The Usual Choices
Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan)
Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
Capote (Bennett Miller)
Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney)
The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach)
But how about...
Thank You for Smoking (Jason Reitman)
A terrific satire about Big Tobacco and its determination to keep making huge stacks of money from cigarettes, regardless of ethics and deaths. Aaron Eckhart plays a company mouthpiece, whose talent is for extreme spin, arguing that no business would want to deliberately kill off its customers...because, where's the profit in that? Katie Holmes is the do-anything-for-a-story journalist and Robert Duvall is the good-ol'-boy tycoon, joining politicians, company execs, the Marlboro Man and Cancer Boy in delivering the public health warning: isn't this an abominable crime, and shouldn't it have stopped by now? Laugh and pity the coughing victims of such greed-driven exploitation.
...and what about...
Match Point (Woody Allen)
A rejigged version of An American Tragedy / A Place in the Sun, Match Point, to my mind, is the greatest of the serious Woody movies. With more than an echo of his own Crimes and Misdemeanors from 1989, this explores the part that fate & luck and morality & guilt play in our ability to endure, to keep on. As usual with Woody films, the main characters are affluent (or in the process of attaining it), entirely self-absorbed, fixated on Art and very, very chatty. Absolutely no laughs or witticisms in this whatsoever; just a leading man who degenerates into a despicable villain with astonishing haste and his eventual victim who seemingly traps herself and ties tight her own restraints.
...not to mention...
Transamerica (Duncan Tucker)
An amusing and compassionate road movie about transgender, sex as a career choice and, most of all, the ties of family. Felicity Huffman is marvellous as Brie the woman-to-be (she is the audio twin of the Lilith character in Cheers and Frasier) and without waving it in our faces, we just know that she has had a boyhood of misery...and is now taking charge. Then lo! Brie discovers that she is the father of a person as equally dazed and confused as she is. And so, bit by bit, they get to know each other. While carnality and body bits'n'bobs are seen and discussed matter-of-factly, only a moral fascist could possibly object to these characters and their unique story.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Stay (Marc Forster)
Desperately seeking significance, this film is a boring load of pretentious claptrap. A shrink takes on a suicidal patient and an ex-patient / ex-suicidal girlfriend. Inevitably, as he tracks down the cause of their psycho-angst, the doctor starts to become the one who is deranged and in need of help. As is standard in these things, clever editing flourishes are stirred with twisted camera angles and unusual framings...because these scream out ART. And, as usual, what gets lost in the mix is any attachment to the characters (who aren't especially well-acted by the classy cast: Ewan McGregor / Naomi Watts / Ryan Gosling / Bob Hoskins), and confusion replaces tension in the storyline. Tedious and emotionally flat.
My Top 10 Films of 2005
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| As much as they are tasty little suckers, Aaron just cannot eat one more tadpole. |
#02 A Cinderella Man (Howard)
#03 A Match Point (Allen)
#04 A The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Jones)
#05 A Brokeback Mountain (Lee)
#06 A- Good Night, and Good Luck (Clooney)
#07 A- Sin City (Rodriguez & Miller)
#08 A- Transamerica (Tucker)
#09 A- Proof (Madden)
#10 A- Pierrepoint (Shergold)
Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11 A- Thank You for Smoking (Reitman)
#12 A- Batman Begins (Nolan)
#13 A- Shooting Dogs / Beyond the Gates (Caton-Jones)
#14 A- The Constant Gardener (Meirelles)
#15 A- The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (Anderson)
#16 A- Capote (Miller)
#17 A- Junebug (Morrison)
#18 A- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Black)
#19 A- Sky High (Mitchell)
#20 B+ The Squid and the Whale (Baumbach)
#21 B+ Broken Flowers (Jarmusch)
#22 B+ Little Fish (Woods)
#23 B+ Red Eye (Craven)
#24 B+ Pride & Prejudice (Wright)
#25 B+ Down in the Valley (Jacobson)
#26 B+ Memoirs of a Geisha (Marshall)
#27 B+ Duma (Ballard)
#28 B+ War of the Worlds (Spielberg)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> B Derailed [nearly good, but the plot outsmarts itself]
> B Brick [High School Movie + Gritty Film Noir = Interesting Experiment...and that's all]
> B The Upside of Anger [primarily a sudsy comedy, elevated somewhat by Joan]
> B Oliver Twist [suitably grim and mucky, but lacks the sentimentality which is essential to the tale]
> B Munich [Spielberg holds the film at arm's length emotionally, which is unusual for him]
> B North Country [powerful and important story told too slowly]
> B Walk the Line [boom-dicka boom-dicka boom-dicka boom-dicka boom-dicka boom-dicka-boom-boom-boom]
> B A History of Violence [graphic violence, graphic sex, graphic novel about wholesome family life]
> B Jarhead [another member of the Apocalypse Now / Full Metal Jacket war-is-surreal club]
> B Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [4 down; 4 to go]
> B The Exorcism of Emily Rose [Anatomy of a Murder crossed with The Exorcist, but not as absorbing as either]
> B The New World [another Terrence Malick film where visual beauty takes priority over the pace of storytelling]
> B- Mrs Henderson Presents [light & fluffy snickering comedy]
> B- Hard Candy [unpleasant, tortuous duel between two sickos]
> B- Syriana [as difficult to follow and figure out as 3D Chess; for geopolitical wiseguys only]
> B- Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith [It's okay...I've just got to go to the loo...you stay in your seat and enjoy the movie with your mates...I may be gone some time...]
> B- Dark Water [wannabe horror, but it's too mild, too slow and too Kafka]
> B- Mr & Mrs Smith [some people just shouldn't get married]
> C Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story [I guess I must be missing something]
> D Wolf Creek [I just can't get through it]
> D Stay [A Personal Unmentionable]
> E Fantastic Four [proves that superhero movies are not as good as their comics]
"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 2005 Films I Apparently Still Need to See
Casanova (Hallstrom); Forty Shades of Blue (Sachs); Happy Endings (Roos); In Her Shoes (Hanson); Keeping Mum (Johnson); King Kong (Jackson); Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut (Scott); Land of the Dead (Romero); Last Days (Van Sant); Look Both Ways (Watt); The Matador (Shepard); MirrorMask (McKean); Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (Ireland); Nine Lives (Garcia); The Proposition (Hillcoat); Separate Lies (Fellowes); Sweet Land (Selim); V for Vendetta (McTeigue); The White Countess (Ivory); The World's Fastest Indian (Donaldson)
Best Performances of 2005
Amy Adams in Junebug
George Clooney in Syriana
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote
Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line
David Strathairn in Good Night, and Good Luck
Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener
Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line
But how about...
Bill Murray in Broken Flowers
The essence of underplaying (his blank stare is pure Buster Keaton), Bill is slid into his perfect "straight" role in this movie. No overt comedy moves (although humour exists, but it's rather, er, subtle), the actor plays an ex-ladies man who is retired, past 50, emotionally numb and bored shitless with his life. Armed with the news that he may be a father, Bill seeks and speaks to a string of ex-girlfriends, hoping for something resembling purpose. In a quest movie that crawls along at a takes-a-while-to-adjust pace, Bill worms his way into your affections by just simply trying to find some explanation for the whole meaningless of it all. And, despite what he goes through, the guy just doesn't get it: the actor as everyman.
...and what about...
Russell Crowe in Cinderella Man
Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hilary Swank, Wallace Beery & Jon Voight, Anthony Quinn, John Garfield...boxers and the "sport" of boxing as personal salvation or reinvention; legal brutal assault as the means of bettering yourself. Okay...I'm not a fan, but I admire this pugilist character, a man taking care of his family during the Great Depression, surviving in the harshest of times and determined that all of them will retain their decency. Rusty as angry fighter has been shown many times on film (and a couple of times in real life), but this loving, supremely humane and kind person is far rarer. A beautiful portrayal of a truly strong man.
...not to mention...
Ellen Page in Hard Candy
A star is born: Ellen is a ball of strength in this, the story of a pubescent anti-pervert vigilante who is clearly as disturbed as her hostage / victim. It is to her credit that at no point does she go for the underdog tag, or the insane-due-to-trauma defense. She remains firmly in charge throughout, a teenage girl who is the A-Grade student on paper, and the action-not-words future adult. Ellen maintains the rage and the power for the full 104 minutes, reducing the targeted pedophile to a blubbering, screaming mess. A slight smile of pleasure never even crosses the girl's face. She simply has a job to do. And she does it.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Ioan Gruffudd & Jessica Alba & Michael Chiklis & Chris Evans & Julian McMahon in Fantastic Four
Quite possibly the worst ensemble performance to ever appear on film, with not one of the featured actors being right for their role. (I need to betray my prejudice here: I am a childhood and grown-man fan of the Fantastic Four, Stan Lee's and Jack Kirby's greatest comic book creation). The FF are, beyond anything super or cosmic, a FAMILY, and these performers are clearly strangers who have absolutely no attachment to each other whatsoever. Ioan is aloof when he needs to be driven; Jessica is carnal when she needs to be maternal; Michael is thick when he needs to be solid; Chris is an annoying pain in the arse; and Julian as Dr Doom comes across as a bitchy flight steward. A smear of epic proportions.
My 10 Favourite Performances of 2005
#01 Heath Ledger & Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain
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| Having lost too many good ones to high tides, Joseph decides to bring his sandcastle home. |
#03 Ellen Page in Hard Candy
#04 Russell Crowe in Cinderella Man
#05 Gwyneth Paltrow in Proof
#06 Timothy Spall in Pierrepoint
#07 Charlize Theron in North Country
#08 Hugo Weaving in Little Fish
#09 Tommy Lee Jones in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
#10 Cate Blanchett in Little Fish
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11 Julianne Moore in The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
#12 Paul Giamatti in Cinderella Man
#13 Amy Adams in Junebug
#14 Bill Murray in Broken Flowers
#15 Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Match Point
#16 Suzuka Ohgo in Memoirs of a Geisha
#17 Joan Allen in The Upside of Anger
#18 Edward Norton in Down in the Valley
#19 Robert Downey Jr & Val Kilmer in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
#20 Aaron Eckhart in Thank You for Smoking
#21 Scarlett Johansson in Match Point
#22 Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener
#23 Ed Harris in A History of Violence
#24 Catherine Keener in Capote
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote [yeah, he does a decent job, but is trumped as Truman by Toby Jones next year in Infamous]
> Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line [yeah, they do a decent job, but they just ain't Johnny & June]
> George Clooney in Syriana [yeah, he does a decent job...big deal]
And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 2005 are:
FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: Everything is Illuminated (Liev Schreiber)
SILVER: Cinderella Man (Ron Howard)
BRONZE: Match Point (Woody Allen)
LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Russell Crowe (Cinderella Man)
SILVER: Timothy Spall (Pierrepoint)
BRONZE: Tommy Lee Jones (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada)
LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Felicity Huffman (Transamerica)
SILVER: Gwyneth Paltrow (Proof)
BRONZE: Charlize Theron (North Country)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Hugo Weaving (Little Fish)
SILVER: Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man)
BRONZE: Ed Harris (A History of Violence)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Amy Adams (Junebug)
SILVER: Scarlett Johansson (Match Point)
BRONZE: Catherine Keener (Capote)
ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Heath Ledger & Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain)
SILVER: Robert Downey Jr & Val Kilmer (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)
BRONZE: Laura Linney & Jeff Daniels & Jesse Eisenberg & Owen Kline (The Squid and the Whale)
JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Ellen Page (Hard Candy)
SILVER: Suzuka Ohgo (Memoirs of a Geisha)
BRONZE: Q'orianka Kilcher (The New World)
The Alternate Razzies for 2005 are:
CRAP FILM of the YEAR
Fantastic Four (Tim Story)
CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Ioan Gruffudd & Chris Evans & Michael Chiklis & Julian McMahon (Fantastic Four)
CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four)
