My Best of 2004

Sunday, January 2, 2005

Another year of media consumption has come and gone, which means it’s time for year-end lists.  I’m not sticking to a rigid 10-item list, ‘cause I’m flexible like that, yo.

UPDATE:
I just got back from seeing A Very Long Engagement, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s follow-up to Am�lie, and I’ve added it to the movies list.

So step inside…

Movies



  1. Michel Gondry - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind


  2. Wolfgang Becker - Good Bye Lenin!


  3. Michael Moore - Fahrenheit 9/11


  4. Todd Solondz - Palindromes


  5. Danny Boyle - Millions


  6. Chan-wook Park - Oldboy


  7. Shane Carruth - Primer


  8. Edgar Wright - Shaun of the Dead


  9. Trey Parker - Team America: World Police


  10. Brad Bird - The Incredibles


  11. Alexander Payne - Sideways


  12. Brad Silberling - Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events


  13. Jean-Pierre Jeunet - A Very Long Engagement

Music


  1. Arcade Fire - Funeral


  2. Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill


  3. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand


  4. The Go! Team - Thunder Lightning Strike


  5. The Kleptones - A Night at the Hip-Hopera


  6. Lambchop - Aw C’Mon / No, You C’Mon


  7. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News


  8. Morrissey - You are the Quarry


  9. Ratatat - Ratatat


  10. Rheostatics - 2067


  11. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans


  12. Wilco - A Ghost is Born


  13. William Shatner - Has Been

Comics & Graphic Novels



  1. Craig Thompson - Carnet de Voyage


  2. Chris Ware (editor) - McSweeney’s Issue 13


  3. Sammy Harkham (editor) - Kramer’s Ergot 5


  4. Charles Schulz - The Complete Peanuts 1950-1954


  5. Charles Schulz - L’il Beginnings


  6. Robert Mankoff (editor) - The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker


  7. Jeff Smith - Bone (One Volume Edition)


  8. Patrick McDonnell - Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell


  9. Jack Ziegler - How’s the Squid?


  10. Craig Thompson & James Kochalka - Conversation #1


  11. James Kochalka - American Elf

Art, Design & Culture Books



  1. Dr. and Mr. Doris Haggis-on-Whey - Your Disgusting Head: The Darkest, Most Offensive and Moist Secrets of Your Ears, Mouth and Nose


  2. The Daily Show - America: The Book


  3. Peter Thaler (editor) - Pictoplasma 2


  4. Mark Cotta Vaz - The Art of the Incredibles


  5. Mel Gooding & Julian Rothenstein (editors) - ABZ


  6. Simon Go - Hong Kong Apothecary: A Visual History of Chinese Medicine Packaging

Comments


1-3-05 · 4:55 am

Michael Nobbs says:

This a fabulous list.  A real reminder for me not to waste my time on crap - that there is so much great stuff to feed me with.  Thank you and Happy New Year.

1-3-05 · 10:16 am

patricias says:

Damn you, Johnny. Now I gotta spend more freakin’ money.

1-3-05 · 2:57 pm

Jenny says:

Yumm… Good choice with Wilco, and Modest Mouse. smile

1-3-05 · 4:31 pm

Eva says:

I only saw 2 non-documentary movies in theatres in 2004, and they’re both on your list. And 5 others are on my must-see-sometime list, so at least the movie part receives the Seal Of Approval from me.

1-3-05 · 8:43 pm

Andertoons says:

Thanks for the L’il Beginnings recommendation!  Just ordered it!

1-4-05 · 3:24 pm

james says:

Excellent! I’ll be putting up my movies list this week sometime. Going to see one tonight that might still make it…

1-4-05 · 4:02 pm

SPU says:

Sunshine!  Sunshine!  Sunshine!
Love that flick.

1-5-05 · 4:44 pm

lisa says:

great list! i still have to see about 2/3 of the movies on it, but i’ve enjoyed what i’ve seen so far.

1-6-05 · 8:13 am

Joshua Zamrycki says:

Since I’ve only seen half of the movies on your list (and really liked all of them) I can’t wait to see the other half. Shaun was great and Sunshine may very well win best film of the year.

Same goes for the albums. Franz and Wilco rocked my 2004. Now I’ve got to check out those others that I’d never heard of! I’m already on the case.

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