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Ten.

THE ABSOLUTE BEST MOVIES OF 2005

wait for it ...

CLEAN

Maggie Cheung stars as Emily, the rock star wife who suddenly has to deal with the death of her husband - drugs, hardships, and her own issues arise as she has to piece her life back together for the sake of her son and in-laws. Nick Nolte plays her father-in-law with ease and care for his grandson - he wants Emily to succeed, stay away from drugs, and be the mother she has to be for her son - but the struggle is there. It will not go away and Emily must get herself out of the hole she has put herself in. CLEAN may not be the most original film I’ve seen, but it is affecting, unique, and heartbreaking.

JARHEAD

“Welcome to the Suck” says Troy to Swofford, the young man with an idea of what his war will be, only to find that it never is more than a single moment. Director Sam Mendes doesn’t give us a cliché war picture - this is of a personal war - one with characters, emotions, and moments in time. JARHEAD is the truth of one veteran’s experience - it’s not every serviceman’s voice - but it is one, that is controversial, devastating, and honest.

SHOPGIRL

The soft look at Mirabelle, the girl at the glove counter, could be seen as this year’s Lost in Translation, seemingly muted and with hidden depth, but Claire Danes’ performance is wondrous and charming, as her male counterparts, Steve Martin’s Ray, and Jason Schwartzman’s Jeremy, compliment and match her immensely. Anand Tucker’s filmic absence since Hilary and Jackie is forgotten - a treat like SHOPGIRL only comes along every once in a while - better to have it than never at all.

MOONLIGHT

Paula van der Oest’s MOONLIGHT is a small Dutch film you’ve never heard before - I can’t give a reason exactly why - but it’s not the easiest movie to watch. Laurien Van den Broeck stars as Claire, a young girl living with her wealthy adoptive family, when one day she discovers a boy hiding in her play shed on their property. She then realizes he has been left for dead, and was apart of a drug smuggling ring, to which they eventually come crawling around her homeland, seeking him. The two children eventually run away, all for the unnamed boys’ safety, and because Claire feels it is her duty. The movie is slowly starting to be released around the world, and had an extremely limited release stateside this past November. What I loved so much about this movie was the look and presentation of desperation in a youthful relationship. Claire acts selfless and most often isn’t sure of herself - but the movie is powerful and haunting. If you come upon it, give it a try.

PALINDROMES

And continuing the not-so-easy-to-watch pattern is another awesome exercise in controversy from Todd Solondz. If you want to read my full review, go here and scroll. Otherwise, you’re just going to have to take this number placement as a sign of my approval.

MYSTERIOUS SKIN

As far as Gregg Araki goes, I hate his work. But I’ll retract because of his amazing work with the Scott Heim novel adaptation of MYSTERIOUS SKIN, a touchy, graphic-but-not look at sexuality and child abuse. Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Brady Corbet are fantastic as two boys distanced from the present, but connected by their painful past. The film is not perfect, nor extremely well made, but it has had this resonance with me - it’s a moving and totally admirable little film that boldly goes where many would rather not.

STAR WARS- EPISODE III : REVENGE OF THE SITH

So NOW I’ll be really obvious and go for the biggest movie of 2005, box office wise -
but there’s got to be a reason for that, you know? Lucas gives us the FINAL installment and LAST of the prequels (which is relieving, for sure), and all while reaffirming my love for Star Wars and faith in ol’ George. Transition to Darth Vader for Anakin? IT WORKS. And all those What If’s? to wind up in a movie just about 140 minutes. Bravo. It’s definitely been a fun, bumpy ride.

MATCH POINT

MATCH POINT is a Woody Allen movie for someone who doesn’t like Woody Allen. I’m not one of those people, but if I was, I’d surely praise the film just as much. Where Allen could have been obvious with plot and intent, he instead decides to whisk us away to London, where a tennis playboy schemes, and a saucy out-of-work actress catches his eye, only to have his infatuation seemingly destroy everything he has worked for. In a movie filled with such desire and soft dialogue, Match Point is mysterious without letting you in on the mystery. And with gorgeous undertones that you don’t realize until the very end. A true work of brilliance for Allen.

KING KONG

KING KONG is everything you and I want in movies - but don’t want to admit. We want danger, destruction, action, love, romance, fright, charm, and to be grossed out. Peter Jackson has masterfully taken all of his awesome qualities from his past work and meshed it into the ULTIMATE experience . .. well, theatrically. King Kong might be seen as cheesy, overdone, and just plain indulgent, but those who say that don’t want to admit that a movie- and remake - about a giant Gorilla was absorbing and made you tear up, even when you knew what was going to happen in the end.

CAPOTE

I was hoping somehow that another movie could unseat CAPOTE as my favorite movie last year, but no. It didn’t happen, even when I thought the feat was managable. My absolute favorite genre is Drama- that said, Capote could possibly be my favorite dramatic feature made in the past decade. Engrossing, fascinating, and a near miracle in itself, Phillip Seymour Hoffman takes the reigns as Truman, with all the tools in his acting belt, and lets it flow like pure cinematic magic. Capote is exactly what I want all drama films to be, but they usually don’t end up being - powerful, moving, and having the ability to leave me speechless.

Posted by madamczyk at 11:12 PM | Comments (3)

On 2005 - Just the "Good" Stuff

When I think of the movies that I’ve seen this past year, it’s hard to say that it was filled with great performances, memorable moments, and exciting stories - there were a few of these things, but not enough. Too many movies were disappointing remakes, had unfufilling visuals - or really just weren’t enjoyable. But enough about the drawbacks -
I did see more than 30 worthwile movies - I’ll get to the disappointing stuff in a latter entry, but for now, here’s the non-top 10 stuff I enjoyed.

How Funny

The 40 Year Old Virgin was not only one of the most successful comedies this year, but the most charming as well, while still staying true to the characters, and not exactly being a gross-out R rated movie. Fever Pitch didn’t exactly appeal to all audiences, but this Red Sox fan absolutely enjoyed the performances by Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore - and the really honest take on being a Sox fan worked well on screen - however, I have NO IDEA why the dvd itself has pinstripes on it (!).

Woody Allen’s first film out of the gate in 2005 was Melinda and Melinda, giving you the only worthwhile outing from Will Ferrell this year - a lovely comedy that also had another take of the same material on a more dramatic level . Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang gave former big shots Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer material that they could play with - both actors have loads of fun on the dark side of the L.A. acting and crime scene, with the help of the bright new star Michelle Monaghan. A great movie that isn’t exactly easy to follow, but is still extremely fresh and worthy of your time.
For the more acquired fan of “The State” and “Stella” comes the ‘rom com’ of sorts The Baxter, directed by and starring Michael Showalter, giving the ‘other’ guy who doesn’t get the girl a chance to tell his side - Michelle Williams also stars as the right girl for that poor sod.

It’s All Relative

Ew, yes. There were remakes this year - although some of them rose above the regular fare. Richard Linklater’s pitch of Bad News Bears didn’t have Matthau, but Billy Bob Thornton followed up his Bad Santa gig as everyone's favorite drunk coach with ease - it may not be the best remake, but it was still exactly what I expected - and that’s just fine. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy didn’t have the cards on it’s side of being an adaptation that’s better than the book, but the sci-fi glee shined through with good performances and plenty of quirk that made me smile.

Now, I won’t say that I’m a huge fan of Rob Zombie, but his sequel to House of 1000 Corpses The Devil’s Rejects was a really good movie - for the material. Gore, suspense, humor, and the feel of a 70s horror road picture made it work. Liev Schrieber’s directorial debut Everything is Illuminated took the general adaptation idea to a new visual level - a stunning film in more ways than one. And the same is so for Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, which wasn’t exactly OH MY GOD THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER, but still had some subtle hints of adaptation greatness - which of course didn’t make themselves obvious to the viewer until afterwards. Gyllenhaal’s performance as Jack Twist is one of my favorites of the year - and will probably be forgotten in the comparison of the good, but not quite as equal work by Heath Ledger. In their feature film debut, Wallace and Gromit took on The Curse of the Were-Rabbit , which ended up being the best claymation movie ever.

Out of the Loop

Hustle and Flow drowned all thoughts of 8 Mile - and really gave an inticing side to the musical struggle of a pimp who wants a piece of the Rap pie.
The Weather Man not only featured another good performance by Nicholas Cage, but really gave new meaning to “Camel Toe”.

Breakfast on Pluto really let Cillian Murphy take the reigns as Patrick/Patricia “Kitten” in his first big role, with the help of the whimsical directive ease from Neil Jordan.
Junebug wasn’t exactly the greatest depiction of a southern family, but the amazing role of pregnant Ashley (Amy Adams) comes out of nowhere - for that the movie itself is worthy of a viewing.
Wes Craven’s Red Eye may be a sometimes campy thriller, but the chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy goes from interesting to frightening ... in a good way.
My Summer of Love is pure sexual tension - and will melt in your DVD player.
Oldboy is the greatest action mystery thriller of the year - see it now, so you’ll have one up on the upcoming remake.

And for the closing of my general comments, consider seeing Inside Deep Throat, the documentary about the infamous porno which created a rift in the world of cinema, shedding light on the sexual revolution in film from politics and culture. Don’t worry - it’s rated NC-17, so you know what you’re getting content-wise.

Posted by madamczyk at 01:24 AM | Comments (0)

Hostel - with Captions!

"Mr Movie Phone? Yes, PLEASE tell me where King Kong is showing so I don't have to see HOSTEL"
I was kind of hesitant to write this review BEFORE I let out my entire 2005 roundup, but damn, a movie like HOSTEL only comes along every once in a while.

LOOK AT ME .. I'M A HORROR MASTER!
Ohh Eli Roth ... You tease!

"Hey guys, since we're here at this whorehouse, let's get laid!"

Set in Amsterdam, and then Slovakia, HOSTEL attempts to be this awesomely gruesome and telling tale about torture upon american college kids via rich businessmen in a seedy grunge cell setting, which they are lured to through the euro skanks they meet at this "hard to find" Hostel.

BUT what is the point? Cautionary ? Horror ? Social Commentary ? No. No. No. Where Hostel could have inserted a smidgen of depth into the characters, we instead are plugged with pathetic foreshadowing. And while we are seeing the main characters experience pain, torment, etc., YOU DO NOT CARE. The duo of misogynistic, pigheaded College boys and their Icelandic buddy came to the said Hostel seeing sex. At one point, one of the characters mentions how they should look around and enjoy the sights - but that would be too smart, now wouldn't it ! If there's one thing I know about horror movies, and have had immensely confirmed from Hostel, it's that rarely ever do college students do the right things to save their skins - and they usually think with their genitals.

Writer/Director/Moron Eli Roth may be trying to say something about stupid 18-24 year olds in horror movies, but that's where his next mistake is - presentation. As you might know that from movie ads, Hostel is being called as from "Quentin Tarantino." Mr. Pulp Fiction is absolutely a respectable filmmaker who never mocks his main characters, and lets them only be hurt if they deserve it from their general bad deeds. In Hostel, the character with common sense doesn't make out so well, because he's sometimes called a "fag"- and all because he doesn't want any foreign STD.
Tarantino also used blood and gore to show the severity of the situation, to either compliment madness or character intent. Hostel uses the "gore" (I use quotes because it's just lame dismemberment) for your personal pain. Or no pain at all, since I myself laughed out loud at some of the moments of torture.

AND as if my comparisons/disappointments weren't enough, a certain respectable Horror master director shows up in brief cameo (Takashi Miike), and to what reason ?? Eli Roth is probably a HUGE fan of his work - but with his current track record, Roth will probably never really put a true horror movie upon screen that doesn't ease the audiences fears/disappointment with cheesy moments of laughable situations. At the near end of the movie, there are several moments like which just BEG to be seen for not their "homage" quality - and instead their lack of realism. But that is really all that they deserve by the point they arise in the movie.

"Please, don't hurt me. I'll never act again - I swear!"

Poor, poor Jay Herandez (the guy with the gag ball). Once upon a time, he was in a few good movies that I enjoyed, and now I blame him for making me want to see this movie - but it's not entirely his fault. I totally wanted Hostel to be a horror movie that could be shocking, enjoyable, and groundbreaking. But instead, Hostel is just a laughable attempt to disturb and deserves to be released on DVD - and get lost in the pathetic mess of idiotic, low budget, straight-to-video horror - which it really, truly is.

BRING OUT 'YER DEAD!

Oy. If only this was really marketed as a comedy.

Posted by madamczyk at 12:18 AM | Comments (2)