Last week I was all set to list my 10 favorite movies of 2004 with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as #1, but I held off to see Million Dollar Baby last weekend to find out if it would make the list. Well now that I’ve seen it, my list has been thrown out of whack. The movie is phenomenal… perfectly acted, well-directed, at times funny, exciting, and heartbreaking. I am annoyed, because I still haven’t forgiven Hilary Swank for beating Annette Bening during the 2000 Academy Awards, and Bening had been a frontrunner this year for Being Julia, but Swank is just too good in this role. It’s impossible to say that the movie is better (or worse) than Eternal Sunshine, which is not as good a film in the classic sense but is the most unique and entertaining film not just of last year but probably of the millennium (so far).
That being said, I'm forced to cheat. So without any further ado, here is my list…

Top 10 Movies of 2004 (in alphabetical order after #1)
#1 (tie): Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Million Dollar Baby
DIG!
Finding Neverland
House of Flying Daggers
In Good Company
The Incredibles
Kill Bill, Vol. 2
Maria Full of Grace
Napoleon Dynamite
A Very Long Engagement

*Note: I realize that there is a large number of foreign-language films represented in my list. Is that because Hollywood produces such crap lately? Or have I become a film snob?