2005 Best movies

[briannell]

The top 10 films of 2005, according to AP Movie Writer David Germain:

1. "Dear Frankie" — Director Shona Auerbach spins a heart-on-its-sleeve drama of pure decency and inspiration. Emily Mortimer imbues her porcelain facade with steely inner strength as a Scottish mom who concocts a distant fantasy father to protect her deaf son (Jack McElhone) from the nasty truth about dad. Gerard Butler is a stoic stranger who finds his inner saint after signing on as the boy's sire for hire.

2. "King Kong" — This is why Peter Jackson is lord of the primates, at least in Hollywood. Jackson has made an action flick monstrous in scope yet with an intimate sense of pathos and tragedy. His remake about the giant ape doomed by love for a blonde (Naomi Watts, the new Fay Wray) dotes on the details of the 1933 original while indulging Jackson's aim of big-footing all the special-effects extravaganzas that came before.

3. "A History of Violence" — David Cronenberg has gone mainstream as only he can, presenting an action-packed crowd-pleaser that's still as weird as many of his esoteric films. Cronenberg offers a harrowing but often perversely comic study of what really lies beneath those we think we know so well, with ferocious performances from Viggo Mortensen, as a family man fending off mobsters, and Maria Bello, Ed Harris and William Hurt.

4. "Transamerica" — Felicity Huffman joins Dustin Hoffman, Julie Andrews and Hilary Swank in the Academy of Great Gender-Bending Performances, playing a man preparing for surgery to become a woman in Duncan Tucker's road-trip comic drama. Huffman undergoes a remarkable physical transformation, but it's her bearing — wry, shy glances, the tics of someone adjusting to a changing body — that makes her so lovably, painfully authentic.

5. "Capote" — Philip Seymour Hoffman is this year's Jamie Foxx, following that actor's uncanny portrayal of Ray Charles with a brilliant personification of Truman Capote as he researches his true-crime book "In Cold Blood." In Hoffman's hands, the vain, off-putting Capote is riveting, while he and director Bennett Miller present the man as both genius and fiend, torn between human affection and the unforgiving call of his art.

6. "Syriana" — Aren't actors supposed to be dumb? Nobody told George Clooney, who directed and co-starred in the Edward R. Murrow saga "Good Night, and Good Luck" and followed with a fiercely intelligent turn in Stephen Gaghan's thriller about oil-industry corruption. Clooney leads a rich ensemble of actors, and writer-director Gaghan crafts a dense, intricate world of greed and intrigue that rings frighteningly true.

7. "Grizzly Man" — Knowing the death Timothy Treadwell would meet in the grips of one of the bears he swore to protect, it's truly agonizing to watch this buoyant soul prattle on in self-recorded monologues that are the backbone of Werner Herzog's documentary. Some called it hubris to live with bears in the Alaska wild, yet Herzog captures a spirit lost among his own brethren who found himself only through kinship with these beasts.

8. "Broken Flowers" — Bill Murray has this droll, sad-sack thing down to an art. He's perfectly cast in Jim Jarmusch's story of an apathetic, aging Don Juan, whose road trip to revisit past lovers leads him to spiritual and physical crossroads. Murray's stillness is an ideal complement to Jarmusch's cryptic storytelling, the actor's stone face the place where viewers are asked to write their own interpretation of what they're seeing.

9. "The Producers" — The Mel Brooks movie that became a stage musical becomes a movie again, with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprising their roles as Broadway con men aiming to concoct a sure flop. Broadway director Susan Stroman brings great energy and inventiveness to her film debut. It's silly, goofy, stagy, hokey, with scene-stealing performances by Uma Thurman as a bouncy Swedish bimbo and Will Ferrell as a crackpot Nazi playwright.

10. "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" — Steve Carell finally gets some, climbing to leading-man status with this hysterically funny, raunchy yet sweet-hearted tale of a middle-aged guy who's never done the deed. Carell's boyish earnestness carries the film, while he and co-writer and director Judd Apatow pile on broad, outrageous comedy and plenty of gross-out gags and crudity while still managing to keep it a class act.

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[briannell]

This one was found on MSN

Best Movies of 2005

We lost back at the year in movies. Plus, the Three Stooges to the big screen?

Dec. 28, 2005

2005 provided some bitter moments in movie history, but it also yielded some unforgettable highlights. This week's column showcases the best and the worst in movies this year plus mentions some of the winners and losers along the way. Without further ado, the Hitlist's top 10 movies of the year are ...

1. "Brokeback Mountain" -- Director Ang Lee brought Annie Proulx's short story to life as only a few directors could. That the industry takes it seriously as a legit Oscar contender is a testament to its universal story, but in the long run the popularity race won't matter. "Brokeback" is a truly great movie and great movies are rarely forgotten.

2. "The Squid and the Whale" -- Noah Baumbach's drama is the most accurate depiction of the effects of divorce on an American family on film. And it's funny, too.

3. "Murderball" -- Audiences made a mistake by ignoring this documentary about the U.S. quadriplegic rugby team's journey to the 2002 Paralympics. "Murderball" captures the true spirit of athletic competitiveness better than any movie in recent memory.

4. "Pride & Prejudice" -- This was too easily dismissed as just another "Jane Austin adaptation." Newcomer Joe Wright's direction provided not only a modern perspective but also embraced the romantic joy of the classic story.

5. "Layer Cake" -- This sophisticated new spin on the London gangster tale proved director Matthew Vaughn is a far superior filmmaker than ex-partner Guy Ritchie.

6. "Nine Lives" -- It had perhaps one life too many, but it's a feast of fantastic performances (Holly Hunter, Robin Wright Penn, Glenn Close) and genuine moments that many films only dream of capturing.

7. "The New World" -- Director Terrence Malick's majestic film documenting Pocahontas' life with men of the Western world is admittedly difficult, but it also reminds us why cinema is a powerful art form.

8. "2046" -- If you really want to see two great performances from Ziyi Zhang and Gong Li, then skip "Memoirs of a Geisha" and check this out instead. Both actresses are at their best in Wong Kar-Wai's exquisite tale of love and heartbreak in '60s Hong Kong.

9. "Police Beat" -- Chronicling the weekend of an African-born Seattle police officer unable to admit that his girlfriend will never return, this 2005 Sundance selection (which still hasn't been released in theaters) is a poetic window into the frustrations of love.

10. "Good Night, and Good Luck." -- This riveting thriller depicting Edward R. Murrow's public war with the maniacal Sen. Joe McCarthy proves that George Clooney's true calling may lie in directing. Clooney succeeds in not only accurately retelling these historical events but also in showing their eerie relevance to today's political climate.

The Next Ten: "Grizzly Man," "Breakfast on Pluto," "Broken Flowers," "The Constant Gardener," "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang," "Match Point," "Syriana," "Capote," "Junebug" and "Batman Begins"


N

[briannell]

sorry I know Brokeback made the list, but i wont be watching it. the image of two cowboys getting it on would ruin me forever!

seriously, all the reviews it's good, I wont avoid it due to the homosexual content although that would repulse me to watch, but the infidelity theme of the movie is not one I care to watch. I also can't see it as a "love" story.

[CelticCat]

How could Jarhead not make the list?

[Bleedinbluengold]

Welp ---- haven't seen one of those! I really want to see Syriana, but probably will wait for the dvd.

A remake would never make my "best of" list. Thus, King Kong can't be one of the best, IMHO. Also, a Broadway play can't be a best movie, usually, but the exceptions might be Chicago and the Producers. Haven't seen the latter, but plan to.

[briannell]

I think i'll have to check this flick out one of these nights when the kids goto bed at a decent hour


African-American Critics Honor 'Crash'

Friday, December 30, 2005



NEW YORK — "Crash," the Los Angeles ensemble drama about the prejudices of intersecting characters, has been selected as the top film of the year by the African-American Film Critics Association.

Besides "Crash," the AAFCA chose nine other movies as the top films of the year: "The Constant Gardener," "Good Night, Good Luck," "Brokeback Mountain," "Syriana," "Walk the Line," "Hustle & Flow," "Capote," "Batman Begins" and "North Country."

"The films selected for 2005 boldly reflect a bridge towards tolerance," AAFCA President Gil Robertson IV said in a statement this week.

Last year, "Ray" was selected by the AAFCA as 2004's best film. The association was founded in 2003.

The AAFCA chose as Terrence Howard as best actor for his performance in "Hustle & Flow." Felicity Huffman earned the best-actress recognition for her gender-bending role in "Transamerica."

"Although our organization pays special attention to work by artists of African descent, in the end, merit carries the day and Ms. Huffman is undeniably amazing in this role," Robertson said.

John Singleton, the producer of "Hustle & Flow," was given the achievement honor. Singleton's other films include 2000's "Shaft," "Rosewood" and "Boyz n the Hood."

[longhorn_22]

Wedding Crashers was way better than 40 Year Old Virgin. I think Saw II was a good movie, although I understand why it is not on the list. I also think that Cinderella Man is a top 5 movie and Batman Begins needs to be in there.