List from 5 to 20 movies. You can list more than 20 but only the top 20 will be counted. Release year is determined by RYM, because that has the year of the original release.

Here's a link to RYM listing of movies for 2004: http://rateyourmusic.com/films/chart?page=1&chart_type=top&type=film&year=2004&genre_include=1&genres=&include=both&limit=none&countries=

Vote closes Saturday, June 19.

I'm really gonna need some (foreign) recommendations for this one, because my list looks pretty boring. Just one foreign film (Der Untergang) and a lot of usual suspects. Still, pretty good year already.

Bad Education, another Almodovar film
2046, sequel to In The Mood For Love
Nobody Knows, as Henrik mentioned. (Though Kore-eda can be annoyingly preachy, he wishes he was Ozu, and Air Doll was really lame).

That's pretty much all the foreign films I have on my list right now. I've got Tropical Malady and Moolade on my Netflix queue, and I'm curious about House of Flying Daggers.

Edit: Oh, and I just happen to own Notre Musique because when I was trying to see Breathless the Godard compilation was cheaper than Breathless alone.

1. The World / Jia Zhang-ke / China
2. The Passion of the Christ / Mel Gibson / U.S.
3. Tropical Malady / Apichatpong Weerasethakul / Thailand
4. Sideways / Alexander Payne / U.S.
5. Million Dollar Baby / Clint Eastwood / U.S.
6. The White Diamond / Werner Herzog / Germany
7. The Incredibles / Brad Bird / U.S.
8. Moolaade / Ousmane Sembene / Senegal
9. Nobody Knows / Hirokazu Kore-eda / Japan
10. The Weeping Meadow / Theo Angelopoulos / Greece

Definitely not a top year for me; other years I manage to find at least 30 nice ones, now barely 20:

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Before Sunset
3. Bin-Jip
4. Howl's Moving Castle
5. Der Untergang
6. Million Dollar Baby
7. Crimen Ferpecto
8. Nobody Knows
9. The Incredibles
10. The Aviator
11. Un long dimande de fiançailles
12. Whisky
13. Ghost in the Shell, Innocence
14. Kinsey
15. Kung Fu Hustle
16. The Motorcycle Diaries
17. The Bourne Supremacy
18. Spider-Man 2
19. Night Watch
20. Shaun of the Dead

1. Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry
2. The Incredibles - Brad Bird
3. Calvaire - Fabrice Du Welz
4. Man of Fire - Tony Scott
5. Aaltra - Benoït Délépine et Gustave De Kervern
6. Quand la mer monte - Yolande Moreau
7. Rois et reine - Arnaud Deplechin
8. 36, quai des orfèvres - Olivier Marchal
9. Mar Adentro - Alejandro Amenábar
10. Hellboy - Guillermo del Toro
11. The Terminal - Steven Spielberg
12. The Bourne Supremacy - Paul Greengrass
13. Feux Rouges - Cédric Khan
14. Comme une image - Agnes Jaoui / Jean-Pierre Bacri
15. Crash - Paul Haggis
16. Kill Bill vol.2 - Quentin Tarantino
17. La Mala Education - Pedro Almodovar
18. The Ladykillers - Joel Coen
19. Les Choristes - Christophe BArratier
20. Un long dimanche de fiançailles - Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Stephan, you can choose in my list.
I very highly recommand Calvaire (I don't know how to translate "mal à l'aise" in English but the word can be "Calvaire") , Aaltra (a fantastic cynical road-movie in wheelchair)and Quand la mer monte (a humanist love story).
36, quai des orfèvres his also an excellent modern French film noir with Depardieu and Auteuil.
I maybe don't recommand Rois et Reine, too French I think.

2046 and House of Flying Daggers were a little disappointing I thought, which is why they didn't make the top 10. On second thought I will include Howl's Moving Castle in my top 10, even though that too was a little disappointing and I will be watching Bin-Jip tonight. If it's as good as Spring, Summer.. it will move Howl's back out.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations.

Ki-duk Kim strikes again (quite literally this time), "3-Iron" was even better than "Spring, Summer..".

That's it. I'm putting 3-Iron on my Netflix queue and ordering Spring, Summer... on Amazon.

I should probably also order American Splendor just for completeness' sake. (I already have Best of Youth and 21 Grams).

And, now I need to add 8.53 to my order to get free shipping, so I'll order some other non-criterion movie too.

01. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)
02. Bin-Jip / 3-Iron (Ki-Duk Kim)
03. Vera Drake (Mike Leigh)
04. Berfore Sunset (Richard Linklater)
05. Gegen die Wand (Fatih Akin)
06. Der Untergang (Oliver Hirschbiegel)
07. Sideways (Alexander Payne)
08. Lakposhta Parvaz Mikonand / Turtles Can Fly (Bahman Ghobadi)
09. Shi Mian Mai Fu / House of Flying Daggers (Yimou Zhang)
10. Brodre (Susanne Bier)

11. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson)
12. Simon (Eddy Terstall)
13. Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
14. Mar Adentro (Alejandro Amenabar)
15. Diarios de Motocicleta (Walter Salles)
16. The Bourne Supremacy (Paul Greengrass)
17. Hotel Rwanda (Terry George)
18. Maria Full of Grace (Joshua Marston)
19. The Aviator (Martin Scorsese)
20. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (Quentin Tarantino)


Seen about 68 films from 2004. Not a very good year, bot not a very bad one either. Eternal Sunshine is easily my favorite of this year. The last few are not that good, but I guess they deserve a nod.

1 . Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - Quentin Tarantino - USA
2 . Gegen die Wand [Head-On] - Fatih Akin - Germany
3 . 빈집 [3-Iron] - Kim K- Duk - South Korea
4 . Crash - Paul Haggis - USA
5 . Der Untergang [Downfall] - Oliver Hirschbiegel - Germany
6 . Mysterious Skin - Gregg Araki - USA
7 . ハウルの動く城 [Howl's Moving Castle] - Hayao Miyazaki - Japan
8 . Život je čudo [Life is a Miracle] - Emir Kusturica - Serbia and Montenegro
9 . Fyra nyanser av brunt [Four Shades of Brown] - Tomas Alfredson - Sweden
10 . Incident at Loch Ness - Zak Penn - UK
11 . Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry - USA
12 . Innocence - Lucile Hadzihalilovic - France
13 . Moolaadé - Ousmane Sembene - Senegal
14 . The Incredibles - Brad Bird - USA
15 . Sideways - Alexander Payne - USA
16 . Pusher II - Nicolas Winding Refn - Denmark
17 . La mala educación [The Bad Education] - Pedro Almadovar - Spain
18 . Crónicas [Chronicles] - Sebastián Cordero - Ecuador
19 . Populärmusik från Vittula [Popular Music] - Reza Bagher - Sweden
20 . The White Diamond - Werner Herzog - Germany

I recommend everything from my list (of course ). I'll try to write some comments tomorrow.
Surprised to see that no one hasn't voted for Innocence (before I). I haven't seen Nobody Knows.

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry
2. The Butterfly Effect - Eric Bress
3. The Village - M. Night Shyamalan
4. El maquinista (The Machinist) - Brad Anderson
5. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - Quentin Tarantino
6. The Ladykillers - Joel Coen
7. Collateral - Michael Mann
8. I, Robot - Alex Proyas
9. Der Untergang (Downfall) - Oliver Hirschbiegel
10. Sideways - Alexander Payne
11. Million Dollar Baby - Clint Eastwood
12. Finding Neverland - Marc Foster
13. Crash - Paul Haggis
14. King Arthur - Antoine Fuqua
15. The Bourne Supremacy - Paul Greengrass
16. The Stepford Wives - Frank Oz
17. Crimen ferpecto (The Perfect Crime) - Álex de la Iglesia
18. Shrek 2 - Andrew Adamson
19. Troy - Wolfgang Petersen
20. 36 Quai des Orfèvres (Department 36) - Olivier Marchal

21. Hidalgo - Joe Johnston
22. Innocence - Lucile Hadzihalilovic
23. Alfie - Charles Shyer
24. Ocean's Twelve - Steven Soderbergh
25. Meet the Fockers - Jay Roach

I'm more surprised there is not even a single mention of Garden State yet..

I also prefer Vol. 2, btw.

1. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
2. Sideways
3. Napoleon Dynamite
4. Life Aquatic W/ Steve Zissou
5. DiG!
6. Kill Bill V2
7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
9. Mean Girls
10. The Girl Next Door
11. I Heart Huckabees
12. Oceans Twelve
13. National Treasure
14. Garden State
15. Eurotrip
16. Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle
17. Miracle

Should I see the movie Downfall before I finish my list?

It's the most acclaimed 2004 movie I haven't either seen or queued yet, and it's on a lot of your lists. But, I'm worried it'll be like Vincere. Well acted, well produced, and completely unsurprising.

(If you can't tell I'm not generally a fan of historical dramas.)

I think you should. I haven't seen Vincere, but Der Untergang is really spectacular.

Will be at the Algarve until the 20th, so unfortunately I don't have time to watch any more films.

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Der Untergang [Downfall]
3. Hotel Rwanda
4. Garden State
5. Before Sunset
6. 3-Iron
7. Sideways
8. Shaun Of The Dead
9. Kill Bill: Vol. 2
10. Howl's Moving Castle

1) Bad Education--Almodovar at his best.
2) As It Is In Heaven--Stunning film. Beautiful music.
3) House of Flying Daggers--Another beautiful film. Great acting. Great effects.
4) Napoleon Dynamite--One of the funniest movies of all-time.
5) Shaun of the Dead--Super funny. I could watch Pegg and Frost all day.
6) Kill Bill Vol. 2--Great movie. Not nearly as good as the first though.
7) Saved!--Mandy Moore surprised me with this role. Very unexpected.
8) The Incredibles--A Disney/Pixar film that needs to get more credit.
9) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle--Kal Penn and John Cho were great. Adding NPH made it all the better.
10) Friday Night Lights--Billy Bob Thornton was great. I love the way it was shot.

1. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
2. Before Sunset
3. 3-Iron
4. Kill Bill: Vol 2
5. Bad Education
6. Tropical Malady
7. Million Dollar Baby
8. The Bourne Supremacy
9. Shaun of the Dead
10. 2046
11. Sideways
12. Hellboy
13. Nobody Knows
14. Hotel Rwanda
15. The Incredibles
16. The Aviator
17. Team America: World Police
18. Ray

Comments:

-Tropical Malady

I read the IMDB reviews. All the positive reviews are basically "I love art films", and all the negative reviews are basically "I hate art films". I enjoy the film but do not get what the hell the first part of the film has to do with the second other than to do clever things with pacing.

-Team America World Police

Admit it, the South Park guys are awesome. The only people in the mainstream with the courage to stand up for free speech.

-Moolade

I don't get the critical acclaim for this film. The film has a great message but the plotting is just plain mediocre. It's basically an American feel-good issue movie, only about an African issue.

There's only one film I'm rooting against for this year. I won't mention it's name, but I'll say, it's the highest grossing snuff film of all time.

The votes seem really spread out so far, except for the obvious #1. The current #10 has way fewer points than in the other rounds after ten votes. One interesting trend is a high correlation between liking Bin-Jip and liking Before Sunset.

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Before Sunset
3. Sideways
4. Head-On
5. Downfall
6. Garden State
7. The Aviator
8. Million Dollar Baby
9. Maria Full of Grace
10. Kill Bill: Vol. 2

1. 빈집 [3-Iron]
2. Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei [The Edukators]
3. Sideways
4. Der Untergang [Downfall]
5. Crash
6. Hotel Rwanda
7. Dead Man's Shoes
8. Before Sunset
9. Mysterious Skin
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
11. 誰も知らない [Nobody Knows]
12. Super Size Me
13. Gegen die Wand [Head-On]
14. Ray
15. Brødre [Brothers]
16. Mar adentro [The Sea Inside]
17. Million Dollar Baby
18. Fahrenheit 9/11
19. Machuca
20. Kongekabale [King's Game]

I belong to those who think this was a great year in cinema. In fact this is the only year where I have rated 20 movies 8/10 or higher.

Voting is over.

Only 12 votes came in this week, down from the 15 we got last week. I wonder if voters are getting discouraged because they haven't seen a lot of the ones that qualify.

The 2004 qualifiers:

1. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (388/10/7)
2. Bin-Jip (3-Iron) (215/6/1)
3. Sideways (204/8/0)
4. Before Sunset (191/6/0)
5. Der Untergang (Downfall) (179/7/0)
6. Kill Bill vol 2 (177/9/1)
7. Gegen die Wand (Head-On) (103/4/0)
8. The Incredibles (101/5/0)
9. Million Dollar Baby (93/6/0)
10. La mala educacion (Bad Education) (83/4/1)

Just missed:
Crash (69/4/0)
Hotel Rwanda (66/4/0)
Napoleon Dynamite (65/2/0)

Lots of directors enter the 2 film club. Pedro Almodovar, Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, and Kim Ki-Duk.

I know I'm too late to vote, but I'll submit mine for good measure. My lack of film knowledge would probably hae skewed the results anyway:

1) Napoleon Dynamite
2) Mean Girls
3) Team America: World Police
4) Spider-Man 2
5) Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
6) Shaun of the Dead
7) Downfall
8) The Girl Next Door
9) Shrek 2
10) Kill Bill Vol. 2