Best Movies of 2004

Editor: Piero Scaruffi
Best movies of all time | Back to the Cinema page
Best of the decade | Best of 2003 | Best of 2005
The following list averages the opinions of my favorite critics plus mine.

Foreign movies show sometimes a year later, so if you can't find a title, check last year's ratings.


7.9 Pedro Almodovar: Mala Education/ Bad Education
7.8 Michel Gondry: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7.7 Fatih Akin: Gegen die Wand/ Head On
7.7 Theo Angelopoulos: The Weeping Meadow
7.4 Kim Ki-duk: Binjip/ 3-Iron
7.3 Claire Denis: The Intruder
7.3 Wong Kar-wai: 2046
7.3 Zhangke Jia: The World
7.3 Lav Diaz: Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino/ Evolution of a Filipino Family
7.2 Shane Carruth: Primer
7.2 Hiroyuki Imaishi: Dead Leaves
7.2 Arnaud Desplechin: Rois et Reine/ Kings and Queen
7.2 Alex De La Iglesia: El Crimen Ferpecto
7.2 Eugenio Polgovsky: Tropic of Cancer
7.2 Lucrecia Martel: La Nina Santa/ The Holy Girl
7.2 Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Tropical Malady
7.1 Benoit Jacquot: A Toute de Suite
7.1 Francois Favrat: Le Role de sa Vie/ The Role of Her Life
7.1 Mike Leigh: Vera Drake
7.1 Agnes Jaoui: Look At Me: Comme Un Image
7.1 Teong Hin Saw: The Princess of Mount Ledang
7.1 Alexander Payne: Sideways
7.1 Paolo Sorrentino: Le Conseguenze dell'Amore/ The Consequences Of Love
7.1 Gregg Araki: Mysterious Skin
7.0 Katsuhito Ishii: Cha No Aji/ The Taste of Tea
7.0 Edgar Wright: Shaun of the Dead (2004)
7.0 Sekhar Kammula: Anand (2004)
7.0 Rajkumar Hirani: Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2004)
7.0 Susanne Bier: Bredre/ Brothers
7.0 Pantham Thongsang: The Judgment
7.0 Masaaki Yuasa: Mind Game
7.0 Luis Mandoki: Voces Inocentes/ Innocent Voices
7.0 Mark Bamford: Cape of Good Hope
7.0 Ivo Trajkov: Golemata Voda/ The Great Water
7.0 Andrew Wagner: The Talent Given Us
7.0 Pawel Pawlikowski: My Summer of Love
7.0 Carlos Sorin: Bombon El Perro
7.0 Woody Allen: Melinda and Melinda
7.0 Ilya Khrzhanovsky: 4
7.0 Fernando Eimbcke: Duck Season
7.0 Eugene Green: Le Pont des Arts
7.0 Hans Weingartner: The Edukators
7.0 Cristi Puiu: Un Cartu de Kent i un Pachet de Cafea/ Cigarettes and Coffee
7.0 Tony Gatlif: Exiles
7.0 Lisandro Alonso: Los Muertos
7.0 Wes Anderson: The Life Aquatic
7.0 Timur Bekmambetov: Nochnoy Dozor/ Night Watch
7.0 Jan Hrebejk: Up and Down
7.0 Gianni Amelio: Le Chiavi di Casa
7.0 Patrice Leconte: Intimate Strangers
7.0 David Gordon Green: Undertow
7.0 Guillermo del Toro: Hellboy
7.0 Joshua Marston: Maria Full of Grace
7.0 Zach Braff: Garden State
7.0 Yousry Nasrallah: The Gate of the Sun
7.0 Ousmane Sembene: Moolaade
7.0 Brad Anderson: The Machinist
7.0 Jonathan Glazer: Birth
7.0 Brad Bird: The Incredibles
7.0 Clint Eastwood: Million Dollar Baby
7.0 Hirokazu Kore-eda: Nobody Knows
7.0 James Brooks: Spanglish
7.0 Lucile Hadzihalilovic: Innocence
7.0 Hayao Miyazaki: Howl's Moving Castle
6.9 Mel Gibson: The Passion of the Christ
6.9 Robin Campillo: Les Revenants/ They Came Back
6.9 Hong Sang-soo: Yeojaneun Namjaeui Miraeda/ Woman is the Future of Man
6.9 Bilge Ebiri: New Guy
6.9 Ruben Ostlund: The Guitar Mongoloid
6.8 Fanta Regina Nacro: The Night of Truth
6.8 Dong-hoon Choi: The Big Swindle (2004)
6.8 Daniel Burman: El Abrazo Partido
6.8 Emir Kusturica: Zivot Je Cudo
6.8 Takashi Miike: Izo
6.8 Olivier Assayas: Clean
6.8 Xiao Jiang: Electric Shadows
6.8 Michael Winterbottom: Code 46
6.8 Nicole Kassell: The Woodsman
6.8 Richard Linklater: Before Sunset
6.8 Francois Ozon: 5x2
6.8 Lodge Kerrigan: Keane
6.7 Stephen Chow: Kung Fu Hustle
6.6 Alejandro Amenabar: Mar Adentro
6.5 Peter Segal: 50 First Dates
6.5 Kim Ki-Duk: Samaria
6.5 Jessica Hausner: Hotel
6.5 Karen Shakhnazarov: Vsadnik Po Imeni Smert/ The Rider Named Death
6.5 Humberto Castellanos: Los Locos Tambien Piensan
6.5 Alain Corneau: Fear and Trembling
6.5 Bronwen Hughes: Stander
6.5 Zhang Yimou: House of Flying Daggers
6.5 Joel Coen: Ladykiller
6.5 Charles Dutton: Against the Ropes
6.5 Sue Brooks: Japanese Story
6.5 Tony Scott: Man on Fire
6.5 Evan Oppenheimer: Justice
6.5 Guy Maddin: The Saddest Music in the World
6.5 Yann Samuell: Love Me If You Dare
6.5 Jared Hess: Napoleon Dynamite
6.5 Mike Hodges: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
6.5 Nick Cassavetes: The Notebook
6.5 David Barker: Afraid of Everything
6.5 Jacob Aaron Estes: Mean Creek
6.5 Walter Salles: The Motorcycle Diaries
6.5 David Russell: I Heart Huckabees
6.5 Pablo Trapero: Rolling Family
6.5 Steven Soderbergh: Ocean's Twelve
6.5 Terry George: Hotel Rwanda
6.5 Christophe Barratier: The Chorus
6.5 Marc Forster: Finding Neverland
6.5 Raul Ruiz: Dias de Campo/ Days in the Country
6.5 Todd Solondz: Palindromes
6.4 Mark Waters: Mean Girls
6.4 Nicolas Winding Refn: Pusher II
6.2 John Curran: We Don't Live Here Anymore
6.0 Jeff Schaffer: Eurotrip
6.0 Gulshat Omarova: Shiza/ Schizo
6.0 Clare Kilner: The Wedding Date
6.0 Russell Mulcahy: Swimming Upstream
6.0 Danny Leiner: Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
6.0 Helen Lesnick: Inescapable
6.0 Francis Girod: Transfixed
6.0 Jonathan Frakes: Thunderbirds
6.0 Benny Chan: San Ging Chaat Goo Si / New Police Story
6.0 Kurt Russell: Miracle
6.0 David Mamet: Spartan
6.0 Kevin Smith: Jersey Girl
6.0 Ernest Dickerson: Never Die Alone
6.0 Stephen Chow: Shaolin Soccer
6.0 John Carlos Frey: The Gatekeeper
6.0 Martha Coolidge: The Prince and Me
6.0 Lindy Heymann: Showboy
6.0 Julian Hernandez: A Thousand Clouds of Peace
6.0 Mani Ratnam: Yuva
6.0 Stephen Sommers: Van Helsing
6.0 Wallace Wolodarsky: Seeing Other People
6.0 Alejandro Agresti: Valentin
6.0 Kevin Macdonald: Touching the Void
6.0 Garry Marshall: Raising Helen
6.0 Roger Michell: The Mother
6.0 Steven Spielberg: The Terminal
6.0 Frank Coraci: Around the World in 80 Days
6.0 Joel Zito Araujo: Filhas do Vento/ Daughters of the Wind
6.0 Christopher Herrmann: Ghostlight
6.0 Sam Raimi: Spider-Man 2
6.0 Alex Proyas: I Robot
6.0 D.J. Mendel: Planet Earth: Dreams
6.0 Barbara Albert: Free Radicals
6.0 Paul Greengrass: The Bourne Supremacy
6.0 Michael Mayer: A Home at the End of the World
6.0 Stephen Fry: Bright Young Things
6.0 Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi: It's Easier for a Camel
6.0 Elias Merhige: Suspect Zero
6.0 John Sayles: Silver City
6.0 Hou Hsiao-hsien: Cafe` Lumiere
6.0 Ingmar Bergman: Saraband
6.0 Roger Michell: Enduring Love
6.0 Stevan Mena: Malevolence
6.0 James Wan: Saw
6.0 Miguel Albaladejo: Bear Cub
6.0 Bill Condon: Kinsey
6.0 Chazz Palminteri: Noel
6.0 Oliver Stone: Alexander
6.0 Jean-Pierre Jeunet: A Very Long Engagement
6.0 Jane Weinstock: Easy
6.0 Ken Loach: A Fond Kiss
6.0 JeanLuc Godard: Notre Musique
6.0 Martin Scorsese: The Aviator
6.0 Kevin Spacey: Beyond the Sea
6.0 Paul Weitz In Good Company
6.0 Kerry Conran: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
6.0 Davide Ferrario: Dopo Mezzanotte/ After Midnight
6.0 Takeshi Kitano: Zatoichi/ The Blind Swordsman
6.0 Cedric Kahn: Feux Rouges/ Red Lights
6.0 Omar Naim: The Final Cut
5.8 Andre Techine: Les Temps Qui Changent/ Changing Times
5.5 Brian Robbins: The Perfect Score
5.5 Lone Scherfig: Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
5.5 Nir Bergman: Broken Wings
5.5 Jim Jarmusch: Coffee And Cigarettes
5.5 Peter Howitt: Laws of Attraction
5.5 Adam McKay: Anchorman
5.5 Antoine Fuqua: King Arthur
5.5 Jeff Balsmeyer: Danny Deckchair
5.5 Donald Petrie: Mooseport
5.2 Andrew Adamson: Shrek 2
5.2
Robert Zemeckis: The Polar Express
5.0 Andy Cadiff: Chasing Liberty
5.0 Richard Loncraine: Wimbledon
5.0 Gregory Haynes: Cowboys and Angels
5.0 John Duigan: Head in the Clouds
5.0 John Waters: A Dirty Shame
5.0 Joseph Ruben: The Forgotten
5.0 Peter Berg: Friday Night Lights
5.0 Richard Eyre: Stage Beauty
5.0 Quentin Tarantino: Kill Bill: Vol 2
5.0 Chris Kentis: Open Water
5.0 Jonathan Demme: The Manchurian Candidate
5.0 Michael Mann: Collateral
5.0 Night Shyamalan: The Village
5.0 Spike Lee: She Hate Me
5.0 Robert Luketic: Win a Date With Tad Hamilton
5.0 Christopher Erskin: Johnson Family Vacation
5.0 Michael Lembeck: Connie and Carla
5.0 Jonathan Heinsleigh: The Punisher
5.0 Todd Stephens: Gypsy 83
5.0 Gary Winick: 13 Going on 30
5.0 Barry Levinson: Envy
5.0 Nick Hamm: Godsend
5.0 Wolfgang Petersen: Troy
5.0 Dennie Gordon: New York Minute
5.0 Brian Dannelly: Saved
5.0 Jessy Terrero: Soul Plane
5.0 Henry LeRoy Finch: Wake
5.0 Frank Oz: The Stepford Wives
5.0 Todd Verow: Anonymous
5.0 Rawson Marshall Thurber: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
5.0 Pascal Pinon & Chris Delaporte: Kaena: The Prophecy
5.0 Joe Nussbaum: Swing
5.0 Tod Williams: The Door in the Floor
5.0 Ian Iqbal Rashid: Touch of Pink
5.0 Sun Zhou: Zhou Yu's Train
5.0 Pitof: Catwoman
5.0 Sharon Ferranti: Make a Wish
5.0 Paul Anderson: Alien vs. Predator
5.0 Margarethe von Trotta: Rosenstrasse
5.0 Steven Brill: Without a Paddle
5.0 Dwight Little: Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid
5.0 Pieter Jan Brugge: The Clearing
5.0 Taylor Hackford: Ray
5.0 Rodney Evans: Brother to Brother
5.0 Kiyoshi Kurosawa: Akarui Mirai/ Bright Future
5.0 Stephen Hillenburg: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
5.0 Jon Turteltaub: National Treasure
5.0 Mike Nichols: Closer
5.0 John Deery: Conspiracy of Silence
5.0 Dan Harris: Imaginary Heroes
5.0 Luna: Whore
5.0 Jay Roach: Meet the Fockers
5.0 Michael Radford: The Merchant of Venice
5.0 Damien O'Donnell: Rory O'Shea Was Here
5.0 Shinji Aramaki: Appurushido/ Appleseed
5.0 Andres Wood: Machuca
5.0 Antoine de Caunes: Monsieur N.
4.5 John Hamburg: Along Came Polly
4.5 Paul McGuigan: The Reckoning
4.5 David Koepp: Secret Window
4.5 Kevin Allen: Agent Cody Banks 2 - Destination London
4.5 Howard Deutch: The Whole Ten Yards
4.5 Luke Greenfield: The Girl Next Door
4.5 John Lee Hancock: The Alamo
4.5 Roland Emmerich: The Day After Tomorrow
4.5 David Twohy: The Chronicles of Riddick
4.5 Keenen Ivory Wayans: White Chicks
4.5 Garry Marshall: The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
4.5 Charles Shyer: Alfie
4.5 Brett Ratner: After the Sunset
4.0 Eric Bress and Mackye Gruber: The Butterfly Effect
4.0 Takashi Shimizu: Ju-On: The Grudge
4.0 Alan Hruska: Nola
4.0 Philip Kaufman: Twisted
4.0 Todd Phillips: Starsky & Hutch
4.0 Joe Johnston: Hidalgo
4.0 DJ Caruso: Taking Lives
4.0 Kevin Bray: Walking Tall
4.0 Daniel Taplitz: Breakin' All the Rules
4.0 Alfonso Cuaron: Henry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4.0 Jean-Jacques Annaud: Two Brothers
4.0 Irwin Winkler: De-Lovely
4.0 Mark Rosman: A Cinderella Story
4.0 Mike Mitchell: Surviving Christmas
4.0 Brian Austin Green: Fish Without a Bicycle
4.0 Beeban Kidron: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
4.0 David Goyer: Blade: Trinity
4.0 Brad Silberling: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
4.0 Elliot Greenebaum: Assisted Living
4.0 Jean-Francois Richet: Arakimentari