I like to do this list before the Academy Awards, but at first I just wasn't into it like in the past. I was kind of down on the movies that came out in 2005 and found it hard to be enthused about a Top 10 List.
Could I even find 10 movies worth putting on it?
Then I found a website with every movie released in 2005 and actually found it hard keeping it to 10. The Top 5 were very easy, but the next five became so impossible to choose from that I decided to make it a Top 21. Now you could say that none of those last 16 were great enough to be considered Top 10 material and you might be right, but I would say they are too good to be left off.
I saw the George Clooney double feature of Syriana and Good Luck and Good Night, and while good, they were a little sluggish for me. I like my movies to zip along.
So here's my list and as Harry says, "And that's that!"
1. The 40 Year Old Virgin---I've seen it 3 times now and it doesn't get old. I laugh at all the big jokes, but now I appreciate the little nuances as well. At first I thought the Paul Rudd character of the depressed, lovelorn sad sack was the one weak spot in the film, but upon further viewing I see his role as pivotal in balancing out the Maxim level of testosterone that permeates the film. I've come to love all the characters, even the secondary ones and really see this as a brilliant ensemble comedy. Everyone shines here. The script is hysterical and heart warming, the acting dead on and the party atmosphere rarely lets up. These four guys remind me of my favorite groups of friends over the years whether it's the Game Night crew or in college. The perfect metaphor for the entire movie is when one guy playfully punches another friend in the nuts to get him out of his funk. We all need that friend sometimes.
2. King Kong---Before I reconsidered 40 Year Old Virgin, I considered this the finest movie of the year. It's easily the best made movie, with its wonderful attention to detail. Lord of the Rings creator, Peter Jackson, recreated New York City in 1933 at a movie studio in New Zealand. And what a beautiful job he does. Scene after scene is a smorgasbord for the eyes and the action moves along pretty swiftly (at least after the sea voyage to Skull Island). Kong looks fantastic and his ape-like movements are extremely real. You might quibble with the choices of Jack Black and Adrien Brody for the male leads, but you cannot say enough about Naomi Watts performance as Ann Darrow. She's beautiful, funny, athletic, tormented and her scream is perfect. When Brody's Jack comes to rescue her, she actually looks sad that she must leave her true love Kong behind. The scene of Kong butt-skating on Central Park's Wollman Skating rink is the most romantic of the year. The Christmas Lights on the trees just add to the warm beauty of the moment. I loved this movie and thought the 3+ hours went by very quickly. It is an awful shame that more people didn't see this new classic.
3. Cinderella Man---Talk about recreating New York City in 1933, this movie does it and for the whole film as opposed to the one hour in Kong. Russell Crowe is brilliant as usual as the Depression-era boxer, Jim J. Braddock. Maybe if he didn't throw his phone at that bellhop, more people would have gone to see this movie, but that shouldn't take away from its greatness. Renee Zellwegger shines as his strong wife. A New Jersey family struggling after years of being on top of the world, this movie is as much about the Depression and its character-challenging effects as about boxing. When Braddock's son steals from a storekeeper, he shames the boy into giving the salami back and apologizing to the man. When Braddock is forced to swallow his pride and take government assistance (essentially welfare), he pays back every penny when he gets to fight again. My boy, Paul Giamatti, hits another one out of the park as Braddock's brotherly manager. If this movie was released around Christmas it would have been nominated for tons of Oscars. As big a shame as King Kong's fate.
4. The Upside of Anger---Joan Allen is sexy. What???!!! Who knew? The queen of dowdy, but great acting, puts on some show here as a mother of four daughters who's husband suddenly abandons her for his secretary. She becomes angry and bitter and a big-time drunk and let's all her inhibitions run wild when she hooks up with Kevin Costner's drunken, ex-ballplayer neighbor. Costner schmoozes his way into the back door of their lives and really is a glutton for punishment. A man who will hang out with five women (the girls range in age from 16 to 24), who all have issues of their own. The best role in the film might belong to the one daughter's much older boyfriend. As played by the film's writer/director Mike Binder is at once a very funny sleazeball and then a pretty good guy with a different way of looking at things. The scene of him slurping his soup and Joan Allen's furious reaction is one I had to play over and over again on my DVD player. Hilarious.
5. A History of Violence---Peter Jackson and his crew were not the only Lord of the Rings' veterans to come back with another great film. So did Aragon's Viggo Mortesson as Tom Stall, a small-town Indiana coffeeshop owner. When two sick, violent felons come into his restaurant, his response changes his life forever. Like all movies that are supposed to be about anti-violence this film revels in it (see also Unforgiven). The action scenes are sick and funny and arouse cheers from the audience. But the relationship between Stall and his wife, played by Maria Bello, is warm and playful, until it gets down and dirty. The sexiest love scenes you'll see in a movie this year.
6. Wedding Crashers---Would have finished higher until I saw it a second time. This movie pins all its humor on Vince Vaughn, without him it limps along. Owen Wilson thinks he's funny in the picture, but he's really just a straight man. But when Vaughn is in the scene, hilarity ensues. He makes this movie hilarious the way Bill Murray used to. Like 40-Year Old Virgin, the movie cheerfully blends its Maxim/Stuff sense of humor with more mature romantic yearnings.
7. Batman Begins--The first great Batman movie. Christian Bale can sometimes come across as dry toast, but it's Pepperidge Farm, so the taste is unique. The Murderer's Row of Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and Tom Wilkinson add all the spice you'd want. The action can be sometimes confusing, but the big stunts are tremendous. Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow is a terrifying character and the finale is one of the best you'll see in any action movie. Loved Gotham City, the island with the million bridges and especially the above ground train. One word kept coming out of my mouth throughout the movie, "Cool!"
8. Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic---I read complaints about the songs. Some worked some didn't, but her standup is incredibly funny. This was the year of comedy (including the very entertaining The Aristocrats, which Silverman also shined in). Silverman's stand-up act is incredibly offensive, but very enjoyable. She sets up so many jokes with a left hand and then surprises you with a right. "A couple of nights ago, I was licking jelly off my boyfriend's p---s. And I thought, 'Oh, my God. I'm turning into my mother.'" The real joke is that she delivers lines like this with a combination of California beach girl and nice Jewish girl. My favorite: "Guess what, Martin Luther King? I had a dream, too. I had a dream that I was in my living room. I went to the back yard, where there was a pool. And before I got into it, a shark came out. And he had braces. So maybe you're not so f----g special."
9. Hustle and Flow---It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp and can anybody deny that? Terence Howard did the impossible. He had me feeling sorry for and eventually cheering for a pimp to make it in this world. Howard's pimp, Day, has three hookers who he takes pretty good care of, but one black girl is always angry. The white girl is trash, but he gets her to believe in herself and the other black girl is pregnant and sweet as Tupelo Honey. I realize completely that this movie manipulates you into cheering for these Southerners, but unlike so many bigger movies this year, you really feel a special bond between you and the characters. We root for prisoners to escape, why not root for a pimp and his girls to lead an honest life?
10. Capote---Catherine Keener plays supporting roles in two of my favorite films this year. First as the trashy, but loving Trish in 40 Year Old Virgin and then as the very serious, very quiet best friend of Truman Capote, Harper Lee. Capote is the story of how Truman came to write his classic, "In Cold Blood." Two bad guys try to rob a Kansas farm house and end up killing the entire family around 1957. When very odd, very gay Capote arrives in this small town it's Harper Lee's demeanor that allows him to interview this town's folk. Philip Seymour Hoffman deserves the Oscar for bringing Capote back to life. Like Jamie Foxx's Ray, he becomes the character and shows us all of Capote's outward exuberance and inner demons. Unfortunately the movie is not as brilliant as the character. It's 90 minutes of story told in 2+ hours.
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire--The best of the four Harry Potter films. The effects are great, but it's the heart that's always been missing in the past that bursts through here. The filmmakers capture the torture of pubescence perfectly.
12. Millions---From the man who brought you Trainspotting and 28 Days Later of all things, comes the best children's movie of the year. Two young brothers discover a bag full of cash in England, just before the Pound is to be destroyed and the Euro put in its place. Damien is adorable as the younger, better brother. He wants to donate all the money to the poor, but Anthony wants to spend it on cool stuff. The best of many great scenes in the movie is when Anthony turns his classmates into a junior Secret Service complete with sunglasses. Nice what a few quid will do for you. Could be a Christmas classic if America discovers it.
13. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang---Shane Black, the man who wrote Lethal Weapon and tons of other action hits, finally puts his unedited stamp on the genre with this gem. He brings Robert Downey Jr. back to life as a lowlife, dirtbag who stumbles into a cop role in a police movie. When the movie's movie producers make him hook up with Val Kilmer's gay private eye/film consultant, great fun is had by all. Sort of a serious spoof of the action genre, in the way Shane Black meant Last Action Hero to be.
14. Unleashed---Jet Li's best American movie. He plays "Dog," a caged assassin, who Bob Hoskins keeps locked up until he needs some heads to roll. Morgan Freeman plays the blind piano tuner who saves Dog and turns him back into a man. In an odd way, sort of like an ultraviolet, kung fu Pinocchio.
15. The Matador---In a year with several funny movies, add this one to the list. Pierce Brosnan plays the role of his career as an assassin with stage fright. Greg Kinnear plays a bored traveling salesman who half-seriously wants to learn the tools of the trade. Brosnan's sailor-on-leave dialogue is priceless. Remington Steele is dead.
16. Kung Fu Hustle---Comedies usually die with subtitles, so it helps if they have slapstick to cross the cultural divide. This Chinese movie has the most creative slapstick I've ever seen. It makes live action into a Roadrunner cartoon and still makes you feel for the characters. The landlady is the best.
17. Crash---Best movie of the year? Not even close, but a memorable and rare look at racism in America. Overdone and ham-fisted, definitely. Does it really try to manipulate you, absolutely. First time director Paul Haggis has too many coincidences that tie everything up to really take this film seriously. And while white characters do not utter racist dialogue this openly in real life, at least this film tries to address an issue that you rarely see in American film. Sweeping racism under the rug like it doesn't exist is like bandaging an infected wound without taking penicillin, eventually the country will get septic shock and not be able to heal itself.
18. Mr. and Mrs. Smith---Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie beating the shit out of each other for 45 minutes and killing bad guys the rest of the time. How could you not love this?
19. Munich---Overlong, but if I was a Jew I'd really love this movie. Finally the Jews are doing the killing and not being pushovers. Not the message Spielberg was trying to convey, but the one many like me took away from it. Don't mess with Golda Meir.
20. Junebug---Sllooooowwww. But what an adorable presence Amy Adams is. As Junebug the young pregnant wife of a real Southern jerk, she plays a sweet North Carolina girl with small dreams and a big heart. Her sister in law is a whipsmart Chicago editor played by Embeth Davidtz, who wears black and looks at first like a stuck-up bitch, but who's humanity increases as she is exposed to Junebug. This movie strives to be like real life and unfortunately I recognize it all too well. Like when I was young and there were those do-nothing Sundays. You could easily turn your brain to mush like Junebug's inlaws do. The scene of the Jewish Davidtz being surrounded by Bible-thumping Christians is very awkward. Her husband has done a great job of hiding this part of his life from her, so you can imagine her shock when he starts singing hymns--Solo.
21. March of the Penguins---Started an entire industry of Penguin movies. Slow, yes, but beautifully told. I know way more about penguins now than any other non-domestic animal in the world. When we get to heaven, don't you expect God to sound like Morgan Freeman?
The Freditor
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