ALLIGATORS IN A HELICOPTER

a pro script reader ponders movies, reading, writing and the occasional personal flashback

Sunday, January 08, 2006

The Top 10 Movies of 2005 Are --

Beats me. I have no idea.

There were years in the past when I could have taken a whack at a list like this, particularly when I lived in Manhattan, when I was averaging about 120 movies a year in theaters.

This year, I saw maybe 25.

Sure, they were generally good movies; when you only see a couple of movies a month, it is easier to avoid the crap. I can certainly come closer to a ten best movies list than a list of the ten worst movies, since I managed to avoid them all.

But this year I just didn't see much. I can't remember seeing a single foreign language film, or a single documentary. I'm sure I saw an independent film or two, but I'll be damned if I can remember what they were.

I know I liked Cinderella Man, and Crash, and Brokeback Mountain, and Good Night and Good Luck, and a lot of Jarhead. I liked Pride and Prejudice, and I liked King Kong more than most people. War of the Worlds, too. Narnia was good; so was In Her Shoes, and North Country. The Wedding Crashers and the 40 Year Old Virgin made me laugh.

I didn't really get the raves for A History of Violence; I thought it was predictable and underplotted. I'll have to see it again. I liked chunks of Elizabethtown, but it could have been a lot better.

I still plan to see Munich and The New World and Capote in the next few weeks, and I even hope to see The Squid and the Whale before it leaves the art house down the road. I'm sure I'd like Walk the Line too, if I can squeeze it in.

But I'm going to have to catch most of the 2005 releases on DVD and cable. So if you want a best-of list from me, you'll have to wait a few years.

5 Comments:

At 11:18 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

With four kids, I'm at that point in life where movies are again a rare treat rather than an easy affordable distraction on a slow Friday night.

---

WALK THE LINE-- liked it a lot more than I really expected to. Of the few flicks I managed to see in the theater this year, this was easily my fave. Not perfect by any stretch, but interesting performances, and great music.

BATMAN BEGINS-- like but no love

KING KONG-- like but no love

NARNIA-- like but no love

SHOPGIRL-- liked a few moments, overall unthrilled

UNFORTUNATE EVENTS-- though many aspects seemed perfect, I hated Jim Carrey enough to not enjoy the movie overall

CHARLEY AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY-- overall not overjoyed

WAR OF THE WORLDS-- very disappointed (numerous others actually walked out)

MADAGASCAR-- Meh. Shoulda taken a nap instead

---
.
.
.
B

 
At 1:01 PM, Blogger Benjamin Quinn said...

I agree with the mini-reviews you put up, except for Crash - everyone seems to get more out of it than I did. I'm missing out.

You might want to check out a Quebecois flick called Familia. I managed to catch it at TIFF this year and I found it to be the highlight of the festival. (Unlike Gilliam's new flick, Tideland...)

Dylan

 
At 2:53 PM, Blogger Alicia said...

How I long for those luxurious days when we could just randomly say, "Want to go to a movie tonight?" And we just went!

I made a point of seeing The Squid and The Whale, mostly because of some plot similarities to my screenplay. And I really liked it. Look for my review at some point.

Fortunately enough, I've seen many of the films that you've listed and feel that those are most of the strong contenders for the major categories this year. As for Foreign and Docs - I haven't seen a one. The $2 house in Newtown is showing Cinderella Man and, since my husband has no interest, then I will see it on the big screen and probably enjoy it more!

God, I love Oscar season!

 
At 6:30 AM, Blogger MaryAn Batchellor said...

Brett, my boy and I are on book eleven of the Lemony Snicket series so maybe my appreciation for the books skewed my opinion of Jim Carrey's performance.

 
At 10:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Go see Match point instead of wasting your time on Munich. :)

 

Post a Comment

<< Home