Charles Mitchell’s Favorite Films of 2004 (all films are ranked in order and out of five stars)

Copyright 2005 by Charles Mitchell

1) Mar adentro (the Sea Inside) *****

A mesmerizing tale about a poor Colombian’s transformation into a drug mule. So destitute does she feel her existence is, that she will risk arrest and even death to escape it.

3) Osama *****

Life under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan was intolerably cruel for women, so when one mother transforms her little girl into a boy, she hopes for freedom for herself and her daughter.

4) The Motorcycle Diaries ****1/2

Another testament as to why Gael Garcia Bernal is my favorite actor of the moment. It seems there is very little he can’t do. This time he is famed revolutionist Che Guevara, who as a young medical student sets off on a journey across South America, that turns epiphanic when he discovers the poor, oppressed and disenfranchised.

5) Being Julia ****1/2

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6) Finestra di fronte, La (Facing Windows) ****1/2

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7) Égarés, Les (Strayed ) ****

Ever since 2002’s Y Tu Mama Tambien, I have been searching for a film that again evoked in me the same longing to live inside the celluloid frames. Finally, I found it in this little French film about a Parisian family escaping the Nazi occupation in World War II, and the love affair that unfolds between an older women and an adolescent male.

8) The House of Flying Daggers

Really a romance like its cousin film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, even though the marketing machine may convince you it’s an action movie. Mesmerizing art direction.

9) Million Dollar Baby ****

The best Clint Eastwood effort since Unforgiven demonstrates that Dirty Harry only gets better with age. This time around he plays a boxing coach who is coaxed into training a female fighter played by Hillary Swank. In the end they both coach each other much more about life, than what happens in the ring.

10) The United States of Leland ****

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11) Sideways ****

An almost perfect character driven tale, filled with wonderful metaphors. A story about two middle-aged men bonding on a weekend trip to the wine country, before one of them says “I do.” Paul Giamatti should have received the Oscar for his take on a complex man who’s looking for love, but who is as finicky at choosing women, as he is at selecting a fine bottle of Pinot Noir.

12) Bad Education ****

Caps off the one-two punch of the year that was Gael Garcia Bernal. Again, Bernal demonstrates his versatility, this time as a child molestation victim who as a transgendered adult returns to take revenge on the priest who abused him.

13) Mean Creek ****

When a group of students decides to take revenge on the school bully it leads to unforeseen consequences that changes their lives forever.

14) Stander ****

The true story of a South African police officer in the 70’s, who became a bank robber while he was still on the force. His eventual decent into criminal notoriety nearing the heights of Jesse James, gives us a film that is a wild and bloody thrill ride in the vein of Tarantino.

15) Born into Brothels ****

A tearjerker -- and rightfully so. This documentary is about the children trapped into the life of prostitution in Calcutta's slums, and the film crew’s quest to help a handful escape the cycle.

16) Before Sunset ****

The kind of film Hollywood wish it made, and the kind of film I would make if I were a filmmaker. Two lovers meet nine years after their initial night together for one afternoon in Paris, that might turn into something more. Make sure you rent this along with Before Sunrise.

17) Hotel Rwanda ***1/2

Don Cheadle gives a gripping performance, in this take on a true story of a hotel manager who shelters more than 1200 refugees during the Rwandan genocide. The focus on this one heroic feat, however, is both the motion picture’s strength and its failing. While the hotel setting gives us an almost fly-on-the-wall insight into the plight of the Tutsis, it stays somewhat removed from the real horrors just behind the resort gates, and that weakens the indictment against Western nations that turned a blind eye to the atrocities.

18) Tarnation ***1/2

Part documentary part historical narrative, creates stunning symbolism by meshing its schizophrenic subject matter with schizophrenic visuals. Filmmaker, Jonathan Caouette, takes us back on a journey through his childhood, with his mentally challenged mother.

19) Ray ***1/2

Jamie Foxx does a great job at portraying the life of Jazz great Ray Charles; however the real performances in this film are from the women: Kerry Washington and Regina King.

20) The Aviator ***1/2

DiCaprio may not be totally convincing as the mysterious Howard Hughes – though he tries hard – and the movie too long, but it’s still an interesting ride into the mind of a visionary nonetheless.

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