Yet more of 04.

Matt Clayfield is still working on 2004, but his work-in-progress is more thought-provoking than many lists drawn up by those who actually get paid to do this sort of thing: "To be honest, I actually toyed with publishing my list for 2003 instead of this one; at least that one's closer to being 'finished,' so to speak. These things can never really be 'finished.' But that's all part of the pain fun of writing them." Matt's "Best Film of 2004": Before Sunset. Runners-up, honorable mentions and a handful of original categories follow.

Slant's probably got the best designed "Best of 2004" list around; fortunately, the magazine's critics are astute as well. Ed Gonzalez places Bad Education at the top his list; Nick Schager goes for House of Flying Daggers.

The LA Weekly's List Issue 2004 is good for hours of fun, lazy browsing. The cinemy bits:

• Scott Foundas's #1 is a pair, actually: Star Spangled to Death and Notre Musique: "Separately or together... these were the most provocative, urgent, mind-blowing movie experiments of the year, both the product of filmmakers in their 70s and, in many ways, the capstones to two of the most remarkable careers in cinema."

• Ella Taylor's top ten go unannotated, so the fun's in the longish paragraph on great performances.

• Ron Stringer presents the "Film Editor's Choice."

• The DVD Roundup builds up to Taylor's comments on Jean Renoir.

• Robert Abele celebrates "11 Great Small Performances" on the big screen as well as the best the small screen had to offer this year.

• Nikki Finke's contribution: "Hollywood Overheard," a collection of quotes that'll amuse anyone but the quoted.

• John Powers counts down "The Meta-Media Madness Top 10."

Shobha Warrier counts off the "Best Tamil Films, 2004," at rediff.com. Topping the list: Kamal Haasan's Virumaandi. Also: Subhash K Jha interviews Aishwarya Rai.

"2004 was the year that satire sank its razor-sharp teeth into a mainstream audience." Salon's Heather Havrilesky relishes the sharpest moments of a very mean year.

Ken Tucker picks a top ten for New York; via the Cinecultist.

Is the Japanese film industry in trouble? Going by the surface of things, you wouldn't think so, but in the Daily Yomiuri, Aaron Gerow argues that "in the future, 2004 could be seen as one of the pivotal years in the history of Japanese cinema." Globalization and television are the primary factors at work here, he explains. Via Movie City Indie.

Norimitsu Onishi reports on the phenom known as Yon-sama: "A 32-year-old South Korean actor past his prime in his homeland, he has become, thanks to a syrupy television series, the most popular man in Japan, the object of desire of countless middle-aged women, the stimulus behind an estimated $2.3 billion rise in economic activities between Japan and South Korea." Also in the New York Times: Ian Austen on how the Canadian film industry is struggling to compete with "with lower-cost areas like Eastern Europe or American states like Louisiana and New York that have recently introduced attractive filmmaking subsidies."

The Austin Chronicle's Marc Savlov talks to Jeff Lieberman about "his sophomore effort, the unnerving Blue Sunshine [1978], that has truly entered the rarified status of cult movie," and then chats up Jean-Pierre Jeunet only to discover he's actually proud of Alien: Resurrection. Also: Joe O'Connell's got news on Every Word is True, one of two Truman Capote biopics in the works, as well as the latest on screenwriter Joe Conway and two wraps for Robert Rodriguez.

Rob Nelson gives Blogumentary a thumbs-up in Mother Jones.

The Guardian's Gary Younge notes that the US pharmaceutical industry is bracing itself for an inquisitive Michael Moore.

"What is a 'Roll-Up' and why does it matter to you?" Steve Rosenbaum offers a few words of free advice to filmmakers.

You'll remember that Quentin Tarantino moderated a talk with Bob and Harvey Weinstein a week ago at MoMA. Well, over at Ain't It Cool News, Sheldrake presents a complete transcription - in Christmas-colored fonts, no less.

Lisa Bear interviews Nicole Kassell, director of The Woodsman, for indieWIRE.

Greg Allen has found Brian Sholis's introduction to a generous clip from Peter Wollen's essay on Derek Jarman's Blue; glad he did.

Posted by dwhudson at December 23, 2004 8:09 AM