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This year marks the first that a LASsie award is being bestowed upon a film. As always, the tallying of votes for Lost At Sea's composite list is an extremely scientific endeavor, based entirely upon mathematics, and it would not be possible without the contributions of the LAS staff. Here then, are their picks.

INDIVIDUAL WRITER LISTS

Kevin Alfoldy

01 Sideways 
02 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 
03 Underskatement 
04 Garden State 
05 Finding Neverland 
06 Shaun of the Dead 
07 Anchorman 
08 Sk8mafia’s Way of Life 
09 The Girl Next Door 
10 Eurotrip

Abbie Amadio 

01 Fahrenheit 9/11
02 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
03 Super Size Me 
04 I Heart Huckabees
05 End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones

Natalie David

01 Garden State 
02 Napoleon Dynamite 
03 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 
04 Saved! 
05 Big Fish 
06 Team America: World Police 
07 Fahrenheit 9/11 
08 Finding Neverland 
09 Ocean’s Twelve 
10 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Dan Filowitz 

Full disclosure: there were many movies that came out in 2004 that I did not see, and that I’m sure would have cracked this list had I seen them. So please consider this not as a definitive list of the ten best films of the calendar year but instead as a list of the ten best films that I was able to find the time to see this year. Or, if you’d rather indulge my arrogant side, then consider this a definitive list, for if I didn’t have the time to see it, how important of a film could it be? Right? No? Fine, but all of these were damn good anyway.

01 Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - Based on the existence of this movie, the following conversation apparently happened between me and Quentin Tarantino:

02 Before Sunset - Richard Linklater has always been a daring director, and risky doesn’t even begin to describe this undertaking. Before Sunrise was about as perfect as a film can be, so the odds were that the follow-up was going to be hugely disappointing. Linklater defied the odds, as Before Sunset is not only an adequate sequel, but as deeply satisfying and as effortlessly beautiful as its predecessor. Try to watch this film and not fall in love with Jesse and Celine, played again to perfection by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, as they walk through Paris in the late afternoon and talk about life, time, memory, and how age changes romanticism but not as much as we’d like to think. 

03 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - This was a difficult concept to pull off: the bulk of the movie is a journey through the mind of a man who is in the process of having his memory erased. That it makes perfect sense as you’re watching it is a testament to the skill of Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman. Kate Winslet is absolutely convincing as the wild-haired, free-spirited woman all of us intellectual-types dream of falling in love with. Jim Carrey actually acts, instead of just clowning around, and guess what – he’s pretty damned good at it. The rest of the cast--Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst, and Tom Wilkinson in particular--also turn in fine performances. Visually stunning, conceptually challenging, and spectacularly performed - what else could you want from a film?

04 Garden State - I am jealous of Zach Braff. He’s about my age and he’s from my home state of New Jersey. Yet while I’m toiling away at a 9-5 job trying to make it as an writer/performer on the side, here he goes making his first movie, that he wrote, directed, and starred in no less, and it’s just about perfect. It’s funny, poignant, and manages to annunciate the quarter-life crisis more lucidly than I imagined possible. He gets truly memorable performances from Ian Holm, Jean Smart, and Peter Sarsgaard. As a bonus, he creates the indie rock nerd’s dream scene: a beautiful woman you just meet hands you headphones and says, “Listen to this, it’ll change your life.” And it’s a band that’s actually legitimately good! (The Shins, in this case.) Plus he got to make out with Natalie Portman. I hate you Zach Braff, you beautiful bastard you.

05 Sideways - How can a movie about middle aged men and wine be this good? Because no one understands the dark underbelly of the average American like Alexander Payne does. Because no one plays challenging and frustrated men quite like Paul Giamatti. Because Thomas Hayden Church gives a surprisingly deep performance, and Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh are simply delightful to watch. Funny and touching and never ordinary, this is a “small” film that demands large attention.

06 Coffee and Cigarettes - Any movie that features a scene with the RZA, the GZA, and Bill Murray talking about homeopathic remedies is worth seeing. Sure, you can enjoy the Jack and Meg White scene with the Tesla coil, or the Tom Waits and Iggy Pop conversation, or watching Steve Coogan make an ass of himself with Alfred Molina. It still all comes back to one perfect moment with three of the most perfectly whacked-out and unusual characters in American pop culture captured in all their weird glory.

07 Hero - Martial arts as visual art, and a true testament to cinematography and film as experience. This deceptively simple story is told in three separate flashbacks, each with a different color scheme, and the performances are subtle and ultimately heart-wrenching, particularly that of Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. I know it actually came out in 2002 in China, but we couldn’t see it on screen in American until this year, so it’s on this year’s list.

08 Shaun of the Dead - A zombie movie that is just a lot of fun. Movies are supposed to be entertaining, and that’s just what this is, from beginning to end, even if you’re not a huge horror film nerd. 

09 Team America: World Police - Say what you will about them, but it cannot be denied that Trey Parker and Matt Stone have balls. No one else out there tackles the kind of satire these two seemingly do in their sleep. Not everything in this movie is perfectly on target, but the sheer idea--a movie with marionettes taking on the Bruckheimer ideal of America as well as Hollywood liberal pandering--is simply unthinkable from anyone else. Most of it is very funny, and very right, and should be celebrated. Without this kind of subversive humor, American culture would be in even worse shape than it currently is.

10 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie - If you can’t let yourself get caught up in the unbridled and infectious silliness that is SpongeBob, you may as well just defect to some Eastern European country where the constant cold and grey can match your soul.

Jonah Flicker

01 Dawn of the Dead - This remake was the most amazing film to come out this year, hands down. Forget the awesomeness of the zombies and Sarah Polley's hot ass-kicking, the longshots of a city under undead siege were just amazing. I want to be in a zombie nightmare, I think I could really kick ass. 

02 Twentynine Palms - One of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen, right up there with Irreversible and Audition. This movie creates an intense feeling of unease throughout before punching you in the guts in the last 10 minutes. Cinema like this is unpleasant but rare and worthwhile. 

03 The Incredibles - I absolutely hate animation, but I loved this movie. 

04 Touching the Void - An intense documentary with amazing recreated sequences about making choices between life and death, and a story of survival that makes me feel like I eat too many cookies. 

05 Super Size Me - Strangely enough, I wanted McDonald's after seeing this and I haven't eaten there in years.

06 Napoleon Dynamite - One of the funniest movies that came out this year, in the tradition of '80s comedy greats. 

07 Red Lights - Another fine French film to see release this year. 

08 Coffee and Cigarettes - Some segments were certainly better than others, but Jarmusch is one of the finest American directors out there. 

09 Spider-Man 2 - Hollywood at its finest, and comic books given the serious consideration they deserve. 

10 The Brown Bunny - I actually hated this movie a lot, but I'm glad it was made. Gallo has a huge dong, though.

Randy Gaudreau

01 Fahrenheit 9/11 - Ah yes, this was definitely the year that George W. unwillingly gave one of the most comedic on screen performances. Mind you, Michael Moore’s commentary and angle was definitely slanted, but the footage was literally priceless and we have Moore and this film to thank for all the fun. 

02 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - A well-woven tale of love lost and letting go by Charlie Kaufman. A beautiful idea that is wonderfully executed. 

03 Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence – If you haven’t seen the first one, don’t worry. It’s not really necessary to know what is going on in Innocence. Philosophical, beautiful and action-packed--this has to be one of the most amazing anime movies I’ve ever seen. 

04 Team America: World Police - Oh man. A parody on the entire world situation as told by Trey Parker and Matt Stone...starring puppets--hard to go wrong here. And to top it off, they really didn’t pick a particular side to attack from. This film is neither against terrorism nor for it, so nobody is safe in this one. Perfect! 

05 Hero - Yimou Zhang’s tale of assassins in early feudal China deserves major recognition if not for plot then certainly for its visual aesthetics. This film is stunningly beautiful to look at, without even mentioning all the duels.

Helder Gomes 

01 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - An urban tale of memory-erasing experiments and the troublesome aftermath for two youngsters in love.

02 Coffee and Cigarettes - A black-and-white flick that gathers famous people with a cigarette between their fingers and a cup of coffee. A definite highlight features Iggy Pop and Tom Waits.

03 Dogville - How over-talented people manage to perform in a minimalist plateau and deal with the strongest human feelings. Never has Nicole Kidman shined so much looking so pale.

04 The Ladykillers - What happens when a church-attender, old woman finds a tenant for the spare room she has, and lets him rehearsal with his medieval music ensemble in the basement.

05 The Brown Bunny - Probably the most famous blow job ever.

06 Young Adam - A dirty rhapsody of semi-urban bohemia all the way through the Scottish channels, there where death and passion collide.

07 Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - Where the East meets the West and Tarantino pays homage to the action movies that helped build his artistic mind. Will The Bride finally manage to kill Bill?

08 Good Bye Lenin! - A savvy take on the divided country that Germany was before the Wall came down.

09 Exorcist: The Beginning - Gory tales from the crypt before all hell broke loose, quite literally.

10 After the Sunset - A light-hearted love story that amuses both indies and commercial freaks.

Eric Herboth

Note: Like most people, I don't go to the theater much. Hardly ever, in fact. Maybe twice per year. I prefer to borrow and/or copy films for free, with the exception of small independent films. That said, a couple of films that I hadn't seen until after compiling my list would have certainly made the cut had I watched them sooner. 

-05 Touching the Void - Okay, I did see this back in September, but I just forgot about it. Having read extensively about the story in the past, the film itself wasn't all that entertaining. But it's as good as the Bourne Supremacy, no doubt.

-04 The Brown Bunny - Yeah, there's that scene at the end with the ######### that everyone's talking about. Even when his films aren't remarkable (they're not) they are at the very least artistically valid. Oh, and they're always pretentious.

-03 La Mala Educación (Bad Education) - Pedro Almodóvar is one of the greatest cinematic characters of whatever age (of bad taste?) that we're currently in. I enjoy his edgy erotic socio-commentaries, even in Spanish.

-02 Open Water - While this wasn't the greatest film ever made, it was pretty dramatic. It was also based on a true story, which I had previously read about, and plays upon the worst fears of an open water kayaker with limited swimming ability (read: me).

-01 Napoleon Dynamite - Man, this film really walked the line between too much flippin' scenic shots (the beautiful parts of Idaho aren't that flat) and the perfect amount of hilarious moments. I haven't laughed this hard in years.

And now, the list of ten films I saw this year:

01 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Great concept, great acting, great direction, great story - all those things and more add up to be a great film. Smelling salts for the cinematic mind. 

02 Garden State - From the first time I saw the trailer for this film while seeing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at the theater until now, Zach Braff's coming out is just plain old refreshing. Edgy and real enough to seem sloppy but with enough of a story and well developed yet mysterious characters, this film is a diamond in the rough. 

03 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - This was undoubtedly the most 
highly anticipated film of the year and, as suspected, it delivers respectable goods.

04 Good Bye Lenin! - This film was three things that I love about cinema: 
touching, entertaining and foreign. 

05 Fahrenheit 9/11 - Prompting people to think and talk about their society in more than a cursory manner is a remarkable achievement for a film. 

06 Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - I prefer this volume to the first, but it would still have made one heck of a single full-length Tarantino film. 

07 Super Size Me - Just for the thought-inducement factor, this film makes the list. What I already suspected is proven and what many people need to know is spelled out. 

08 Noi Albinoi - Talk about suspense and emotional involvement! This Icelandic indie film has all of those gritty, unstable elements that make edgy films teeter in the balance of great heart-tugging cinema art and overwrought, precious garbage. The ending is such a twist and such a reversal of emotions from the long, hypnotic buildup that it leaves a palpable aftertaste. 

09 Collateral - Tom Cruise wouldn't make my top ten list of actors, probably not even the top 100. But I like most of his films, and his big punch for 2004 is one of the most enjoyable with a superb contribution from Jamie Foxx. Bonus points for casting Cruise as the villain, a role in which he is believable. 

10 The Bourne Supremacy - I'm a sucker for big-production, high octane espionage/crime thrillers (I still love Ronin) and I was amped for another glimpse at Franka Potente in what I'd hoped (and still hope) could be a modernized, less hokey successor to James Bond. This film wasn't that great, but for all those reasons I still like it.

Abi Huynh

01 The Five Obstructions 
02 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 
03 Before Sunset 
04 Sideways 
05 Zatoichi 
06 I Heart Huckabees 
07 Shaun of the Dead 
08 Napoleon Dynamite 
09 Garden State 
10 The Incredibles

The protest films that defined the year: 

Yes Men 
Outfoxed - Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism 
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War 
Fahrenheit 9/11 
The Corporation

Bob Ladewig

01 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 
02 Shaun of the Dead 
03 The Incredibles 
04 Kill Bill: Vol. 2 
05 Napoleon Dynamite 
06 Open Water 
07 Maria Full of Grace 
08 End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones 
09 Super Size Me 
10 Garden State

Craig Mertes

01 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
02 Garden State
03 Super Size Me
04 The Incredibles
05 Farenheit 9/11
06 Coffee and Cigarettes
07 Kill Bill: Vol. 2
08 Sideways

Stephen Smith

01 Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind - A masterpiece. If it doesn't get a nomination for Best Picture then God doesn't exist. 

02 Napoleon Dynamite - Easily one of the funniest films ever made, and surprisingly heartwarming. I'm really happy that it did as well as it did money-wise.

03 Finding Neverland - Johnny Depp is just amazing, isn't he? This was a surprise for me. The characters were outstanding, the story was magnificent. I loved it.

04 I Heart Huckabees - Jason Schwartzman may always be Max Fischer in our hearts, but he took it up a notch with this outstanding performance. Throw in an equally great performance by that guy who's in every movie that came out this year, a super wacky plot, and we've got an instant classic. 

05 Team America: World Police - Trey Parker and Matt Stone are nothing short of geniuses. They never cease to amaze me. I have never laughed so hard for so long in my entire life. The thing about this film, though, is that even though it's a comedy, it's also genius. Marionette puppets?! Are you kidding me? This had to take forever to do and kudos to them for not letting it collapse under the pressure of such a grand project. 

06 Anchorman - Will Ferrell will go down in history as the major comic genius, but Steve Carrell's contribution should not go unnoticed. Every sound that came out of his mouth in this film was like a gift from comedy heaven. He put this film in my top 10 by himself. 

07 Saved! - An underrated little gem of a flick. It was funny, it was true to life (I know SO many people like that!). Highly enjoyable. 

08 Shaun Of the Dead - Most surprising movie of the year to me. I didn't expect much, but it was very funny, well written, well directed, and the performances! Oh, the performances!

09 Friday Night Lights - Best sports movie I've seen since Major League. Don't underestimate Billy Bob Thornton. He knows what he's doing. 

10 The Girl Next Door - In a good year, this wouldn't be in a top 10 list. It was a surprisingly good movie, and Emile Hirsch will be the next Jake Gyllenhaal. Trust me.

Tim Smith

01 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
02 Sideways
03 Shaun of the Dead
04 Before Sunset
05 Dig!
06 The Motorcycle Diaries
07 The Incredibles
08 Spider-Man 2
09 Napoleon Dynamite
10 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Mike Wright 

01 Fahrenheit 9/11 
02 Coffee and Cigarettes 
03 Kill Bill: Vol. 2 
04 Garden State 
05 The Incredibles 
06 The Day after Tomorrow 
07 The Passion of the Christ 
08 Shaun of the Dead

01 Saved! - This year’s mid-major Cinderella story. The film revolves around a group of Christian teenagers who are entering their senior year of parochial high school. It’s a comical life story about the path crossing of religion and social struggles. In the middle of the plot is a love story and brilliant performances by Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, and Macaulay Culkin.

02 The Incredibles - Another notch in Pixar’s expanding belt. Just as other films created by this production company, The Incredibles blends elements of action, intelligent comedy, and children’s genres. The film satisfies even the needs of comic book superhero loving nerds with the main characters being a superpower-possessing family.

03 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Jim Carrey again shows that he’s more than just a rubber-faced comic goof. Carrey and Kate Winslet’s relationship prop up this very strange yet intriguing love story. The movie surges around the idea of erasing unsavory relationship memories through the means of a questionable medical procedure. Movie has a similar eccentric story feel to creator Charlie Kaufman’s other works, Being John Malkovich and Adaptation.

04 Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - The final installment of Quentin Tarantino’s two-part revenge tale. This one had no Japanimation and in its place a lengthy backstory. Vol. 2 was less massive carnage and more aimed violence as Uma Thurman’s character, Beatrix Kiddo, struggles to settle the score with her ex-gang leader and mentor Bill. For those who like to keep tabs, Kiddo survives being shot twice and buried alive. The film series will certainly live on as a great cult classic. 

05 Ray - Finally, some rightfully placed acknowledgement and appreciation shown for a real American musician. Jamie Foxx performance makes you forget that he is an actor playing the role of Ray Charles. Ray develops a historical character who struggles to cope with two traumatic experiences that he experienced in his youth (watching his younger brother drown and going blind). The film also focuses on issues in Charles’s life that aren’t common knowledge such as his rampant usage of heroin and his struggle for civil rights in Georgia.

06 Fahrenheit 9/11 - A documentary that was intended to show the corruptness of American politics during the first term of George W. Bush. Michael Moore probably made as many enemies with this film as he did supporters, but the bottom line is that it opened eyes and offered a critical viewpoint of our government and the media. 

07 Napoleon Dynamite - Comedy about a nerdy yet somehow captivating main character (Jon Heder) with a strange name (exemplifying the nature of his eccentric character). The combination of pathetically charming characters keep the laughs coming and the plot offers some development for the culturally diverse, rurally located cast.

08 I, Robot - An AI sci-fi flick with Will Smith? The words don’t seem to match. I, Robot was a suspenseful big budget thriller though. The story is based on the book of the same title written by Isaac Asimov. In this one, Will Smith fights odd creatures to save the world and in the meantime cracks a few jokes and maintains his sex icon status. Haven’t we see this before? The premise of I, Robot however revolves around the suspected murder of a robot engineer by one of his robots. Enter the idea of robots maintaining emotions, and we’ve got a 115-minute action-powered philosophical debate on our hands. 

09 Spider-Man 2 - No one is going to get nominated for best actor/actress for Spider-Man 2 but it is good for almost nonstop action. Sometimes a simple non-cognitive storyline is necessary. I felt that this was more unpredictable and flowed better in some ways than Spider-Man. Again excellent graphics and scenes like that of Spiderman saving an elevated train full of passengers really made this movie one worth seeing.

10 The Ladykillers - Not the Coen brothers’ best but certainly one of this year’s finer dark comedies. The stumbling cat-and-mouse game played between Professor G.H. Dorr (Tom Hanks) and Marva Munson (Irma P. Hall) is especially laughable. Prof. Dorr plans to rob a riverboat casino with a cast of moronic criminals (including Marlon Wayans) and plans go astray.