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BEST OF 2005 *
FILMS IN REVIEW By Rachel Deahl Review Film Critic In a year marked by repeated stories about the death of modern movie-going-2005 has been singled out by almost every major news outlet for continuing a downward spiral of lower returns at the box office-it seems only appropriate to look back at the year with a slight feeling of resignation and disappointment.
Though the list that follows, my "best
of," isn't without some films I truly loved, others seems to have made
it on here because they were the best of what was around more than
anything else.
And, of course, there is the other matter
of having missed some much buzzed-about flicks. Thus far I have yet to
see Ang Lee's lauded "Brokeback Mountain;"
Fernando Meirelles's critical darling cum dark horse Oscar contender
"The Constant Gardener;" and Terrence Malick's Johnstown
epic "The New World." Without that in mind, and with that
said, here's my top five films of the year since, committing to ten,
frankly, seemed a stretch.
1) The Squid and the Whale: Noah Baumbach's gut-wrenchingly funny and scathing take on a Brooklyn family coming undone is pitch-perfect. Featuring a brilliant and understated turn from Jeff Daniels as a struggling writer and father whose self-absorption is so jarring it's entertaining; Baumbach's film manages to portray the cruelties of divorce without ever boiling it down to black and white, heroes and villains. Instead "Squid and the Whale" is as discomforting and messy as real life, which so often doesn't have quick fixes or Hollywood endings. 2. King Kong: What does a director do for an encore after creating the highest-grossing, and critically beloved, trilogy ever to hit the screen? Tops himself of course. Though it sounded like a disaster waiting to happen-a $200 million remake of the classic simian ape meets girl tale-Jackson invests his holiday blockbuster not just with eye-popping special effects, but also with more than a dash of style and heart. Most impressively Jackson turns his titular simian into a living, breathing, sympathetic creature, who is much more than a neat CGI parlor trick. 3. Capote: Offering Philip Seymour Hoffman the kind of starring role worthy of his acting chops-until now the character actor has been stealing the spotlight in supporting turns-this biopic shines on the thespian's shoulders. As the flamboyant author-Hoffman nails Capote down to his trademark breathy whisper of a voice-the actor delights in the lead. Thankfully the film itself, which chronicles the writing of Capote's masterpiece "In Cold Blood," has much to offer as well, revealing how it was the writer's greatest achievement along with his undoing. 4. 2046: Fascinating, confusing and beautiful, Wong Kar Wai's sci-fi love story about a hard-drinking, hard-loving author who has affairs with three different women while writing a book about a futuristic train that takes people to the year 2046, continues in the tradition of one of his best films "In the Mood Love." And, in some ways, "2046" seems a continuation and further meditation on that film, featuring the same lead character (played again by Tony Leung) and brief shots of Leung's female co-star from that film, Maggie Cheung. Here, as in "Mood," history, loss and the inability to connect with people at the right moment in time and place, dominate the lush cinematic landscape. 5. Matchpoint: After a series of bombs that left audiences with the impression that he had lost his cinematic touch, Woody Allen returns with his best film in nearly two decades. A London-set tale of love and betrayal-a scheming social climbing husband has an affair with the object of his desire only to realize he's threatened his carefully plotted life in the process-the movie marks a return to the Allen of yore (most specifically to the director of the late '80s and early '90s who he was doing his best dramatic work with films like "Crimes and Misdemeanors," "Hannah and her Sisters" and "Husbands and Wives"). That the film is also a refreshing departure for the Manhattan-centric auteur-there is nary a mention of the island or its denizens-makes its bleak tale of treachery and moral questioning that much more refreshing. |
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