Top movies of 2005

[RealityChuck]

I've missed a lot (I don't often to to theaters), but here are my choices:

1. Crash
2. Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
3. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
4. Batman Begins
5. Good Night and Good Luck
6. Me and You and Everyone I Know
7. March of the Penguins
8. Kung Fu Hustle

What are yours?

[Guest sharpie]

I can think of 10 movies I've seen that came out in 2005. Therefore:

Top 4 movies

Broken Flowers
Crash
Good Night & Good Luck
The Squid & The Whale

Middle 2 movies:

Grizzly Man
Star Wars, Espisode III

Bottom 4 movies

Casanova
Divine Intervention
Syriana
War of the Worlds

I'm lame and couldn't decide between the 2 middle ones. Neither of them felt like they belong on either list. Once I see 2 more then maybe I can eliminate them from the top or bottom 5.

[Vic Sage]

I haven't seen very much this year, but there are only 3 excellent movies i've seen, worth putting on a top 10:

CRASH - best movie of the year
CINDERELLA MAN - excellent, if a bit too sentimental
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS - beautiful doc

if i had to fill out a top 10, i'd have to include:

BATMAN BEGINS - excellent, mostly
FRANK MILLER'S SIN CITY - great look, but turgid storytelling
HITCH - nice romantic comedy
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK - underwhelming, but solid
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN - ok epic
ROBOTS - only ok, but best animated film i've seen this year
UPSIDE OF ANGER - surprisingly good romance

here are the only other movies I've seen in 05:

BAD NEWS BEARS - awful
CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY - great look but only ok
CONSTANTINE - crap, but fun
FANTASTIC 4 - not terrible
HERBIE:FULLY LOADED - surprisingly ok
HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - disappointment
HOSTAGE - awful
KING KONG - great look, but disappointing
MADAGASCAR - solid animated film
MATCH POINT - i hated it
SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS - teen drama; ok
SKY HIGH - fun
STAR WARS III - best of the prequels
VALIANT - mediocre
WALLACE & GROMIT - disappointing

The following is a list of movies i have NOT seen, and have absolutely no DESIRE to see, but they've garnered good reviews and are likely to end up on some 10 best lists or get some nominations:

BALLAD OF JACK & ROSE
BREAKFAST ON PLUTO
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
BROKEN FLOWERS
CAPOTE
CONSTANT GARDNER
GRIZZLY MAN
MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS
MUNICH
THE NEW WORLD
NORTH COUNTRY
PRIDE & PREJUDICE
SYRIANA
TRANSAMERICA
WALK THE LINE
THE WHITE COUNTESS

Here are some other films from 05 that i still want to see, though few of them (if any) are likely to end up on anybody's top 10:

AEON FLUX
ARISTOCRATS
ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
BROTHERS GRIMM
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
CHICKEN LITTLE
CORPSE BRIDE
DOMINO
ELEKTRA
40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN
HARRY POTTER/GOBLET OF FIRE
HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
HOODWINKED
ICE HARVEST
THE ISLAND
KICKING & SCREAMING
KISS KISS BANG BANG
KUNG FU HUSTLE
LAYER CAKE
THE MATADOR
MIRRORMASK
MR. AND MRS. SMITH
SARAH SILVERMAN: JESUS IS MAGIC
SERENITY
SQUID & THE WHALE
2046
WAR OF THE WORLDS
WEDDING CRASHERS

I have a feeling some of these would bump out others on my current top 10, especially HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, WEDDING CRASHERS, ICE HARVEST and CORPSE BRIDE, which i am most looking forward to.

[Vic Sage]

THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL are not listed as an eligible release in 2005:

http://www.oscars.org/78academyawards/reminder/reminder_html.html

perhaps it was released in 2004?

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think the trick of this stuff is to make almost any would-be contributor to the discussion say, "You know, I haven't seen very much this year, and make many of us redouble our efforts."

The crap (generally speaking) I wasted time and money on, in order of quality.

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT MILLIONS

THE BROTHERS GRIMM

STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

FEVER PITCH

BRIDE & PREJUDICE

None of them blew my socks off or anything. I have a history of falling asleep during films that feature a slow-moving shots against white horizons, but Penguins is obviously a remarkable achievement, even if it couldn't change my history.

[RealityChuck]

Vic Sage wrote: THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL are not listed as an eligible release in 2005: http://www.oscars.org/78academyawards/reminder/reminder_html.html perhaps it was released in 2004?

Hard to say. The IMDB says it was first shown at film festivals in 2003 and 2004, but its first general release was in February of 2005. The IMDB does not indicate it was shown in LA prior to the general release, but it is possible there was a one-week run in 2004 to make it Oscar eligible.

In any case, it was in very limited release before 2005, so it is a 2005 film to the general public..

[Guest Edgy DC]

Updating my "Based on What I Saw...." list, to include this weekend's viewing.

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT

DEAR FRANKIE

MILLIONS

THE BROTHERS GRIMM

STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

FEVER PITCH

BRIDE & PREJUDICE

...and, in tiers...

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT

DEAR FRANKIE

MILLIONS

THE BROTHERS GRIMM

STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

FEVER PITCH

BRIDE & PREJUDICE

[Benjamin Grimm]

Based on Norrin's list, it looks like I saw exactly ten of the 2005 movies.

That means that the only requirement to make my Top Ten List is that I had to have watched the movie.

So, here's my list, such as it is:

KING KONG
GRIZZLY MAN
BATMAN BEGINS

FANTASTIC FOUR
SKY HIGH
WAR OF THE WORLDS
HARRY POTTER/GOBLET OF FIRE

CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
CHICKEN LITTLE

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Here are my top five films of 2005 -

Munich
Goodnight and Good Luck
Cinderella Man
Crash
Match Point


I cannot believe that Norrin actually liked The Upside of Anger.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yancy sure lived up to his avatar with his viewing selections.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I guess so. Although I have to say that if I didn't have kids, I would've skipped half of those: Sky High, Chicken Little, Narnia, Harry Potter, and probably Charlie.

[Guest Edgy DC]

If I recall correctly, I was pulled in terrified tears from two of the first three films I saw as a child, Willie Wonka being one of those two.

Based on that experience, I'd list having kids as a reason not to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

[Guest sharpie]

I saw King Kong over the weekend and remembered that I had seen The Brothers Grimm.

So, I guess King Kong makes the bottom of my top 5 and the Brothers Grimm goes to sort of the top of my bottom 5 and Star Wars and Grizzly Man don't make either list.

[Vic Sage]

i saw MUNICH and was completely underwhelmed. It doesn't make even the mediocre top 10 i've already listed.

hey, Impulse's mom, why are you surprised i like UPSIDE OF ANGER? Cuz nothing blew up? I like romantic comedies, as much as any other genre. It was a "date movie" and the missus and i were thoroughly entertained by its good performances and a script that stopped short of being overly sentimental while still having emotional weight.

Costner's ex-jock was as good a performance as he's capable of. Joan Allen is always great. I didn't see the twist coming, and it really worked. but I absolutely hated the subplot with the daughter and the sleezeball radio producer,.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Vic Sage wrote: hey, Impulse's mom, why are you surprised i like UPSIDE OF ANGER? Cuz nothing blew up? I like romantic comedies, as much as any other genre.

Hold your horses Vic. I like romantic comedies myself. But Upside of Anger was just BORING! I started a thread on it a couple of pages back.

[Theoldmole]

Match Point
Goodnight and Good Luck
The Aristocrats
Walk the Line
Brokeback Mountain
King Kong

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Looks like I've seen only a coupla movies from 2005, and I'd rank them thisly:

1. Walk the Line
2. Aristocrats
(big gap)
3. The Edukators
4. March of the Penguins
(gap)
5. Charlie & the Chocolate factory
6. Kung-Fu Hustle (didn't really get into it)
7. Bad News Bears (2005) -- One of those movies I had to see: Hard to believe they thought this was an improvement in any way: The kid actors, especially Amanda, were much worse than the original; and while BBT brought something different to Buttermaker he was no more interesting. Only improvement might have been the one kid who was a mixture of Ahmed and Oglive from the first movie. They gave him some meatier concerns, but at the cost of Amanda & Kelly's story. Hardly justifies a whole movie. Complete piece of shit.

[Guest martin]

i didnt really get tinto any movies this year. in the last few years i was really crazy for a couple movies, for example dawn of the dead and eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.

the only ones i can recall off the top of my head that i really enjoyed are:

munich - much less preachy than i expected. i don't like to be taught lessons. i already know violence is cyclical and bad. i was happy they didnt beat that into my head too much and instead pleased me with explosions. i am dumb and like that sort of thing.

broken flowers - bill murray is always fantastic and i like him so much it pleases me just to see him on the screen. also because i have a juvenile mind i liked that scene with the naked chick. ouch.

some other movies i saw and were ok:

crash: preachyness (i realize people are racist, big deal) was outweighed by fun dialogue.

sin city: it is nice to once in a while see something a little different. plus i like a nice dose of horrible violence from time to time.

king kong: i was amazed a movie that long didnt put me to sleep. same thing with:

harry potter and whatever the newest one is called: these are improving.

grizzly man: ok
narnia: a dreamworld of magic
sarah silverman: jesus is magic: ok, but i liked those jokes better when she told them in 1997.
serenity: overrated by geeks but still not bad.
wedding crashers/40 year old virgin: both made me laugh enough. no more, no less.

the award for movie i don't know why i am mentioning right now except that it sucked terribly goes to batman begins.

[Vic Sage]

updating my lists

[u:hczswwzy]TOP 10[/u:hczswwzy]
CRASH - best movie of the year
CINDERELLA MAN - excellent, if a bit too sentimental
BATMAN BEGINS - excellent, mostly
FRANK MILLER'S SIN CITY - great look, but turgid storytelling
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS - beautiful doc
HITCH - nice romantic comedy
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK - underwhelming, but solid
UPSIDE OF ANGER - surprisingly good romance

plus:
ICE HARVEST - Cusack and Thornton terrific in modern, comic Noir
ARISTOCRATS - it alternated between making me laugh hysterically and wanting to puke.

[u:hczswwzy]other `05 movies I've seen:[/u:hczswwzy]
BAD NEWS BEARS - awful
CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY - great look but only ok
CONSTANTINE - crap, but fun
FANTASTIC 4 - not terrible
HERBIE:FULLY LOADED - surprisingly ok
HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - disappointment
HOSTAGE - awful
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN - ok epic
KING KONG - great look, but disappointing
MADAGASCAR - solid animated film
MATCH POINT - i hated it
ROBOTS - only ok,
SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS - teen drama; ok
SKY HIGH - fun
STAR WARS III - best of the prequels
VALIANT - mediocre
WALLACE & GROMIT - disappointing

plus:
MUNICH - its no 3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR
WALK THE LINE - like Jon Stewart said, its RAY with white people. Trite.
ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 - decent, but nothing special
CORPSE BRIDE - not as good as NIGHTMARE BEFORE XMAS
ELEKTRA - lame
HARRY POTTER & GOBLET OF FIRE - i have no idea why i still watch these movies
WEDDING CRASHERS - a few laugh-out-loud funny scenes. Overall, nothing special.

I'm about to see SQUID & WHALE, CHICKEN LITTLE, HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and RENT.