Upon request ;) , here are my top five movies for 2005 (and Why). Plus a little bonus.
The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The WardrobeStar Wars: Episode III: Revenge Of The SithBatman BeginsKing KongThe Hitchhiker's Guide to The GalaxyWhy? Well
Narnia: This was a difficult choice because I was a little disappointed with the character development of the two most important people in the story: The Witch and Aslan. Other than that, I cannot say enough about it. First off, it's scriptural allagory, which means that it has extra significance to those who have a relationship with Christ.
Most of the acting was wonderful, especially Lucy. The music was gorgeous and brings tears to my eyes when I listen to the soundtrack. The visuals were amazing: the beavers were so believeable that I forgot that they never actually shared space with the other characters. I liked it that they saved the sweeping epic battle stuff for the climax and allowed you to slowly attatch to the story before pommeling you with the payoff.
I look forward the second instalment Prince Caspian, which they are writing as we speak.
Sith: What can I say? Nearly everything was saved from bad-prequelitis. Yeah, there was some less than perfect acting and a bit of shoddy editing, but who didn't nearly wet there pants when Yoda and the Emperor ascended into the sentate chamber sabers-a-blazing? There was so much emotion and power that I and II didn't posess (Phantom Menace came close, but some of that is nostalgia).
The action was amazing. The Obi-Wan/Greivous chase left me in shambles, and those who thought the Obi-Wan/Anakin fight blew....What are you smoking?
The two most exciting elements for me however were the music and cinematography. John Williams truely outdid himself with his score for Sith. Emotionally powered and beautiful it was.
Finally Lucas discovered that style and atmosphere make movies better. There was darkness, cool lighting and, and and all kinds of cool stuff. It looked grittier too...which was nice.
Batman: Batman is my hero on so many levels. I loved the story, acting, and dialogue for Begins, but I missed the overblown spectacle/fantasy of the Schumacher and Burton films. The batmobile however, blew all others to batmobile heaven. I now worship batmobiles. Plus, every shot of the batmobile, with a very few exceptions, were filmed with a real vehicle going up to 100 miles an hour. Dude.
Also, if you want good action, Begins has it made. Every action scene spells coolness.
I only miss the comedy, weirdness, and fanstasy of the original four.
Kong: This could have easily made number one if they had spent more time in post-production. Yes the effects were flawless, but the last minute musical score which was sprung on James Newton Howard with only a month to write, orchestrate, and record. They also could have left out a lot of stuff and made it a tighter, more worthy movie.
But that's just the negative stuff. Kong looked so real, the natives gave me glorious chills, Naomi Watts deserves an oscar, and Jack Black did not mess up. Kong was epic, loud, quiet, beautiful, and so much more. Once Kong makes it to New York, the movie becomes absolutely classic.
If only it didn't take two hours to get there.
Hitchhikers: The most underrated movie of the year. I loved the book and the movie captured the feel of the book so well. It even did a good job of explaining the complex and nutty concepts. Not only was the movie spectacular and hilarious, but its actually good science fiction.
Marvin shined. Alan Rickman is one of the coolest brits ever.
Honorable mention: Constantine. While it isn't as good as Hitchhiker's, it came awfully close.
What could have been great had they not royally messed up:
War Of The Worlds, and Kingdom Of Heaven.Now granted, there are still plenty of movies I missed, and won't see until they arrive on DVD, but as for what I saw in theaters, this is it.
Bonus: What do I look forward to for 2006? I can only think of two that I will without a doubt see (last year was a hard year to beat).
Pirates Of The Carribean: Dead Man's Chest: Need I say more?
Miami Vice: I cannot tell you how pumped I am about this movie. It's Michael Mann (Dir. The Last Of The Mohicans, Heat, The Insider, Collateral), who also masterminded the original show. He's helming the movie, and writing it as well. Eeeeeehh.... *my drooling noise*
Huh-ZAH!!
Hows that?