My Picks For Top 10 Films Of 2005
My Picks For Top 10 Films Of 2005
My Picks For Top 10 Films Of 2005#0
Posted: 2/19/06 at 12:22pm
I know I'm kind of late with this list, but that's only because it was amazingly difficult to find time in order to see Match Point. So here we go:
1) SYRIANA - A film for our time. Easily the most ambitious, risk-taking narrative of 2005, Syriana enthralls due to the effortless way it manages to juggle hundreds of characters, a large number of interrellated storylines, and several weighty themes. They could have so easily come crashing down, but no. Director Stephen Gaghan has a sure hand when it comes to things like this (He wrote TRAFFIC) and, as a result, has created the best film of 2005
2) BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN - One of the great screen romances with a backdrop of absolutely stunning, jaw-dropping cinematography. If this wins Best Picture (Which it will), it will be the first time in many many years where the right film was justly rewarded.
3) ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW - A funny, sweet, and strange odyssey of love, connections, and innocence that announces Miranda July as the first new original voice in cinema for quite some time. Her dialogue is incredible.
4) A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE - Cronenberg's most accessible film nevertheless still displays his talent for exhilirating scenes of gore (Gotta love that scene in the diner), dark and foreboding atmospheres, and psychological complexity. One of the most entertaining movies of the year and easily Cronenberg's best film since CRASH.
5) THE CONSTANT GARDENER - A roiling political thriller, seething with anger, that pretty much confirms Fernando Mereilles as a director of weight and skill who can rival the best of them. Best Acting Moment Of 2005: Ralph Fiennes' reaction to a family tragedy near the beginning of the film.
6) BROKEN FLOWERS - An exercise in minimalism about an aging sad sack (Bill Murray) turns into a poignant, funny, and introspective journey through the past. I have to say that I was a bit dissappointed with it the first time I saw it, writing it off as a "pseudo-sequel to Lost in Translation.") Over time, however, it grew on me as I realized Jim Jarmusch's true intent. The fact that both Jarmusch and Murray are able to extract so much out of so little is rather incredible.
7) BATMAN BEGINS - This is the superhero movie that needed to be made. Going deeper into the mind of its masked character than any other previous film incantation, Batman Begins is an amazing rebirth to a franchise that nearly self-destructed in 1997. And for Christopher Nolan, he makes a film that easily tops his work with MEMENTO.
8 ) PALINDROMES - To call it simply about the abortion debate unfairly simplifies it. Palindromes is a surreal journey with a small girl named Aviva (Played by several different actresses ranging in age, race, and even gender) who runs away from home after a botched abortion. Solondz has never been better...or more disturbing.
9) SIN CITY - Easily one of the most visually beautiful films I've ever seen, tying its incredible sense of style to a ridiculously entertaining graphic-novel narrative about guns, drugs, and dames. What more could a comic-book fan want?
10) MATCH POINT - Woody Allen's best film since EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU. A Dostoyevsky-references-laden study of human nature finally culminating in tragedy. Who knew Woody still had it in him?
HONORABLE MENTIONS: THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, MUNICH, THE FEARLESS FREAKS: THE WONDROUSLY IMPROBABLE STORY OF THE FLAMING LIPS, JARHEAD, CAPOTE, and CRASH
Updated On: 2/19/06 at 12:22 PM
re: My Picks For Top 10 Films Of 2005#1
Posted: 2/19/06 at 12:28pmThe 40 Year Old Virgin? Really? I hated it.
re: My Picks For Top 10 Films Of 2005#2
Posted: 2/19/06 at 12:30pm
dude--there are two threads on this already. 
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