2005 Year-End Round-Up
by Eugene Novikov
I don't, I am sorry to report, have a particular angle on the year-end summary this year. No laments or gloats on the state of the Oscar race; no whining about favorite movies being maligned, no bemoaning the favorites of others. It was rocky, great year at the movies -- as great as any other year, for me, and maybe rockier than most. More than anything, it affirmed something for me personally: if ever I have a "day job" that prevents me from seeing more than 200 films in a given year, I will quit said day job and not look back.
Below you will find a fair share of the stuff that irked and irritated me about the 2005 movie universe, but know that as a whole, they pale in comparison to the list -- also below -- of what I valued and relished. When it comes to cinema in general and Hollywood in particular, I am a relentless optimist, willing to find something to like in nearly anything thrown at me. That may explain my fondness for films like House of Wax, but more fundamentally, it explains why I continue to attend films like Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, etc. There is not a single film on this list that I regret watching, though certainly plenty that I will happily never watching again.
Without further ado, here's 2005 at the movies in a few words.
The doomed romance in David Mackenzie's powerful, melodramatic Asylum, the best big screen soap opera in years.
The heartfelt silliness of the Farrelly Brothers' Fever Pitch, hands down the best romantic comedy of the year and a different kind of triumph for the Farrelys, each of whose films seems to be better than the last.
Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, a wonderful, needlessly maligned battle epic with a great story and an underrated Orlando Bloom performance.
The hilarious, amoral Mr. and Mrs. Smith, from Doug Liman -- a great and original blockbuster overshadowed by all the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie nonsense.
Marilyn Agrello's hit documentary Mad Hot Ballroom, the best, least condescending crowdpleaser of the year.
Andres Wood's little-seen Machuca, a heartfelt coming of age story with a starkly realized historical backdrop.
The character drama posing as a ghost story in Walter Salles' gorgeous, hypnotic Dark Water. Also probably the most mismarketed movie of the year -- it's not just another iteration of the Japanese horror fad.
Multi-character mosaics are a dime a dozen, but few are as thoughtful and interesting as Chris Terrio's Heights.
Richard Linklater's Bad News Bears, because "baseball's hard. You can love it, but it won't always love you back. It's like dating a German chick."
The year's most pleasant surprise in the form of Mike Mitchell's Sky High - the best family film of the year.
All the Russian in Liev Schreiber's beautiful Everything is Illuminated, but then I am a little biased.
The genre film genius of Bill Paxton's The Greatest Game Ever Played, which is as stirring as underdog sports movies get.
The straightforward, intelligent noir comedy of The Ice Harvest, Harold Ramis' best movie since Ghostbusters, and one of John Cusack's best roles ever.
Match Point, Woody Allen's drastic move away from his recent neurotic schmuck escapades -- announcing itself as a treatise on the role that luck can play in one's life, it is even more effective as an indictment of the arrogance of those who fail to recognize the role of randomness and chance.
The dizzying complexity of Stephen Gaghan's Syriana, which also manages to remain coherent as it plumbs the sorry depths of the oil industry.
The dumb, sub-Jackie Chan action of Prachya Pinkaew Ong-Bak.
The enormous cop-out at the end of Mike Binder's disappointing The Upside of Anger.
The manipulative, condescending screenwriter's exercise that is Paul Haggis' unbelievably overrated Crash.
Ron Howard's ass-boring Cinderella Man, featuring Akiva Goldsman's most hideously bad screenplay yet..
Ken Kwapis' well-intentioned but painfully uninteresting The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
The muddled, convoluted ramblings of Fernando Meirelles' The Constant Gardener, which David Poland hasn't been able to shut up about for the past year.
An incredible concept squandered by Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette in The Aristocrats.
Last Days, Gus Van Sant's undercooked, tedious mood piece - a step down from Gerry.
Joss Whedon's Serenity, which has a rabid fan following from the cancelled tv show, but is really just okay. It's over, kids. Move on.
The uneventful, uncinematic historical highlight reel that is George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck.
Anand Tucker's facile Shopgirl, which got attention because of Steve Martin Being Serious, but is ultimately rather stupid.
Steven Spielberg's Munich, sadly; I didn't have a chance to write about it, which was disappointing, but basically I was put off by Spielberg's strange detachment and period piece gloss, which denied us an entry into the characters' souls -- the very ones that Spielberg and his screenwriter spend so much time fretting over.
Terrence Malick's tortuous The New World, but then what else is new?
The impeccably executed formula in Thomas Carter's Coach Carter.
Francis Lawrence's visionary Constantine, which, I suspect, was dissed because of the mere presence of Keanu Reeves. Give the guy a break - he's not that bad.
The silly but exciting and well-made Hostage, Florent Siri's first American feature.
Wes Craven's lithe, funny Cursed, which critics seemed to enjoy pounding into the dirt.
The elegant slasher-horror of Jaume Collet-Serra's House of Wax.
Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven - see above. I hear the DVD director's cut is even better.
Lords of Dogtown, Catherine Hardwicke's worthy follow-up to Thirteen.
The amusing, personal, original Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D, from Robert Rodriguez. Yeah, the red-blue 3-D does suck, but that can't quite kill the movie.
Tim Story's lighthearted, amiably dumb Fantastic 4, which was crippled by bad advance buzz and the lofty standard set by Spider-Man, et al.
Richard Linklater's Bad News Bears - see above, also.
The enthusiastic, all-stops-out silliness of Iain Softley's Skeleton Key, one of the most purely entertaining horror films in a while.
Darren Lynn Bousman's gruesome Saw II, which seemed to disgust most people, but was pretty clever all the same.
10. Robots (Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha): If CGI were merely a fad, I would say that Robots spells the death of computer animation. It doesn't, but it's easily the worst film in the format to date.
9. Rent (Chris Columbus): God, I hope the stage show is better than the movie, which is unwatchable. Who are these people? Who let them think they were Artists? Why do they expect to live in an enormous New York apartment without paying rent?
8. The Ringer (Barry W. Blaustein): I can't believe people are even remotely tolerating this disaster, which is what a Farrelly Bros. movie would look like if the Farrelys were not talented.
7. Into the Blue (John Stockwell): I very much don't want to ever see Paul Walker on screen again. That's a tall order, since he has four movies in the 2006 pipeline. Oh well.
6. Stealth (Rob Cohen): I swear this movie ends with a nuclear holocaust, or whatever would result from, ahem, bombing North Korea. It's still a happy ending, which is fitting for this retarded movie from hackmeister Cohen.
5. Are We There Yet? (Brian Levant): Just a complete black hole masquerading as "family entertainment." I mean, it's not even a movie. I don't know what it is. Cancer, maybe.
4. Herbie: Fully Loaded (Angela Robinson): As vapid as it gets, including even a G-rated boner joke. I wrote an angry review comparing it to Shark Boy and Lava Girl, which is a masterpiece in comparison; really, though, this is a travesty all on its own.
3. Palindromes (Todd Solondz): Gosh, it's been a while, but how can one forget a movie as hollow, as pretentious, as full of bile and spite as this one from Solondz.
2. The Perfect Man (Mark Rosman): Wow! I expected a harmless little tween romantic comedy, and got this epic monstrosity. Will be remembered for the immortal Hilary Duff greeting, "hey, all you bloggers out there!"
1. The Dukes of Hazzard (Jay Chandrasekhar): A serious contender for the Worst Movie I Have Ever Seen, this astoundingly witless "reimagining" of the old tv show proves, among other things, that Jessica Simpson is a cyborg.
10. Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan): A superhero movie played without a trace of self-awareness, one that takes its story seriously so that we can take it seriously, too. Christian Bale is the best Batman, bar none; Christopher Nolan is yet another in a series of inspired director choices in superhero franchises.
9. Sin City (Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller): A movie universe in every sense -- from the look, incredible and by now well-known, to the rules of physics, to basic moral tenets. Though there's some moody fun to be had along the way, it is ultimately upsetting and draining -- which is as it should be for a film this violent and this dark. Rodriguez and Miller don't let the presence of a character named Yellow Bastard turn their film into a comedy.
8. My Summer of Love (Pawel Pawlikowsky): Its scant running time barely qualifies it as a movie, but it packs more of an emotional punch than most films twice as long. A strikingly brutal coming-of-age story that highlights the futility of rejecting "phonies" and looking for something "real," it's 2005's heartbreaker.
7. War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg): Forget Munich. Well, maybe don't forget it, I don't know. This is undoubtedly the better Spielberg, though, proving that as a technical master, he has no rivals. It's a terrifying alien invasion movie, served straight-up, and Spielberg's command of the form is awe-inspiring.
6. Separate Lies (Julian Fellowes): It landed in theaters with a hollow thump, which isn't surprising since it doesn't have much of a marketing hook. Still, Julian Fellowes' directorial debut is a compelling thriller with a fast pace that belies its very British atmosphere and pedigree. Tom Wilkinson: performance of the year.
5. Pride & Prejudice (Joe Wright): I guess it's somewhat ironic that I was arrogantly dismissive of this, yet another twee Jane Austen screen adaptation, until I saw it. Don't be fooled. It's brilliant -- as a romance, as a comedy of manners, and as a movie, a movie movie, as visually and viscerally exciting as War of the Worlds or Sin City
4. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (Judd Apatow): A low-brow comedy endowed with real wit and intelligence, it's awesomely funny and impossibly sweet. Some recognition for Carrell and Keener not forthcoming, but deserved, and the movie itself is obviously hampered by being a comedy, and a raunchy one at that. It's about as far removed from crap like Eurotrip as can be.
3. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee): On one hand, those who are saying that the movie is receiving its accolades merely for political correctness reasons are obviously wrong: this is a great movie, eloquent and powerful. On the other hand, those who claim that it's not really a "gay" film but "just a love story" are wrong as well: it's a gay love story, and a cultural milestone. But on the other hand, it's a great movie.
2. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg): I want to say that Cronenberg's genre-bender has been "misunderstood," but that would involve restricting the film to one interpretation, which is misleading and unfair. The narrative is simple, but there are layers upon layers here, and the film refuses to be pigeonholed. The audience at my screening laughed through it, which is a bit depressing, but really only adds to the movie's value as a think-piece.
1. King Kong (Peter Jackson): After a second viewing, still the most astonishing thing I have ever seen, and the grandest movie adventure since Jackson's own Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's larger than life, exciting, funny and sad; everything I go to the movies for.
©2005 Eugene Novikov