End of the year lists
Everyone and his dog likes to make these.
I’ll post my own when I have more time, and I’ll try to include albums, shows, movies, and I would say books, but I don’t think I keep up enough with publishing to know what was published this year. Feel free to post your own, or links to others you find interesting.
Here’s a couple I thought were intriguing:
The best albums you didn’t hear from CNN. Includes Isis and Ted Leo.
I reviewed (in my opinion) the best web apps of the year.
Comment by Paul — December 28, 2004 @ 12:30 am
Paul, I really liked your post about best web apps of the year. I wish comments weren’t turned off on it but it’s really a great list.
Susan,
I enjoyed going to the links you provided as well, though I still don’t know much about many of the indie bands that are listed at these sites.
Comment by danithew — December 28, 2004 @ 9:56 am
Paul, I agree that your list is great. Wiki & delicious are fantastic things.
Susan — what do you think drives us to keep making these lists? It’s a very Nick Hornby thing to do, it seems.
Comment by Steve Evans — December 28, 2004 @ 10:13 am
I’m not sure what makes us want to make these lists, but I know why I like to read them–to discover good stuff I didn’t know about before. I’m going to be checking out a lot of those albums on the CNN list.
It’s also way cool when you see an album a friend of yours made on two of those lists!
(Junior Boys)
Of the albums listed on the AMG list, I only recognize 23 of the artists, and I know 39 of the artists on the rough trade list. Did anyone notice that Rick Springfield made the AMG list?
I’ve only heard of a couple of the web apps Paul’s listed, gotta check those out, too.
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 28, 2004 @ 12:10 pm
OK–music. I’ve only got 15 albums that came out this year, so a top 10 list shouldn’t be that hard. Most of these I’ve already mentioned in Greg’s thread about the best indie albums of the year, but I’ll go into a little more depth this time.
1. Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
This is a solo project of Mark Kozelek’s, he’s the singer for the Red House Painters. A singer-songwriter type who writes really personal, somewhat gut-wrenching lyrics. He’s had a rough life–addicted to drugs by the age of 10, and judging by his lyrics had an abusive father. This album is one of my favorites of recent years. The song “Carry Me Ohio” always brings me nearly to tears, particularly these verses:
words long gone
lost on journeys we walked on
lost are voices heard along
the way
sorry for
never going by your door
never feeling love like that
anymore
There’s already a song from this album in the radio.blog, “Glenn Tipton.” The song starts out:
Cassius Clay was hated more than Sonny Liston
Some like KK Downing more than Glenn Tipton
Some like Jim Nabors, some Bobby Vinton
I like ‘em all
Glenn Tipton was the second guitarist for Judas Priest–KK Downing was the first. I’ve heard Kozelek’s music described as “sadcore” before, and I think that’s pretty accurate. Only a lot of the music in his songs tends to turn kind of upbeat at the end, which always makes it seem hopeful to me.
2. Converge - You Fail Me
Converge is a hardcore band that’s been around for a long time, but I’d never heard of them until I read a review of this album. I’ll admit it was the title of the album which intrigued me more than anything. This stuff is very abrasive, not for the average Joe. The vocals are screamed/spat. It’s an acquired taste I guess. One reason I like it so much is that the songs on the album build to a climax with track 7, the title track. It’s a song I’d call a masterpiece. And the following track is also, but in a completely different way–it’s the calm after the storm, I’d say, although most people listening to it probably wouldn’t call it that.
3. Isis - Panopticon
You can read about this album at the link I posted above, the “Best Albums You Didn’t Hear” article. There’s a song from the album already in the radio.blog. Isis was the band that made me like the growled vocal style, with their previous album, Oceanic. It was the juxtaposition of the beautiful music and the harsh vocals that did it for me. Not for everyone, though.
4. Mutual Admiration Society - Mutual Admiration Society
I’ve written about this elsewhere, it’s a side project for the Nickel Creek crew. Collaboration with Glen Phillips, the singer for Toad the Wet Sprocket. Beautiful stuff. There’s also a song already in the radio.blog from this album.
5. Sparta - Porcelain
So this is emo. I never really knew what was meant by “emo” before. I thought it’d be boring. But it’s not. This is intricate and interesting. And emotional, I suppose! Sparta is half of At The Drive In–the other half of the band formed the Mars Volta, who are one of the best bands I’ve discovered this year, but their album was out last year, not this. Sparta is really good, too, only in a different way.
6. VALIS - Head Full of Pills
VALIS were my favorite local band when I lived in Seattle (which was up until July of this year). I’m probably a little biased, since they were local guys for me, and I’ve gotten to be good friends with the bassist. I even helped them make their website. The singer and guitarist is Van Conner, who played bass in the Screaming Trees. VALIS is usually described as psychedelic with heavy riffs. There are some really great songs on this album, my favorite being “Motorbike.” My husband tells me whenever he’s feeling frustrated or bummed out at work he puts that song on and feels better.
7. Patty Griffin - Impossible Dream
Patty Griffin is one of my favorite artists. Contemporary folk. This album hasn’t hit me quite as much as her previous work has, but I think I just haven’t listened to it enough yet. It’s always the stuff that has to grow on my a bit that I end up loving the most.
8. Ryan Adams - Love is Hell Pt 2
Ditto for Ryan Adams and this album.
9. Twilight Singers - She Loves You
The Twilight Singers is Greg Dulli’s of the Afghan Whigs current band. Mark Lanegan, singer for the Screaming Trees, helps out on a few tracks with backing vocals. It’s interesting to hear them sing together. I think their voices work really well together, but a friend of mine hates Greg Dulli’s voice and said he’d never, ever want to hear him singing with Mark Lanegan (who has one of the best voices in rock). This album is all covers, and he makes some interesting choices in what songs he covers, including one of my favorite Bjork tunes, “Hyperballad.” The radio.blog already has a Coltrane cover from the album, “Hard Time Killing Floor.” That’s Mark singing backup…actually, Mark’s singing lead and Greg is back up. (Mark has the deeper voice.)
10. Waterboys - Universal Hall
Another ditto to what I said about Patty and Ryan, except the Waterboys are my favorite band of all time. If I could move to Great Britian, I would, just to be closer to them. To be able to see Mike Scott perform all the time, heaven! Mike Scott is the Waterboys. Over the years, he’s become a Christian, and his music reflects it. I really need to listen to this again.
Honorable mentions:
Three Inches of Blood - Advance and Vanquish
My husband’s favorite band currently, they’re doing old 80’s style thrash metal, very Judas Priest and Iron Maiden-like. So much fun live.
Junior Boys - Last Exit
I haven’t bought this yet and have only heard the songs available online, but this is a project a friend of mine did. It was a duo, and he left the group before the album was even released, I think, but he wrote a good chunk of it. It’s been getting a lot of really great acclaim in the electronica world.
William Shatner - Has Been
William Shatner teams up with Ben Folds, among others. Brilliant. You can listen to the album here. I recommend the song “You’ll Have Time,” but it’s all great.
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 28, 2004 @ 4:20 pm
Hmm, movies. I’m not much for movies, but I did see a lot this year in the theater–much more than I usually do, most of them kid-friendly. I went through a list of movies released this year and I’ve seen 17 of them. Here are some I haven’t seen (but wanted to), so you’ll know they were out of the running for me:
Riding Giants
Two Brothers
The Terminal
Evergreen
Ray
Finding Neverland
The Incredibles
The Polar Express
Spongebob Squarepants
The Aviator
House of Flying Daggers
I really wanted to see Riding Giants in the theater–it’s a documentary about big wave surfing. Big as in 50-70 ft high. They get dropped by helicopter onto the waves. It’s the extreme of the extreme and really intense to see. I’ve linked to the trailer above. (And holy cow, they’re using the Waterboys for the music track!)
Evergreen is an independent film I saw a trailer for when I saw Napoleon Dynamite that I thought looked good. Really wanted to see it but didn’t get to yet.
Movies I thought were excellent:
The Passion of the Christ
I thought the directorial choices made in this movie were really interesting. I loved seeing a movie with so much symbolism in it. Things like having Satan be a beautiful woman with a man’s voice; Christ stomping on the serpent’s head with his heel; Judas being tormented by demon children; and the scene with Judas looking over and seeing the rotting corpse of a donkey; I loved it all. I think the movie definitely requires some sort of background in Christianity–a friend of mine who has no religious background, said he was mad at Mary for not doing anything to stop any of it. But Mary would’ve known better than anyone what had to happen.
There are parts of the movie that aren’t in the scriptures, which I’ve heard Mel Gibson took from a vision a Catholic saint had, but I haven’t looked any info up on it. Things like a bird pecking out the eyes of one of the thieves on a cross next to Christ, a scene where Pilate’s wife comes to both Mary’s with cloths so they can wipe up Christ’s blood after he’s been scourged. I thought that last was interesting, because it made sense to me that Mary wouldn’t want Christ’s blood to just lay on the ground like that.
The most powerful scene in the movie, to me, was one that isn’t in the scriptures, and has Christ saying a line that isn’t in any of the gospels, but is in Revelation. It’s when he’s carrying the cross, and stumbles. Mary rushes up to him, and has a flashback to when he was a young boy and fell down, and she’d run over to him to help him. But when she reaches him, he hefts up the cross again, and says, “See, Mother, I make all things new.”
People complained about the scourging scene going on too long, but I thought it was the carrying of the cross that went on too long.
Napoleon Dynamite
If you haven’t heard about this movie, I’d be surprised, but I’ll give some details anyway. It’s about a teenager in a small town in Idaho–Preston, Idaho. Preston has a population of about 4,000, I think. It’s an independent film, written by an LDS couple, and directed by the husband. It’s hilarious, and deserves all the attention it’s gotten. It’s so refreshing to see something different gain mainstream popularity. The first time I saw the movie, my son and I were just about the only ones in the theater. The second time, it was packed.
Hero
This is in the same genre as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Leaving things like plot and action aside, this movie is the most beautiful film I’ve ever seen. Every scene in it is like a piece of art. It’s gorgeous. Even breathtaking. I’m so glad I was able to see it in the theater.
The plot itself I found interesting, and it can generate a lot of thought. I think Crouching Tiger had a better story, but this is a movie I can watch again and again, not because of the story, but because of how beautiful it is. The use of color is very symbolic as well as dazzling.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
I could’ve done without Jim Carey in this movie, and I love Jim Carey. I just found myself adoring the scenes without him, and often distrated by him when he was in a scene. I haven’t read the books, so I can’t compare the movie to the stories. I thought the children in the film were awesome. And the way the author narrated the movie was very well done.
Movies I enjoyed or thought were ok:
50 First Dates
This was funny, cute, and shot in Hawaii. I lived in Hawaii for a short time in 1989 so I love to see movies that were filmed there.
13 Going on 30
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Mean Girls
I have a 13 yo daughter and have a liking for goofy teen movies, so these were fun for me. 13 Going on 30 was by far the best, loved it.
The Notebook
I also have a thing for tearjerkers.
I, Robot
Shark Tale
National Treasure
Hidalgo
These I thought were pretty good/just ok, mainly because I went in with no expectations. Hidalgo I’m not even sure I saw all of (we rented it)–I don’t remember much of it.
Movies I thought stank:
The Bourne Supremacy
The CIA creates brilliant, unstoppable assassins, yet is ready to think one of them made a glaring error in killing someone (left a fingerprint behind)? Come on. The camera work was really annoying too.
Against the Ropes
Meg Ryan is an actress I’ve gotten tired of (there’s so many actors I’ve gotten tired of). I actually enjoyed this movie, but I’m capable of enjoying movies that stink.
The Grudge
My 14 yo son really wanted to see this, so we went with him to it instead of the Incredibles. It was pretty bad, but he enjoyed it.
Alien vs. Predator
The rest of my family loved this.
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 29, 2004 @ 11:48 am
Whoops, I just found out Sun Kil Moon was a 2003 release. I guess that puts Converge up to number 1.
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 29, 2004 @ 2:28 pm
Hello…is anyone out there? Everyone on vacation?
Concerts. I go to a lot of shows, you can see a list of all the shows I’ve seen this year here, it’ll give you an idea of what type of stuff I go in for. Actually, I doubt anyone will reconize most of the bands–let me know if you do!
1. Isis, MOCA Los Angeles Jul 29 2004
I love music that builds. I love heavy music. I especially love heavy music that builds. And it’s my favorite kind of music to see live. It leaves me feeling euphoric. This show was so great in so many ways–besides being an awesome band, the show was outdoors, in downtown L.A., and it was free. There was no stage, so the band was on the same level as the audience, and I was one of the fortunate few to be right in front. No one else could see the band. But being outdoors, the sound was incredible.
Pictures:
Isis guitarist
Isis singer/crowd
Isis singer
2. Damien Rice - The Frames The Moore Seattle, WA
Damien’s an Irish singer-songwriter whose songs have been used on tv shows and in movies, you may have heard of him. If not, you’ve probably heard one or two of his songs without realizing it. Very mellow, emotional, and the songs build…But live, he used a lot of distortion, which had a very abrasive effect. I, of course, absolutely LOVED it. But I saw a lot of people leaving the venue throughout the show. Not what they were expecting, I’m sure.
It was the most intense show I’ve seen in a long time. During a song called “Cold Water,” they did something I thought was very brave–they turned off all the stage lights completely, except for a flashlight that allowed the cellist to see her instrument. The song uses imagery of being surrounded by cold water. They left the lights off for almost the entire song, and then suddenly blared lights directly out at the audience from behind the band. It was awesome.
The Frames are another Irish band, they’re huge over there, and only in America would they be opening for Damien Rice (and not vice versa). They’re really all about the live experience, so I was really, really stoked to be able to see them. If you ever get a chance, go see the Frames. They’re touring the US in March. They are just fun and emotional and entertaining all at once.
Sorry, no pictures…didn’t try to bring my camera into the venue, wasn’t sure they’d let it in.
3. High on Fire - Goatsnake - Khanate - Graves at Sea - Lair of the Minotaur, Knitting Factory
Los Angeles, CA Sep 9 2004/High on Fire - The Ruby Doe - Hell Promise - The New Mexicans, Neumo’s
Seattle Apr 30 2004
I’m listing these both as #3 because they have the same headliner and both shows were incredible, with awesome line ups. The Seattle show was interesting because of the line up–the Ruby Doe and the New Mexicans were both rockin’, but not doomy at all (like High on Fire), while Hell Promise are more straight up metal. All three bands are local to Seattle. The Ruby Doe is one I’d expect people around here to possibly appreciate.
Any High on Fire show is going to be intense. I’ve seen them several times and will catch them every possible chance I get. Graves at Sea are another awesome doom band and very nice fellows. The singer had a huge lump on his forehead from bashing it with the mic at a previous show, and it started bleeding at this show. The singer from Goatsnake was a mad man, all over the stage and audience–he’d go out into the audience and sing from there.
Pictures:
Graves at Sea
Goatsnake singer
Goatsnake singer in crowd
Goatsnake bassist
The Ruby Doe
High on Fire
High on Fire drummer
4. Los Lonely Boys - Mark Broussard, Neumo’s Seattle May 8 2004
This was one of the funnest shows I’ve seen in awhile. Los Lonely Boys are three brothers from Texas who used to be in a backing band for their father. They play “texican rock.” The guitarist is simply amazing, and he goes OFF live. Think elements of Santana, Hendrix and Jimmy Ray Vaughn. I feel really fortunate to have seen them early on, in a small venue, because I’m sure that chance won’t come again.
Pictures:
Los Lonely Boys
Los Lonely Boys
5. VALIS - Yob - Biblical Proof of UFO’s, Sunset Tavern Seattle Jan 9 2004
VALIS, as I’ve already mentioned, are one of my favorite Seattle bands. They tend to get really drunk and really sloppy live, but as my husband says, VALIS at their most sloppy is still better than most other bands. I managed to see them quite a bit before moving away from Seattle, but this was my favorite show because Yob also played. Yob is a doom metal band from Oregon. When the singer annouced their set, saying, “We’re going to play three songs, and it’ll take 55 minutes,” my husband was groaning, while I was rejoicing. (He timed them–it took 60 minutes.) Biblical Proof of UFO’s were also very good–sort of an indie/mathy thing they have going on, with an excellent drummer.
Pictures:
BPUFO’s drummer
Yob
VALIS
6. Unida - Bottom - Big Elf - The Whizards, Troubadour Hollywood, CA Sep 5 2004
I loved this show because of Bottom. Unida are excellent, but I’ve seen them a couple times, and my husband had to get up early for work, so we left after they played only a couple songs. I found out later that it was their last show, the band has dissolved.
Bottom are a trio of girls who play heavy, heavy doom metal. Everytime I see them, I think, “could anyone possibly be heavier than this?” It’s sad because I think they get dismissed by most people as just another girl band. My 14 yo son loves them, BTW, and we took him with us to the show.
Pictures:
Bottom
Bottom
Unida
7. Thrones - Dove - Munster Youth, Funhouse Seattle Jun 6 2004
Dove is a band I love and I’m not sure how to describe them. Heavy. Maybe hardcore? Grindcore? Very energetic. And they seem so young. (Not to be confused with the Doves.)
The Thrones is actually one guy, Joe Preston, who’s previously played in the Melvins, the Whip, and is currently doing bass in High on Fire. It’s really funny when he says, “Hi, we’re the Thrones,” and he’s the only one on stage. He plays bass, and has a sampler, and all kinds of effects pedals all around him on the stage. His vocals are run through some kind of effect that makes him sound like an alien. He’ll play a riff on his bass and then loop it back using one of the pedals, and then play something else over it. When I saw him, my biggest thought was, “If I ever played music, THIS is what I’d want to do.”
Pictures:
Dove
(There seem to be a lot of bands who don’t mind their underwear showing.)
The Thrones
The Thrones
The Thrones
8. Melvins - Mudhoney - Big Business, Showbox Seattle Mar 7 2004
No one does heavy like the Melvins do heavy. No one. They’re in a class all by themselves. And the drummer in this band is one of the best, ever. Actually, the drummers in all three bands were incredible. Mudhoney’s drummer is seriously good. Big Business are going places, once their cd comes out.
Pictures:
Big Business drummer
Mudhoney guitarist
Mudhoney singer
Mudhoney singer and crowd
No does silly like the Melvins do silly, either. There was a disturbance at this show when a woman ran up on stage and said something into the mic. She was quickly grabbed by a stage hand and shoved out the back door. A friend of mine was recording the show, and you can hear her on the recording. She said something like, “Has anyone seen my purse?”
Pictures:
The Melvins - King Buzzo
The Melvins drummer
The Melvins bassist
The Melvins singer and crowd
9. Fatso Jetson - Chuck Dukowski Band, Spaceland Hollywood, CA Sep 3 2004
Fatso Jetson are an incredibly talented band. They need to find their audience, I think. They get lumped in with stoner rock because they’re from Palm Desert, and basically inspired Kyuss, the band that spawned the whole current stoner rock scene. But Fatso are so different. Influences like jazz, blues…I got to be friends with the drummer via the internet, and the first time I saw them play someone came up to him raving about what a great drummer he is. “Like a machine, man! You’re like a machine!” Then after they played, I was thinking, “Whoa, totally like a machine!”
Chuck Dukowski of the opening band was the bassist for Black Flag. His currrent band is a bizarre jazz improv band. Sometimes it worked, and you’d be thinking, no way this is insane! And then sometimes it didn’t work at all, and you’d be thinking, no way these people are insane. Interesting to say the least.
Pictures:
Fatso Jetson
10. Brant Bjork - Idiot Prayer - Yellow #5 - The Deed, Spaceland Los Angeles, CA
Aug 5 2004
Brant Bjork is the former drummer of Kyuss and Fu Manchu both. He’s currently doing solo stuff, which I love. He’s an awesome, awesome drummer, but solo he sings and does guitar. The drummer he has in his band is the guy from Biblical Proof of UFO’s, and he’s excellent.
The music he records in the studio doesn’t even compare to what he does with it live. Live, it builds and builds in these really long jams that are just incredible. I saw him twice last year and both shows were outstanding.
Yellow #5 is a side project of Molly from Earthlings? and um…she’s in some other band. Oh yeah, Mondo Generator, with Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age. In Yellow #5, though, she sings, and I love her voice. Someone described it as a whiskey voice and that’s exactly right. I always love seeing women excelling in rock.
Pictures:
Yellow #5
Brant Bjork and the Bros - Brant
Brant Bjork and the Bros guitarist
I take videoclips at all the shows I go to, and the sound comes out surprisingly well. If you want to check any of them out, you can access them here:
Pictures:
http://qsysue.tagplazen.org/shows/
(Maybe I should’ve divided this topic up into separate posts?)
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 29, 2004 @ 7:42 pm
Wow! I leave for a few days, and look what happens! There’s a lot to digest here, Susan — where to start?
Comment by Steve Evans — December 30, 2004 @ 11:07 am
Wherever you want.
I’ve been checking out the web apps Paul suggested and they are awesome. I’m especially digging Flickr and Audioscrobbler, thanks a ton, Paul! I love that Flickr allows you to join groups and check out other people’s photos based on subject.
Here are my pages if you’re interested:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whenigodeaf/
http://www.audioscrobbler.com/user/QsySue/
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 30, 2004 @ 1:45 pm
Susan,
I know a few of the bands you mention, if only from John Darnielle’s blog, Last Plane to Jakarta. The only really heavy band I’ve seen in concert recently is Hella. They’re a two person, no vocals band with a very distinctive sound. Have you heard them?
The only live music I saw this year was a Ted Leo show and Guided by Voices’ final tour. Oh, and Bob Dylan. With my work schedule and the cost of babysitting, I have to pick my shows carefully.
Comment by Greg — December 30, 2004 @ 3:30 pm
Yeah I’ve heard Hella. Were they any good live? A lot of heavy music I prefer to see live, rather than listen to it at home.
I’m able to go see a lot of shows because my kids are old enough to stay home on their own. My oldest son comes with us to some of the all ages shows.
Actually, we took all the kids to see Weird Al, and that was definitely up there in best shows this year. I forgot about it because I didn’t bring my camera. He’s amazing.
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 30, 2004 @ 3:46 pm
Hella was a revelation. The drummer, Zach Hill, was astounding, punishing, and totally sui generis. Never heard anything like it in terms of speed and dynamics (and I went to metal shows in the Eighties with some real bruisers like Megadeth and Anthrax). Their recordings are fine, but don’t do them justice. Here’s an mp3 anyway: http://tinyurl.com/4nfad
Comment by Greg — December 30, 2004 @ 4:54 pm
Good drummers are priceless. Some of the best I’ve seen:
Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction
Dale Crover of the Melvins
Tony Tornay of Fatso Jetson
Scottie Jernigan of Karp/the Whip (RIP)
Dan Peters of Mudhoney
I’ll probably catch Hella one of these days. I think I’ve got a music sampler around here somewhere of theirs.
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 30, 2004 @ 5:09 pm
I’ve just watched the DVD of Garden State, and it certainly belongs in the top ten movies for this year. It’s a real achievement.
Comment by D. Fletcher — December 30, 2004 @ 5:30 pm
Thanks D.; just added Garden State to my netflix queue.
Comment by Greg — December 30, 2004 @ 6:06 pm
D., if you’re coming to our New Year’s party, bring it for us to borrow!!
Comment by Steve Evans — December 30, 2004 @ 8:03 pm
I like reading other people’s lists but I’m so rarely synchronised with contemporary society & culture. I mean, I just discovered Belle & Sebastian and Chumbawamba.
Comment by Paul Mysterioso — December 30, 2004 @ 10:46 pm
Glad you guys enjoyed the list of we apps. Susan, you’ve posted some amazing photos on flickr.
I second the praise of Garden State, I just watched it and found it to be very moving and well written.
Comment by Paul — December 31, 2004 @ 1:15 pm
Thanks Paul. I still need to figure out My Delicious…I’m not exactly sure what the point of it is.
Paul M: I’d love to see a “top 10 things I discovered this year that everyone else knew about years ago” list. I’ve know about Belle & Sebastian for years but have still never “discovered” them, if you know what I mean.
Comment by Susan Malmrose — December 31, 2004 @ 1:34 pm
The best drummer I ever saw was the one for +/-, who was opening for Death Cab for Cutie (before they got big) (I shouldn’t have to defend that - but I still feel like I have to). You can listen to some of their stuff here. (Live was, of course, better.) I didn’t know until I started posting this and started looking that two of the members (including the drummer) were in the Versus (a band that I’m only slightly familiar with).
Comment by Heather P. — February 16, 2005 @ 8:34 pm
whoops - I think I started writing “the band Versus” and then changed my mind but the “the” stuck . . .
Comment by Heather P. — February 16, 2005 @ 8:40 pm
As Susan says, these things are just too fun.
Now that I’ve seen (almost) every 2004 film to get positive reviews, I feel fairly comfortable claiming a top 10.
1. The Passion of the Christ
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Garden State
4. Mean Girls
5. Spider-Man 2
6. Finding Neverland
7. A Very Long Engagement
8. Hero
9. The Terminal
10. Sideways
Comment by Godot — February 16, 2005 @ 9:28 pm