This is a dynamic list, so it’ll be updated each time I see a film which had its world premiere in 2004 that is better than at least one of the films already on the list.
- Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
- 13 Lakes (James Benning)
- Bad Education (Pedro Almodóvar)
- Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)
- Ten Skies (James Benning)
- Kings and Queen (Arnaud Desplechin)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)
- The Aviator (Martin Scorsese)
- Birth (Jonathan Glazer)
- Le pont des Arts (Eugène Green)
Other 2004 films I’ve seen
- Closer (Mike Nichols)
- Collateral (Michael Mann)
- Crash (Paul Haggis)
- Dawn of the Dead (Zack Snyder)
- An Estranged Paradise (Yang Fudong)
- Evolution of a Filipino Family (Lav Diaz)
- Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore)
- 50 First Dates (Peter Segal)
- Finding Neverland (Marc Forster)
- Garden State (Zach Braff)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón)
- Head-On (Fatih Akin)
- The Girl (Lucrecia Martel)
- Hotel Rwanda (Terry George)
- I ♥ Huckabees (David O. Russell)
- I, Robot (Alex Proyas)
- The Incredibles (Brad Bird)
- The Intruder (Claire Denis)
- Jersey Girl (Kevin Smith)
- Keane (Lodge Kerrigan)
- Kill Bill Vol. 2 (Quentin Tarantino)
- Kinsey (Bill Condon)
- Kung Fu Hustle (Stephen Chow)
- The Ladykillers (Joel & Ethan Coen)
- The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson)
- Los (James Benning)
- Los Muertos (Lisandro Alonso)
- Maria Full of Grace (Joshua Marston)
- Mean Creek (Jacob Aaron Estes)
- Mean Girls (Mark Waters)
- Meet the Fockers (Jay Roach)
- Melinda and Melinda (Woody Allen)
- Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood)
- Miracle (Gavin O’Connor)
- Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène)
- The Motorcycle Diaries (Walter Salles)
- Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki)
- Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess)
- 9 Songs (Michael Winterbottom)
- Notre Musique (Jean-Luc Godard)
- Ocean’s Twelve (Steven Soderbergh)
- Palindromes (Todd Solondz)
- The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson)
- Primer (Shane Carruth)
- Saved! (Brian Dannelly)
- The Sea Inside (Alejandro Amenábar)
- Secret Window (David Koepp)
- Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright)
- Shrek 2 (Andrew Adamson & Kelly Asbury & Conrad Vernon)
- Sideways (Alexander Payne)
- Spanglish (James L. Brooks)
- Spider-Man 2 (Sam Raimi)
- Super Size Me (Morgan Spurlock)
- The Terminal (Steven Spielberg)
- Twist of Faith (Kirby Dick)
- Vera Drake (Mike Leigh)
- A Very Long Engagement (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
- The Village (M. Night Shyamalan)
- Wilby Wonderful (Daniel MacIver)
- Wild Side (Sébastien Lifshitz)
- Woman is the Future of Man (Hong Sang-soo)
- The Woodsman (Nicole Kassell)
- The World (Jia Zhangke)