GEGHARD ARAKELIAN
The year 2004 produced some unforgettable movies and others that we just want to get out of our heads. In the blockbuster world there is the good, the bad, and, unfortunately, the ugly.
The Best of 2004
Sequels were what won the hearts of millions this year.
“Shrek 2,” produced by Dream Works, starring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, was a sensation. Both kids and adults laughed out loud at this high-grossing movie.
This movie is funny just thinking about it. “Shrek 2” is the only PG rated movie — aside from its counterpart “Shrek” to have both adults and children crack a smile of an equal degree.
The moral of the story is the most compelling part of the movie. When Shrek and Fiona chose their ogre forms over their newer more attractive looks, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the movie. “Shrek 2” delivered a powerful moral emphasizing that who you are is greater than what you are with knockout humor.
The projection screen in the theatre goes black and white; Uma Thurman is then projected on to the screen with a look that will cut a torso in half. Presenting: “Kill Bill 2.”
Quentin Tarantino did a miraculous job with his retro story of a woman seeking revenge by the edge of her razor-sharp katana. “Kill Bill 2” raps up Uma Thurman’s poetic killing rampage superbly.
Though the sequel is not as action packed as the first movie, “Kill Bill 2” is intense. Tarantino should be worshipped in the action world for “Kill Bill.” Just as you contemplate how such a heart-stopping story can come to end, “Kill Bill 2” puts an end to the tale with finesse.
The Worst of 2004
The story of an overweight orange cat with attitude is as mind-numbing as watching an episode of “The Teletubbies” with your younger cousin.
“Garfield,” starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Bill Murray, brings the movie-making industry to an all-time low. Garfield’s comic strips are redundant enough. I understand the cat can talk and that it also enjoys lasagna. In fact, I found it funny back when I was six years old.
But that’s just the problem: Garfield’s conceptual humor is fleeting and is meant for 6-year-olds. Talk about a double negative. How has this franchise even held itself together throughout the years? “Garfield” delivers bland humor with an overrated concept.
There really isn’t much to chick flicks. Some of the biggest guy movies out there such as “Whipped” and “Gladiator” are more entertaining to guys than they are to girls but are ultimately still entertaining to all audiences.
“13 going on to 30” is a rip-off of “Big,” a poor one at that to the classic starring Tom Hanks. This movie, starring Jennifer Garner, can be a tolerable movie at most to an audience of teenage girls who were deprived of a healthy social-life in elementary school.
EMIN AVAKIAN
The year 2004 was a great year for movies. Almost 20 movies will have passed the $100 million mark at the box-office, including three movies that are in the top-10 highest grossing movies of all time (“Shrek 2,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Passion of the Christ”).
The Best of 2004
Is there a funnier man in Hollywood than Will Ferrell? Face it, we all laughed out loud watching “Old School,” “Elf” and of course “Anchorman.”
In the movie, Ferrell stars as Ron Burgundy, a news anchor in the ’70s who takes his job very, very seriously. When a female news anchor, played by Christina Appelgate, comes on the scene, Burgundy is jealous, intimidated and amused at the same time.
His news team consisting of a homosexual, a weatherman with an I.Q. of 48 and a thick-headed field reporter do everything they can to get her out. We see the three of them go through hilarious, over-the-top attempts at convincing their editor that a woman just can’t do the news as well as the men. Once again, the movie does take place in the 1970s.
Let’s just give Jamie Foxx an Academy Award right now. There is no use in having other nominees, because Foxx should be the clear-cut winner. He has had one of the best years any actor will ever have.
After playing alongside Tom Cruise in the action-packed “Collateral,” Jamie Foxx takes on his toughest role yet portraying the late Ray Charles in “Ray.” Foxx does a superb job playing the part while even singing some of the songs in the movie. Couldn’t tell, could you?
Foxx even put tape over his eyes for long periods of time to really get in character; it certainly worked. Ray Charles was able to see the movie before his death, and I’m sure he went with a smile.
Jamie Foxx has come a long way since his days on “In Living Color.” It is time to give this man what he deserves.
The Worst of 2004
“Saw” — You know it’s a bad movie when the movie is a horror flick but it doesn’t get you startled once. That is the case with “Saw,” a movie about a psycho named Jigsaw Killer who, for some reason, chooses his people at random and punishes them for their wrongdoings.
The two main characters, played by Leigh Whannell and Cary Elwes, are two of the worst actors ever; if I had a list of the “100 Worst Actors of All Time,” these two would be numbers one and two respectively.
The person who turns out to be the Jigsaw Killer has been lying down in the same room as his victims pretending to be dead and then stands up after four hours. As crazy as that sounds, the biggest problem with “Saw” is the unfinished plot. We never really find out what the Jigsaw Killer’s motive is. When making a scary movie, directors should take notes from “The Ring” and not “Saw.”
“White Chicks” — You can argue that the Wayans brothers are the funniest family siblings in show business. They are the masterminds behind the “Scary Movie” series, which were hilarious. The fun stops there, though.
What were Marlon and Shawn thinking agreeing to do a movie called, “White Chicks”? OK, maybe the idea to make fun of Valley girls is funny, but this movie just did not live up to expectations.
The biggest problem with this film was how the Wayans brothers looked. Where were the costume and makeup designers? On a permanent lunch break? Whoever found this movie to be realistic needs to watch “Mrs. Doubtfire” again.