"Hey, I have a Toddler" - 2005 The Year in Movies

2005 - The Year in Movies

Movies I saw this year:

Assault on Precinct 13
Pooh’s Heffalump Movie
Schultze Gets the Blues
The Upside of Anger
Robots
Melinda and Melinda
Sin City
Kung Fu Hustle
Constantine
The Interpreter
Chicken Little
Crash
Be Cool
Mad Hot Ballroom
Layer Cake
Madagascar
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D
Batman Begins
Me and You and Everyone We Know
March of the Penguins
The War of the Worlds
The Jacket
Hustle and Flow
North Country
The 40 Year Old Virgin
The Transporter 2
The Squid and the Whale
Wallace and Grommit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit
Shopgirl
Walk the Line
Brokeback Mountain

Films not seen that I really want to see:

Cinderella Man
The Wedding Crashers
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Murderball
Fantastic Four
The Aristocrats
Munich
Broken Flowers
Good Night and Good Luck
Proof
Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic
Capote
The Matador
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
Syriana
King Kong
The Constant Gardener
Match Point

(which means I may update this post in a few weeks – I have some glaring absences but give me a break…I have a four year-old and a full time job! I can’t believe I saw 31 movies released in 2005 – although there was a time when I might have been in the 60’s)

My Current Top Ten:

10. The 40 Year Old Virgin – charming and funny
9. Hustle and Flow – just plain well done
8. Layer Cake – great story, well-presented, action-packed
7. Kung Fu Hustle – a wild romp, fun!
6. Mad Hot Ballroom – kids, dancing, challenges, drama
5. Brokeback Mountain – fine performances, a sophisticated and universal story
4. Me and You and Everyone We Know – extremely creative, wonderful throughout
3. Wallace and Grommit: TCOTWR – most fun at the movies this year
2. The Squid and the Whale – complex, well-told, provocative, unique
1. Crash – the best movie this year; I’ll be stunned if it’s bested

The Five Worst:

5. Shopgirl – not bad, but disappointing, flat and blah
4. Madagascar – not without its moments, but overall, a dud
3. Constantine – there was a neat costume toward the end
2. The Transporter 2 – no headache but I felt like a sucker.
1. The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D

A special warning/PSA: The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl…is a horrible film, but it’s also dangerous. Simply awful. Sharkboy is a bully and a jerk, perhaps the worst possible example for kids. Also, this film gave me a complete headache. Seeing it in not 3-D it’s somehow worse. The teacher character is horrible. Dear director guy: it’s great that you wrote this with your kids, but it is the second worst film I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen Titanic). Still, my daughter watches it over and over and over…there comes this point in the movie where the kids are riding around on chocolate or cookies or something, when I become so overwhelmed by self-loathing that I start to hurt myself. Avoid it at all costs, but especially avoid it if: you are prone to headaches, motion sickness or depression, if your faith in human-kind is waning, if you don’t like things that are dumb, or if you value your eyes/ears/mind/sanity/stomach lining.