Film Critic David Edelstein: Top Movies of 2004

Fresh Air | By David Edelstein

Published December 19, 2004 at 10:00 PM MST

Zhang Ziyi in a still from Zhang Yimou's <i>House of Flying Daggers</i>. — Zhang Ziyi in a still from Zhang Yimou's *House of Flying Daggers*.

Film critic David Edelstein lists his top movies of 2004, and recommends current holiday releases. Edelstein says 2004 saw some high-profile winners -- and losers hit the nation's big screens.

Edelstein says there were some great performances in some not-so-great movies. This was a year of documentaries, some of which proved politically divisive. David Edelstein is also a film critic for Slate.

Other movies of note for 2004:

Spanglish

The Aviator

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones

Infernal Affairs

Goodbye Dragon Inn

Moolaadé

Vera Drake

David Edelstein

David Edelstein is a film critic for New York magazine and for NPR's Fresh Air, and an occasional commentator on film for CBS Sunday Morning. He has also written film criticism for the Village Voice, The New York Post, and Rolling Stone, and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times' Arts & Leisure section.

See stories by David Edelstein