Dragonfire88's Picks for the Best Movies of 2005Aug 27 '06 (Updated Feb 27 '10) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line These are my picks for the best movies of 2005 plus a few others that I also thought were very good and worth watching.
Once again in 2005, I was able to see many movies in the theater as well as renting some of the ones I missed seeing during their theatrical release. I have been meaning to get a list of my picks for the best movies from 2005 done for a while now. I kept getting sidetracked by other reviews. I have heard a lot of people say that 2005 was a bad year for movies and that there just weren’t that many good movies released. I don’t feel that way even though I did see my share of bad movies in 2005. For me, the good out weighted the bad and I have been having some trouble cutting my list down. I managed to get it down to twelve. I just couldn’t decide on two others to cut from the list, so I’m going to be different and have twelve on my list. This list is based on the movies that were released in 2005 that I have seen as of the writing of this list. I haven’t seen every movie released in 2005 and there are still some I want to try to see at some point. I will update this list later if needed for any movie I see later that I feel should be on the list. My list isn’t in any particular order. It was hard enough for me to figure out which ones to put on the list. The last movie I talk about will be my favorite from 2005. King Kong (2005) - Peter Jackson’s newest movie was an epic retelling of the classic movie about a giant ape. Jackson created a world where it was absolutely believable that there would be a giant ape that would fall for a beautiful young actress. The special effects were very well done and helped, along with an amazing performance by Andy Serkis, to make Kong come to life. Jackson did what I thought would be impossible. He made me care about Kong. Maybe I’m just a big wimp, but this movie hit me very hard emotionally. Mr. and Mrs. Smith - Even while this movie was being made, there were rumors swirling around that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had started an affair. Much of the publicity related to the movie was connected to them and if they were or weren’t involved. I didn’t care one way or the other. I just thought the movie looked entertaining. I liked the idea of a husband and wife being assassins that had no idea what the other one did and what would happen once they did finally figure it out. The movie had a lot of action, a few steamy scenes between Pitt and Jolie, and a bit of humor that worked to make a very entertaining movie. It also featured Brad Pitt singing along to an Air Supply song at one point. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - The final installment in George Lucas’s story about the Skywalker family finally arrived in theaters in May of 2005. The dark side of the force continued to grow stronger while someone plotted Anakin’s ultimate downfall. I had wondered for years what had finally pushed Anakin over the edge and I was glad to finally see how it had happened even though it wasn’t quite as satisfying as I had hoped. It just seemed like once the moment arrived, Anakin went along a little too easily. The movie had wonderful special effects and culminated in what has to be the coolest lightsaber battle from any of the movies. The Skeleton Key - I love good suspenseful thrillers. Unfortunately, too many of the movies that are supposed to be suspenseful thrillers fail or their own trailers spoil something important. The Skeleton Key had a unique plot and creepy setting, both of which worked well. A young nurse was fed up with her job and decided to take a job as private nurse in a home. Once she moved in, she noticed strange things happening and she discovered that the house had secrets. I thought that Kate Hudson did a very good job with her part. Nanny McPhee - This movie didn’t open in the United States until early in 2006, but it was released in England in 2005, which is why it is on my list. Emma Thompson wrote a delightful screenplay based on some children’s books about a father that couldn’t control his children and received help for the mysterious and magical Nanny McPhee. The movie was a bit like Mary Poppins, but that was fine because it worked so well. Emma Thompson was wonderful as Nanny McPhee and managed to create a new family classic. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - Wallace and Gromit became popular characters after they were featured in a series of award winning animated shorts. The movie, like the shorts, was created with clay, giving the characters a unique look. The movie followed the adventures of Wallace and his faithful dog Gromit as they worked to protect the local vegetables from a were-rabbit. The movie was a very cute, entertaining, family friendly Halloween movie. The movie deserved the Oscar it won for best animated movie. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - This movie was a remake of what is now considered a classic children’s movie. A young boy from a very poor family found a golden ticket that allowed him and his grandfather to go on a tour of Willie Wonka’s famous chocolate factory. For me, the best part of the movie was Johnny Depp’s performance as the quirky, unusual Willie Wonka. Depp took what could have been just a bizarre character and made him highly entertaining. Walk the Line - I never really considered myself a fan of Johnny Cash or June Carter Cash but I wanted to see this movie once I started to see previews. The movie showed a little bit of Johnny’s early life before focusing on his rise to fame. Along the way, he got addicted to drugs and alcohol and fell in love with June Carter even though they were both married to other people. More than anything, I thought this was the story of Johnny and June’s love. The movie featured a wonderful cast, including Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny and June. I was very impressed by the fact that they did their own singing in the movie. I do think that Witherspoon deserved the Oscar she won for this performance. North Country - This was a movie based on the true events of how a group of women working in an iron mine in Minnesota. The men at the mine weren’t happy that women were hired and set out to torment them and try to drive them out of the mine. This wasn’t an easy movie to watch and what those women had to go through simply to go to work made me mad. This was a story that needed to be told and needs to be seen at least once. This was a very powerful movie. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - The fourth book is my favorite, so I did have some concerns before seeing this movie, especially since it had yet another director. I think a sense a continuity is important for these movies and the third movie dropped that a bit with how certain places around Hogwarts were moved. This movie did seem to continue with some of the things that were changed for the third movie. Overall, this was a good adaptation of a long book though I do feel like a little too much was left out. This was the darkest Harry Potter movie yet, the first to be rated PG-13, which was fitting since it also showed the rebirth of Voldemort. His look wasn’t exactly how I had imagined him, but was perfectly creepy for the character. Batman Begins - Batman first became popular when he appeared in Detective Comics and has remained popular for years. The Batman franchise ended for a while after the mess that was Batman & Robin. Then Christopher Bale was able to restart the franchise with Batman Begins. The movie gave a back story for Bruce and finally explained just why he decided to dress up like a bat when fighting crime. The movie was true to the darker nature of the Batman comics without getting as twisted and bizarre as Burton’s versions and still managing to be believable. Christian Bale became Batman and was perfect in the part. Bale was surrounded by a wonderful supporting cast. I am looking forward to seeing Nolan’s next Batman movie. Serenity - This was a movie continuation of Firefly, a very short lived television show from the genius of Joss Whedon. I adored Firefly when it was on and was very irritated when it was cancelled. I was thrilled when I found out about the movie and had very high expectations. I felt that Whedon met them, though he really ticked me off with one thing he did. I could still ring his neck for that. Whedon created a unique combination of science fiction and western with humor added in that worked amazing well. He managed to make the movie connect back with Firefly while also introducing new viewers to this world. Whedon created and developed wonderful, likable characters that you can care about. And yes, this movie still puts me in tears when the one event that I hated happens. Despite that, this was still my favorite movie from 2005. I would happily watch more adventures of Mal and the Firefly crew. In addition to the movies I just discussed, I want to briefly mention a few other movies that I also really enjoyed and think are worth seeing. There were several comedies that I thought turned out to be very good for a change. Monster-in-Law marked the return of Jane Fonda to acting. Fun With Dick and Jane was a remake that I thought turned out to be very hilarious. I know that many people hated Bewitched , but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was just a fun, entertaining movie and it was a different way to do a remake. Nicole Kidman made a very cute witch. The 40 Year Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers were two very funny and entertaining comedies aimed at adults. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a different type of mystery movie that was very entertaining. The Interpreter was a very good thriller staring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. A History of Violence had Viggo Mortensen playing a man’s whose life was turned upside down by a violent act. I did see and enjoy The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. It just wasn’t one of my favorite movies for the year. I’m not sure exactly why I didn’t like it more, though I do think it was a very good movie that is worth seeing. I did see Crash and thought it was a good movie, but it was another one that just wasn’t one of my favorite movies. I couldn’t even manage to figure out what I’d want to say about it in a review. Other Best Movie Lists Best Movies of 2003 ~ Best Movies of 2004 ~ Best Movies of 2006 ~ Best Movies of 2007 ~ Best Movies of 2008 ~ Best Movies of 2009 ~  |
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