Top 10 Movies of 2005

[Termination]

Constantine got bumped off me list for The 40-Year-Old Virgin ;D

[ZapRowsdower]

frankenjohn said:

The AFI listed their top 10 for the year:

6. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
10. SYRIANA

AFI FAILS.

[ZapRowsdower]

Before I create my list, I still need to see:

Breakfast on Pluto, Capote, Match Point, Mrs. Henderson Presents, The Matador, The Squid and the Whale, and Transamerica

I also need to make a decision on first place: Brokeback Mountain, King Kong or Munich.

[Phoenix]

To note, I avoided biopics this year. The admission price went up at our theater so I'm protesting by not seeing movies that dont NEED to be seen on the big screen. Honestly our HDTV provides a better picture in my house than in the movie theater so I am waiting for Munich and such to show up on DVD or On Demand. My ranking are based on entertainment value alone and my desire to see the movie again, shallow as those reasons might be.

1. Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit - yea that's right, it's my number one movie. I don't need to leave the movie theater depressed or be dazzled by a 'true story.' This movie left me giddy when I left the theater. It was the only movie to do that for me this year. Being a life-long fan of claymation this was just awesome and blows Corpse Bride out of the water for story and detail. I have the little Mcfarlane PVC figures on my desk and every time I look at them my day gets a little brighter.

2. Sin City - the highest rated movie of 2005 on IMDB comes in a close second on my list. A VERY unique vision. The beginning was a little rough for me but it picked up fast and hot damn it was great!

3. Batman Begins - the triumphant return of my second favorite superhero. Christian Bale plays Batman to perfection and had me forget the mistake that was George Clooney.

4. Star Wars ROTS - Rocky for me at parts, but still memorable and fulfilled my expectations. The most anticipated movie of 2005 for me and I could watch it many more times.

5. Serenity - A box office flop, but I still loved every minute. A Sci-Fi/Star Trek lover's dream film. Worth the price of my full admission ticket.

6. Mr & Mrs. Smith - A guilty pleasure watching the two hottest stars in Hollywood get it on. I couldn't decide which one was sexier but they had the best chemistry of any on screen duo in 2005.

7, 8, 9, & 10: I couldn't rank these but they are lumped together as my other 'enjoyable' yet far-from-classic movies of 2005. Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, 40 Year Old Virgin, Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire & Red Eye.

[Termination]

Unleashed got bumped off me list for Cinderella Man. ;D

[Quorthon]

Oh shit, I forgot about Unleashed!

7/10 for me, but I readily enjoyed the film. Cumbersome first 15-20 minutes, and some decadent cheesiness, but a good movie overall.

[ZapRowsdower]

I'm gonna be watching Match Point sometime this week.

Oh, another movie that I need to see: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

[Pulpmariachi]

So I finally put something together, it might change a little, but I think it's pretty definitive. Besides Jarhead, I think most of the reviews I wrote still hold what I meant.

10. Happy Endings--Yes, it's long, somewhat shaky in the middle, but it is a very happy movie with a whole assortment of characters that are fun and it's good. And funny. And entertaining. B

9. A History of Violence--Oh that Croenenburg! B+

8. Howl's Moving Castle--there is hardly no other master an animation than Miyazaki, and again he shows it to be true. The animation is beautiful, the story is compelling, and the action is...awesome. B+

7. War of the Worlds--Great action pieces, good Cruise performance (I stand by the belief that lots of people hated this [or went into it hating it] because of Cruise making an ass out of himself on Opera), a good control of CGI effects (take note PETER JACKSON). Yes, the ending is a little off (SPOILER: mainly with the boy surviving) but everything that proceeds it is brilliant and intense. As well as some great photography by Kaminski. A-

6. Sin City--The only movie that's a comic book out there. It's bloody, violent, and full of naked women. But, Christ, it's fun. A-

5. The Constant Gardener--great political thriller, with Ralph Finnes giving a top-notch performance, on top of the schizophrenic cinematography. We're given information in the first half, but once Quayle starts going after the people who offed his wife, the film gets intense. So many politics, oh so many, and I didn't understand all of them, but it stated its case quite brilliantly. A-

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire--I don't think it's as good as the previous installment, but it's still a great, fun movie. There's hardly a scene without CGI, but it's in the background, making room for the characters and their stuff. The kid actors continue to grow into their roles and Ralph Finnes makes Voldemort bipolar. A-

3. Capote--Intriguing character study about Truman Capote, writer of Breakfast at Tiffanys, who sees a great story and exploits everyone as he tries to get it to paper. The final scene, where Perry confesses what he did, is worth the watch. Oh yeah, and for Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance, which deserves the Oscar. A

2. Good Night, and Good Luck.--Like many movies have great courtroom drama, this one is more in the television studio. Edward R. Murrow, TV anchor extrodinarie, takes on McCarthy and his Black Listings and Communism accusations. Like Hoffman in Capote, Straitham becomes Murrow. Clooney keeps the film laid back and even jazzy as well. A

1. Munich--And then, while Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger are stemming the rose, Clooney is watching TV, and Peter Jackson is trying to recreate his childhood with computers (something a Philip K. Dick novel could've been about), Steven Spielberg comes in with a thriller made in the spirit of the 70s. Even if you don't want to hear the politics (all the questions, hardly any answers) the action scenes are white-knuckle, hold-your-breath rides. You feel the paranoia Eric Bana (in what I think is the second best performance of ths year). Everything works so brilliantly and intensly and everything like that. Christ, it's great. A+

[ZapRowsdower]

Considering it's gonna be a while before I see any of the other movies I wanted to see before creating the list, I decided to go ahead and make mine now.

If I see them later, and find them worthy of the list, I will add them accordingly.

10. Rent - A very well-made stage-to-screen film with a wonderful if mostly-unknown cast. The beginning of the third act seems a little slow, but when it picks up, it picks up with a bang. One of the year's biggest tearjerkers, and regardless of what some naysayers have said, its message remains poignant even today.

9. Batman Begins - Christopher Nolan revives the franchise Schumacher killed, and gives it an almost film noir feel. An excellent, A-List cast, a great story that's far ahead of any other comic book film in the past decade, Batman Begins a dramatic, suspenseful, and exciting study of fear.

8. The Constant Gardener - A political thriller that doesn't fall into propaganda. It was also everything the Interpreter was trying to be. It had a great cast, genuine thrills and excellent direction.

7. Good Night, and Good Luck. - Say what you will about George Clooney's abilities as an actor... Ok, he's actually a pretty good actor. But his ability to act is far exceeded by his ability to direct. And it's a great story to boot.

6. Crash - A tragic and realistic look at racism and stereotypes, beautifully shot and wonderfully acted... It also has two of the most memorable scenes in contemporary cinema.

5. Sin City - Up until December 2005, this was #1 on my list. Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller found a way to make film noir markettable while not compromising its integrity. The most enjoyable movie of the year, and one of the most enjoyable movies this decade.

4. Match Point - Woody Allen's been treading the all-too-familiar romantic comedy waters far too long. As of late, his movies have been unsatisfactory. So what does he do? He makes a Hitchcockian suspense/drama... And it works! Everything in the movie is so simple, and the ending is so satisfyingly disturbing, you can't help but love it. I hope Scarlett Johansson wins for this one- she deserves it.

3. King Kong - When you remake a classic, you have to be careful not to destroy it with your version. Fucking Peter Jackson had to go and improve upon it. By adding more depth to the story, knock-out action sequences, and really good special effects - not to mention a fine ensemble cast and even some tearjerking moments, he has created the first remake ever to also be considered a classic.

2. Brokeback Mountain - I seriously considered giving this the #1 spot, but there was another movie I couldn't deny it to. But consider this a very, very, very close second. Very. A film about two men hiding their love for one another because their society would not accept it. All the actors give impressive performances, the scenery was amazing, and overall, the movie was nicely shot. It deserves every word of praise it has received.

1. Munich - This was a difficult decision, and I had to allow my bias towards my favorite film director to be the tiebreaker. I couldn't get enough of this movie. Spielberg does try hard not to step on anyone's toes, but he still makes an exciting film, which is also his best work since Saving Private Ryan. Here's hoping this wins Spielberg a third Oscar. Or if not, at least a nomination.

[Quorthon]

iamthesmitty said:

3. King Kong - When you remake a classic, you have to be careful not to destroy it with your version. Fucking Peter Jackson had to go and improve upon it. By adding more depth to the story, knock-out action sequences, and really good special effects - not to mention a fine ensemble cast and even some tearjerking moments, he has created the first remake ever to also be considered a classic.

There have been plenty of remakes that were damn near instant classics--and are classics now. Cronenberg's The Fly, DePalma's Scarface (that was DePalma, right?), Carpenter's The Thing.

At any rate, I guess I'll muster up my top 10:

1. Batman Begins (pretty much tied with Sin City)
2. Sin City (pretty much tied with Batman)
3. History of Violence (The rare release meant for people older than 13)
4. 40 Year Old Virgin (tons of fun, that's all)
5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Best remake of the year)
6. Land of the Dead (first real zombie movie to get a theatrical release in ages--only needed to be longer and with less CG)
7. Star Wars: Episode III: Boba Fett Kicks Jar Jar in the Balls (stiff acting, 90% of the action was great, just not that awful opening space battle)
8. King Kong (two minor improvements, still not better than the 1933 version, Kong a little too emotional, below average CG)
9. War of the Worlds (With only the ending did I have a problem)
10. Unleashed/Derailed (both fun, but with their share of problems)

Unfortunately, I missed Constant Gardener, which I really wanted to see, and I missed Good Night and Good Luck as well as Munich. Those are the only three likely to shake up that list and bump Unleashed and Derailed.

Uh, Smitty, Crash is a 2004 film.

[ZapRowsdower]

IMDb only cites Crash as a 2004 film because it was shown at the Toronto Film Festival in November 2004. It wasn't released for public viewing until May 2005.

In fact, it's up for 2 Golden Globe nominations this year: Best Supporting Actor (Matt Dillon) and Best Screenplay (Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco).

That makes it 2005 enough for me.

[Quorthon]

iamthesmitty said:

IMDb only cites Crash as a 2004 film because it was shown at the Toronto Film Festival in November 2004. It wasn't released for public viewing until May 2005.

In fact, it's up for 2 Golden Globe nominations this year: Best Supporting Actor (Matt Dillon) and Best Screenplay (Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco).

That makes it 2005 enough for me.

Alrighty then.

[Pulpmariachi]

Had to make an edit to mine. Goodbye Jarhead, hello The Constant Gardener.