In what was an eventful year on the world stage - the Olympic Games returned to the motherland, further unrest simmered in the Middle East and tragedy hit during the festive period as Southeast Asia was devastated by a tsunami - 2004 was also a rather fruitful time for cinema. The comic book genre was showing some colour (Spider-Man 2), Oscar seeds were planted (Crash, Fahrenheit 9/11, Sideways), comedy hit a high (Dodgeball, 13 Going On 30) and world cinema continued to flourish (The Sea Inside, The Motorcycle Diaries, Night Watch). While it wasn't all rosy - The Alamo was a big budget flop, Thunderbirds crashed and Catwoman happened - there are enough gems included on this forthcoming list to - hopefully - make reader slap their thighs and say, 'golly, is that ten years old already?'. Therefore, read, devour, enjoy and most of all be sure to comment with any other contenders that you feel could have made the list.