Top Ten Movies of 2005

Part 1 (25-11)

We come to Part 2 in our look at the best movies of the year: the top ten. As I've gone on an done about, I had such a hard time with this list, but when it was all said and done, these ten films stood out from the rest (click on the titles for the reviews):

THE TOP TEN FILMS OF 2005

#10 MATCH POINT – I admit; the last few years made me think that Woody Allen had reached the limits of his abilities. After so many different genres throughout his career, the last few years have seemed almost mailed in, that “Woody Allen” kind of film. But Wow. I’ll say it backwards. Wow. I’ll say it upside-down: Mom. More than any other movie on this list, you do not want to know the plot. Just watch and be amazed that you—cynical jaded movie-watcher you—could be so hoodwinked and suckered by the man who still is the Master, when he wants to be.

#9 SYRIANA – To my knowledge no one has come up with what the title means, but perhaps that’s fitting for this complicated movie, where characters, companies, and nations don’t seem to know what’s going on either, in that global demand and pursuit of oil. A densely layered screenplay (by the dude who brought us TRAFFIC) which will often have you in the dark, but never baffled. SRYIANA is a thinking person’s movie, and it doesn’t get any better.

#8 WALK THE LINE - Of all the movies I've seen in the past two weeks, this is the one I can’t get out of my head. I never ever would have guessed it. I find myself humming under my breath in Johnny Cash-like tones. Featuring fantastic lead performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon—including the jaw-dropping fact that they sing every word themselves—WALK THE LINE chronicles the life of the Man in Black; the demons that shredded him, and the angel who brought him back. What a treat it was to find this gem of a movie waiting for me.

#7 THE NEW WORLD – I’m not sure it’s possible to make a more transcendent meditation on nature, beauty and what the “New World” actually means. I firmly believe that only the unconventionality of the drifting narrative kept this from being a Best Picture nominee. (And I remain angry Q’Orkiana Kilcher wasn’t nominated. Write that name down. You’ll have her on your wallpaper within two years.) A third of the way through the film you may not be sure you want to continue; by two-thirds through you don’t want it to ever end.

#6 THE CONSTANT GARDENER – Another kaleidoscope whirlwind intelligent film, sweet nectar for discerning eyes and ears. You may not always be sure what you’re watching, but you’ll always be fascinated, and the whole thing comes together in the end with a beautiful simplicity that’s just haunting. The subject matter may be fictionalized, but if you don’t believe this kind of thing happens all the time, you’re more naïve than I thought. The politics alone make this a must-see, but the power of the film encompasses so much more.

#5 KING KONG – I know the hip thing is to call BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN the unconventional love story of the year, and it’s good, no doubt about it, but for my money, the poignant sadness of this unrequited love is even more universal and transcendent. Kong is unquestionably the best CG character in Cinema history, and is so real that I think he gets taken for granted. That island is the scariest place you’ve ever seen in your life, and 1933 New York is no less amazing. If there had been no Lord of the Rings, is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that KONG would be the prohibitive favorite to win 10 Oscars this year?

#4 STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH – I burn with anger over the snub of Lucas; the only Oscar nomination is for Makeup? Has the world gone insane? Elizabethan and Greek tragedy come together in a perfect fusion of space and sound. I don’t know if a more worthy end to a series can be imagined. The bashing of the second trilogy is short-sighted relativism at its worst, and it is SITH that will one day be recognized for the tragic epic that it is.

The final three movies were almost interchangeable in their order. I went back and forth, and would have no problem with any of them named #1. But after much soul-searching, this is what I came up with.

#3 HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE** - I don’t want to say too much since I won’t review this until next week, but for those in the know, one word should suffice: Miyazaki. One of the three greatest living filmmakers, Miyazaki’s mind is the most original on earth, and he outdid himself this time. I won’t even attempt to explain the story, other than to say that in some ways HOWL is even more complicated than PRINCESS MONONOKE, widely considered the greatest animated film of all time. Here we’re thrown into a world of dancing fire, a reluctant wizard, a little boy with a pull down beard, and that castle…I thought Hogwarts might be coolest location of all time, but Howl’s Moving Castle tops it. HOWL is advanced cinema. You’re better of starting with Miyazaki’s earlier fare, like the delightful SPIRITED AWAY. But what a great result to work up to. I have never seen anything like this.

#2 MUNICH – I keep returning to my friend Grendel’s phrase, the “terrible beauty” of it all. What a perfect encapsulation of Spielberg’s latest masterpiece. The story of the horrific massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes at the 1972 Games in Munich, and Israel’s deadly response. The film crushes you with the weight of the times; the significance of Munich; perhaps the birth of modern terrorism, and seriously asks the question whether violence ever solves violence, or just begets more of the same. Amazingly filmed and acted, with a resonance that will stick with you long after.

and the Number One Movie of 2005, the best of the best, the Man, if you will.....

#1 SIN CITY – What a fantastic year for movies. What a wonderful agony to struggle with my Top Ten List. But if there has to be one film that rises above the others, SIN CITY would be my pick. Reinventing not only the Film Noir genre, but what “Cinema” even means, director Robert Rodriguez brings Frank Miller’s grisly comic book to life in a way no one imagined he could have done. Hyper violent, hyper stylish, hyper sexual, hyper everything, this film had hyper ion cheering in his seat. Not only did I see the film four times, mesmerized at each occasion, but the phantasmagoria of it all inspired me to write my best movie review in years; a jazz riff on the funkadelic explosion I had just witnessed. If we really are going to celebrate Film, and all it’s glory, the line begins right here.

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