AFI TOP TEN OF 2004

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 3:25pm

LOS ANGELES -- The superhero adventures "Spider-Man 2" and "The Incredibles" made the American Film Institute's list of 2004's top 10 movies.

Also on the list released Sunday were the not-yet-released Howard Hughes film biography "The Aviator" and boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby."

Rounding out the group's list, which did not rank the films, were the hit-man thriller "Collateral"; the quirky romances "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Sideways"; the football drama "Friday Night Lights"; the drug-smuggling drama "Maria Full of Grace"; and "Kinsey," a film biography of sexuality researcher Alfred Kinsey.

The institute's top 10 television programs of the year were HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Deadwood," "The Sopranos" and "Something the Lord Made," ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," FX's "Nip/Tuck" and "The Shield," Fox's "Arrested Development" and Comedy Central's "South Park."

The lists were chosen by 13-member panels of filmmakers, critics, scholars and AFI board members. Top films and shows will be honored at an AFI luncheon Jan. 14.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 3:25pm

Collateral? What an average movie.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 3:28pm

No 'Closer'?

Psh.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 3:31pm

How did Spider-Man 2 make it in there? Did they even watch the last 5 minutes of that movie? Eek.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 3:34pm

Heck, did they watch ANY five minutes of 'Spider-Man 2' that didn't involve Spidey and Doc Ock socking one another in the face?

I mean, if they feel the need to put some mainstream action nonsense on the list so it 'shows the sort of movies regular folk like' why not 'The Bourne Supremacy' which at least had a degree of intelligence behind it?

Posted: 12/13/04 at 3:34pm

It's obviously a fan-based list. Although I'm glad Sideways got on it. It was such a good movie.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 3:36pm

A fan-based list?

"The lists were chosen by 13-member panels of filmmakers, critics, scholars and AFI board members."

Posted: 12/13/04 at 4:05pm

Well come on. Spider-Man 2? What kind of scholar thinks that movie is good enough for an award? Tobey was the only reason I watched it. They both bored me to a pile of crap. It was awful.

You tell me, you goddess you, why Spiderman 2 should be on the list.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 4:06pm

I watched it for Donna Murphy, Gregg Edelman and Alfred Molina.

Posted: 12/13/04 at 4:09pm

Molina was good for what he had. You're only as good as the material, that's what I say.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 4:14pm

I watched it for Donna Murphy, Gregg Edelman and Alfred Molina.

lol! that's the same reason I watched it!

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 4:15pm

'Spider-Man 2' is on the list because if the members of the AFI were hanged for having good taste in movies, we'd have hanged a group of innocent people.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 4:33pm

Sooo happy to see my beloved ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT included in the TV awards...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 5:56pm

While it probably wouldn't make a top ten list of mine, I thought that Spiderman 2 easily had the best screenplay of any big budget superhero popcorn movie in decades (compare it to any movie in the Batman or Superman series, or Hulk, Daredevil, Blade etc......). Hiring award-winning novelist Michael Chabon to co-write the story and two-time Oscar winner Alvin Sargent to write the screenplay paid off in spades. Instead the story just being an excuse to tie together special effects, I thought that the film actually focused on giving the characters some real depth. And having the great Rosemary Harris on board as Aunt May, along with many other pros -- Molina, Murphy, J.k. Simmons, Dafoe, Cliff Robertson (Oscar winner), Dylan Baker, Gregg Edelman, Bill Nunn -- I thought elevated the film to a cut above 99% of the summer blockbuster genre. You had your thrills and chills for the kids, but for the adults they had good actors, three-dimensional characters and a plot that made sense. No exactly a landmark film or anything, but not bad for Hollywood.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 5:57pm

They put alot of care into SPIDER MAN 2, I rather liked it. Liked HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF.. better.

[Jon]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 6:54pm

Wasn't Arrested Development amazing last night? "IT'S BALLS!"

Best part of Spiderman 2? Seeing Donna Murphy get torn apart by chards of broken glass. (Here come the flames!)

[wildcat]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 6:58pm

AGAIN no "Garden State"!?

[Plum]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 7:05pm

I think Spider-Man 2 was indeed very carefully crafted, but in the end all the pieces didn't quite come together for me. For all its flaws, the first X-Men is still my favorite superhero movie, and I wouldn't put Spider-Man 2 in my top 10 for the year. How about sticking in Shaun of the Dead instead? :P

[brdwaybaby17]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 6:15pm

Awww... no Finding Neverland... I loved that movie!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 7:12pm

Unless I'm wrong, I think AFI only includes American films in their tally, and SHAUN OF THE DEAD is from the UK....is MARIA FULL OF GRACE an American flick? If they are including foreign films, they got some 'splainin' to do, big time.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 7:13pm

Maria Full of Grace was made by HBO, I thought. I don't really know, though.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 9:23pm

I love Spider-Man 2 because the screenplay cared more for the characters than any other superhero movie. I love X-Men 2 to death but it was all about the fight scenes and stuff. Spider-Man 2 was all about the characters with the fights in second place.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 9:26pm

Here David Ansen's pick for Top Ten from Newsweek

1. Sideways
2. Before Sunset
3. Osama
4. Million dollar baby
5. Bad Education
6. The Aviator
7 Friday Night Lights
8 The Manchurian Candidate
9.Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azhkaban
10.Kinsey

He also listed the performances

Best Performances - Male
Jeff Bridges(door in the floor)
Don Cheadle(Hotel Rwanda)
Leonardo Dicaprio(the Aviator)
Jamie Foxx(Ray)
Paul Giamatti(Sideways)

Best Performances - Female
Annette Bening (Being Julia)
Julie Delpy (Before Sunset)
Nicole Kidman (Birth)
Hilary Swank (Million dollar baby)
Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake)

I'm glad Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban made the list.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 9:46pm

I liked Spiderman 2 much better than the first, but I still think both X-Men movies top the list for superhero flicks. And I would have put the new Harry Potter in the list over Spiderman 2 for the year. The Bourne Supremacy would have been great if they could have laid off the shaky cam. It was so damn annoying and ruined the film. I was getting dizzy and nauseous.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/13/04 at 9:49pm

You're right about the the overuse of the shaky-cam. It's the only flaw in an otherwise perfectly executed thriller. Updated On: 12/13/04 at 09:49 PM