2005 Movie Year in Review
Here is my top 10 movies of 2005, plus the complete list of all 75 movies I saw. I tried to limit the top ten to movies that actually had their Cleveland premiere in 2005, which is why you won't see Shaun of the Dead on this list :-)
Top 10
1. The Best of Youth part I
2. The Best of Youth part II
I do not have the words. Phenomenal comes to mind. Or excellent. If you had told me in January that 6 hours of Italian film about the life of two brothers was going to be my favorite movie of the year I would have laughed at you, but this film embodies everything good about cinema.
3. The Aristocrats - Filthy, disgusting and absolutely hilarious. The best documentary of the year and it is not even close.
4. The Kung Fu Hustle - Ok, so this probably won't appear on the top 10 lists for most critics, but I had a happy grin on my face for several days after seeing it.
5. Walk the Line - A much stronger movie than the very similar Ray, and not just because Johnny Cash is the man.
6. Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit - Far & away the best animated feature of the year. I would not mind watching it on DVD a frame at a time to try and find all of the sight gags I missed the first time around.
7. The Woodsman - Kevin Bacon is very believably creepy as the pedophile who finds redemption. It was much scarier than any horror film I have seen recently.
8. Kontroll - Dark and disturbing. I am still not completely sure that I knew what the heck was going on but I liked what I saw.
9. A Very Long Engagement - Very beautiful. I mean the movie, but it applies to Audrey Tautou as well.
10. Bride & Prejudice - This probably wasn't even the best Jane Austen adaptation of the year, but it made me very happy.
Other worthy contenders: Murderball, Sin City, The Warrior, Serenity, King Kong
The Complete List
By theater - numbers may not add up :-)
C - Cinematheque - 26 movies.
RS - Cleveland Heights Regal Severance - 5 movies.
RL - Richmond Height's Loews - 7 movies.
CF - CWRUFilm - 4 movies.
CL - Cedar Lee - 13 movies.
SS - Shaker Square - 14 movies.
WP - Westlake Promenade - 1 movie.
VV - Valley View - 1 movie.
JANUARY - 6 movies
When Will I Be Loved - C, 1/14
Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events - RS, 1/16
House of Flying Daggers - SS, 1/17
Warriors of Heaven & Earth - C, 1/20
A Very Long Engagement - CL, 1/22
Kinsey - CL, 1/31
FEBRUARY - 7 movies
Ray - CF, 2/4
Sideways - CL, 2/7
Shaun of the Dead - CF, 2/12
In Good Company - SS, 2/14
Million Dollar Baby - SS, 2/20
Being Julia - SS, 2/21
The Woodsman - CL, 2/24
MARCH - 9 movies
Hotel Rwanda - CL, 3/4
The Wedding Date - VV, 3/11
Urgh! A Music War - C, 3/12
The Forbidden Zone - C, 3/12
It Came From Outer Space - C, 3/19
THX 1138 ( Director's Cut ) - C, 3/19
The King & the Mockingbird - C, 3/26
Appleseed - C, 3/26
Bride & Prejudice - CL, 3/28
APRIL - 6 movies
Hell's Angels - C, 4/3
Sin City - SS, 4/4
Constantine - RS, 4/18
The Interpreter - RL, 4/19 ( sneak )
The Kung Fu Hustle - SS, 4/25
Los Olivados - C, 4/29
MAY - 5 movies
Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine - C, 5/1
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - SS, 5/2
Kingdom of Heaven - RS, 5/9
Unleashed - RS, 5/16
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - WP, 5/19
JUNE - 6 movies
Alice - C, 6/04
Sky Blue - C, 6/10
Mr. & Mrs. Smith - SS, 6/13
Batman Begins - RL, 6/17
Howl's Moving Castle - CL, 6/18
George A Romero's Land of the Dead - RL, 6/28
JULY - 2 movies
Citizen Kane - C, 7/2
The Fantastic 4 - GFK10, 7/23
AUGUST - 8 movies
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory - SS, 8/1
F For Fake - C, 8/7
Kontroll - C, 8/7
Murderball - CL, 8/8
March of the Penguins - CL, 8/15
The Aristocrats - CL, 8/22
The Great Raid - RL, 8/27
Othello - C, 8/28
SEPTEMBER - 4 movies
The Brothers Grimm - RL, 9/5
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride - SS, 9/23
The Best of Youth ( part I ) - C, 9/24
The Best of Youth ( part II ) - C, 9/25
OCTOBER - 6 movies
Pennies From Heaven - C, 10/6
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit - RL, 10/14
Doom - RL, 10/18 ( sneak )
Versus - CF, 10/19
Serenity - RS, 10/21
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams - C, 10/23
NOVEMBER - 8 movies
Jarhead - RL, 11/1 ( sneak )
Elevator to the Gallows - C, 11/5
Mirrormask - CL, 11/5
The Princess Bride - CF, 11/19
Walk the Line - SS, 11/22
Rent - SS, 11/24
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire - SS, 11/25
The Warrior - C, 11/27
DECEMBER - 8 movies
Pure - C, 12/2
Wedding Crashers - CF, 12/09
Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic - CL, 12/11
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe - SS, 12/12
Not on the Lips - C, 12/17
Genesis - C, 12/17
Good Night, and Good Luck - CL, 12/19
King Kong - Loews NYC, 12/22
I hope to do more of a breakdown later, but given my lack of posting lately I wouldn't count on it.
Top 10
1. The Best of Youth part I
2. The Best of Youth part II
I do not have the words. Phenomenal comes to mind. Or excellent. If you had told me in January that 6 hours of Italian film about the life of two brothers was going to be my favorite movie of the year I would have laughed at you, but this film embodies everything good about cinema.
3. The Aristocrats - Filthy, disgusting and absolutely hilarious. The best documentary of the year and it is not even close.
4. The Kung Fu Hustle - Ok, so this probably won't appear on the top 10 lists for most critics, but I had a happy grin on my face for several days after seeing it.
5. Walk the Line - A much stronger movie than the very similar Ray, and not just because Johnny Cash is the man.
6. Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit - Far & away the best animated feature of the year. I would not mind watching it on DVD a frame at a time to try and find all of the sight gags I missed the first time around.
7. The Woodsman - Kevin Bacon is very believably creepy as the pedophile who finds redemption. It was much scarier than any horror film I have seen recently.
8. Kontroll - Dark and disturbing. I am still not completely sure that I knew what the heck was going on but I liked what I saw.
9. A Very Long Engagement - Very beautiful. I mean the movie, but it applies to Audrey Tautou as well.
10. Bride & Prejudice - This probably wasn't even the best Jane Austen adaptation of the year, but it made me very happy.
Other worthy contenders: Murderball, Sin City, The Warrior, Serenity, King Kong
The Complete List
By theater - numbers may not add up :-)
C - Cinematheque - 26 movies.
RS - Cleveland Heights Regal Severance - 5 movies.
RL - Richmond Height's Loews - 7 movies.
CF - CWRUFilm - 4 movies.
CL - Cedar Lee - 13 movies.
SS - Shaker Square - 14 movies.
WP - Westlake Promenade - 1 movie.
VV - Valley View - 1 movie.
JANUARY - 6 movies
When Will I Be Loved - C, 1/14
Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events - RS, 1/16
House of Flying Daggers - SS, 1/17
Warriors of Heaven & Earth - C, 1/20
A Very Long Engagement - CL, 1/22
Kinsey - CL, 1/31
FEBRUARY - 7 movies
Ray - CF, 2/4
Sideways - CL, 2/7
Shaun of the Dead - CF, 2/12
In Good Company - SS, 2/14
Million Dollar Baby - SS, 2/20
Being Julia - SS, 2/21
The Woodsman - CL, 2/24
MARCH - 9 movies
Hotel Rwanda - CL, 3/4
The Wedding Date - VV, 3/11
Urgh! A Music War - C, 3/12
The Forbidden Zone - C, 3/12
It Came From Outer Space - C, 3/19
THX 1138 ( Director's Cut ) - C, 3/19
The King & the Mockingbird - C, 3/26
Appleseed - C, 3/26
Bride & Prejudice - CL, 3/28
APRIL - 6 movies
Hell's Angels - C, 4/3
Sin City - SS, 4/4
Constantine - RS, 4/18
The Interpreter - RL, 4/19 ( sneak )
The Kung Fu Hustle - SS, 4/25
Los Olivados - C, 4/29
MAY - 5 movies
Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine - C, 5/1
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - SS, 5/2
Kingdom of Heaven - RS, 5/9
Unleashed - RS, 5/16
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - WP, 5/19
JUNE - 6 movies
Alice - C, 6/04
Sky Blue - C, 6/10
Mr. & Mrs. Smith - SS, 6/13
Batman Begins - RL, 6/17
Howl's Moving Castle - CL, 6/18
George A Romero's Land of the Dead - RL, 6/28
JULY - 2 movies
Citizen Kane - C, 7/2
The Fantastic 4 - GFK10, 7/23
AUGUST - 8 movies
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory - SS, 8/1
F For Fake - C, 8/7
Kontroll - C, 8/7
Murderball - CL, 8/8
March of the Penguins - CL, 8/15
The Aristocrats - CL, 8/22
The Great Raid - RL, 8/27
Othello - C, 8/28
SEPTEMBER - 4 movies
The Brothers Grimm - RL, 9/5
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride - SS, 9/23
The Best of Youth ( part I ) - C, 9/24
The Best of Youth ( part II ) - C, 9/25
OCTOBER - 6 movies
Pennies From Heaven - C, 10/6
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit - RL, 10/14
Doom - RL, 10/18 ( sneak )
Versus - CF, 10/19
Serenity - RS, 10/21
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams - C, 10/23
NOVEMBER - 8 movies
Jarhead - RL, 11/1 ( sneak )
Elevator to the Gallows - C, 11/5
Mirrormask - CL, 11/5
The Princess Bride - CF, 11/19
Walk the Line - SS, 11/22
Rent - SS, 11/24
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire - SS, 11/25
The Warrior - C, 11/27
DECEMBER - 8 movies
Pure - C, 12/2
Wedding Crashers - CF, 12/09
Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic - CL, 12/11
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe - SS, 12/12
Not on the Lips - C, 12/17
Genesis - C, 12/17
Good Night, and Good Luck - CL, 12/19
King Kong - Loews NYC, 12/22
I hope to do more of a breakdown later, but given my lack of posting lately I wouldn't count on it.