Adam Valen Levinson
Freelance Movie Critic
If you take the time to sift through the bottomless landfill that was the 2005 movie season, you will find that there were, in fact, a handful of deserving films. Deserving, of course, means worthy of a spot on this year’s prestigious Top 11, where musicals, documentaries, comedies, dramas and junk can finally coexist.
1. Crash* is amazing. It documents a day in the lives of a dozen ethnically and spiritually diverse Los Angelans, exploiting the ensemble cast to present each character’s story as equally important. Soul-stirring and provocative, Crash forces us to collide with our stereotypes, to confront them in the hopes that they may change. As Don Cheadle says in the opening narrative, “we crash into each other just so we can feel something”. This film is the collision that can break through to our cores, stare us straight in the soul and say “hey you, wake up.”
2. Lord of War was both powerful and funny, examining with an eagle eye the corruption of international arms dealing. Writer-director Andrew Niccol shows us the world from both a personal and a detached perspective, forcing us to examine our own reactions to the tragedies on screen. Nicolas Cage, in one of his greatest performances, narrates his twisted rags-to-riches story amidst a plethora of artillery, “merchandise”, and unspeakable violence. A perfect pair with Syriana, Lord of War shows us the deceit that holds our world together, one bullet at a time.
3. As an astute movie critic mentioned in June, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was like the George Washington Bridge, providing a link between the New Jersey-like garbage of the two prequels and the New York-esque awesomeness of the original trilogy. Special effects are more than special in the epic saga that has become such a favorite piece of Americana. We will always remember that long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that touched all of our hearts.
4. Wedding Crashers was this year’s best comedy, starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as womanizing impostors who unfailingly become the centers of attention at dozens of springtime weddings. An unapologetically raunchy romp, the movie uses both the terrifyingly creepy and the brilliantly bizarre to knock you off your seat in a fit of R-rated giggles. Witty and original, Wedding Crashers never ceases to be painfully funny, till the credits do us part.
5. George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck is a clever presentation of the CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow’s battle against Joe McCarthy during his fearmongering Red Scare in the 1950’s. Mixed with real footage of the senator, the black and white Good Night shows us an America plagued by paranoia and cured by good journalism. Perfectly timed to mirror today’s own political dishonesty, the film and its message do not beat around the bush.
6. Mel Brooks’ The Producers leaves you without any sides left to split. Anyone who does not think it’s better than the original should refrain from attending movies, for fear of breaking his plastic hip. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick fill their characters with the perfect amounts of insanity, absurdity and vibrance that made the original so... original. With new songs from the musical, and Will Ferrell as a neo-Nazi playwright, Producers will have you singing along with the Führer ‘til the curtain drops.
7. In the aftermath of the slaughter of eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, a son of a hero is chosen to strike back. With a newborn daughter at home, Avner, played by The Hulk’s Eric Bana, risks everything to carry out his country’s vendetta. Controversially portraying the Israeli government as manipulative and self-righteous, Munich still tells a thrilling story of a man’s journey between hunter and hunted – between nobody and somebody. With its unhesitatingly gory style, Munich is a gripping look at murder and revenge, asking us to draw our own line between what is wrong and what seems right.
8. The fourth installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was finally frightening enough to keep unaccompanied 12 year-olds out of the theater. The magical world of Hogwarts is in even more danger with You-Know-Who’s return to the corporeal. Braving even more adolescent squabbles, Harry must survive the prestigious Tri-Wizard tournament in order to make the next three sequels. Goblet of Fire is clearly the cream of the Harry Potter crop.
9. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is back with his larger-than-life King Kong, a three hour long journey that is both exhilarating and heart-warming, and always a little bit funny. At times, the dizzying chases through the uncharted forests of Skull Island seem to be a curious blend of Apocalypse Now and The Land Before Time, but with the cast dropping like flies, and giant flies dropping like rocks, Kong glues you to your seat. In the era of the remake, Jackson has managed to make one that brings a new chest-pounding zazz to the original, making Kong this year’s best film starring a giant primate.
10. Now on the silver screen, Rent presents the New York stage’s poignantly raw rock-musical in a clearer, more illustrative way than Broadway ever could. Close to 5,256,000 minutes after the show’s debut, the entire original cast is back, replacing only Mimi with the mind-numbingly perfect Rosario Dawson. The film breathes new life into the late Jonathan Larson’s fiery vision, captured in this heartwarming gem in a way that will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps measure your years a little differently.
11. The Aristocrats documents the funniest, most offensive, and downright wrongest joke in existence, as told by dozens of today’s top comedians. In Philadelphia, Aristocrats managed to merit a No-Admittance-Under-18 policy, a stricter rating than anything the MPAA has to offer. To be released in January, the DVD will allow even pre-schoolers to laugh at comedians like Hank Azaria’s depiction of *** ** **** dog ***** **** ***** **** daughter ****** ***** ear ****** ** ******* *** oatmeal.
* Officially released in September, 2004 at the Toronto Film Festival. However, Canada is insignificant, and the movie was released in the civilized world in 2005.
Written January 7, 2006 for the Friends' Central Focus
2 comments:
that's about my list exactly, nice work.
crash *is* amazing. dig it.
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