A Year in Film

I saw Steven Spielberg's new film "Munich" last night. I though it was incredible. It dealt with some complicated issues and was difficult to watch at times, but it remained riveting for its entire 2 hours and 45 minutes. Plus, Eric Bana is hot.

It got me thinking that I've seen a lot of good movies this year, although I didn't get to the theater as much as I would have liked. I know there's been a major dropoff in attendance, but it can't be blamed completely on a lack of good movies. Of course, there has been a TON of crap released, as well, but there were definitely some quality films to counterbalance that.

My personal favorites (keeping in mind I haven't seen a ton of movies I've wanted to see, including King Kong, Brokeback Mountain, Kontroll, Murderball, March of the Penguins and, of course, XXX: State of the Union) are, in no particular order:

Dot the I--A fun, twisty thriller. I'm sure everybody else in the theater got the twist long before I did, but I'm an idiot about stuff like that. I hate watching movies with people who lean over halfway through and whisper, "I bet he killed his mother." And they end up being right. Bastards. But anyway, Gael Garcia Bernal brought the hotness, which made up for lack of ingenuity in the plot.

Millions--The kid in this movie is freaking adorable, and not in that precocious, Macauly Culkin or "Boy Meets World" Stuart Minkus kind of way that makes you want to punch him in the face. It's a really sweet story, and the fact that it was directed by the same guy who did "28 Days Later," which scared the living shit out of me, made it even better.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room--This movie also scared the shit out of me, but for very different reasons. A really good documentary on the train wreck that was Enron.

Kung Fu Hustle--It's hard for me to know what to say about this movie other than it rocked. It was like a Chinese live action version of old Warner Bros. cartoons on acid. Or something. And they're making a sequel, which I'm super excited about.

Crash--Despite the presence of Brendan Fraser, who inexplicably annoys the crap out of me, I loved this movie. It kind of beat you over the head with the message, but it was so well done that it didn't really matter. Terrance Howard gave the best performance of the year. Also, Ludacris was surprisingly convincing.

Batman Begins--Christian Bale is the only Batman since Michael Keaton who actually does the role justice. Plus, like Gael Garcia Bernal and Eric Bana before him, he brought the hotness.

Me and You and Everyone We Know--Another movie that's hard to describe, but which was so awesome. There were times it got a bit pretentious, but it was unlike anything else I saw this year. Another adorable kid. This one talks about poop in a hilarious scene that alone is worth the rental.

The 40 Year Old Virgin--There seemed to be two camps: those who liked this movie and those who preferred "Wedding Crashers." I'm sorry, but this was hands-down the funniest movie I saw this year and one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. "Wedding Crashers" was "Son of the Mask" in comparison. OK, perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration.

Capote--Philip Seymour Hoffman rocked my face off with his performance. The movie was better than average, but only because of him.

Walk the Line--I'm not gonna lie--I cried like a baby for the majority of the movie. The on-stage scenes are amazing.

Honorable Mentions:
Downfall
The Constant Gardener
Green Street Hooligans'
In Her Shoes
Shopgirl
The Squid and the Whale
The Aristocrats

Worst:
High Tension--Way to waste a perfectly good movie with the most craptacular, cliched ending EVER.
Must Love Dogs--Must love crap is more like it. I was dragged against my will by my mother who, incidentally, loved it. Go figure.
Hide and Seek--Are you kidding me? Did this even seem like a good idea on paper?

Upcoming in 2006: "Die Hard 4: Die Hardest," "The Santa Clause 3" and "Garfield 2." Score! It's gonna be a great year!!