Top ten list of 2005

[Penelope]

I guess I'll update mine as well.

Oh, count me as a dessenting vote in the Amy Adams lovefest; She's the least impressive in the frustrating Junebug (best performance in the film, shockingly, is provided by Ben McKenzie)--indeed, since BJ described William Hurt in History of Violence as a cartoon, I daresay the same description applies to Adams' one-note, amateur performance (hell, she was better as Debra Messing's slutty sister in The Wedding Date).


1. Downfall – *** ½
2. Mysterious Skin – *** ½
3. A History of Violence – *** ½
4. Gunner Palace – *** ½

5. Happy Endings – ***
6. Look at Me – ***
7. Walk on Water – ***
8. Lords of Dogtown – ***
9. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – ***
10. Me and You and Everyone We Know – ***
11. In Her Shoes – ***
12. March of the Penguins – ***
13. Wedding Crashers – ***
14. The Upside of Anger – ***
15. Hustle & Flow – ***
16. Red Eye – ***

17. Proof – ** ½
18. Junebug – ** ½
19. Roll Bounce – ** ½
20. The Skeleton Key – ** ½
21. Fever Pitch – ** ½
22. The Brothers Grimm – ** ½
23. The Constant Gardener – ** ½
24. Mad Hot Ballroom – ** ½
25. Saving Face – ** ½
26. Sahara – ** ½
27. Crash – ** ½
28. Broken Flowers – ** ½
29. Mr. And Mrs. Smith – ** ½
30. The Interpreter – ** ½
31. Constantine – ** ½
32. Bad News Bears – ** ½
33. Fantastic Four – ** ½
34. Batman Begins – ** ½
35. The Island – ** ½
36. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – ** ½
37. Monster-in-Law – ** ½

38. An Unfinished Life – **
39. The 40 Year-Old Virgin – **
40. Must Love Dogs – **
41. Cinderella Man – **
42. Kingdom of Heaven – **
43. Millions – **
44. Hitch – **
45. The Wedding Date – **

46. Flightplan – * ½
47. Bride & Prejudice – * ½

[Sabin]

Although I've seen only two movies since my last update in August, it feels like a different list now. I'll be hopefully adding to this list as the Chicago Film Festival continues.


****
1. A History of Violence
2. The Best of Youth
3. The Ballad of Jack and Rose

***1/2
4. The Squid and the Whale
5. Junebug
6. Tropical Malady
7. Look at Me

***
8. Mysterious Skin
9. Me and You and Everybody We Know
10. Batman Begins
11. The Constant Gardener
12. Wedding Crashers
13. 2046
14. Broken Flowers
15. Cinderella Man

**1/2
16. The 40 Year Old Virgin
17. War of the Worlds
18. Crash
19. Sin City
20. Happy Endings

**
21. Fever Pitch
22. Constantine

*1/2
23. Fantastic Four
24. Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith

[criddic3]

Updated List moved to front page.

[Sabin]

I think Wong's latest is one of the most tedious great films I've ever seen; when I didn't love it, I hated it. And there were times when I really felt both. I suppose if you can stomach directorial excess (as I can, and at times am more than happy to -- like when I saw this film), it can be an intermittently triumphant experience. But -- like Sonic said about Broken Flowers -- it feels like there are entire portions that could have been edited out. The entire Black Spider portion after her stunning reveal does nothing to aid the film's glorious mystique, nor really does anything that follows until the final image and credits. But I indulgently dug the poetic misogyny of the science fiction interwoven into the Faye Wong scenes, and much of the Zhang Ziyi "back-and-forth"-ness.

It's an interesting movie in that I was never bored, but rather too busy reflecting on what it represents...even while watching it. "2046" itself is a place where the artist retreats to when he cannot follow up his success or perhaps even see his success for what it really is or means. It's like In the Mood for Love was something Wong arrived at by accident; judging from the backstory rumors, that may have been the case. So the "2046" of 2046 is In the Mood for Love, which he began as a film about two married people who run away together, not those who are left behind. 2046 is dizzyingly self-indulgent, in a good way for me (a self-indulgent film student) but maybe/certainly not for others.

[Eric]

deleted.

[Penelope]

End of summer update, with a few adjustments:


1. Downfall – *** ½
2. Mysterious Skin – *** ½
3. Gunner Palace – *** ½

4. Happy Endings – ***
5. Walk on Water – ***
6. Lords of Dogtown – ***
7. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – ***
8. Me and You and Everyone We Know – ***
9. March of the Penguins – ***
10. Wedding Crashers – ***
11. The Upside of Anger – ***
12. Hustle & Flow – ***
13. Red Eye – ***

14. The Skeleton Key – ** ½
15. Fever Pitch – ** ½
16. The Brothers Grimm – ** ½
17. Mad Hot Ballroom – ** ½
18. Saving Face – ** ½
19. Sahara – ** ½
20. Crash – ** ½
21. Broken Flowers – ** ½
22. Mr. And Mrs. Smith – ** ½
23. The Interpreter – ** ½
24. Constantine – ** ½
25. Bad News Bears – ** ½
26. Fantastic Four – ** ½
27. Batman Begins – ** ½
28. The Island – ** ½
29. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – ** ½
30. Monster-in-Law – ** ½

31. The 40 Year-Old Virgin – **
32. Must Love Dogs – **
33. Cinderella Man – **
34. Kingdom of Heaven – **
35. Millions – **
36. Hitch – **

37. Bride & Prejudice – * ½

[Sabin]

Well, Sonic has a new no.1 and so do I (NOTE: the snake subplot is a little too mechnical for me, so actually I lied; I have a new no.2. That is all.). And I didn't see it coming at all. I thought her first film worked within the limitations of its triple short story-structure but was uneven and at times pretty banal. This is a massive step forward for Rebecca Miller. If only she let other people pick the songs for the film (I love Dylan but be any more obvious?)...

****
1. The Best of Youth
2. The Ballad of Jack and Rose

***1/2
3. Junebug (too many third act problems. I'll see it again. But it's wonderful)
4. Tropical Malady
5. Look at Me

***
6. Mysterious Skin
7. Me and You and Everybody We Know
8. Batman Begins
9. The Constant Gardener
10. Wedding Crashers
11. 2046
12. Broken Flowers
13. Cinderella Man

**1/2
14. The 40 Year Old Virgin
15. War of the Worlds
16. Crash
17. Sin City
18. Happy Endings

**
19. Fever Pitch
20. Constantine

*1/2
21. Fantastic Four
22. Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith



Edited By Sabin on 1126307645

[anonymous1980]

I seem to be the only supporter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in this board. Despite all its flaws, I truly think it's the best mainstream Hollywood film I've seen so far this year.

My Top 5 List (so far)

01. 2046 (Wong Kar-Wai)
02. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Tim Burton)
03. Kung Fu Hustle (Stephen Chow)
04. Pinoy Blonde (Peque Gallaga)
05. Crash (Paul Haggis)

[The Original BJ]

Wrapping up the summer . . .

****
The Best of Youth
Junebug (I'll gladly jump aboard the Oscar band wagon for Amy Adams, she's just magnificent)

***1/2
The Constant Gardener
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Grizzly Man
Howl's Moving Castle
Murderball

***
Broken Flowers
Fever Pitch
Me and You and Everyone We Know

**1/2
Crash
Happy Endings
Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith
2046 (sniffle, it's no In the Mood)
The Upside of Anger
War of the Worlds

**
Batman Begins
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Cinderella Man
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Robots
Sin City

*1/2
Madagascar

[Sonic Youth]

My top thirty, and a new number one:

****
1. Murderball
2. Nobody Knows
3. Mondovino

***1/2
4. Nina's Tragedies
5. Junebug
6. Tropical Malady
7. Broken Flowers
8. Simon

***
9. Kung Fu Hustle
10. Me and You and Everyone We Know
11. Red Eye
12. Howl's Moving Castle
13. Look at Me
14. Downfall
15. Crash
16. Star Wars: Episode III - the Revenge of the Sith
17. The Wedding Crashers
18. Because of Winn-Dixie

**1/2
19. Grizzly Man
20. Mysterious Skin
21. The Beat That My Heart Skipped
22. Fever Pitch
23. Cinderella Man
24. The Brothers' Grimm
25. Mad Hot Ballroom

**
26. The Constant Gardener
27. March of the Penguins
28. Head-On
29. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
30. The World
31. Bride and Prejudice
32. Mr. & Mrs. Smith
33. Oldboy

*1/2
34. 2046

*
35. The Interpreter
36. Melinda and Melinda

1/2
37. Batman Begins

[Cinephile101]

Back in the country. Here's my woefully slow start for the year.

**** stars

*** ½ stars

*** stars
1. Mondovino
2. Land of the Dead
3. My Summer of Love
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
5. Last Days

** ½ stars
6. March of the Penguins
7. The Bad News Bears
8. Head On

** stars
9. Wedding Crashers
10. Nine Songs

* ½ stars

* star

[Penelope]

Latest update before I head out of the country.


1. Downfall – *** ½
2. Gunner Palace – *** ½

3. Walk on Water – ***
4. Lords of Dogtown – ***
5. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – ***

6. The Upside of Anger – ** ½
7. Fever Pitch – ** ½
8. Mad Hot Ballroom – ** ½
9. Saving Face – ** ½
10. Sahara – ** ½
11. Crash – ** ½
12. Mr. And Mrs. Smith – ** ½
13. The Interpreter – ** ½
14. Constantine – ** ½
15. Batman Begins – ** ½
16. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – ** ½
17. Monster-in-Law – ** ½

18. Cinderella Man – **
19. Kingdom of Heaven – **
20. Millions – **
21. Hitch – **

22. Bride & Prejudice – * ½

[Sabin]

I saw Mysterious Skin and Me and You and Everybody We Know. They're both "soft" ***1/2 films IMHO, but strongly affecting and sweetly uplifting experiences respectively. Not much to say on Me and You right now. Maybe I'll see it again and post something. Part of me wants to see The Doom Generation or The Living End or something so I can see how this is the "tender" step forward for Gregg Araki. Mysterious Skin is a harrowing experience and Araki places the viewer completely inside the shoes of the molested that it made me very uncomfortable but rarely exploited. The beginning scenes are laid out very, very well, careful to show both the trauma and pleasure of being inundated into sex at an early age. The mood Araki sets is unique and personable.

I don't know if his screenplay really comes close. You'd have to be pretty dense not to see what's coming or even how it gets there, and the way Araki leaps from Brian to Neil is pretty damn rough. He doesn't want to mix their lives together visually and I'm afraid those black interludes jar more than they help. I'm inclined to say the film isn't quite as strong as Araki would like it to be, but its faults are made up for by Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance which seems like alchemy between director and performer. Araki gets so much mileage from Gordon-Levitt's instantly "gay-conic" Neil that Mysterious Skin works as a fabulous spectacle just watching him posture. The entire ensemble works very well (even Brady Corbett, whose space cadet portrait of asexual development is a muted but still affecting dig), the film is visually interesting throughout, and it's growing more and more on me as time goes on despite initial reservations about it not really being profound. Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be on my Best Actor ballot though.

[rudeboy]

I really need to see Mysterious Skin. Along with that, Me You and Everybody We Know, My Summer of Love, Fear and Trembling, and a James Dean retrospective are playing in the city. Finally! Movies I want to see and no time to see them in.

I've never seen a Greg Araki film. Is this representative of his work, a step forward, or something worth seeing only if you're familiar with his other work.

Oh, its his best film by miles. There's interesting stuff in his earlier work - The Living End, The Doom Generation and Nowhere are lacking in content but just about get by on style. But Mysterious Skin, based on Scott Heim’s superb novel, is a more mature film altogether. It’s remarkably faithful to the source – I really doubted whether Araki could pull it off, given the sensitive subject matter and (necessarily) graphic nature. But he does so, and in an excellent cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt in particular gives a superb performance.

[Sabin]

I really need to see Mysterious Skin. Along with that, Me You and Everybody We Know, My Summer of Love, Fear and Trembling, and a James Dean retrospective are playing in the city. Finally! Movies I want to see and no time to see them in.

I've never seen a Greg Araki film. Is this representative of his work, a step forward, or something worth seeing only if you're familiar with his other work.