Now that the Oscar predictions are out of the way, let's get to my incredibly long delayed list of the year's best movies. Normally I do a top ten list but this year it becomes a top 20 list. So many movies were so very close to each other in quality that I felt a longer list was necessary to hand out the appropriate levels of praise.
1) King Kong
Despite the greatness of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, I wasn't exactly hopping with excitement over his proposed remake of the classic film. Partly it was an intense dislike for the idea of remakes. Partly it was a lack of confidence in the script, based on my reading a very early draft. But it ends up at the top of my list for the year. The reason is very simple. It made me feel the thrill and excitement of a big movie like nothing else since I was a kid watching the original Star Wars movies and Indiana Jones. Watching the wild ride that is King Kong I felt like a kid again. My face was split with the dopiest grin imaginable, except when it made me cry like a little kid. Some complained that it was far too long at three hours. I disagree. I could have easily sat through another hour of that stuff. Any length is worth it to feel like that again.
2) Hustle & Flow
This one caught me completely off guard. I generally hate rap. But this tale of a pimp trying to claw his way out of a crappy life by tapping into a creative side he didn't know he had was something I could definitely relate with. Terrence Howard is masterful in this, creating a pimp like none we've ever seen on screen. He can be ruthless and cold hearted but it's not who he really is. Wounded by poverty and a rough childhood, he makes a living however he can. And then suddenly he has a dream and he throws everything into it, giving him hope and purpose. Magnificent. I cannot wait to see what writer/director Craig Brewer comes up with next.
3) Munich
Yet another film that surprised me. I'm not surprised it's good. We are talking about Steven Spielberg here. What surprised me was how little it felt like a Spielberg film. Nowhere to be seen is his usual sentimentality. Things are not tied up in neat bows for the audience. This film is tough and ambiguous. It challenges the viewer's opinions and ideas. It looks at the seemingly endless cycle of violence and retribution that clutches at Israel and Palestine and asks if this makes any sense. There must be another way. The film has been attacked by Israelis and Palestinians alike, which would seem to indicate that neither side is comfortable with what the movie says about them. This is a mature thoughtful film from a guy who often takes an easy out for a sentimental ending. Not this time.
4) Capote
Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of author Truman Capote is a thing of wonder. The outrageous and effeminate writer with the odd squeaky voice is a unique voice in American literature and Hoffman captures it perfectly. So perfectly in fact that we quickly forget that it is a performance, accepting it totally to follow right along with the story. Capote got to know the killers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock as they awaited execution for their brutal murder of a Kansas family. He would write of them in his “non-fiction novel” In Cold Blood, getting himself stuck in a horrible bind of getting so close to Smith that he could humanize him in the book but also needing Smith to be executed so that he could finish the book. How that slowly tears down Capote while simultaneously securing his fame makes for an engrossing film. Like Hoffman's performance, it burrows under the skin and won't let you forget it.
5) A History of Violence
David Cronenberg's film takes a look at violence in society, asking if it is inherent or a result of conditioning. He provides no answers but makes damn sure you can't ignore the question. The movie is set in an idyllic mid-western American town, the kind that probably doesn't actually exist outside of movies. Cronenberg uses that setting to toy with how we react to and think about violence, running family and community through the ringer as a result of violence.
6) The Aristocrats
This movie is intensely vulgar, often hysterical and seems to have almost accidentally had something to say. The entire movie focuses on the telling of the dirtiest joke imaginable. The title is also the punchline of the joke. The setup is standard but everything in the middle is a sickeningly depraved ad lib that each comic puts a unique spin on. Without a bit of nudity, sex or violence on screen, the movie manages to be extraordinarily offensive, giving a fascinating display of just how powerful words can be.
7) Cache
Here is a movie where the camera becomes a character. Most movies go out of the way to make us forget the camera's presence but this one makes it impossible to ignore. In the process, it puts the viewer squarely in the mindset of a paranoid individual. It's a movie that requires a lot of patience but repays it with a mystery that may or may not be solvable but will definitely keep you thinking.
8) Brokeback Mountain
Oddly, the two greatest romances of this year in movies are what you would call non-standard couplings. One is a woman and her 30-foot gorilla and the other is two cowboys. Go figure. What makes Brokeback Mountain amazing is that it moves the viewer quickly past the point of being concerned with the idea of two cowboys in love with each other. Quickly it just becomes about how they deal with their love. We never forget the ominous eye of society on them but who is in love becomes less important than if they can enjoy their love. I always thought Heath Ledger was a talented actor but here he builds a character far more complex and layered than I thought possible.
9) Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Hell yes I listed it here. Not many critics would list it on their top ten list but simply put, I loved it. Star Wars is my favorite movie and Revenge of the Sith is a worthy ending to the series. That's enough to warrant its inclusion here.
10) Murderball
The only thing more amazing than the concept of quadriplegic rugby is this documentary about the sport. This is endlessly fascinating, thrilling and touching. It's an astonishing display of overcoming adversity to reach a height of success these people never would have hit without their handicap. Plus the sport looks cool as hell.
And the rest...
11) Sin City
I love the look of this movie to death. How it was achieved is almost more interesting than the movie itself. Shot almost entirely on green screen sets and then converted to high contrast black and white with surroundings added by computer, the film is visually stunning. Add a very hard edged style and great performances from a large cast and you have a movie equally beautiful and visceral.
12) The Constant Gardner
Director Fernando Mereilles, who previously made the magnificent City of God, likes to play with our perceptions. He frames numerous scenes with the intention of making the audience assume one thing, only to reveal another a moment later. It isn’t trickery meant to pull the rug out from under the viewer but a deliberate effort to make us question what we are looking at. This is a political thriller but also a very carefully constructed look at a love affair and how it is perceived after a death.
13) Layer Cake
This is why Daniel Craig is the new Bond. This great little crime thriller is great fun. When you watch Craig in it, it becomes abundantly clear why he earned the 007 tag. The movie is delightfully complex as Craig plays a guy on the edge of the crime world who gets sucked down into it just as he plans his escape. It's great fun watching him trying very hard not to be a criminal when he is both clearly a criminal and very good at it.
14) Crash
Lots of movies have tackled racism but Crash attempts to look at how it loops through normal life and how it is never as simple as many believe. Every single character, large and small, get more than one angle on racism, showing how even the most racist can still be caring individuals and how the most sensitive can still manage to act on poorly thought out racial perceptions.
15) Batman Begins
This is where these movies should have started in the first place. Director Chris Nolan gives us the Batman movie we always wanted, by digging into the Dark Knight's origin with more thought and care than anyone else. For the first time, the batsuit makes some real sense.
16) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Twice this year I've been ready to hate a remake and been shocked to discover I loved it. This movie is delightfully twisted and subversive. This is the evil twin to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
17) Good Night, and Good Luck
When I think of this movie, I quickly find that I'm thinking more about the issues it raises than the movie itself. I'm never sure what that says about the movie. Is it an okay movie that raises great questions or is it great for how much it gives me to think about? Hell if I know but it definitely stirs up the brain cells and looks great too. We need more black and white movies. Seriously.
18) Syriana
The labyrinth plot is the whole point. Sure, it's tough as hell to follow but that isn't the result of sloppy writing. It's an attempt to make it clear just how convoluted the topic of oil really is. Stephen Gaghan's script manages to squeeze a lot of information and characters into a story that actually seems to benefit from being overstuffed.
19) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
It's a real shame Douglas Adams didn't live to see it. He labored so long to see his book made into a movie and I think he would have really loved the result. The movie manages to match Adams' gentle but intensely weird sense of humor. I can't ask anymore of it than that. One of my favorite books gets a well deserved quality adaptation.
20) Le Couperet
This is a brilliantly subversive dark comedy. Bad corporate behavior is taken to task in grand fashion as a man downsized takes the disturbing turn of literally bumping off his competition for a job. The only downside to this movie is how little it has been played in America. That really needs to change in a hurry.
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