Time for the Best of 2005 Movie List! Yeah!
All right, I have a huge problem picking the year-end “Best of Whatever” lists, but for some reason I feel compelled to do it anyway. So here is my list of the top ten (plus one) movies of 2005, with accompanying excuses.
Usurpation of Cronenberg?
The New World
All right, not the best movie of the year, and I don't see why it should be on the 2005 list at all since it was only open in New York for like 2 minutes during 2005... But it's my favorite movie of the year, and don't be surprised if it heads my best of 2006 list as well.
A History of Violence – Easily the #1 movie of the year. Even if David Cronenberg directed a movie that was a steaming pile of shit, I would name it the best movie of the year. I’m just that devoted! But incidentally, A History of Violence is not a steaming pile of shit. It’s pretty much the opposite of that.
Munich
My favorite Spielberg movie of recent memory. It's really quite good. I intended to see it in the theater again, but I keep watching The New World instead.
Brokeback Mountain – I never was a fan of gay cowboys before. I guess I’m still not. But I am a fan of this movie, even though Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal cannot be convincingly aged to look older than 26. And who would have guessed that Heath Ledger was actually awesome? Not me.
Brick – OK, this movie wasn’t released in 2005. It may never be released. That’s what you get for making obtuse independent movies. But I found this movie intriguing and experimental enough to include it on my list. And it’s got a great, tense climactic scene that is just spectacular.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance – Truffaut said something along the lines of “Every war movie is a pro-war movie,” because war movies inherently glamorize war. Jonathan Rosenbaum made the obvious deduction from this statement and said something along the lines of “Every war movie can be either a pro-war movie or an anti-war movie depending on who’s watching it.” I think the same applies to revenge movies. Watch this movie and discuss it with me later. And I’m sorry I’m too lazy to look up the exact quotes.
Me and You and Everyone We Know – A tad precious, but not in the way that makes me want to barf. It was really well-filmed, and that little kid should win a Kiddie Oscar!
Save the Green Planet! – OK, along with the other two Korean movies on this list, it technically wasn’t released in 2005. But it opened in Chicago for the first time in 2005, so here it is on my list. And why are the only three foreign films on my list Korean films? I have no idea.
Batman Begins – Best action movie of the year, and most miraculous recovery of hotness by a hot leading man (Christian Bale, after The Machinist).
Mysterious Skin – This movie has its goofball moments, but also has some of the most powerful scenes filmed in recent memory.
The Interpreter – Favorite straight-up Hollywood movie of the year. I don’t care what anyone else says, I thought this movie was great. It was filmed more in the style of 70s thrillers (slow-building tension with very little action – but when the action happens, it’s worth the wait). I’m sick of seeing an explosion every 1.5 seconds.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Best comedy of the year, and cutest movie to boot.
Oldboy – See comments for Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance above. Probably the most visually stunning movie I’ve seen in recent memory.
Of course I’m leaving out the movies I haven’t seen (a miserable 65 in the theater this year). So, the movie I haven’t seen yet, but seem to be popping up on Best-Of lists everywhere:
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana
The New World
Caché
I have especially high hopes for The New World. Terrence Malick rocks, and I get to see Christian Bale on the big screen again. So I may revise this list later.
Usurpation of Cronenberg?
The New World
All right, not the best movie of the year, and I don't see why it should be on the 2005 list at all since it was only open in New York for like 2 minutes during 2005... But it's my favorite movie of the year, and don't be surprised if it heads my best of 2006 list as well.
A History of Violence – Easily the #1 movie of the year. Even if David Cronenberg directed a movie that was a steaming pile of shit, I would name it the best movie of the year. I’m just that devoted! But incidentally, A History of Violence is not a steaming pile of shit. It’s pretty much the opposite of that.
Munich
My favorite Spielberg movie of recent memory. It's really quite good. I intended to see it in the theater again, but I keep watching The New World instead.
Brokeback Mountain – I never was a fan of gay cowboys before. I guess I’m still not. But I am a fan of this movie, even though Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal cannot be convincingly aged to look older than 26. And who would have guessed that Heath Ledger was actually awesome? Not me.
Brick – OK, this movie wasn’t released in 2005. It may never be released. That’s what you get for making obtuse independent movies. But I found this movie intriguing and experimental enough to include it on my list. And it’s got a great, tense climactic scene that is just spectacular.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance – Truffaut said something along the lines of “Every war movie is a pro-war movie,” because war movies inherently glamorize war. Jonathan Rosenbaum made the obvious deduction from this statement and said something along the lines of “Every war movie can be either a pro-war movie or an anti-war movie depending on who’s watching it.” I think the same applies to revenge movies. Watch this movie and discuss it with me later. And I’m sorry I’m too lazy to look up the exact quotes.
Me and You and Everyone We Know – A tad precious, but not in the way that makes me want to barf. It was really well-filmed, and that little kid should win a Kiddie Oscar!
Save the Green Planet! – OK, along with the other two Korean movies on this list, it technically wasn’t released in 2005. But it opened in Chicago for the first time in 2005, so here it is on my list. And why are the only three foreign films on my list Korean films? I have no idea.
Batman Begins – Best action movie of the year, and most miraculous recovery of hotness by a hot leading man (Christian Bale, after The Machinist).
Mysterious Skin – This movie has its goofball moments, but also has some of the most powerful scenes filmed in recent memory.
The Interpreter – Favorite straight-up Hollywood movie of the year. I don’t care what anyone else says, I thought this movie was great. It was filmed more in the style of 70s thrillers (slow-building tension with very little action – but when the action happens, it’s worth the wait). I’m sick of seeing an explosion every 1.5 seconds.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Best comedy of the year, and cutest movie to boot.
Oldboy – See comments for Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance above. Probably the most visually stunning movie I’ve seen in recent memory.
Of course I’m leaving out the movies I haven’t seen (a miserable 65 in the theater this year). So, the movie I haven’t seen yet, but seem to be popping up on Best-Of lists everywhere:
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana
The New World
Caché
I have especially high hopes for The New World. Terrence Malick rocks, and I get to see Christian Bale on the big screen again. So I may revise this list later.
posted by ginsoakedgirl at 2:43 PM
3 Comments:
This isn't a bad list, actually. We even have 2 or 3 films in common (or would, if I'd made a list.) I think I'll make a Worst 10 List 'cause that's bound to be easier!
See, now this just makes me feel pathetic because I've only seen like 15 movies in the theater this year, so my ten best/ten worst would overlap by half. Sad, sad, sad.
More pictures now... it's better, right?
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