No self-respecting blogger can resist the allure of year-end lists. I am no exception. So, dear reader, I offer up to you the first in a week-long series of Favorite Things. I am no expert; these are merely my opinions and feelings, so I invite you to share yours as well! What were your favorites this year?
Movies... I'll do two lists here... Movies actually released in 2005, and movies I discovered for the first time in 2005. Again, I'm not claiming that these are the best... They're just my favorites... Movies that stirred something in me or made me laugh or brought me a little closer to God in the dark sanctuary we call the theater.
Top 10 Favorite 2005 Releases
01: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Maybe I'm going mainstream in my old age, but for my theater buck, you couldn't get more bang than this one. Joshua and I are big HP fans. We've read all the novels, and we went to see this one on opening night. We stood in line for an hour and were lucky to get to site together! I've already published a review. Suffice it to say I was very pleased. It was magical.
02: King Kong - I just watched this film this afternoon, so it may be a bit premature to declare it my second favorite film of 2005. But I have to say that it was the most effortless three hours I've ever spent in a theater. I was spellbound from the first frame. Peter Jackson knows how to create a vivid fantasy world and draw his viewers into it from start to finish. This movie plays like grand opera... Hardly realistic, but entrancing nonetheless.
03: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - Probably my most-anticipated film of 2005. I have been waiting for this film since I was 13 years old or so. I think I first read this book in 3rd grade, and I read it many times throughout my growing-up years. For some reason it moved me profoundly, even then, and I always wanted to share it with others. I read it aloud to my sister Sarah at one point during our childhood, and I read it to my new bride within the first year of our marriage back in 1993. So how's the movie work? In a word: Brilliantly. Beautiful performances from the humans and nearly flawless CGI work combines to make this one unforgettable.
04: Rent - I've also blogged on this one, so I'll spare you the review. I really, really enjoyed this film.
05: Cinderella Man - Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger rock in this beautifully filmed, beautifully written true story of a second chance. Their acting is so lived-in... I believed that they really loved each other, that they were really desperate. I loved seeing what NYC was like during the Great Depression. I love it when a film transports you to another time and place and helps you feel what it must have been like... even a little glimpse. What is it with boxing movies, anyway? I love boxing moveis... Can't stand to watch real boxing...
06: North Country - Charlize Theron gives an awesome performance as a woman who just wants to earn a paycheck and support her kids. I loved Frances McDormand's supporting work, too. Ever since Fargo, she's been stealing every movie whe's in. I think what blew my mind the most about this movie is that it's set in 1989. I can't hardly believe that we've come so far in such a short time. It seems to common-sense now, so obvious. But only 16 years ago, we lived in a very different country. For all those who think this world's going to hell in a handbasket... just realize we're actually getting better and better in some ways... Thank God!
07: Pride & Prejudice - This was one of those movies that I only went to because my wife wasn't in the mood for "Walk the Line." I knew it would be good, but I wasn't in the mood. It turned out to be one of my favorite films of the year, thanks to glowing performances by Keira Knightley and unknown (to me) actor Matthew McFadyen. Donald Sutherland, Judi Dench and Brenda Blethyn are uniformly brilliant as well. This is one period piece that isn't afraid to get dirty... I loved the realistic touches like mud on the hems of the girls' skirts after walking outside.
08: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - I love Johnny Depp. I love Tim Burton. With the exception of the nearly-unwatchable musical numbers, I had a wonderful time with this one. What a sweet, beautiful ending. And, no, I do not think he was trying to act like Michael Jackson.
09: War of the Worlds - Intense suspense. Super-cool special effects. So-so acting. Fun experience. I am going mainstream.
10: Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - You know, it's more an event than a movie, but I loved it. I'll admit going in really tired and feeling almost bewildered by the opening battle scene. Too much, too close, too fast... But I soon fell into the rhythm of the story and found that I actually cared about Anakin. It's tragic knowing what happens to him, but oddly conforting to know the redemption that comes in Episode VI. Even as the film ended, I could picture the trio - Anakin, Obi-wan and Yoda - beaming down on Luke and Leia in soft-focus glow. Hard to believe I saw the first Star Wars film when I was only six years old. Hard to believe my dad took me to Star Wars, but I remember it vividly. Nothing like that Bar scene... Remember how that was the big talk? Here it is 28 years later. What a project. You have to hand it to Lucas for seeing it through to completion.
My Must-See-Soon List:
Top 10 New Discoveries from Previous Years (Plus 3 I can't ignore.)
01: Hotel Rwanda - This movie was for me what Fahrenheit 9/11 was last year. A wake-up call. Don Cheadle was amazing...
02: Million Dollar Baby - Clin Eastwood gets better and better. I loved last year's Mystic River, and this one is even better. Hilary Swank is perfect. Clint is great as a real man, longing for love and redemption, questioning God and the Church. Morgan Freeman is great. Everything about this movie is just about perfect.
03: Garden State - I loved this film. A man's journey to feel. To be a real man and experience life and love and pain. To not escape reality and numb out. Zach Braff and Natalie Portman are great. The airport scene at the end is powerful, with sweet music by Frou Frou.
04: The Woodsman - One of the most riveting performances I've seen all year. Kevin Bacon stars as a convicted child molester who has just gotten out of jail and is trying to rebuild a bridge to the rest of the world. His real-life wife, Kyra Sedgwick, stars as a woman willing to stay with him even after hearing the ugly truth about his past. His scenes of temptation are powerful and realistic, dreadful and moving all at the same time. He helps us to see the human face behind the monster, but he's all-too-aware that the monster lurks within and could act out any moment.
05: Crash - Amazing performances, emotionally harrowing scenes, great storytelling. This brings up deep and seemingly unanswerable questions about race relations in America. No easy answers, but we need art like this to get people talking and thinking. I especially enjoyed Matt Dillon's work as a cruel, racist cop who has to face the object of his abuse in a most unusual and potentially redemptive situation and Sandra Bullock as a sad - hopeless, really - woman whose empty life is surrounded on all sides by fear and a deep, not-so-subtle racism.
06: Dekalog - Made for Polish television in the late 1980s, this collection of 10 short films deal with questions of life and death, sex, honesty, fears, love, hope, capital punishment, redemption. Never overtly preachy or religious, it nevertheless causes me to reflect on the things that matter most.
07: Ray - A powerful, redemptive story. I had no idea what tragedy informed this amazing musician's life. And the ending brought me to tears as he began to deal with his demons and make peace with the past.
08: The Aviator - Howard Hughes was brilliant and insane, and this film depicts both powerfully. Cate Blanchett basically channels Katherine Hepburn. I loved this flight of the Spruce Goose.
09: Millions - So sweet and fun and magical and original. I've never seen a film incorporate the saints like this one.
10: Spanglish - Adam Sandler takes a dramatic turn in this one. It's funny and sweet and sad and tragic.
11: The Royal Tennenbaums - I'm falling for Wes Anderson and his very strange but oddly affecting films. This one takes family dysfunction to new heights but somehow makes the despicable characters almost human and loveable.
12: Carrie - A 70s horror classic. Good, freaky, campy fun with a very young Sissy Spacek and John Travolta. Pig's bood, 70s prom dresses, feathered hair and obsessive mothers make for a great flick.
13: Luther - This would have charted higher if it werre not for (in my opinion) a glaring error. I loved this film's serious treatment of Martin Luther as a man. I love that his spirituality is depicted as genuine. The rip-off is the ending. Good grief. Take us to the pinnacle of the story and then leave us hanging. They wrote the rest of the story of the screen... for us to read, for heaven's sake. It's like they ran out of money and said, "Well, that's all the film we've got. Someone write a summary."
Not Half As Bad As I Expected
Madagascar - Again, went for the kids and ended up being entertained myself.
Bewitched - Critics beat this one to a pulp, but it was clever and romantic.
Hitch - Will Smith's big romantic comedy. Honestly, not half bad. I laughed a lot. It's not high art, but it was a great date with my wife! His allergic reaction is priceless.
Biggest Disappointments, or, This Should Have Been SO Much Better...
The Interpreter - This should have been brilliant. I was bored to tears. I fell asleep, literally. I never do that.
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - I'm sorry. I simply do not get this. A few critics actually named this the best film of the year. I just was not entertained by this movie. What is wrong with me?