Top ten list of 2005

[99-1100896887]

Wes, Both Hollenden's story as well as the story of the secret marriage were necessary in GNGL,to illustrate represent the average person's dilemma in the age of HUAC:
a) Hollenden: His character's ex-wife was a "pinko", and he knew he would be outed. He was one of many hundreds of people who committed suicide knowing they were going to be named by HUAC. He represents that group of professionals and those in government, as well as the films: there was a star in the forties who had leftist leanings, and he committed suicide. Was It John Payne?
b) As you remember, CBS staff were not supposed to be married to one another. This was a fifties conceit in many businesses and profession, and as necessary to show that, even within "liberal" CBS, there were unfair practices.
GNGL remains my top choice for Best Film of 2005.

[Heksagon]

I updated my list below as well. I remain disappointed in the quality of films this year. Good Night, and Good Luck is my choice for the best film of the year, although it isn’t quite as good as "the best of the year" should be.

[OscarGuy]

Third time's the charm, I hope.

Anyway, saw Good Night, and Good Luck the other night. Fantastic movie if not for ONE thing (it is irritating enough for me to drop the film's rating to *** 1/2). The script allows too much indulgence for characters that are immaterial to the plot. Patricia Clarkson and Robert Downey Jr. play the secretly married couple. They have no actual narrative purpose except to drag the length to one and a half hour. Even the Hollenbeck storyline ties into the overall plot, though does seem "tacked on".

I like the "You are there" feel and Strathairn is damned good (though still second to Ledger for the year's best performance).

[dws1982]

I'm not exactly finished with 2005, but I'm close enough that I can post a list.

****
1. The New World (Terrence Malick)
2. The Best of Youth (Marco Tullio Giordana)
3. Munich (Steven Spielberg)

*** ½
4. The Beat That My Heart Skipped (Jacques Audiard)
5. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Tommy Lee Jones)
6. Cache (Michael Haneke)
7. The White Diamond (Werner Herzog)
8. Millions (Danny Boyle)
9. Muderball (Henry Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro)
10. Kings and Queen (Arnaud Depleschin)
11. Good Night, And Good Luck (George Clooney)
12. Sometimes In April (Raoul Peck)
13. Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel)
14. Lackawanna Blues (George C. Wolfe)
15. Yesterday (Darrell Roodt)

***
16. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Bambauch)
17. Junebug (Phil Morrison)
18. Match Point (Woody Allen)
19. Land of the Dead (George Romero)
20. Forty Shades of Blue (Ira Sachs)
21. Keane (Lodge Kerrigan)
22. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (Andrew Adamson)
23. Rory O’Shea Was Here (Damien O’Donnell)
24. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg)
25. Walk The Line (James Mangold)
26. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
27. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ken Kwapis)
28. Nobody Knows (Hirokazu Koreeda)
29. The Constant Gardener (Fernando Merielles)
30. Off The Map (Campbell Scott)

** ½
31. The Forty Year-Old Virgin (Judd Apatow)
32. 2046 (Wong Kar-Wai)
33. Fever Pitch (Peter and Bobby Farelley)
34. Mrs. Henderson Presents (Stephen Frears)
35. The Upside of Anger (Mike Binder)
36. Kingdom of Heaven - Theatrical Cut (Ridley Scott)
37. Crash (Paul Haggis)
38. War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg)
39. Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan)
40. Lords of Dogtown (Katherine Hardwicke)
41. Hustle & Flow (Craig Brewer)
42. Assault on Precinct 13 (Jean-Francois Richet)
43. Pride and Prejudice (Joe Wright)
44. The Skeleton Key (Iain Softley)

**
45. Sin City (Robert Rodriguez)
46. The Interpreter (Sydney Pollack)
47. Cinderella Man (Ron Howard)
48. Capote (Bennett Miller)
49. Yes (Sally Potter)
50. Kicking and Screaming (Jesse Dylan)
51. Robots (Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldahna)
52. Pretty Persuasion (Marcos Siega)
53. North Country (Niki Caro)

* ½
54. Monster-In-Law (Robert Luketic)
55. Madagascar (Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath)
56. The Ring Two (Hideo Nakata)

*
54. Must Love Dogs (Gary David Goldberg)

[99-1100896887]

Unless I missed it: I haven't seen anyone remark on the hilarious British film Tristram Shandy. What a treat! Hilarious, fast-paced,the way Altmanmn uses dialogue, great in its approach to flashbacks, flash-forwards etc. I am ashamed I have not read the book, but I will ASAP, then watch the film again; I think I missed many of the jokes because I have not read it. Even then, I would place it in my top ten of the year.

[Precious Doll]

Updated list....

1. Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki)
2. Palindromes (Todd Solondz)
3. The Sun (Aleksandr Sokurov)
4. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
5. Battle in Heaven (Carlos Reygadas)
6. Hidden (Michael Haneke)
7. The Child (Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne)
8. Sisters in Law (Kim Longinotte & Florence Ayisi)
9. Time to Leave (Francois Ozon)
10.Loggerheads (Tim Kirkman)

[criddic3]

I tried to rent Best of Youth months ago on Blockbuster Online, but it was difficult due to part 2 being available before part 1. So, I've yet to see it myself.

[Mister Tee]

Just wanted to thank BJ (and others, starting with Sabin, a year ago) for so relentlessly plugging The Best of Youth that I overcame my resistance to the daunting-ness of six-hours-of-subtitles and rented it last week.

What a pleasure. An absolutely effortless watch -- I honestly felt, at the end of the road, sorry to see it come to an end. This isn't to say I thought it absolutely flawless -- there was a bit too much wish-fulfillment in the final reels, with no one on either side having the slightest problem with Matteo's offspring, and the younger generation (Sarah and Andrea) seemingly finding perfect soul-mates at very early ages (Matteo's inability to integrate rang a bit closer to my own early life experience). But this is a small matter compared to the joy of watching a hugely conceived and mostly successful epic of the human experience --a tribute to the positive possibilities of extended family.

Anyone else out there still put off by the length, I urge you to rent it soon. (Though count on watching in segments: the "One-day-rental sticker" on my copy made me laugh out loud)

[Heksagon]

I finally saw Capote, and now that I’ve seen all best picture nominees, it might be a good time to update my "top ten" list, although I still have a number of films unseen, e.g. Walk the Line, New World and Hidden.

2005 has actually been a pretty disappointing year. I’ve been doing these lists since 2000 or 2001, and this is the first time when there hasn’t been a single four-star film the whole year (although I’m considering about upgrading GNGL and/or Brokeback). Also, for the first time, my top ten list reaches into 2½-star films, although this is subject to future changes, too.

***½

1. Good Night, and Good Luck
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. A History of Violence
4. The Best of Youth
5. Howl’s Moving Castle

***

6. Mysterious Skin
7. Hidden <added>
8. Oldboy

**½

9. Sin City
10. Downfall <downgraded>
11. Munich
12. The Squid and the Whale <added>
13. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
14. Lords of Dogtown
15. Capote <moved down>
16. 2046 <move down>
17. The New World <added>
18. Kings and Queen

**

19. War of the Worlds
20. The Land of the Dead
21. Murderball
22. Jarhead
23. The Family Stone <added>
24. Kung Fu Hustle <moved up>
25. Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
26. Lord of War <moved up>

*½

27. The Constant Gardener
28. Crash
29. King Kong
30. 40-Year Old Virgin
31. Cinderella Man
32. Hustle & Flow
33. The Chronicles of Narnia: Lion, Witch & Wardrobe
34. Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic <added>
35. Syriana
36. The Brothers Grimm

*

37. North Country <moved up>
38. Red Eye
39. Millions <added>
40. Walk the Line <added>
41. Broken Flowers
42. Me and You and Everyone We Know
43. Corpse Bride
44. In Her Shoes

½

45. Doom <added>
46. Junebug
47. Batman Begins
48. Transamerica
49. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants <upgraded>
50. The March of the Penguins

zero stars

51. Mrs. Henderson Presents <added>
52. The Devil’s Rejects
53. Memoirs of a Geisha
54. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
55. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
56. Kingdom of Heaven
57. Wedding Crashers

[Precious Doll]

I've finally seen enough films from 2005 worthy of a top ten placement. Selection based on premiere release in country of origin, not US release date:

1. Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki)
2. Palindromes (Todd Solondz)
3. The Sun (Aleksandr Sokurov)
4. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
5. The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles)
6. Sisters in Law (Kim Longinotto & Florence Ayisi)
7. The Child (Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne)
8. Time to Leave (Francois Ozon)
9. Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog)
10. The Last Mitterand (Robert Guediguian)

[Damien]

4 Stars:
none
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
3½ Stars:

1. Millions (Danny Boyle)
2. Tony Takitani (Jun Ichikawa)
3. Goodnight, And Good Luck (George Clooney)
4. Happy Endings (Don Roos)
5. 2046 (Wong Kar Wei)
6. The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles)
7. The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (Andrew Adamson)
8. Caterina Full Of Grace (Paolo Virzi)
9. Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki)
10. Syriana (Stephen Gaghan)
11. The Upside Of Anger (Mike Binder)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
3 Stars:

12. Transamerica (Duncan Tucker)
13. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
14. Assault On Precinct 13 (Jean-François Richet)
15. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
16. A History Of Violence (David Cronenberg)
17. Lords Of Dogtown (Catherine Hardwicke)
18. Mrs. Henderson Presents (Stephen Frears)
19. The New World (Terrence Malick)
20. Match Point (Woody Allen)
21. Walk The Line (James Mangold)
22. The Dying Gaul (Craig Lucas)
23. Turtles Can Fly (Bahman Ghobadi)
24. Look At Me (Agnès Jaoui)
25. The World (Zhang Ke Jia)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
2 ½ Stars:

26. Les Choristes (Christophe Barratier)
27. Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan)
28. The Holy Girl (Lucrecia Martel)
29. Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel)
30. The Squid And The Whale (Noah Baumbach)
31. Crash (Paul Haggis)
32. Hustle & Flow (Craig Brewer)
33. Dark Water (Walter Salles)
34. In My Country (John Boorman)
35. Fever Pitch (Peter and Bobby Farrelly)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
2 Stars:

36. Munich (Steven Spielberg)
37. Capote (Bennett Miller)
38. North Country (Niki Caro)
39. In Her Shoes (Curtis Hanson)
40. 5 X 2 (François Ozon)
42. Broken Flowers (Jim Jarmusch)
43. War Of The Worlds (Steven Spielberg)
44. A Tout de Suite (Benoit Jacquot)
45. The Beat My Heart Skipped (Jacques Audiard)
46. Saraband (Ingmar Bergman)
47. Me And You And Everyone We Know (Melinda July)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1 ½ Stars:

48. Junebug (Phil Morrison)
49. March Of The Penquins (Luc Jaaquet)
50. The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (Scott Derrickson)

[dylanfan23]

I thought he dropped the ball with both gattaca and simone....but both were interesting for a little while....but his writing of the truman show was wonderful, great script. And Lord of War is also good writing, and he keeps the story together for the most part....i look forward to what he decides to do next...he's got a good open mind, no telling what he'll write about next.

[criddic3]

I thought Lord of War was excellent. Jared Leto was surprisingly good. Andrew Niccol has a pretty good track record so far....writing/directing Gattaca, writing Truman Show and writing/directing Lord of War.

[dylanfan23]

Has anyone but one other person besides myself seen Lord of War? I notice that out of all you guys that list all your films, only one has it down....I don't know why i noticed that, but i saw a commercial for the video and decided to look at what you all thought. I thought it was a pretty good film, much better then average. Good performances by cage and leto and a plot that really kept me interested and intrigued. Definately a film worth seeing, surprised it wasn't seen by more people here.

[MovieWes]

01. Downfall (d. Oliver Hirschbiegel) ****
02. Pride & Prejudice (d. Joe Wright) ****
03. A History of Violence (d. David Cronenberg) ****
04. Brokeback Mountain (d. Ang Lee) ****
05. March of the Penguins (d. Luc Jacquet) *** ½
06. The Constant Gardener (d. Fernando Meirelles) *** ½
07. King Kong (d. Peter Jackson) *** ½
08. Capote (d. Bennett Miller) *** ½
09. Good Night, and Good Luck. (d. George Clooney) *** ½
10. Munich (d. Steven Spielberg) *** ½
11. Batman Begins (d. Christopher Nolan) *** ½
12. Syriana (d. Stephen Gaghan) ***
13. Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (d. Tim Burton) ***
14. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (d. Mike Newell) ***
15. Red Eye (d. Wes Craven) ***
16. Wedding Crashers (d. David Dobkin) ***
17. War of the Worlds (d. Steven Spielberg) ***
18. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (d. Andrew Adamson) ***
19. Crash (d. Paul Haggis) ***
20. Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith (d. George Lucas) ***
21. George A. Romero's Land of the Dead (d. George A. Romero) ***
22. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (d. Tommy Lee Jones) ***
23. Mrs. Henderson Presents (d. Stephen Frears) ** ½
24. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (d. Judd Apatow) ** ½
25. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (d. Garth Jennings) ** ½
26. Kingdom of Heaven (d. Ridley Scott) ** ½
27. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (d. Tim Burton) ** ½
28. Sin City (d. Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller) ** ½
29. Hitch (d. Andy Tennant) ** ½
30. Serenity (d. Joss Whedon) ** ½
31. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (d. Doug Liman) **
32. Chicken Little (d. Mark Dindal) **
33. The Jacket (d. John Maybury) **
34. Cinderella Man (d. Ron Howard) **
35. Protocols of Zion (d. Marc Levin) **
36. Constantine (d. Francis Lawrence) **
37. Bewitched (d. Nora Ephron) **
38. Be Cool (d. F. Gary Gray) **
39. Robots (d. Chris Wedge) * ½
40. Kicking and Screaming (d. Jesse Dylan) * ½
41. Madagascar (d. Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath) *
42. Prime (d. Ben Younger) ½ *
43. Rumor Has It... (d. Rob Reiner) BOMB
44. Monster-in-Law (d. Robert Luketic) BOMB
45. House of Wax (d. Jaume Collet-Serra) BOMB