Snooch to the Nooch!
Brian’s 10 Best Movies of 2005
1. “Nobody Knows” (Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda)- Early on in Kore-eda’s lyrical drama about childhood lost through a parent’s neglect, young Akira (Yuya Yagira, deserving of an Oscar nomination he’ll likely not receive as the youthful actor at the center of this film, also deserving of Oscar recognition) goes to great lengths to protect the truth of their situation after his mother has abandoned him and his three siblings, presumably for a job in Osaka. Most touching is when he takes some of the money they have left, buys cards for the four of them, has a young woman who will later take an active interest in their life forge their mother’s signature, and gives his siblings and himself New Years gifts of money for them to spend as they like for the sole purpose of hiding what he’s already realized- their mother isn’t coming back. And contacting welfare or the police is not an option for him- he wouldn’t be able to stay with the little family he has left, and he promised his mother he would watch out for them. The mother doesn’t deserve a son so selfless. Later on, though, Akira is unafraid to let his brother and sisters see the worst in him. Their apartment a mess, the water, gas, and electricity off, they’re lucky just to eat and have the clothes they have on. He’s done all he can do for them (he’s too young to work). But for Akira and his siblings, clinging on to what little they have left, and letting go of some of the restrictions their mother- who hid the two youngest children from their landlord- placed on them (such as not going outside) are essential to survival, which is- in the end- what this film is about. “Nobody Knows”- which has the year’s most haunting ending- is a quiet and tragic tale of dealing with circumstances beyond our control, and doing the best with what we can control. I will never forget it. It is the best film I saw in 2005, and the best film most people will never have heard of this year. Don’t do what the mother in this film does- give these children what time you can. You won’t regret it.
2. “Brokeback Mountain” (Directed by Ang Lee)- At the center of Lee’s poetical Western love story between two ranch hands is a performance of introspective power by Heath Ledger, whose prospects in Hollywood seemed lost after flops like “Four Feathers” and “The Order.” After his Ennis and Jake Ghyllenhaal’s Jack have sex for the first time, he tells Jack that he ain’t queer, to which Jack responds, “Me neither.” But time changes perspectives, to the point where after four years apart, Ennis can’t contain his joy of seeing Jack again and kisses him in a public area- where anyone could see (and Ennis’ wife does)- with an eagerness we wouldn’t have suspected from Ennis in the beginning. That Ledger makes us buy both scenes says all you need to about his talent, but both scenes are also key- in my opinion- in that they establish the inner conflict that will eat at Ennis throughout the remainder of the film. What struck me so was that while Jack seems to be the one who pursues their relationship the most, he seems content to sit down with his wife and kids back in Texas, even if his father-in-law can’t accept him as a husband to his daughter, while the relationship has the deeper impact on Ennis, who allows his wife to drift away as he gives himself up to his love for Jack without taking the steps of moving away from onw daughter- who is the only member of his family he has any contact with. He becomes isolated by his feelings, both physically- he doesn’t have much contact with the outside world save for his daughter and Jack- and emotionally. Of course, when you’re a guy brought up to hate homosexuals- as Ennis makes clear that he was in a monologue of lasting resonance (which Lee shows in flashback)- only to discover that you love another man down the road more than anything else in life, wouldn’t you feel distanced- not just from others, but yourself- as well? In the end, though, when he sees for himself the extent of Jack’s devotion to him, Ennis seems to have accepted what his life has brought him, and not surpisingly, it was because of a great love in his life. As you walk out of the theatre after “Brokeback Mountain,” you might feel the same way about Ledger as an actor, who maybe had to fall off the cliff- on the way to stardom, and channel it into his art to make people stand up and take notice finally. Did I mention he found his wife- and the mother of his new child- on the set of “Mountain” in his onscreen wife Michelle Williams? That Ang Lee created such a powerful movie about pent-up feelings shouldn’t be shocking- “The Ice Storm” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” were both masterpieces with buried emotions at their heart; that he made a love story about two men that could strike a chord in the heartland and a country divided on such issues is a little shocking (the movie’s been a success at the box-office for all intensive purposes)…until you remember that you’re in the hands of a master storyteller, that is.
3. “War of the Worlds” (Directed by Steven Spielberg)- Although it’s not included in my Top 10 (look for it later), in actually Spielberg’s other ’05 film- his exceptional non-fiction thriller “Munich”- deserves to be included hand-in-hand with this blockbuster remake of the H.G. Wells’ novel- already brought to life memorably both as a 1953 Byron Haskin film and in Orson Welles’ infamous 1938 radio broadcast- with Tom Cruise (as good here as he was in his previous Spielberg collaboration, 2002’s excellent “Minority Report”), and not just for its’ quality. But despite some logical script flaws that are hard to ignore, “Worlds”- for me- represented Spielberg at his most bracing as a filmmaker. A massive production brought together fast for its’ kind- it started filming in Novemer of ’04 for a June 29 release (“Munich” was even faster)- “Worlds'” is Spielberg’s most tightly edited film in years with almost no fat from the David Koepp and Josh Friedman screenplay that imbues the film with a similar emotional shellshock a lot of us felt on September 11, 2001 when the US was blindsided by a devastating terrorist attack much like the alien invasion Spielberg brings to terrifying life in “Worlds” (for those unsure still of the correlation with “Munich,” it is about the revenge exacted after a terrorist attack). My admiration for Spielberg’s films since “Schindler’s List” is well-documented on my reviews of his work written over the past several years. For me, no year since that devastating work of art proves that admiration to be more true than last year, and no film from his output last year was a better example than this powerful popcorn film.
4. “Serenity” (Directed by Joss Whedon)- “Serenity” isn’t “Firefly,” the great cult TV show whose fervent fan base asked for a continuation to their crew’s beloved story and got it in this big-screen sequel. “Serenity” is more than “Firefly.” Is it better? Not really; it’s more of a straight-up action adventure than the well-paced drama the show was. What distinguishes this from its’ TV predecessor- and from another TV sci-fi big-screen adaptation (“The X-Files”)- is ambition. Whedon set out to make a splash for his debut as a feature director. At the box-office, “Serenity” did little more than sink like a stone. Artistically, though, the film contains everything a great Whedon script is expected to have- interesting characters (though some are more so than others- some of the “guest characters” don’t work as well as ones from the show), wicked humor (no one’s best with a single- or double- entendre or sarcastic aside), exciting action sequences that always focus on character motivations as opposed to pyrotechnics (though this film has plenty of this), and a dose of pathos that allows Whedon to dig into characters and let us see where their heart is…and many times in the span of a scene. As a fan of the writer-director’s work in television- “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” are also his creations- Whedon did right by me. “Serenity” isn’t “Firefly,” a fact that might be hard for fans of the show to accept. For me, it’s a fact that offers hope for movies as Whedon works towards making the transition from the small screen to the big (he has a spec script named “Goners” in the work and is in charge of 2007’s “Wonder Woman”). “Firefly” may have dug deeper on the small one, but “Serenity” soars on the big screen with the same rebellious spirit.
5. “Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith” (Directed by George Lucas)- When Lucas embarked on his “prequel trilogy” sixteen years after finishing “Return of the Jedi,” hard-movie movie fans- and “Star Wars” buffs- took the enterprise as the Second Coming of cinema. I was one of those people expecting a masterpiece from “Episode I.” What we got instead was a sort of kids film that could appeal to the kid in adults as well- think along the lines of “Spy Kids.” Were we wrong to hope for more? In retrospect, yes and no. Yes in that we should’ve taken into account Lucas’ long-term sabbatical from directing (he hadn’t been in the director’s chair since the original “Star Wars”) plus the fact that with “Jedi” and the Special Editions of the original trilogy, you could tell Lucas seemed more interested in building a long-term kid fanbase. In other words, what did we expect? Well, six years after “Episode I,” we finally saw what we expected from Lucas- an energized and dramatically sound epic adventure that shows us the significant events in a grand mythology we’ve been wanting to see onscreen since the original trilogy (the turn of Anakin, and his battle with Obi-Wan). From the opening scene we’re watching a events that have weight and power more than we’ve seen in any “Star Wars” film since “Jedi.” Sure, some of the dialogue and line readings are still a little flat, but similar to the two best “Wars” films- “The Empire Strikes Back” and “A New Hope”- “Sith” achieves a visionary grandeur and overall effect of the best science fiction films. In other words, we’re swept up in an adventure “a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.” For that, I need say only this- welcome back George.
6. “In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger” (Directed by Jessica Yu)- A profound air of sadness resonates through the 79 minutes of Yu’s documentary about a man whose life in the real world was of no particular circumstance. A janitor/worker at a hospital for most of his 81 years on Earth, Henry Darger went to daily mass, was put into a home for “feeble-minded” children after his father died, from which he ran away after seven years. He kept to himself, had little in the way of friends or acquaintences, and- in his last years- was forced to rely on the kindness of neighbors and the Sisters at the same poor house which his father died in to take care of himself prior to his passing in 1973. It wasn’t until this last period of time, though, that the outside world- starting with his neighbors- saw what Darger loved most in his ordinary life- an extraordinary collection of original artwork and manuscripts- including a 15,000-page novel- chronicling a fantasy world of brutal war, heroic children, evil men, and fantastic creatures known as The Realm of the Unreal. Through the vocalization of his writing- and the narration by Dakota Fanning and interviews with people familiar with him- Yu creates a rich tapestry of probing questions- with little in the way of real answers- into one of the most celebrated American artists of the 20th Century. One gets the impression in watching “In the Realms of the Unreal” that Yu- who unwisely animates Darger’s artwork to give it, one suspects, an “added life” it doesn’t need- realizes just presenting the facts- as sparse as they are- of Darger’s life in the real world is the best way to present her subject as opposed to looking into the deep psychological wounds and searching for a pure religious faith that no doubt lead to the way he lived his solitary life, and undoubtedly permeated every page in his writings and every line in his paintings of his unusual and personal art. In a year that saw many explorations into an artist’s methodology in creating his art on film (see #7 and 8 as well), no other film was so daring both in subject or approach.
7. “Capote” (Directed by Bennett Miller)- In his debut as a feature director (he was known for his documentary “The Cruise” prior), Miller creates an ethical and artistic puzzle around the years author Truman Capote (the brilliantly subdued Philip Seymour Hoffman) spent researching his masterpiece “In Cold Blood” by getting close to the convicts who killed a family in their Kansas home for a rumored $10,000 in 1959. His personal relationships with the cons- particularly Perry Smith (the excellent Clifton Collins Jr.)- seems to cloud his judgement- he’s originally there writing an article for a paper- before the moral dilemma he’s made for himself (he doesn’t want them to be executed, but needs closure for his book) leads him into a personal, emotional void that eventually would consume him (he never finished another book after “Blood,” and died of alcohol-related causes in 1984). Not a biopic in that its’ focus is more heightened than your normal entry in that Oscar-bait category, “Capote” is a haunting, fascinating character study that in every area- from the cinematography to the music to the muted emotions in Hoffman’s performance- creates an air of tragic circumstances that’s impossible to forget.
8. “No Direction Home: Bob Dylan” (Directed by Martin Scorsese)- Rare is the established filmmaker who goes off to direct a documentary between features- you are usually either a feature director or a documentarian, or the latter who has turned to the former. Thank God for Scorsese, one of the greatest of all filmmakers, who continues to tell stories that inspire him as an artist and as a person in both forms. Though he doesn’t work much in the documentary form, his four great accomplishments in the field- 1978’s “The Last Waltz,” two excellent and fascinatingly personal journeys through the history of cinema (“A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies,” “My Voyage to Italy”), and now this marvel of a doc about folk legend Bob Dylan (I have yet to see the documentary miniseries he produced about The Blues)- show the filmmaker at his most passionate about two art forms- cinema and music- that clearly mean as much to him as they sometimes do to others. He expresses his love for cinema in a plain way of allowing us to experience it as he has over the years, discovery just a few of the many films and filmmakers that have inspired him over the years; for fans of film- both in general or specifically Scorsese’s- those two- which both tip the scales towards four hours, but feel like two- are unmissible. As for his love of music, apart from his use of popular tunes in movies (he has one of the best ears in the business), he has now made two feature-length works- though “Home” comes in at a weighty but fast-paced 210 minutes- and one epic miniseries that look at the allure of the art form, the demands of the business, the sometimes mundane details of the creative process, and the personal satisfaction when the final product- be it a great concert or a great recording- justifies those three, sometimes difficult situations to create a memorable experience for both the artist and the audience. His latest expression of that love may not be as recognizable as you would expect such a story to be (Dylan- then and now- remains tight-lipped about his own artistic process, and would much rather tell you about the journey that got him there; personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way), but Scorsese’s passion and instinctiveness as a storyteller are all over the film. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
9. “Saraband” (Directed by Ingmar Bergman)- 21 years after his retirement from directing with “Fanny and Alexander,” the Swedish master returns behind the screen one last time, for a continuation of the heartbreaking tale of his 1973 offering “Scenes from a Marriage,” as Bergman chronicles how- 30 years after the events of “Marriage”- Marianne (Liv Ullmann) goes to visit ex-husband Johan (Erland Josephson) at the cabin we last saw them in during that film, and becomes a witness to another family falling apart when Johan’s disregarded son (from another marriage) pushes his talented cellist daughter- whom he teaches as a now-retired orchestra conductor- to the brink of leaving him alone after his wife has passed away, which will kill him. After being an admirer- but not hard-core afficianado- of his two most revered landmarks (“The Seventh Seal,” “Persona”), Bergman’s work has become increasingly intriguing, and watching “Saraband”- as rich a swan song as you could hope from a master filmmaker- allows you to see exactly what we’ll miss- really, what world cinema has missed- when a filmmaker as enamoured with a medium to tell his increasingly personal stories as he is calls it a day. Many thanks to Mr. Bergman- as great a director as we’ll ever be given- for sharing one final, poignant, powerful story with us.
10. “The Weather Man” (Directed by Gore Verbinski)- Chicago weatherman David Spritze lives in a state of dispair. It’s not depression per se, because David feels some hope about his life, even when it continues to be crushed at every turn it seems. But what makes David’s life one of dispair is that he knows it could be better, that it should be better, and he’s always got people around him telling him so. His ex-wife who hates him. His troubled kids- a son who falls into a bad relationship with his counseler, and a daughter who’s overweight and gets made fun of by others- who he is distanced from. And his father- an acclaimed writer- who isn’t afraid to tell his son how it is. When an opportunity arrives to possibly get a national job in New York, though, David takes the first steps towards happiness for everyone by trying to do right by the people around him, even if it’s hard at times. But as his father (beautifully played by Michael Caine) tells him, “Easy doesn’t figure into grown up life.” Between filming “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies for box-office cash, Verbinski tries his hand at mature, intelligent storytelling with a character study where the laughs stick in the throat and the emotions expressed in Steve Conrad’s literate and poignant screenplay feel lived in and palpable. It helps that Verbinski- who actually plays guitar on Hans Zimmer’s note-perfect score- has a leading man in Nicolas Cage who shines brightest when he’s taking risks as an actor, and can be charismatic even- actually, make that especially- when his character is a sullen emotional wreck (see “Adaptation” and “Face/Off”). You wanna know the funniest thing about last year’s box-office slump? I’ve heard people say in the past how Hollywood just doesn’t make fresh movies anymore- we’ve seen everything before. Last year Verbinski made one of the most original Hollywood dramas in years with one of its’ best actors, but thanks to a brilliant job of mismarketing and dour tone, audiences stayed away. Still, that movies like “The Weather Man” can get made at all is a sign of hope for movie buffs.
The Runners-Up: As of this email I’ve seen 150 movies from the 2005 calender year. There were a lot of movies this year that ended up just below my Top 10 with 3 1/2 star ratings (or A’s if you go by my grading system). They are: “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”, which is not only another visionary marvel from the iconoclastic storyteller- who uses stop-motion animation to tell this one- but also his most poignant love story; “Proof”, John Madden’s powerful look at sanity and grief with a career-best performance by Gwyneth Paltrow as a daughter who may have inherited some of her dead father’s mental issues after five years of caring for him; “The Family Stone” is an intelligent and thoughtful family comedy-drama (with a pitch-perfect cast) about the tensions an outsider can bring out in a tight-knit family; “Good Night, and Good Luck.”, George Clooney’s triple-threat drama as director, co-writer and actor that looks back at the onscreen battle between Edward R. Murrow and Joseph McCarthy as fueled by the anger modern-day politics inspires; “Munich”, Steven Spielberg’s over-long but riveting thriller about the price of vengeance after the 1972 Munich Olympics tragedy that mirrors the U.S.’s current political quagmire; “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”, the year’s most delightful film as Claymation master Nick Park brings his beloved inventor and dog duo to the big screen in their first feature adventure; “Oldboy”, Korean wunderkind Park Chanwook’s mind-bending tale of revenge which follows a man imprisoned for 15 years for reasons he couldn’t imagine; “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”, an engrossing and enraging documentary about the biggest corporate scandel in American history; “Grizzly Man”, Werner Herzog’s unique and unforgettable documentary about a naturalist who videotaped his summers up in bear country who ended up being eaten by one of them; “Hustle & Flow”, Craig Brewster’s entertaining drama about a pimp (played by the great Terrence Howard) who dreams of being a rapper that hits deeper than “8 Mile” ever did; “The Upside of Anger”, Mike Binder’s thoughtful comedy-drama about a mother (a career-best performance by Joan Allen) and her daughters whose lives are in an upheaval after her husband leaves them (cheers to for Kevin Costner’s return to form); “Cinderella Man”, Ron Howard’s uplifting and honest Depression drama about a family man boxer (Russell Crowe is at his best as James Braddock) trying to put food on the table for his wife (the underrated Renee Zellweger) and kids; “Match Point”, a riveting and sexy thriller set in Britian that’s writer-director Woody Allen’s best film in years; “Dear Frankie”, a heart-rending drama about a young mother who hires a man to protect her son’s idea of who his father is that cuts deep; “Syriana”, writer-director Stephen Gaghan’s dense and fascinating examination of America’s dependence on Big Oil; and “Steamboy”, Katsuhiro Otomo’s long-awaited followup to the landmark Anime “Akira” that equals that film’s visual beauty and wonder.
Brian’s Worst Films of 2005
As I said earlier, with all that’s good, there must be bad. Not too many years, though, has the bad been this bad. We’re talking excruciating, painful, and just plain chilling. Just like last year, amazingly. Alright, let’s get on with it.
The F’s:
=”Hostage”- Before he made a sharp return to form as the hardened cop in “Sin City,” Willis continued a string of unwise moves with this dark, dull thriller where his family is kidnapped and he’s forced to risk his job in order to get into a hostage situation that’s more complicated than you initially think. OK, Harrison Ford did this same type of story in February’s “Firewall,” but that movie let Ford cut loose with some slight humor, whereas Willis takes this story way too seriously, resulting in a pretty bleak piece of filmmaking. Escapist silliness that is overtly serious…never a good thing.
=”Yes”- This pretentious art-house love story- showing an affair between an American woman and a Middle Eastern man- is supposed to be about how they have to face the obstacles their different cultures and personalities throw in their way towards happiness; what sticks with me is the all-seeing, soft-voiced maid and the maddening poetry that’s supposed to serve as dialogue. I mean, what normal person talks like that on a daily basis? Add to that the lack of chemistry between Joan Allen and Simon Abkarian in the leads and you come up with one of the worst love stories ever told onscreen.
=”The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D”- OK, so I didn’t see this kiddie adventure in 3-D in theatres. I saw it on DVD in normal D, OK? Does anyone really think this needless film- from innovative filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City,” “Spy Kids”) is better for being in 3-D? The story- concocted by Rodriguez’s son Racer- is just what you’d expect from a 6-year old, the visuals are lame and the “message” about not letting go of your dreams worked better when this story was called “The Neverending Story?”
=”Hide and Seek”- Does Robert DeNiro just accept any old part now? That’s the only way anyone can explain why he starred in this predictable and non-too-frightening psychological thriller with Dakota Fanning after 2004’s just-as-bad “Godsend.” The DVD- when it was released- announced four alternate endings (it’s hard to imagine any of them being as bad as the one they chose). If you screw up everything before it, though, does it really matter how many endings you try?
=”The Crow: Wicked Prayer”- It’s on here because it’s the nail in the coffin of a needless franchise that continued to bastardized the greatness of the haunting original. Because it wasted the talent of Edward Furlong, David Boreanaz, Tara Reid, and Dennis Hopper. Because it took a rich premise and turned it into grating formula and performance. Finally because it’s just plain awful.
=”Cursed”- This teen werewolf thriller was originally supposed to be a hit reunion for director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson after the smash successes of “Scream” and “Scream 2” before production issues- resulting in reshoots and recasting- and a PG-13 theatrical cut turned this film into a cinematic dog. Thankfully, Craven- the modern master of horror- returned to form quickly with last summer’s sharp B-movie thriller “Red Eye.” Here’s hoping this film’s cursed history is not indicative of what Craven deals with in the future.
The D’s:
Each one of these are not far from being in the above category, but they each have something that prevents that. “Mindhunters” was a mindnumbing bit of seriel killer silliness from hack director Renny Harlin; “5×2” was an arty, uninteresting dissection of a failing marriage from end to beginning from Francois Ozon, a French director keen about messing with people’s heads (see “Swimming Pool”); “Assault on Precinct 13” was an assault-your-senses remake of a cult hit from John Carpenter with a cast (including Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne) that should know better; “Fantastic Four” was a comic book adaptation gone wrong and the biggest creative misfire yet by comic book movie titan Marvel (at least “Hulk,” “Elektra,” and even “Blade” had vision on their side)- only Michael Chicklis as Thing and Jessica Alba as Invisible Woman saved it from complete ineptitude; and “Intermedio” was a stupid horror movie about stupid teenagers who get caught by supernatural spirits in a cave system going underneath the US and Mexico.
**Updated Favorites List**
1. “Serenity” (Joss Whedon)
2. “Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith” (George Lucas)
3. “War of the Worlds” (Steven Spielberg)
4. “In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger” (Jessica Yu)
5. “Proof” (John Madden)
6. “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (Judd Apatow)
7. “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” (Nick Park & Steve Box)
8. “Rent” (Chris Columbus)
9. “King Kong” (Peter Jackson)
10. “Constantine” (Francis Lawrence)
Eleventh Place: “Capote” (Bennett Miller); “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (Shane Black); “The Weather Man” (Gore Verbinski); “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (Mike Newell); “Batman Begins” (Christopher Nolan); “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” (Tim Burton, Mike Johnson); “Kingdom of Heaven” (Ridley Scott); “Must Love Dogs” (Gary David Goldberg); “Memoirs of a Geisha” (Rob Marshall); “Shopgirl” (Anand Tucker); “The Family Stone” (Thomas Bezucha); “Cinderella Man” (Ron Howard); “Grizzly Man” (Werner Herzog); “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (Tim Burton); “Sin City” (Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino); “Broken Flowers” (Jim Jarmusch); “The Matador” (Richard Shepherd)
Honorable Mention: “The Aristocrats”; “Brokeback Mountain”; “The Brothers Grimm”; “Dear Frankie”; “Dominion: A Prequel to The Exorcist”; “Elizabethtown”; “Good Night, and Good Luck.”; “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”; “Howl’s Moving Castle”;”Hustle & Flow”; “Inside Deep Throat”; “The Island”; “The Jacket”; “Kung Fu Hustle”; “Man With the Screaming Brain”; “March of the Penguins”; “Match Point”; “Melinda and Melinda”; “Munich”; “Nobody Knows”; “No Direction Home: Bob Dylan”; “Oldboy”; “Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior”; “Paper Clips”; “The Producers”; “Red Eye”; “The Ring Two”; “Saraband”; “Saving Face”; “Steamboy”; “Syriana”; “The Upside of Anger”; “Wedding Crashers”
