2004 Ten Years Later

During the trailer reel for Annabelle there was a preview advertising the ten year rerelease of Saw.  I got to thinking why Saw?  Why a ten year anniversary rerelease?  What I was really doing was remembering 2004 as it related to cinema.

So what’s held up?  The Pixar flick The Incredibles stands out at the top of the back.  It’s a movie I enjoy rewatching constantly.  This is followed very closely by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  Charlie Kaufman wrote a great screenplay and the film is not only entertaining but one I get something new out of almost every time I watch.  Anchorman I still find my self quoting after all these years.  Man on Fire is an action movie of epic proportions.  One I still excites me when I watch.  In fact The Polar Express is one I watch every Christmas.  Hellboy, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and the Dawn of the Dead remake are still fun to watch.

2004 also brought some great sequels.  Shrek 2, Spiderman 2, The Bourne Supremacy, Kill Bill Vol 2, and Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban all are great examples of how sequels live up to their original material.  

The Oscar contenders had a great feel to it.  The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby battled it out for best picture with Clint Eastwood’s boxing movie taking the heavy weight belt.  Jamie Foxx had the the duel nomination for Ray & Collateral, winning for his performance as Ray Charles.  Also sprinkled in the Oscar contenders were the wine tasting, road trip comedy Sideways; the powerful Hotel Rwanda, and Johnny Depp gave us the back story to the writing of Peter Pan in Finding Neverland.  All of those films are worth watching at least once.

The year was also marked with two big controversial films.  Those two movies are Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11.  Both movies were widely discussed and debated while enjoying record breaking box office results.

Of course every year has its fair share of bad movies.  The remake of The Stepford Wives led the way the worst category.  Oliver Stone’s Alexander, the kid friendly The Spongebob Square Pants Movie, and Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl are also among the dishonors.

Looking back 2004 had some very strong high points with some very weak low points.  Some films I still talk very highly about and remember 2004’s flicks fondly.

ANNABELLE

Happy October to the Willflix audience!  Nights are getting longer, leaves are beginning to turn to the dark side, and the weather is taking its sweet time changing over from warm to luke warm and eventually cool.  Of course it’s also that time of year where ghosts, goblins, and all their pals get dusted off for some good old fashion scares.  That fills the horror film fan in me with joy.

The release of Annabelle kick starts the month of ghouls with its release.  So of course we gathered for a movie night.  Though it wasn’t the midnight release, which I miss deeply, however it was a night before release.  (Not the same but sometimes you have to take the good with the ultra bad).  As always at these events, I cook.  The evening’s menu was homemade pizzas, which is a dish I am always proud to serve.  

To get in the mood for the night’s festivities Spider Baby was rewatched.  If you haven’t seen this gem from the late 60’s please do yourself the favor,  it’s a lot of fun and worth at least one viewing.

From there we headed to the theater, snacks in hand, the film shortly began.  After twenty odd minutes of trailers the feature presentation began.  An hour and thirty five minutes later I let go of my arm rest as the credits began to role.

Like The Conjuring this movie goes for the classic jump out behind you scares with very minimal blood use.  That made for many great scares including one frighting sequence in the basement.  I stop myself there because I don’t want to spoil anything for the uninitiated.  Many times throughout the flick I jumped with fright, as did the crowd viewing the film as well.  The audience really got into watching Annabelle and that made for a really great show.

Needless to say I enjoyed all aspects of the evening, the company and film alike.

I look forward to slowly enjoying this frightful month.