INDIVIDUAL BALLOTS - A - G
Bill Alexander
1) 2046
Wong Kar Wai makes yet another brilliant film in his
long-awaited return. This movie is proof that in
contemporary Asian cinema, some of the biggest stars
are also among the best actors - much like old-time
Hollywood.
2) Be Here To Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt
One of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time
receives a moving & unflinching portrait. Steve Earle
famously said "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter
in the world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee
table in my cowboy boots and say that." When told of
this, Townes replied "Steve has obviously never seen
Dylan's bodyguards." Check out the site & see if you
can see it in your area.
http://www.townesthemovie.com3) Serenity
Joss Whedon makes a terrific debut film with strong
writing, directing, comedy, tragedy, action...you all
know what I'm talking about. I saw it 5 times at the
cinema which is the most I've done that for any film
in my life.
4) The Taste Of Tea
A well-deserved winner of the audience award at the
2005 New York Asian Film Festival, this Japanese
family film is humorous, moving, and surreal at
different times. This might be the best film of 2005
that you've never heard of.
5) A History Of Violence
David Cronenberg's latest is a character study shot
through with humor and pain. Viggo Mortensen is
terrific in the lead and William Hurt is wonderful in
a supporting role. One of my favorite directors has
done it again.
6) The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Judd Apatow has made a comedy that is hilarious and
also touching. Steve Carell and Catherine Keener are
convincing in the lead roles and fine support is
provided by Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and many others.
7) Oldboy
This Korean film has mindblowing twists and turns and
so much psychological pain that even Joss Whedon would
be impressed. I've also seen the director's film
Joint Security Area which is terrific as well.
8) Mysterious Skin
Gregg Araki's latest film may be his best to date.
This powerful drama follows two boys and their
differing responses to childhood trauma. Michelle
Trachtenberg plays a supporting role as a good friend
of one of the young men.
9) Mind Game
This is a thrilling anime that will surprise you. The
artwork is terrific and I cared about the characters.
10) Crying Fist
This Korean film is a moving story about redemption
for two men - one young and one middle-aged. It's
another film with strong characters and lots of humor
& pain.
In alphabetical order, here are my honorable mentions:
Batman Begins
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Downfall
Hana and Alice
King Kong
Land of the Dead
March of the Penguins
One Nite in Mongkok
P
Sin City
Tale of Two Sisters
Walk the Line
Chris Barbour
10 Best/Favourite DVD's 2005
L'ECLISSE
5X2(FIVE TIMES TWO)
MA MERE
HEIGHTS
KINSEY
NOVO
LAND OF THE DEAD
LONG WEEKEND
THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE
CHANGI
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Genre Films, still sadly missing on DVD:
EYES OF FIRE(1983)
DRUM(1976)
CINDERELLA(1977)
MASSACRE AT CENTRAL HIGH(1976)
MESSIAH OF EVIL(1972)
Doug Bassett
Movie Ballot for 2005
It was not a good year for movies; I found it difficult to come up with ten. The last few on the list wouldn’t have made it in a better year.
10. 2046 – Very evocative mood piece of romantic longing and anomie. Suffers from taking forever to gin up, and then taking forever to finish. But the middle of the film, with Zhang Ziyi, is just mouthwateringly beautiful and sad.
9. CINDERELLA MAN – Traditional “underdog makes good” kind of story, helped immeasurably by good performances and a commitment to authenticity. Crowe is very fine, ably handling the difficult job of playing a good man in an interesting way.
8. LOOK AT ME – I’m not generally a fan of “intelligentsia behaving badly” movies, but this is a good example of the breed. Manages to be a lot tougher on its characters than the inexplicably overrated THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, which gives it a ping of authenticity and hard-won knowledge that the other lacks.
7. SERENITY – A nice break from the Star Wars/Star Trek grind. Whedon is the kind of artist I relate to.
6. HOTEL RWANDA – I didn’t get a chance to see this until 2005. A good example of how genre constraints can add to a work’s power.
5. ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW – This is another genre I’m generally not a fan of, “let’s look wide-eyed at the world around us”. But I think this movie took a stock situation and infused it, for once, with some genuine grace and poetry. I especially appreciated the willingness of the moviemaker to both not romanticize this world and yet, at the same time, keep a sense of wonder about it. ME AND YOU is a hard movie to put into words, it’s kind of an ethereal thing, but it walks it’s tightrope in a fascinating way. Underrated movie.
4. KONTROLL – Saw this at the Philly Film Festival and was quite glad to see it won the Danger After Dark Festival over OLDBOY, a movie I didn’t like. A movie that manages to take on a bunch of symbolic overtones without ever quite giving up it’s spine of story, it’s the kind of thing a lot of people try and fail at.
3. WAR OF THE WORLDS – I thought this was the most satisfying Hollywood flick I saw in a generally low quality year. No one was surprised more than me by it. I’m not an especial fan of Spielberg, Cruise, or Fanning – if I recommend a movie that has all three of ‘em, you gotta believe there’s something there.
2. 3-IRON – Haunting spiritual/mystical love story about a couple who achieve fulfillment through abnegation and self-effacement. Absolutely riveting.
1. KUNG FU HUSTLE – Movie of the year in a walk. Jaw-dropping from start to finish.
Michael Blanton
FAVORITE FILMS
1. Grizzly Man
2. Broken Flowers
3. Nobody Knows
4. A History of Violence
5. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
6. 2046
7. Memories of Murder
8. Land of the Dead
9. 3-Iron
10. Pulse
Just missed the cut: Hustle & Flow, Syriana, Oldboy, Save the Green Planet, Cronicas
Other films I enjoyed in 2005: Good Night, and Good Luck, Capote, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Kung Fu Hustle, King Kong, Sin City, March of the Penguins
Films I didn't see, that could have made the list: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, The White Diamond, Caché, Mysterious Skin, The New World, Munich, The Constant Gardener, Howl's Moving Castle, Palindromes, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
FAVORITE DVDs
1. The Atrocity Exhibition (Reel 23 Pal R0 The Netherlands)
2 The Val Lewton Horror Collection (WB)
3. The Rebel Samurai Collection (Criterion)
4. The Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection (Universal)
5. The Best Buy two-disc King Kong Collection, w/Son of Kong & Might Joe Young (WB)
6. The Blind Dead Collection (Blue Underground)
7. MPD Psycho (Volumes I, II & III) (Adness)
8. For Your Height Only/ Challenge of the Tiger (Mondo Macabro)
9. The Pinky Violence Collection (Panik House)
10. Tie: Major Dundee Extended Version (Columbia) &
The Big Red One Reconstruction (WB)
Just missed: Hanzo the Razor Collection (HVE) and The Lina Wertmuller Collection (Koch Lorber) (LWC missed due to the sub par release of the films on DVD).
Kudos to Criterion, NoShame, Mondo Macabro, Panik House, Blue Undeground, Synapse, and Fox Film Noir Series, for stellar DVD releases.
Brian Camp:
Ten Best Movies of 2005
In order of preference:
CINDERELLA MAN
Depression-era drama that shows what it was really like to be poor and hungry during that oft-filmed hard luck period of American history. Great boxing scenes, too.
KING KONG
Exactly the kind of adventure/monster/south seas/lost island-with-dinosaurs movie I grew up on, but with all the bells and whistles earlier models couldn’t afford. Great acting, wonderful details, beautiful recreation of old New York. (And, after CINDERELLA MAN, the second movie this year to show us Central Park’s Hooverville shantytown.)
KUNG FU HUSTLE
Hong Kong moviemaking up to all of its old tricks. A return to old-school glory with all sorts of new school touches. Funny, touching, moving, action-packed, beautifully crafted. Stephen Chow’s best.
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
Solid dramatic depiction of one of CBS News’ finest hours. Great acting and great recreation of Murrow’s historic newscasts. In beautiful b&w.
2046
Delirious romantic drama from Wong Kar Wai with stunning photography, great costumes, beautiful actresses and, like all of Wong’s great works, a rhythmic play with the flow of time.
BATMAN BEGINS
Solid comic book adaptation. Strong story, dramatic, atmospheric, character-oriented. Nice, gradual build-up; saves its big action scenes for the end. Great ensemble male cast.
HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE
Another winning Hayao Miyazaki animated film. Full of imaginative surreal and magical touches. Beautiful score by Jo Hisaishi. Surprisingly good English dub features veteran actresses Jean Simmons and Lauren Bacall.
BRIDE AND PREJUDICE
The director of BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM brings some Bollywood touches to this update of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” The closest thing, as far as I could tell, to an original movie musical to come out last year. And Aishwarya Rai just shines.
GODZILLA FINAL WARS
The Big G’s last movie, or so they say, and a delirious, lunatic binge of kaiju action designed to shoot past our critical defense mechanisms right into our kaiju-friendly subconscious. Helped by seeing it with a packed house of enthusiastic G fans at Subway Cinema’s annual series.
STEAMBOY
Very good period sci-fi anime from AKIRA director Katsuhiro Otomo, with some typically Otomo-style spectacle. Superb English dub cast includes Patrick Stewart, Alfred Molina and Anna Paquin.
Ten Best DVDs of 2005
In order of preference
NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (1984/Disney)
One of Hayao Miyazaki’s best films given a stunning transfer. I’ve seen this film in many different formats and this is the best copy yet. One of several Studio Ghibli titles released on DVD this year. The others include POM POKO and PORCO ROSSO, both must-haves as well.
DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER (1977/Shaw Bros.-Celestial)
The greatest discovery among the year’s Shaw Bros. releases. Brigitte Lin and Sylvia Chang, early in their careers, give powerful performances in this tearjerking adaptation of a famous Chinese literary work.
THE KILLING MACHINE (1975/Adness)
After years of full-frame English dubbed copies, finally a pristine copy of this great Sonny Chiba martial arts drama set in Japan in the postwar years. Widescreen and in Japanese with English subtitles.
POKÉMON: DESTINY DEOXYS (2004/Disney)
What can I say? None of you will know what I’m talking about, but this seventh Pokémon movie is one of the best ever. It bypassed a theatrical release and premiered on television before showing up on DVD a few weeks later.
SEX AND FURY (1973/Panik House)
What a find. And I only learned about it by reading of it on Mobius. This is a delirious Japanese female Yakuza film with plenty of sex and violence and gorgeous cinematography and production design and some jaw-dropping scenes. I’m astounded that this managed to go under my radar for so long.
THE AVENGING EAGLE (1978/Shaw Bros.-Celestial)
The first time I’ve seen this masterpiece in widescreen and its original language. One of the very best Shaw Bros. kung fu epics, with one of the studio’s great team-ups, Alexander Fu Sheng and Ti Lung.
DESCENDANT OF THE SUN (1983/Shaw Bros.-Celestial)
Easily the best superhero movie I’ve yet seen come out of HK and one of the best Shaw Bros. fantasies I’ve seen so far. It’s very much inspired by Superman, not only the original comic book story but the first two Christopher Reeve Superman movies.
BATTLE WIZARD (1977/Shaw Bros.-Celestial)
A short (72-minute) delirious Shaw fantasy with nonstop super-powered battle action from INFRAMAN star Danny Lee and support from two great SB actresses, Tanny Tien Ni and Lin Chen-chi. Another great find.
ILYA MUROMETS (1956, Image)
I finally get to see my childhood favorite SWORD AND THE DRAGON in its complete form, in its original Russian language, and in widescreen. A spectacular film and a beautiful DVD.
DISNEY TREASURES: DISNEY RARITIES: CELEBRATED SHORTS: 1920s – 1960s (Disney)
I haven’t watched this yet, but its collection of 32 cartoons from a span of five decades is exactly the kind of thing the Disney Treasures series does best. Most of these are things I haven’t seen before and there are quite a few I hadn’t even heard of before.
Bob Cashill
I'm on record as having questioned the assertion that 2005 was a "great" year for film. And, indeed, I had no problem whittling a Top 14 list into a Top 10. But I have roughly 40 "11s" listed, so, yes, it was pretty good. :) I mean, I could've dropped passing fancies like SAHARA off the list, but I enjoyed them at the time and decided to leave them in should my fellows spot them on DVD or cable and consider taking them for a spin.
My "Flop 10s" were easy to compute this year, as I skipped most of the bad-sounding Hollywood films...which meant a concentration on woeful indies instead, often sincere, uncalculated films that simply fell wide of the mark for me. Re: LAST DAYS, a reminder to myself never to see another film with a zomboid protagonist who isn't an actual member of the living dead.
BEST: [From No. 10 to No. 1]: LAND OF THE DEAD, KING KONG, HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, MEMORIES OF MURDER, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, NOBODY KNOWS, GRIZZLY MAN, LOOK AT ME, MYSTERIOUS SKIN, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
WORST [Alphabetical]: ASYLUM, THE BROTHERS GRIMM, DEAR WENDY, DOMINION: A PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST, HAPPY ENDINGS, HIDE AND SEEK, LAST DAYS, MELINDA AND MELINDA, MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS, WHERE THE TRUTH LIES
UN CERTAIN REGARD [Alphabetical]: THE ARISTOCRATS, BATMAN BEGINS, BALLET RUSSES, BROKEN FLOWERS, CAPOTE, ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM, EROS (Wong Kar-wai segment, "The Hand"), THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, GODZILLA: FINAL WARS, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, HUSTLE & FLOW, THE ICE HARVEST, JUNEBUG, KUNG FU HUSTLE, MATCH POINT, THE MEMORY OF A KILLER, MY SUMMER OF LOVE, NINE LIVES, 9 SONGS, PARADISE NOW, THE PASSENGER (re-release), THE PRESIDENT'S LAST BANG, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, THE PRODUCERS, SAHARA, SARABAND, SAVE THE GREEN PLANET, SHOPGIRL, SKY HIGH, STAR WARS: EPISODE III--REVENGE OF THE SITH, THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA, THREE...EXTREMES (Park Chan-Wook and Fruit Chan segments, "Cut" and "Dumplings"), TONY TAKITANI, TROPICAL MALADY, 2046, WALK THE LINE, WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE WHITE DIAMOND.
BAFFLERS (Movies I just didn't get, or couldn't warm to or embrace, despite favorable critical and/or audience reception): CACHE (HIDDEN), THE CONSTANT GARDENER, CRASH, LAYER CAKE, MAJOR DUNDEE: THE EXTENDED VERSION, ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW, MUNICH, THE NEW WORLD, OLDBOY, SIN CITY, SYRIANA, WEDDING CRASHERS.
Also from Bob Cashill, sender of the Top and Flop 10 Films List previously...
No Flops here. It was another fine year for the format and though marriage, moving, and other real life issues prevented me from watching more I was more than satisfied with what I was able to screen at home in 05.
TOP 10 [From #10 to #1]: PRIVATE PARTS (72), MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO: SE, KING KONG VS. GODZILLA/KING KONG ESCAPES, THE HAROLD LLOYD COLLECTION, THE VAL LEWTON COLLECTION, LE SAMOURAI, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (New series, Seasons One and 2.0), SAMURAI REBELLION, SCTV VOLs. 3 and 4, KING KONG (1933)
UN CERTAIN REGARD: THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY, THE BELA LUGOSI COLLECTION, THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE: SE, CARRIE (1952), THE COMPLETE JAMES DEAN COLLECTION, THE DEER HUNTER: SE, THE FLESH EATERS, THE FLY (1986): SE, THE FREAKMAKER, THE HAMMER HORROR SERIES (Universal), HOSTAGE (05, a Mobius recommendation), MATANGO, OVER THE EDGE, POINT BLANK, SERENITY (another Mobius recommendation), TITANIC (1997): SE, THE WAGES OF FEAR, WARLOCK (59), WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953): SE.
Doug Dillaman
I've included a top fifteen here, partially because I saw lots of great stuff and partially because moving to NZ has meant that I don't get to see a lot of the end of year's releases before the poll. Expect possible contenders for next year to include A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, MATCH POINT, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY, SYRIANA, etc. Anyway, I'll spare everybody my typical twenty paragraphs of prefatory arglebargle and get straight to business:
1. CACHE (HIDDEN)
2. GRIZZLY MAN
3. THE WAYWARD CLOUD
4. L'INTRUS (THE INTRUDER)
5. OLD BOY
6. 2046
7. THE LIFE AQUATIC
8. KING KONG
9. KISS KISS BANG BANG
10. THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE
11. WALLACE AND GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT
12. DUCK SEASON
13. HEAD-ON
14. HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
15. MYSTERIOUS SKIN
DVDs:
1. F FOR FAKE. One of my top twenty movies of all time gets the treatment it deserves. Commentary of the year.
2. THE MUPPET SHOW: SEASON ONE. Supplement of the year: Henson's pitch reel. But where's Beaker? He's on the menus, but not in the episodes. Sigh. Bring on season 2!
3. THE ERROL MORRIS COLLECTION: despite being a bit of a disappointment supplementwise, I've been waiting for this since the dawn of the format.
4. PUNISHMENT PARK (R1, Project X). My first exposure to Peter Watkins, and it vastly exceeded my high expectations.
5. UNSEEN CINEMA - might be higher if I'd made it through more of it yet, but the little taste I've seen has been phenomenal.
6. HARAKIRI - haven't explored the supplements, but a fantastic film.
7. INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS - not a great film, but very entertaining, and a perfect treatment on DVD, with both surface and depth supplements allowing you two completely different approaches to the film.
8. CHARISMA - special mention also to SEANCE, but glad to see more of the other Kurosawa getting represented on DVD.
9. POM POKO - would be higher if it wasn't one of the most padded 2-disc sets in history, but this is one sorely overlooked film in the Ghibli canon and it's never not mindblowing.
10. TOUT VA BIEN - only watched the main feature so far and the Godard interview, but an astonishingly packed disc for Criterion's lower price point.
A special mention for UNSCRIPTED, a series which I loved but that HBO dumped entirely supplement-free to DVD. It seems to be near universally reviled (or maybe just ignored), but I really enjoy what Soderbergh/Clooney/Heslov have got going with this and K STREET. And also for the BBC TV series LOOK AROUND YOU - I don't think the DVD came out this year, but it was the most laughs I had from anything I watched on DVD this year.
Lots of other interesting stuff I haven't had time to come close to fully (or even slightly) exploring: ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT SEASON 2, THE DIRECTORS WAVE 2 BOX SET, REBEL SAMURAI: SIXTIES SWORDPLAY, WB GANGSTERS COLLECTION, HONG SANG-SOO COLLECTION, OLD BOY (R2), ZATOICHI (R2), BURDEN OF DREAMS, RAN, KAGEMUSHA, KURONEKO, NAKED ISLAND, SPECTRES IN THE SPECTRUM, ERROL MORRIS' FIRST PERSON, THE INCREDIBLES, COLLATERAL, RIDING GIANTS, THE STEVE MCQUEEN COLLECTION, EXTRAS (R2), and the W.C. Fields box set (not sure if it's this year or not). Plus everything I couldn't afford/was smart enough not to buy when I already had too much to watch. ;)
Kate Duffy
1. Oldboy
2. The Devil's Rejects
3. Survive Style 5+
4. Kontroll
5. Broken Flowers
6. Sin City
7. Mysterious Skin
8. Grizzly Man
9. 2046
10. The Squid and the Whale AND 3-Iron (tied)
My favorite DVD releases were:
The Adventures of Pete & Pete Season 1
F for Fake
The Fly Collector's Edition
Heaven Can Wait
Nightmare Alley
Over the Edge
Tetsuo: The Iron Man
Oldboy
The Devil's Rejects
Sin City: Recut, Extended, Unrated
Eleanor Farrell
Listed in reverse order (10 to 1). My list includes two films (3-IRON and THE TASTE OF TEA) that were seen in film festivals rather than during commercial runs, but I felt that both were so outstanding they needed to be included. Some of the non-US releases may have release dates earlier than 2005, but all were first showings in the San Francisco Bay area, with commercial theatrical runs (except for the two film fest entries). All films on my list were seen in theaters (not DVD).
10. VEER-ZAARA (2004, Yash Chopra)
Yash Chopra’s return to directing is Bollywood at its most opulent -- high production values, lush costumes and scenery, colorful musical numbers, and plenty of tear-inducing melodrama. Featuring genre heavyweights Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee, with Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini in supporting roles, this 3-hour epic traces a decades-long romantic tragedy between a Pakistani girl and an Indian helicopter rescue pilot, adding a theme of cultural and religious tolerance to the usual ones of love and sacrifice. Familiar territory for Bollywood fans, but a lovely visual extravaganza.
9. SIN CITY (Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez)
SIN CITY is all style. Rodriguez creates a three-dimensional version of interwoven stories from Miller’s series of gritty, nihilistic comic books, crystallizing the film’s actors into hardboiled archetypes through audacious use of black and white and lurid splashes of color. In a year filled with cinematic visual creativity, this film certainly makes the top of the list.
8. SERENITY (Joss Whedon)
I’ve never seen an episode of FIREFLY, but I thoroughly enjoyed tagging along for a wild space ride with this ragtag crew of not-really-mercenary-at-heart fugitives. The pace was exciting, the production values top-rate, and the world-building rich and complex. (I’m looking forward to seeing this again after watching the DVD set of television episodes, a terrific Christmas present!)
7. MIRRORMASK (Dave McKean)
The collaboration of award-winning graphic novelist Neil Gaiman and artist Dave McKean, who also directs. Unlike many adolescents who’d love to run away and join a circus, MIRRORMASK’s protagonist Helena finds her circus performer parents exasperating and longs for a more ‘normal’ life. When a careless insult appears to send her mother into a coma, Helena withdraws into the dark and elaborate world of her drawings, in which a scenario very similar to her predicament in the real world is unfolding. Gaiman and McKean create visually stunning images to populate Helena’s private world: the visuals are like nothing you’ve ever seen on film before.
6. WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (Nick Park)
2005 was a better than average year for animation features, with the long-awaited return of Aardvark Studio’s dynamic duo in their new “Anti-Pesto” rodent extermination venture topping the list. Almost as good, HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE presents Hayao Miyazaki’s take on the popular fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones -- a surprisingly apt combination.
5. KAMIKAZE GIRLS (2004, Tetsuya Nakashima)
Momoko is the odd one out in her rural Japanese town, eschewing the uniformly ugly clothing worn by everyone else in favor of elaborately frilly dresses evoking the era she wishes she inhabited: 18th century Rococo France. Desperate to make money to pay for her expensive indulgences, she tries selling bootleg designer clothes leftover from her father’s yakuza days. Her best client: Ichiko, a self-styled ‘Yanki’ punk and girl-gang member who casually inserts herself into Momoko’s world and changes her life completely. Funny, surreal, and surprisingly touching, this is a fresh and insightful look at the bizarre world of Japanese obsessive youth culture, unlikely friendships, and the magical powers of embroidery.
4. 2046 (2004, Wong Kar-wai)
Typically WKW in its themes of memory and regret, as well as gorgeous imagery both visual and aural, but for the first time the director incorporates science fiction elements that, surprisingly, don’t clash at all with the film’s recurring focus on the past, even within the future. I’ve never before seen a film so haunted by the past, on so many levels -- Hong Kong’s past, the histories of the characters (some of them not even in the film itself), WKW’s entire body of cinema, and (not least) the spectre of Leslie Cheung. Fans of Wong’s work were also treated to the short film “The Hand,” by far the best of the EROS trilogy honoring Michelangelo Antonioni.
3. 3-IRON (2004, Kim Ki-duk)
Aptly described in the San Francisco International Film Festival program as “lyrical and strange,” this story of a young drifter who breaks into empty houses and tidies them as he explores the trappings of the inhabitants’ lives balances humor, poetry, and violence, and is nearly silent. I liked this better than Kim’s earlier SPRINT, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER … AND SPRING. Probably my favorite film of the festival.
2. THE TASTE OF TEA (2004, Katsuhito Ishii)
Full of fine understated performances and delightful visuals (including playful use of animation and CGI effects), this episodic look at the day-to-day lives of the slightly quirky Haruno family living in a small countryside town north of Tokyo is utterly charming. Who knew the Japanese might so embrace magic realism?
1. DAYS OF BEING WILD (1990, Wong Kar-wai)
Yes, this one counts, as WKW’s stylistic breakthrough film finally got its US theatrical release in 2005. DAYS is moody, romantic, tragic, lyrical, sultry, mesmerizing, and totally drenched in tropical malaise and obsession. Watching this in a theatre (four times during its San Francisco run) was one of the biggest treats of the year for me.
Once again, my list of the year’s favorites is definitely not going to match anything you will see in newspaper critic round-up or lists of film award nominations. I've enjoyed several excellent, more mainstream, films in 2005, including THE CONSTANT GARDENER and GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, and I'd be not at all disappointed to see Ang Lee's BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN win the Oscar for Best Picture. However, the ten movies on my list are the films I most enjoyed seeing in theaters during the past year.
Order is somewhat arbitrary, but what the heck.
1. CHINESE GHOST STORY TRILOGY (FortuneStar)
FortuneStar's boxed set of digitally remastered versions of the three films, cleaning up the pictures and with new, somewhat though not totally improved, English subtitles (but I miss some of the great lines like "We're surrounded by our toes!"). Comes with a small booklet of photos.
2. MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (Criterion)
Finally! A great 2-disc package including a restored version of one of my favorite films, with bunches of extras. I would have liked an audio commentary track, but .... An even more impressive 2005 release is the package for THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH. You go, Criterion!
3. PORCO ROSSO and NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (Disney)
Walt Disney Studios continues its new DVD releases of Hayao Miyazaki films with 2005 releases of PORCO ROSSO and NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND, which (finally!) include the Japanese audio tracks as well as the English dubbed versions. More of these to come ... like MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO in early 2006.
4. THE CALL OF CTHULHU (H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society)
http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.htmlThe seminal Cthulhu mythos story done in the style of a classic 1920s silent movie, using the "Mythoscope" process — a mix of modern and vintage techniques. The DVD also features a making-of documentary, high-fidelity and Mythophonic audio, special features, and intertitles in twenty-four (!!) languages.
5. HEAVEN SWORD AND DRAGON SABRE 1 & 2 (Shaw/Celestial)
My favorites from the 2005 Shaw releases, a two-part adaptation of the classic Jin Yong novel, directed by Chu Yuan and starring Lo Lieh and Derek Yee.
Dave Garrett (Houston, TX)
DVDs:
1 Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde (Image)
2 The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection (New Line)
3 The King Kong Collection (Warner)
4 The Ramones: End of the Century (Rhino/WEA)
5 The Edward R. Murrow Collection (Docurama)
6 This Is Your Life - The Ultimate Collection, Volume 1 (R2
Entertainment)
7 L'Eclisse (Criterion)
8 The Corporation (Zeitgeist)
9 Sins of the Fleshapoids (Other Cinema)
10 Bad Timing (Criterion)
Honorable Mention:
Edison: The Invention of Movies (Kino)
Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930s (Kino)
Forgotten Films of Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle (Mackinac Media)
Disney Treasures - Disney Rarities (Disney)
Looney Tunes Golden Collection #3 (Warner)
Film Noir Classics Collection #2 (Warner)
Ben-Hur (4-disc SE) (Warner)
The Wizard of Oz (3-disc SE) (Warner)
In the Year of The Pig (Home Vision Entertainment)
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (Paramount)
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (Anchor Bay)
Beach Red (MGM)
Forty Guns (Fox)
Seven Men from Now (Paramount)
Adventures of Superman: The First Complete Season (Warner)
Quincy M.E.: Seasons #1 & 2 (Universal)
Bob Newhart Show: Season #1 (Fox)
Rockford Files: Season One (Universal)
Kojak: Season One (Universal)
The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons (Shout! Factory)
The Dick Cavett Show: Ray Charles Collection (Shout! Factory)
Punk: Attitude (Capital Entertainment)
Films:
1 GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
2 KUNG FU HUSTLE
3 BATMAN BEGINS
4 ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW
5 KISS KISS BANG BANG
6 KING KONG
7 THE ARISTOCRATS