2005 movies, part 4: the best
Well, you made it this far. Here are the very best, more very best, and a few you may not have seen (all listed in alphabetical order):
FIVE FILMS YOU SHOULD FIND (the hard part) AND WATCH (the easy part)
The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Cavite, Domino (yes, that one), Inside Deep Throat and Izo (04). All five are films of unique visual and narrative intensity that, in all but one case (yes, that one) will probably be hard to find in your average, mainstream rental shop.
TEN SECOND BEST
3-Iron, The Aristocrats, The Devil's Rejects, Downfall, Kontroll, Mad Hot Ballroom, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Syriana, War of the Worlds, The Weather Man.
A lovingly precise throwback to 70s-era exploitation/grindhouse movies. A kick in the gut by the master of high drama and crackling good fun. A sweetly bizarre debut about wounded, distant souls. A surprisingly deft tale of a man who finally grasps something of meaning in his life. A perversely profane documentary about a single, ever-changing joke. A humanizing portrait of a real-life villain. A documentary on life as seen through dancing children. A uniquely quiet and haunting love affair. An eastern bloc film combining elements of Fight Club, Subway, Taxi Driver and Amelie. And a film everyone kept calling "complex", for reasons I cannot fathom.
..and, finally...
THE TEN BEST FILMS OF 2005
A History of Violence - David Cronenberg's giddy paean to American Gothic, gangster films and publicity as social nightmare.
Good Night, and Good Luck - George Clooney's rendition of the verbal prizefight between Edward R. Murrow and Joseph McCarthy.
Grizzly Man - Werner Herzog's fascinating documentary about a man who studied bears for 13 years before being killed by one.
Hustle & Flow - Terrence Howard's performance as a pimp who wants to rap drives this surprisingly good-natured film.
Layer Cake - Already forgotten, this brilliant slice of crime is immediately one of the best of its genre.
Lord of War - How does Nicolas Cage out-do The Weather Man? He inhabits the role of a black-market arms dealer.
Nobody Knows - A crushingly hard film to watch, but richly rewarding. As unique as they come.
The President's Last Bang - Piercing, satirical, subversive and funnier than any other political drama, this Korean import is a hard-to-find prize.
Sin City - Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller have created a one-of-a-kind graphic novel film... that is, until the sequel. Brilliant, beautiful and hardcore.
Tony Takitani - Possibly one of the single-most beautifully crafted, poetic and haunting films of the year (in a good way!), this deceptively simple tale is sure to be remembered as one of the decade's finest works of cinematic art.
Well...that's it.
scn
FIVE FILMS YOU SHOULD FIND (the hard part) AND WATCH (the easy part)
The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Cavite, Domino (yes, that one), Inside Deep Throat and Izo (04). All five are films of unique visual and narrative intensity that, in all but one case (yes, that one) will probably be hard to find in your average, mainstream rental shop.
TEN SECOND BEST
3-Iron, The Aristocrats, The Devil's Rejects, Downfall, Kontroll, Mad Hot Ballroom, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Syriana, War of the Worlds, The Weather Man.
A lovingly precise throwback to 70s-era exploitation/grindhouse movies. A kick in the gut by the master of high drama and crackling good fun. A sweetly bizarre debut about wounded, distant souls. A surprisingly deft tale of a man who finally grasps something of meaning in his life. A perversely profane documentary about a single, ever-changing joke. A humanizing portrait of a real-life villain. A documentary on life as seen through dancing children. A uniquely quiet and haunting love affair. An eastern bloc film combining elements of Fight Club, Subway, Taxi Driver and Amelie. And a film everyone kept calling "complex", for reasons I cannot fathom.
..and, finally...
THE TEN BEST FILMS OF 2005
A History of Violence - David Cronenberg's giddy paean to American Gothic, gangster films and publicity as social nightmare.
Good Night, and Good Luck - George Clooney's rendition of the verbal prizefight between Edward R. Murrow and Joseph McCarthy.
Grizzly Man - Werner Herzog's fascinating documentary about a man who studied bears for 13 years before being killed by one.
Hustle & Flow - Terrence Howard's performance as a pimp who wants to rap drives this surprisingly good-natured film.
Layer Cake - Already forgotten, this brilliant slice of crime is immediately one of the best of its genre.
Lord of War - How does Nicolas Cage out-do The Weather Man? He inhabits the role of a black-market arms dealer.
Nobody Knows - A crushingly hard film to watch, but richly rewarding. As unique as they come.
The President's Last Bang - Piercing, satirical, subversive and funnier than any other political drama, this Korean import is a hard-to-find prize.
Sin City - Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller have created a one-of-a-kind graphic novel film... that is, until the sequel. Brilliant, beautiful and hardcore.
Tony Takitani - Possibly one of the single-most beautifully crafted, poetic and haunting films of the year (in a good way!), this deceptively simple tale is sure to be remembered as one of the decade's finest works of cinematic art.
Well...that's it.
scn
posted by scn at 7:32 PM
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