Feature | SUSAN GRANGER'S BEST OF 2004 LIST 
By: Susan Granger

ModaMag.com -- Movies can be a powerful way to reach an audience and each year all sorts of films make it out to the movie theatres. Some excite us, others scare us.  Some make us laugh, others ensure that tissue paper sells well.  Some make us think, others allow us to escape even if just for a  few hours.  ModaMag's resident movie critic, Susan Granger, takes a look at the best in moviemaking of 2004 (in alphabetical order):

BEST PICTURE:
The Aviator
Collateral
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Finding Neverland
Hotel Rwanda
Kinsey
Million Dollar Baby
The Motorcycle Diaries
The Phantom of the Opera
Ray


BEST DIRECTOR:
Bill Condon, Kinsey
Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Marc Forster, Finding Neverland
Taylor Hackford, Ray
Jean Pierre Jeunet, A Very Long Engagement
Michael Mann, Collateral
Walter Salles, The Motorcycle Diaries
Joel Schumacher, The Phantom of the Opera
Martin Scorsese, The Aviator
Zhang Yimou, Hero and House of Flying Daggers

BEST ACTOR:
Javier Bardem, The Sea Inside
Jim Carrey , Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator
Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland
Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Jamie Foxx, Ray
Paul Giamatti, Sideways
Kevin Kline, De-Lovely
Liam Neeson, Kinsey
Clive Owen , Closer


BEST ACTRESS:
Annette Bening, Being Julia
Laura Dern, We Don't Live Here Anymore
Scarlett Johansson, A Love Song for Bobby Long
Helen Mirren, The Clearing
Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace
Emily Rossum, The Phantom of the Opera
Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
Audrey Tatou, A Very Long Engagement
Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Eric Bana, Troy
Alec Baldwin, The Aviator
Thomas Hayden Church, Sideways
Jamie Foxx, Collateral
Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
Jeremy Irons, The Merchant of Venice
Alfred Molina, Spider-Man 2
Peter Sarsgaard, Kinsey
Peter O'Toole, Troy
Stanley Tucci, The Terminal

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Cate Blanchett, The Aviator
Minnie Driver, The Phantom of the Opera
Irma P. Hall, The Ladykillers
Laura Linney, Kinsey
Virginia Madsen, Sideways
Mandy Moore, Saved
Natalie Portman, Closer
Gena Rowlands, The Notebook
Meryl Streep, The Manchurian Candidate
Kate Winslet, Finding Neverland


BEST SCREENPLAY:
The Aviator
Collateral
Closer
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Finding Neverland
Kinsey
Million Dollar Baby
Ray
Sideways
The Incredibles


ANIMATED FEATURE:
Ghost in the Shell 2
Shrek 2
Shark Tale
The Incredibles
The Polar Express
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Teacher's Pet


DOCUMENTARY:
Born into Brothels
Broadway: The Golden Age
Control Room
Fahrenheit 9/11
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Riding Giants
Super Size Me
The Story of the Weeping Camel
Touching the Void
Z-Channel: A Magnificent Obsession


FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Bad Education
Hero
House of Flying Daggers
Les Choristes
Look at Me
Maria Full of Grace
The Motorcycle Diaries
The Sea Within
A Very Long Engagement

      It's bound to be a foreign film fiasco at the Oscars this year. Walter Salles' "The Motorcycle Diaries," Pedro Almodovar's "Bad Education," Jean-Pierre Annaud's "A Very Long Engagement" and Agnes Jaoui's "Look at Me" are not eligible because of politics, even though each director has previously received nominations for Best Foreign Language feature.
      According to the Academy's arcane rules, every country selects one film to submit for consideration. Spain, for example, chose "The Sea Within," the true story of a paraplegic's campaign for assisted suicide, instead of "Bad Education." Insofar as "The Motorcycle Diaries" is concerned, it was filmed in several South American countries, largely with U.S. funding; as a result, no one country claimed ownership. "A Very Long Engagement" failed to meet the Sept. 15th deadline for an opening in its country of origin and "Look at Me" seems to have been felled by France's enthusiasm for "Les Choristes," a sentimental musical directed by the lesser-known Christopher Barratie.


BEST FAMILY FILM (live-action):
Finding Neverland
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Miracle
National Treasure
Spider-Man 2

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE of an ACTOR/ACTRESS (under 21):
Liam Aiken, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Cameron Bright, Birth
Emily Browning, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Dakota Fanning, Man on Fire
Freddie Highmore, Finding Neverland
Lindsay Lohan, Mean Girls
Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Emmy Rossum, Phantom of the Opera
William Ullrich, Beyond the Sea
Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban


SOUNDTRACK:
The Aviator
Beyond the Sea
De-Lovely
Finding Neverland
Million Dollar Baby
Ray
Shrek 2
The Incredibles
The Phantom of the Opera
The Polar Express

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION:
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
Something the Lord Made
The Wool Cap