December 30, 2005

THE BEST FILMS OF 2005

Water is taught by thirst;
Land, by the oceans passed;
Transport, by throe;
Peace, by its battles told;
Love, by memorial mould;
Birds, by the snow.

It's been a long year.

There were 31 movies I pulled out on my first go through of the films to put on the list this year. Three I disqualified right off for technical reasons. Chang and Grass are two tremendous documentaries, each over 75 years old, each co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack (Grass was co-codirected by Maguerite Harrison), and both make it clear to you that there is nothing too progressive about progress. These films are as fresh and surprising today as anything you might see in color, shot digitally. Wildlife docs are a great challenge and none is much better than Chang. The reason I bring them up this year is that they have recently come out on DVD via The Milestone Collection. Buy them soon and, at the very least, rent them. You'll be surprised and delighted.

The third D.Q. is Francois Ozon's Le Temps Qui Reste (The Time That Remains), a tiny but powerful story of a man in the prime of his life suddenly told he will soon die. The film is being released by Strand in the spring… which makes me happy for Strand and not so happy that a studio Dependent didn't have the nerve to snap this one up. It is a small perfection.

Not DQed, but not quite in the Top 20 are:

Batman Begins - Very Strong, very earnest… a good relaunch of the series.

Broken Flowers - Terrific black note comedy that is mistaken for something that wants to be more than that because of the celebrity cast.

Four Brothers - An unexpected exploitation joy with good performances and a wildly over-the-top script that still pulls a few macho heartstrings.

King Kong - The big monkey works wonders. That 30 minutes on the boat is near deadly. But this one will be watchable for a long time.

Mad Hot Ballroom - Great little doc that could, full of recognizable emotion and joy… just short of a list of 20 that features 5 docs already.

The New World - I really found Terrence Malick's newest powerrful, but my gut is telling me to wait until it's finished. And it's not finished yet.

Sky High - Made as throwaway crap, but oddly enticing and silly fun. The keynote on the film are the hard rubber supersuits that look absurdly uncomfortable and restrictive, but speak to the absurdity of the iconic superhero look without trying to make them seem real.

Why We Fight - Eugene Jarecki is a filmmaker with something to say who also has the smarts and skills to find the truths in history that get his ideas across without finger wagging.

THE SECOND TEN (in alphabetical order)

The Aristocrats - It may be the worst shot great documentary ever, but the idea is powerful, even if the filmmakers didn't quite know what they had stumbled onto, aside from it being funny. Like prayer, the repetition of the one joke, in different voices, in different incarnations, with different attitudes about the joke itself, is breathtaking after a while. There are hills and valleys in the film, but they are a different for every person. As aggressively as the film gets in your face, it also demands that you participate.

Breakfast On Pluto - Neil Jordan's Irish version of Forrest Gump, the movie takes most of its length to finally assert its intent. But the journey is worth it. Patrick "Kitten" Braden is a distraction until you realize that he (and she) is an everyman that wanders through some of the great challenges of recent Irish history, never allowing himself to be slowed, cowed, or distracted by the world. He acts and reacts, moving forward like a runaway train… a runaway train painted pink and covered in flowers. And the ensemble cast is stellar.

Capote - Bennett Miller doesn't get nearly enough credit for the magic of Phillip Seymour Hoffman's performance here, not only because he participated in Phil's work, but also because the cold space around the performance is a great part of what makes the Hoffman performance pop so powerfully. The Dan Futterman script gives Hoffman the lines that could win him an Oscar and surrounds Capote with people as real and earthbound as Capote seems ethereal.

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory - An underappreciated gem, Burton's manic, aggressive, lovingly hateful work here is the most subversive kids film since Yellow Submarine. Burton makes no attempt at reality, though you can feel subtext slipping through all over the place. Johnny Depp gives one of his best performances, forced to play it very narrow, but allowing enough of a read in the eyes to make you realize that he is a maniac with a method… a true believer. And the backstory about Willy Wonka's father is a John August masterstroke.

Good Night, And Good Luck - A perfect little jewel box, more elaborate than we could have expected and all the better for having gone there. I'm not sure there was a better movie in this small sliver of history.

Gunner Palace - The first of the troop driven Iraq docs and still the best. This look at being on the ground in Iraq is as relevant today as it was a year ago, a combination of M*A*S*H* and Three Kings… but it's all real.

Hustle & Flow - It is a bit of a cliché, this one, but it is bent enough to be one of the most enjoyable clichés of the year. The right role found Terrence Howard and Terrence Howard found the right notes in a performance of rage, tenderness and endless energy. When you say, "It's hard out here for a pimp, when you're tryin' to make the money for the rent," you can hardly help but smile a guilty smile… that's the movie. You can see every stereotype coming a block away, but somehow, they all get to you.

Murderball - A slightly misshapen, amateur effort is saved by a few star turns, Mark Zupan and Joe Soares in particular. You couldn't write these guys. But as I felt from the first day I saw the film almost a year ago, whoever plays them in a dramatized version will be a sure bet for an Oscar nod. Zupan is electric, almost more attractive for his disability, because it makes you focus on his personality more than you would if he was just some young rough guy. He is the Warren Beatty of quadriplegics. And Soares is the Robert Duvall… proud, tender, and unrelenting. These two, and many other great moments with other, subjects make this film unforgettable.

Street Fight - Marshall Curry is a first timer, but he fell into one of the most iconic political stories ever documented. The champ is an ugly, aging black man who fought his way up from the streets from back when it was polite to call him a negro, and claws his way into decades of power, still endlessly beloved in spite of running roughshod over his constituents and anyone who dare opposes him. The challenger is a young, good looking face of the future… a potential first black president… who still believes that good can triumph and almost doesn't believe that his opponent can really be as nefarious as he really is. The movie covers so many bases by covering this story, from race to self-deception to media spin to underdog rooting to power games in the black community and on and on. I must see for anyone interested in how politics really work today.

Walk The Line - There was nothing better on a screen this year than Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon singing together. And if you want to understand just how powerful their on-screen chemistry really is, try listening to the album and then wonder why you loved it so much while watching the movie. Jim Mangold's work here is no small part of it, in what really feels like his breakthrough movie, delivering more than good performances, but a balanced, nuanced tale with real range and the deep warmth of love.

And now... The Top Ten...

December 28, 2004 - Movies You Should Have Seen, But Didn't
December 29, 2004 - The Ten Worst
December 30, 2004 - The Ten Best