top ten of 2005

tom mcalister sent me his list of best films of the year today. i've been putting off posting mine, but that spurred me to think about it and figure it out. one caveat: there are a lot of movies i didn't see this year, so there were probably a lot that you like that i don't have up there. sorry. in any case, here's my list:

• the 40-year-old virgin - steve carell has a great screen presence, and i love that they made a sex comedy about a virgin and they still allowed him dignity and respect. in other words, carell's andy was a character, not a caricature. harder than it looks.
  
  
• the aristocrats - save for the ending, totally amazing (especially seeing it with a packed crowd). this is improv at its finest, along with some fine sociology and doing what is usually forbidden -- explaining the nature of jokes and wondering what makes people laugh.
  
  
• brokeback mountain - best film of the year, hands down. no weak link in this one. i'd list why i love it and why i think is and will be a classic, but it would take too long and it doesn't matter what i think. go see this movie and understand why its selling out like a motherfucker everywhere.
  
  
• capote - they accomplished, in spades, one of the hardest tricks in the cinematic book: giving you a deeply flawed, even dispicable character, and came away making you feel for him and care about his downfall. plus, i fucking love phil hoffman.
  
  
• the family stone - i expect some flak for this one, but this is exceedingly well-done hollywood entertainment. this reminded me of old hollywood movies that cared about giving movie stars good writing to play with. that roxine nightingale song is fucking sweet. also, paul schneider!
  
  
• a history of violence - had it both ways, brilliantly. plus, the real theme about how we pass on violent behavior was sneaky and brutal and right-on.
  
  
• hustle & flow - terrence howard got notices from everywhere for good reason. electrifying from his first monologue about dogs, to the scene where they construct a beat and song from seemingly out-of-nowhere.
  
  
• murderball - gives faces to those you would normally dismiss. more drama, comedy and action than most narrative movies these days.
  
  
• oldboy - fuck you, he ate a live squid!
  
  
• tarnation - the first ever four-track movie.
  
  

ten seems so short, doesn't it? fine, some honorable mentions:

batman begins, downfall (does this count? if it counts as 2005, then it should be in the above category for sure), good night and good luck, me and you and everyone we know, sin city.

update: i don't know where it goes, but stick "the new world" in there somewhere. probably a tie with brokeback mountain for best movie of the year. amazing. go see it.

ok.