REVIEW

2005 at the Cinemas: The Late Edition

Written by Chris Beaumont
Published March 03, 2006
Part of Movie Recap
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Top 5 Directors

  1. Robert Rodriguez for Sin City. Rodriguez left the Director's Guild to make this. He, along with Frank Miller, and guest Quentin Tarantino, have forged a film that shows what the future of cinema can hold. He looks to the past of Noir, and the future of effects creating a hard boiled extravaganza of special effects and over the top tales.
  2. Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain. Lee has made a wonderful comeback from the perceived failure of Hulk (I liked it). A quietly moving film which doesn't beat you over the head.
  3. David Cronenberg for A History of Violence. A rumination on the nature of violence. Cronenberg did a wonderful job combining his penchant for sex and violence in a story that gives a lot to think about.
  4. Fernando Merielles for The Constant Gardener. First impressing with City of God, his talent hits home again with a love story wrapped in a political thriller about drug testing in Africa. Wonderful movie and great direction.
  5. Steven Spielberg for Munich. Spielberg's tale of the Mossad assassination squad in the aftermath of the murder of the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics.

Top 5 Writers

  1. Larry McMurtry for Brokeback Mountain. The adaptation of Anne Proulx' short story is a thing of beauty. The story unfolds in a beautiful way. The dialog is realistic, the conveyed emotions true. Never heavy handed.
  2. Jeffrey Caine for The Constant Gardener. Another adaptation, skillfully weaves flashbacks and romance, political dialog and thrilling suspense. Very good script.
  3. Woody Allen for Match Point. Woody has written his best script in years. Intriguing characters, plus twists that I did not see coming.
  4. David S. Goyer for Batman Begins. Goyer has become the guy to go to for a comic book adaptation. His script for the Bat captures the essence of the character and finally does justice to the story on the big screen.
  5. Josh Friedman and David Koepp for War of the Worlds. This movie has caught a lot of flak, but the screenplay works very well. It may not be the alien invasion to end all invasions, rather a more personal story is told in epic scale.

Top 3 Composers

  1. John Williams for Memoirs of a Geisha. Absolutely beautiful score. He does a wonderful job of capturing the Asian sound and matching it with the wonderful film. It also features contributions from Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman.
  2. Danny Elfman for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I have always enjoyed Danny's work, and he is at his best when he is working with Tim Burton, and this is no different.
  3. John Williams for Star Wars Episode III. Williams one more time, best film of the prequels and the best score of the sequels. From brash and loud to quiet and seductive, Williams closes out the Star Wars saga.

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Christopher Beaumont spends much of his time writing about entertainment when he isn't sitting in a movie theater. He is known around the office as the "Movie Guy" and is always ready to talk about his favorite form of entertainment and offer up recommendations. Interests include science fiction, horror, and metal music. His writings can be found at Draven99's Musings and Draven99's Media Center.
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2005 at the Cinemas: The Late Edition
Published: March 03, 2006
Type: Review
Section: Video
Filed Under: Video: Thriller, Video: Suspense and Mystery, Video: SF, Video: Romantic Comedies, Video: Horror, Video: Fantasy, Video: Drama, Video: Documentary, Video: Comedy, Video: Animation, Video: Adventure, Video: Action
Part of a feature: Movie Recap
Writer: Chris Beaumont
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Comments

#1 — March 3, 2006 @ 09:50AM — Don Baiocchi [URL]

Wow, that's quite a comprehensive list. I'm so glad someone else recognized Viggo - that was a difficult part that a lesser actor would have overplayed. Viggo showed subtle can be more powerful. And it's nice to see recognition for Mickey Rourke and Thandie Newton, too.

How is Ziyi Zhang a supporting actress? That confused me a bit. She's in almost every scene, the story revolves around her - she clearly holds the film on her shoulders.

The two different top ten lists is an interesting idea. so is the first list the Best films and the second is your Favorite? I totally understand that. Sometimes the Best films aren't the ones you enjoy as thoroughly as something you know is flawed but fun.

Good job!

#2 — March 3, 2006 @ 10:04AM — Jet in Columbus

By the same token, I'm still scratching my head as to why Jake Gylllenhaal ended up in best supporting actor instead of best actor?

As for your review, it is really good, but like the movie, it is really lonnnnnnnnnnnnnng. I actually felt winded about three quarters of the way through. You should consider breaking it down into separate articles for each catagorie, but I do agree it's very good- and it's obvious you did your homework.

#3 — March 3, 2006 @ 13:45PM — elsa [URL]

Spectacular job on this, thank you.

#4 — March 3, 2006 @ 16:15PM — Pratyush [URL]

I haven't seen most movies. Good review neverthless.

In the foreign language category - Kung Fu hustle was actually realeased in 2004 if I am not mistaken.

Also, try and see the German movie The Downfall if you haven't already. It is one of the best movies on WW2/Hitler I have seen.

#5 — March 3, 2006 @ 17:38PM — Chris Beaumont [URL]

Thanks for the comments.

Pratyush: Hustle was released theatrically in the US in '05, that makes it eligible for this list. Fantastic film. Also, I did see Downfall on the big screen and it was absolutely amazing, but it was released theatrically in the US initially in 2004 making it inelegible for my list here.

Jet: Good idea about splitting it, I will try to remember that for next years list, or my mid 2006 list in June. Perhaps between the films and the people? I think Jake was supporting as the story really hung on Heath and his actions the most. Sort of reminds me of when Denzel won best actor for Training Day, to me, he was the support and Hawke was the lead as the tale was about Hawke's character.

Don: I see what you mean about Zhang, not sure why I put her there, you just threw me all outta whack..... Anyway, thanks for the good notice.

I did the two lists because, as seen, they can be very different. The Best films may not be ones that you revisit very often, where favorites are. I don't see myself revisitng Brokeback Mountain or Munich very often, but they are among the best of the year, whereas Serenity and Devil's Rejects are highly entertaining and very good and will get more replay value.

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