Movies Released in 2004

Readers of this blog will notice that it's hosted on the Cosmique Movie Awards website. Those unfamiliar with the Cosmo Awards will probably be wondering why.

I conceived of and created the Cosmo Awards nearly five years ago as a sort of reaction to the Academy Awards. My friends and I could vote on our own favorites in order to protest or affirm Oscar winners.

Originally, voters were primarily limited to members of the Cosmique Krewe of Colour, the Mardi Gras krewe that I'm in. Slowly, membership expanded by invitation only to included other like-minded voters. The voters are disproportionately (but not exclusively) LGBT, and primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area (but we have members as far west as Hawaii and as far east as New York, plus many other points in between).

The 2004 Awards

The campaign for the Fifth Annual Cosmique Movie Awards will begin to heat up in January of 2005. There will be some lifetime achievement awards honoring films and actors from all years and eras, but as usual, most of the awards will honor films and cinematic performances from the 2004 calendar year. There are a number of factors that are used to determine whether a film is eligible for consideration, but the primarily factor is whether it was first released in theaters in the U.S. in 2004.

Of course, the devil is in the details and there are numerous exceptions and clarifications to this rule. For example, if a film is shown at film festivals in 2004 but then is released in limited or broad release in 2005, it will be considered a 2005 film for our purposes. But a film shown in film festivals in the Bay Area may be considered unless it will go into general release later. Likewise, films that are re-released in a calendar year are generally not considered (The Lion King and Lawrence of Arabia are two such films re-released in theaters two years ago that were not eligible for anything except lifetime achievement awards). But when a director's cut is re-released in theaters, the Cosmique Movie Academy's Board of Directors carefully assesses it to see if the new cut is significantly different from the original cut to be considered as an original film. And for the first time ever, a film qualifies for this exception: Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut.

As of this writing, there are currently at least 253 films eligible to be considered for the categories honoring films from 2004. But this doesn't include the films currently slated to be released later this year. And it may not include films from local film festivals that voters can petition to be included in the official 2004 list.

The Royal Scribe's Record

Two years ago, I set a personal record of seeing 69 films released in the 2002 calendar year. Note that most but not all were seen on the big screen - some were seen on DVD. Also, this does not include the 2001 films that I caught in 2002, and films that I saw multiple times are only counted once. In addition, although all were seen during the 2002 Cosmo Season, not all were seen in the 2002 calendar year; a few were seen in January and February of 2003 when the voting process was still underway.

In 2003, I fell just short of that record: I saw "only" 68 films. But in 2004, I'm cruising to a new record. I've already seen 66 films released this year (some more than once), and it's only mid-October. There are some perks to not working.

Films I've Seen This Year

Okay, so what have I seen? The 66 films run the gamut from indie art films to studio blockbusters; low-brow comedies to dark and heavy dramas. Some were great, some were bad. Many met my expectations, but some rose above them (and some fell below).

Here, then, is the complete list in alphabetical order:

13 Going on 30; Adored: Diary of a Porn Star; Alien vs. Predator; The Bourne Supremacy; Catwoman; Cellular; A Cinderella Story; Coffee and Cigarettes; Connie and Carla; Dawn of the Dead; The Day After Tomorrow; De-Lovely; A Dirty Shame; DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story; Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut; The Door in the Floor; The Dreamers; Eating Out; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; Eurotrip; Fahrenheit 9/11; The Forgotten; Games People Play: New York; Garden State; Good Bye Lenin; Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; HellBent; Hellboy; A Home at the End of the World; I Heart Huckabees; I, Robot; Intermission; Kill Bill Vol. 2; King Arthur; The Ladykillers; The Last Shot; Latter Days; The Manchurian Candidate; Mean Creek; Mean Girls; Ned Kelly; The Notebook; Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism; The Prince & Me; Saved; Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed; Shaun of the Dead; Shrek 2; Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow; Sleepover; Spider-Man 2; The Stepford Wives; Straight-Jacket; Sugar; Super Size Me; Testosterone; Touch of Pink; Troy; Twist; Van Helsing; Vanity Fair; Welcome to Mooseport; Wimbledon; Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!; and Without a Paddle.

This list doesn't provide my recommendations and reviews. For that, please see the Under Consideration list for 2004 (it's incomplete, but provides recommendations for over two dozen films).

If there's something released that you strongly recommend, drop me a line and give it a plug.

The Cosmique Movie Lending Library

Of course, I know that I see more movies than the average Cosmo voter. Most voters work and can't see morning matinees. But for you, a special offer. I do own a small handful of 2004 movies that have already been released in DVD, and will probably pick up more before the year is out. If you are a bona fide voting member of the Cosmique Movie Awards and would like to borrow one (or more) of these DVDs, drop me a line.

This is what I currently own:

The Dreamers

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eurotrip

Fahrenheit 9/11

Ned Kelly

Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism

Saved!

And there are several others that I will inevitably pick up once they are available (like The Door in the Floor, Garden State, A Home at the End of the World, Mean Creek, and Touch of Pink).

Remember, you must be a Cosmo voter to participate in the Cosmique Movie Lending Library.

© 2004. All original articles and commentaries published on this site remain the copyright of Kevin C. Goebel except where otherwise attributed. You may use excerpts with an attributed to The Imperial Gazette and a link to either www.cosmomovieawards.com/ig or directly to the excerpted article. For additional information, or to be alerted for new articles and updates, please email the Royal Scribe.