Extended Readers Poll Results: The Best Movies of 2004
The votes are official in our annual Readers’ Choice Poll, and, once again, it appears that those who get the magazine actually get the magazine. Our readers and writers, if not on exactly the same page, are definitely in the same ballpark. The numbers in parentheses refer to the film’s ranking in last issue’s 2004 Critics’ Poll. And congratulations to the winners selected randomly from this year’s poll participants: Tilly Gokbudak of Cloverdale, VA (First Prize recipient of DVDs from the Criterion Collection), Lydia Edwards of Metuchen, NJ (Second Prize), Joni B. Herrington of Seattle, WA, and Harley Diamond of Brooklyn, NY (Third and Fourth Prizes).
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, U.S.) (2)
2. Sideways (Alexander Payne, U.S.) (1)
3. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, U.S.) (3)
4. Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, U.S.) (4)
5. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (Quentin Tarantino, U.S.) (8)
6. The Aviator (Martin Scorsese, U.S.) (12)
7. Dogville (Lars von Trier, Denmark) (9)
8. Bad Education (Pedro Almódovar, Spain) (11)
9. Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, U.S.) (15)
10. Vera Drake (Mike Leigh, U.K.) (7)
11. The Incredibles (Brad Bird, U.S.) (13)
12. I ♥ Huckabees (David O. Russell, U.S.) (16)
13. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson, U.S.) (42)
14. Collateral (Michael Mann, U.S.) (18)
15. The Motorcycle Diaries (Walter Salles, Brazil/Argentina) (43)
16. The Saddest Music in the World (Guy Maddin, Canada) (27)
17. Maria Full of Grace (Joshua Marston, U.S./Colombia) (30)
18. House of Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou, China) (19)
19. Garden State (Zach Braff, U.S.) (-)
20. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembene, Senegal) (10)
21. Kinsey (Bill Condon, U.S.) (28)
22. The Five Obstructions (Lars von Trier & Jørgen Leth, Denmark) (23)
23. Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess, U.S.) (49)
24. Closer (Mike Nichols, U.S.) (-)
25. The Return (Andrei Zvygintsev, Russia) (24)
26. Goodbye Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan) (5)
27. Notre musique (Jean-Luc Godard, France/Switzerland) (6)
28. Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, U.K.) (48)
29. Crimson Gold (Jafar Panahi, Iran) (14)
30. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, U.K.) (44)
