Movies I've seen in 2004

Mark needs to be at his most forgiving to keep up with Bridget being more herself and more relationship-challenged than ever. Like most sequels the movie doesn't quite measure up to the original, aiming for a slightly lower-brow kind of humor, but is still funny.

Is it ... a crime story? splatter? a response to Tarantino? Cop Willem Dafoe chases a couple of ... hit men? serial killers? neighborhood saints? I loved that it's set in Boston and provides lots of recognizably Bostonian backdrops and characters. Not a new release though, so you'll have to rent it.

Action thriller in which a CIA agent (Matt Damon) tries to figure out what happened to him earlier in The Bourne Identity.

A soccer team drives away their goalie when they find out that he's gay. After founding his own team of gay players they take on his old team. All gay clichés are served up in this one. Predictable and forgettable.

Wim Wenders latest, giving his impression of post-9/11 USA. Not exactly uplifting, but the heigthened paranoia he depicts is real. The portrait of two people who are related, yet know nothing of each other, and change while they do get to know the other, makes it worthwhile.

A look at five scenes of a relationship, from being introduced through wedding, child birth, an evening with friends to divorce court. A life together that shouldn't have been, since both find reasons to not fully commit to one another. As such, the relationship remains mysterious. The five scenes are shown in reverse chronological order, showing the consequences first and the beginnings later.

Michael Moore's look at the USA of George W Bush. Not much new if you've read his book Dude, where's my country? It's more of a subjective film than a proper documentary, but it raises important, as yet unanswered, questions.

A hit man (Tom Cruise) forces a cabbie (Jamie Foxx) to drive him to four successive hits in one night. Intriguing idea, though how he survives a club shootout while killing plenty of policemen remains a mystery.

Documentary about a guy (Morgan Spurlock) who eats exclusively at McDonalds? for 30 days. Also includes interviews with health professionals, food professionals and food industry insiders. Funny, depressing and informative.

The collected short films of the same title by Jim Jarmusch. The new ones don't quite have the charm of the old ones: drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes happens as a byproduct of serious discussions, and they feature some brand name actors, but overall it's a very enjoyable movie. Update 2006: I've watched it again, and have quite changed my mind. Most of the new scenes are at least as good as the old ones, and their more profound meaning works well. This is a great movie.

A laid-off middle-aged worker gets into Cajun music, and takes his accordion to the Louisiana Bajou to get to the roots of it. The depiction of unemployment in Eastern Germany is depressing, if accurate and well done, and on his trip Schultze finds a life that's eluded him so far. Kind of a road movie, and also good entertainment.

Two Americans (Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson) staying in a Tokyo hotel can't get the hang of either their jet lag or the country they're in. Through that common bond a friendship starts that leaves both of them changed. Though some parts are comedic, the movie deals with profound issues, and captures ex-pat themes very well. And now I can't get the song Just Like Honey from The Jesus And Mary Chain out of my head...