OK...so I'm a huge movie nerd, and for fun I made a list of my top 10 movies of the year to share with any of you who might also be movie nerds. Feel free to comment and criticize me, or call me gay for putting "Brokeback Mountain" on here.
Note: Of the 5 movies nominated for Best Picture this year, only 3 made my list. Capote is number 11, and Goodnight and Goodluck is number 14. For those of you interested, 12 and 13 were "King Kong" and "Nine Lives" respectively.
10. Munich
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Eric Bana, Geoffrey Rush
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/munich/Summary: After the terrorist attack on Israel’s Olympic team during the 1972 games in Munich, Israel retaliates by sending a group of 5 men to assassinate those responsible for the attack.
Comments: Not nearly as good as Schindlers List or Saving Private Ryan, but still a pretty powerful, thought provoking look on terrorism and our responses to it. It doesn’t take sides or give answers…only asks questions. Great performance by Bana as the team leader of the Israeli assassins.
9. Brokeback Mountain
Directed by: Ang Lee
Starring: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhall, Michelle Williams, Ann Hathaway
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/brokeback_mountain/trailer/Summary: Two cowboys in Wyoming unexpectedly fall in love. Do I really need to summarize this movie?
Comments: I’ve heard a lot of people call Brokeback Mountain a ‘gay porno.’ Obviously these people have never seen this movie, as there are plenty of ‘straight’ movies that have more gratuitious gay sex scenes than this movie. In fact there are just as many straight sex scenes here. That aside, it’s a good movie about two people who feel like they can’t be who they really are for fear of unacceptance. I don’t think it’s the best movie of the year, but Ang Lee definitely should win best director, as the movie is very well done whether you like it or not. Heath Ledger’s best actor nomination is well deserved as well.
8. The Matador
Directed by: Richard Shepard
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/the_matador/trailer/Summary: An everyday business man and a hitman meet in a bar in Mexico and become friends.
Comments: A funny movie with strong performances by the three main characters, that has some very strong and sometimes touching scenes. At times it seems contrived, but then it manages to go in a direction opposite of what you were thinking.
7. Me and You and Everyone We Know
Directed by: Miranda July
Starring: Miranda July, John Hawkes
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/meandyouandeveryoneweknow.htmlSummary: A recently seperated shoe salesman, who is having trouble dealing with his divorce and connecting with his two children, meets a lonely struggling artist.
Comments: A very funny, quirky, movie about how people try to connect with one another. Everyone in this movie is funny, particularly the two children.
6. Cinderella Man
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Russel Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/cinderella_man/trailer/Summary: Depression era true story about Jim Braddock, a washed up boxer who gets a second chance at greatness.
Comments: As a boxing movie it’s good. I’m not a fan of boxing but as far as the fights go, they’re intense and never get boring. Where the movie is very good and moving is when it’s dealing with the depression (which is at least half of the movie). As much as Russel Crowe seems like a bastard, he’s a great actor.
5. Batman Begins
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/batman_begins/trailer/Summary: The story of Bruce Wayne, and how he became the superhero Batman.
Comments: I thought Spiderman 2 and X-MEN 2 were great superhero movies. Batman Begins is a great movie. The action scenes are good, but the strength of the movie is that it focuses on the characters, not the special effects. All of the character driven scenes are great, particularly those with Bruce’s father, Alfred, and his training under Henri Ducard. All the performances here are very good (minus Katie Holmes…but she’s not bad).
4. Syriana
Directed by: Stephen Gaghan
Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Jeffrey Wright
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/syriana/Summary: Politically motivated movie about the Oil Industry and everyone affected by it: The owners of the oil companies, its workers, a corporate lawyer looking over a merger of two oil companies, a CIA operative, an oil broker, and middle eastern royalty.
Comments: If it sounds like a confusing movie, it is. There are a lot of storylines going on all at once, and although they’re all obviously connected if you want to understand what’s going on in this movie you’re going to have to pay good attention to every scene.
3. Crash
Directed by: Paul Haggis
Starring: Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock, Ludacris
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/crash/large.htmlSummary: A group of characters in LA of all different races cross paths and affect each other. A look on race relations in America.
Comments: Another movie involving multiple storylines. I have heard a lot of people say they didn’t like this movie because it’s about the downside of racism yet it stereotypes all of it’s characters. This is true, but it’s purposeful. I think the theme here can be summed up with a quote from Matt Dillon’s character, a cop, says to his rookie partner: “Wait till you’ve been doin it a little longer. You think you know who you are. You have no idea.” Great performances again by everyone, particularly Matt Dillon who should, in my opinion, win best supporting actor.
2. Walk the Line
Directed by: James Mangold
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/walk_the_line/Summary: Biopic about the life of Johnny Cash, and more particularly his relationship with June Carter.
Comments: After being extremely disappointed by Ray last year, I almost didn’t even bother with this movie, but I’m glad I did. The movie is fueled by great performances by Phoenix and Witherspoon, who should win best actress. The music scenes, the drama and the love story are all great. Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman (for Capote) and Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain) were all great…it’s hard to choose who I want to win best actor. Can we take Jamie Foxx’s oscar and give it to Joaquin Phoenix? At least he did all the singing himself.
1. The New World
Directed by: Terrence Malick
Starring: Q’Orianka Kilcher, Colin Farrell, Christian Bale
Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/the_new_world/Summary: Epic story about the founding of Jamestown in 1607, tells a more accurate story about the life of Pocahontas, John Smith, and John Rolfe.
Comments: This seems to be a real love it or hate it movie…I’ve heard people say they thought it was the best movie they’ve seen and the worst. I’ll give a warning: This is a very slow paced, artistic, movie. By artistic I mean it’s not done traditionally. There are lots of shots of nature put in the foreground and most of the characters stories are told through narration.
I knew the basic disney story of Pocahontas. That is, she saves John Smith’s life and they live happily ever after. I knew nothing else about her really, and don’t want to give any spoilers here. No one knows what really happened, but given what we do know, this is most likely pretty accurate.
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F'ed in the A.
