BEST FILMS OF 2005!!!

Yeah, I know we're like a week into 2006, but I never got around to doing this earlier, so shut it.

In no particular order...


BATMAN BEGINS

Don't kid yourself. This isn't just a "Good Comic Book Movie" it's a good MOVIE on it's own. I knew with the terrific cast and Christopher Nolan at the helm that it had pretty good chances of being decent, but I wasn't prepared for the first half of the movie SETTING UP Bruce Wayne as Batman and the and the second half KICKING MY ASS! I still admit to cheering when the Batmobile flew over the bridge just as the cops are telling Gordon "There's no one left to send in there!" C'mon, don't act like you're too good to love this film. It made me feel like a kid again and set up the idea of a man in a bat costume who fights crime as something that not only could happen...but wouldn't come off as laughable.


SIN CITY

No, they're not ALL going to be comic book movies...I swear! But both this and Batman proved that when done correctly, you can make some awesome films based off a graphic novel! This one at first was my favorite based mostly on the visual style. You've never seen blacks this dark and whites this bright in the same frame before...god damn, it's a thing of beauty! But after re-watching the DVD recently (the double disc, not the shitty single one) and have the ability to watch each story on it's own...I must admit that the stories themselves hold up very nicely as well! All in all, an amazing feat and one of the best adaptations we're likely to ever see on the big screen. Frame by frame, this IS Sin City!


JARHEAD

This is the Seinfeld of war movies. It's truly about nothing. No big battle sceens, no happy ending, no feeling that much got accomplished. And the worst is the fact that they didn't get to KILL anybody! That's basically the point. You take these guys, train them to kill, to want the kill so badly they can taste it...and then when the war comes, you send in tanks and fighter jets and let missles win the damn thing for you instead. The movie follows a sniper who never gets his chance to prove himself. And really showed war in a different light. The day to day monotony that creeps under your skin after being in the desert for three months. The constant fear that your gilrfriend back home is fucking someone else. The boredom, the heat, the media, the heat, the sand...it was such a refreshing look at what goes on behind the sceens.


MURDERBALL

Fuck the penguins...this is the best documentary of the year! A look into the lives of paraplegic rugby players on their quest to defeat those damn Candians in the Olympics! Best of all, these aren't the "woe is me" handicaped people you are used to seeing. Most of these guys were daring and dangerous and were in motorcross accidents or car wrecks and want to know as soon as they wake up after surgery if they'll ever be able to masterbate again! It also has one of the greatest villians to grace the screen in movie history. The coach of the Canada team who used to be a USA Olympic champion. Great stuff!


SYRIANA

Not the easiest movie to follow along with, but god damn did it have some powerful scenes. The plot is similar to TRAFFIC in that there are 10 different plots going on at the same time, in different parts of the world, all connected to oil and the Middle East. George Clooney owns this film and the scene with him and the Oil Executive pictured above is one of the best scenes of the year. Clooney is the master and is behind two of my favorite films of the year.


MILLIONS

Heartfelt and genuine. Danny Boyle's latest film is good enough that I didn't mind it didn't have any zombies in it. I fucking cried at the end, okay...that's how much I got attached to this film. It's rated like G or something and totally a children's film, but deals with grown-up decisions and the idea that if we had the power to change things for the better, would we use it...or just buy a new speedboat?! Fuck you for judging me, I love this film.


WALK THE LINE

To be honest, I didn't really want to see this in the theaters. I figured it was going to be "okay" and seemed like something I'd put on my Blockbuster account in a few months. Besides, it was Molly's turn to pick a film and she wanted to see Harry Potter! So we drive to the theater and Harry Potter is sold out...on a Wednesday afternoon?! Stupid kids and their holiday breaks. So we see this instead. I'm beyond glad we did, cause I would put this in my top three films of 2005! The love between Johnny and June couldn't be stopped. They meet right after he signs his record deal. He's married and has three kids and has to leave them behind to go off on tour. June's skirt gets caught on his guitar backstage and they instantly see something in each other's eyes. Something deep, something real. She's married too and so they fight their temptation. Over ten years pass, Johnny can't live without her. He waits and waits. Asks for her to marry him like 20 different times. And finally, after his divorce and her three divorces, they give into each other and live the rest of their lives as if they were the only two people in the universe. Just a beautiful love story. Oh...and the music is fucking awesome!


MUNICH

My second pick for best film of the year is right here. Spielberg has simply outdone himself. Truly one of his best films. The tension, the characters, the camerawork, this is like the greatest James Bond movie that will never be made. I loved every second of it, even the fake scene of them talking to PLO members...It's easily one of the best films both in terms of enjoyment and meaningfulness. You leave wanting to find out so much more about the entire conflict. And a newfound understanding of how deeply grey the notion of "terrorism" really is.


GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK

Hands down, my favorite film of the entire year. Perfect, simply perfect. Nothing could be added or taken away from it, George Clooney deserves a blank check at Warner Brothers to create whatever type of motion picture he feels like. He's earned it. Actors aren't supposed to make films so powerful, so unique, so timeless that it will still be relevent 50 years from now and would've have been fitting 50 years ago as well. I cannot tell you enough how much I loved this film. Here's to the Oscars doing some justice and at LEAST nominating it. In a year of giant blockbusters and sequels we didn't need, a black and white PG art film made the top of my list. Who would've guessed?!

And now, here's some other lists...

FILMS I WISHED I WOULD'VE SEEN (or still need to) THAT WOULD PROBABLY CHANGE MY LIST...
-THE ARISTOCRATS
-BROKEBACK MOUTAIN
-CAPOTE
-2046
-BROKEN FLOWERS
-THE SQUID AND THE WHALE
-JESUS IS MAGIC

OVERHYPED MOVIE OF THE YEAR
-HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Seriously, this is on waaaaaaay too many Top Ten lists out there. I saw it, and yeah, it was good. But c'mon, the dialouge was laughable at times and the entire subplot with his son and the bully was something out of a after-school special. I liked it, but in no way thought it was as good as everyone is making it out to be.

SHOULD'VE BEEN TWO MOVIES
-HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
Didn't read the book, but I could totally tell they left out WAY too much information. It was 3 hours and felt like it was a Cliff Notes version of a larger story. They had the idea to make it into two films and should've had the balls to follow through with it.

SHOULD'VE BEEN AN HOUR AND 1/2
-KING KONG
Leave the entire part where they're on the island, and cut the fuck out of the beginning and ending. So many things go absolutely nowehere and for fuck's sake, it's KING KONG...not Citizen Kane. Not everything needs to be 3 hours Peter Jackson! Someone give the man a memo...

MOVIE THAT WAS MUUUUUCH BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE
-MR. AND MRS. SMITH
Smart, entertaining and um...hottest couple ever. I had to take two showers to calm down after watching that. What did I say about judging me?!