been on a health kick that started the evening I saw this movie. Fast food has essentially been cut out of my diet, and when I do go, I get chicken breast sandwiches. Did I mention that it's funny? It was great to see an informational movie that was also really funny and entertaining to watch. They should show this in every school in the United States.

13. 21 Grams

This came out in 2003, but I didn't see it until 2004. The movie drags at parts, but the storyline and acting were top notch and made up for its faults.

14. Monster

Another movie that came out in 2003 that I didn't see until 2004. Charlize gave a great performance and was well desserving of her Oscar. It's a brutal movie. There are supposedly some pretty major deviations from the actual events of what happened in her life, but as a movie, it is really well done.

15. The Bourne Supremacy

James Bond who? It's fun to finally see a series of films based around the CIA that don't involve Jack Ryan and Tom Clancy. Movies that could maybe really happen always interest me more than fantasy spy movies like James Bond, as fun as they are.

16. Ray

It is your typical biopic movie. What sets it apart is Jamie Foxx's performance. He was amazing. The music was of course really great too.

17. Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events

Jim Carrey pulls a Peter Sellers and plays multiple characters. Fun time at the movies. It was definitely a lot darker than I had anticipated. There were some gaping holes in the storyline that I'm guessing will be explained in further tales.

18. Troy

The Hector (Bana) vs. Achilles (Pitt) battle is worth seeing this movie. There were some obvious faults, the main one being the lack of godly mention which dominated the thought of the day, but the movie works regardless. The battles were great, and the character work was pretty okay too. The story desserved the best, the movie missed the mark.

19. Shaolin Soccer

I dare you to find a funner movie all year. This Hong Kong export was REALLY fun. I can't think of another un-Pixar movie that had me smiling from beginning to end.

20. Anchorman

Will Ferrell is both incredibly hilarious, and fustrating at the same time. His schtick was well suited for a movie like this, but sometimes his off the wall banter grew tiresome. The best scene is obviously the anchormen fight scene. CLASSIC!

21. The Polar Express

The movie was both really creepy and really fun at the same time. Fun in that it's an all CGI movie about Christmas, and creepy in that it's an all CGI movie about Christmas. The effects were amazing, but CGI people often looks like the re-animated dead.

22. Vera Drake

Grey area. The movie drags a lot, but I liked the movie because it re-enforces my belief that the world exists in different shades of grey. I'd recommend this movie to anyone who's interested in reproductive rights.

23. Garden State

I both really liked (not loved) and really disliked this movie. There were parts that I really got into, but a lot of this movie is just a pretentious mess. There were times when I found myself laughing at the hokey dialogue. There are some good images sprinkled throughout, but I can't wait to see Zack Braff when he's honed his craft.

24. Dawn of the Dead

This movie was just straight up fun. I'm a (brain) sucker for zombie movies, and this was one of the best I've seen in a while. Not many movies can be scary, funny, gory, and thrilling (sometimes all within one scene).

25. Ocean's 12

Meh. I really enjoyed this movie, but part of my enjoyment centered on the hope that they would put at least ONE great Danny Ocean heist. Alas, the heist ended up being a MAJOR let down. But damn, they all looked good. The Julia Roberts "thing" was kind of lame. It was funny sure, but kind of a letdown.

26. Saved

Pretty funny movie with pretty good performances from the cast. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the movie both ripped the faults of the church, and also praised the church's many virtues. Not the world's sharpest satire, but pretty good.

27. Man on Fire

2004 was a good year for the "revenge" genre. This movie was brutal; both in its subject matter, but also in its length. If they cut about 30 minutes off and brought in some better screenwriters, this would have been a classic.

28. Napolean Dynamite

I quote this movie a lot, but the movie was somewhat forgettable and inconsequential. There wasn't enough in this movie to put it in the same ballpark as "Rushmore."

29. Outfoxed

There's some great information in this movie, but its kinda boring. It was pretty straight forward and I felt did a credible job at exposing the numerous right leanings of Fox News.

30. The Grudge

If thrills were enough to make a movie a "good movie," then this would be a pretty damn good movie. But movies need more than just thrills to keep it afloat. They need things like characters that you give a shit about, and storylines that don't feel played out.

31. Mean Girls

If this movie is a sign of things to come from screenwriter Tina Fey, then I'm excited. The movie walked the border of being a cheesy teen movie, and being a movie that anyone could relate too. Lindsay Lohan gave a good performance, but I think this is probably as good as it gets for her. I don't see her ever breaking out of the teen movie duldrums. But I could be wrong.

32. Mayor of the Sunset Strip

The coolest part of this movie was seeing the subject rocking out with all the great icons of the sixties and seventies. It was a pretty well done documentary that was enjoyable to watch. I would have liked to have seen more attention given to the subject matter's personal relationships. It fell short in that area.

33. 13 Going on 30 (2)

This movie was cute. It's about a 13 year old girl trapped in Jennifer Garner's body. Just imagine that as a movie, and the movie is probably exactly what you're imagining. Just lighthearted bubble gum lightness. There are some good themes about body image and "being yourself" sprinkled throughout the movie.

34. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Fell kinda flat to me. Parts of it were thrilling, but most of the movie was really dull.

35. Dodgeball

Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn doing what they do best. Just close your eyes and imagine a movie about dodgeball and you probably have this movie in a nutshell. There were some really funny moments throughout.

36. The Terminal

This ranks low because of my high esteem for Spielberg's work. This movie was just cheese and product placement. There were some decent moments, but I never really got into the movie as much as I should have.

37. Shrek 2

2 hours of pop-culture referential bullshit. There were some funny moments obviously. But Pixar has nothing to worry about in my eyes. "The Incredibles" is a lock for the best animated Oscar.

38. The Passion of the Christ (2)

I really didn't like this movie. Parts of it were well done obviously, but if you didn't know anything about Jesus, this movie wasn't going to tell you much other than the fact that he was whipped and crucified. All the guilt, none of the message.

39. Alexander

Besides the cinematography and one cool battle (where you couldn't really tell who was who) there really isn't much reason to see this movie. I expected more from Oliver Stone. Colin Farrell was alright in the role.

40. Meet the Fockers

meh...this ranks as low as it does because I loved the first movie so much. The sequel feels to heavy handed, with characters that were one shade south of a stereotype. The first movie is a bona fide classic, and I was expecting something in the same ballpark as that. This was just...a major letdown for me.

41. I, Robot

Summer action movie meets 2 seconds of interesting storyline.

42. The Village

When did Shyamalan become a Twilite Zone hack?

43. Shark Tale

Didn't we cover this ground with "Shrek?" Besides a few laughs, a total waste of time. Jack Black was good in it however, and I did like the homosexual undertones throughout the movie.

44. Alien vs. Predator

This ranks low because of what I expected and hoped the movie would have been. How can you make a movie like this with a PG-13 rating? Total bullshit. This should have been the fight to end all fights. Both franchises desserved better.

45. The Day After Tomorrow

Was a somewhat interesting movie. I expected what I got. On par with most disaster movies ever made which isn't saying much.

46. Around the World in 80 Days

Good kids movie. Kind of a letdown. But I wasn't expecting much.

47. Starsky and Hutch

Somehow, they made a movie with Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller that wasn't really funny. I guess anything's possible. The coke scene with the bird was funny though. Not much else was. The final car jump was HILARIOUS. Too bad there weren't more moments like that one.

48. The Stepford Wives

boo...........this shit could have been REALLY good. Even though I haven't seen it, stick with the original because this one was SHIT.

49. Godsend

Creepy boy and Robert De Niro. Too bad they didn't spend more time on the script. I'm still waiting for a movie about cloning that takes the subject seriously, and doesn't turn it into a bad horror cliche filled movie.

50. Hellboy

LETDOWN. I just couldn't get into this movie. It ranks so low because I've already forgotten nearly everything that was in it.

51. Cheaper by the Dozen

Bad, bad, bad, shitty mess.

52. Van Helsing

I'd rather be stabbed in the chest with a rusty knife than watch this movie again. Sorry for the bad language, but it's true. ;-)