MOVIES RELEASED
IN NEW YORK
IN 2005
THAT I SAW
AND WHAT I THOUGHT
OF THEM

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE

I can’t help but notice that my opinion is rarely in tune with the majority, so I have no expectation whatsoever that you will agree with my choices and/or comments. And, of course, opinions of films - be they mine or someone else’s (the opinions, not the films; although, that, too) - are too subjective to claim as fact. Therefore I use “favorite” instead of “best” as much as possible. However, films I cite as “worst” really do seriously suck; but in the spirit of diplomacy, perhaps it’s best to say that they were films that “I personally didn’t like; in fact loathed.”

Also, bear in mind that
I only saw 32 films that were released in 2005,
which only averages to 2.66666666(repeating) films a month, so it's not exactly all-encompassing.

The films are listed alphabetically within each category
(or they are supposed to be, just in case they're not)

↓

MY FAVORITE FILMS OF 2005

Breakfast on Pluto

Broken Flowers

The Family Stone

Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

THE FUNNIEST FILM OF 2005

The Aristocrats

THE MOST IMPORTANT FILMS OF 2005

Fateless

Probably the only "Must See" film on the list.

Munich

FILMS I DIDN’T REALIZE WERE AMONG THE VERY BEST OF 2005 UNTIL I SAW MY COMPLETE LIST

Grizzly Man

A History of Violence

Junebug

Transamerica

Although Felicity Huffman gave a superb performance, the attention from playing a transsexual unfortunately overshadowed the excellent performance of her co-star, Kevin Zegers.

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Winner of the most forgettable title of the new millennium.

THE MOST MEDIOCRE FILMS OF 2005

Caché (Hidden)

Zose zilly Flench peepool!

Get Rich or Die Tryin'

Hitch

But better than I expected

Match Point

The Wood Man is back in form and now making mediocre films instead of terrible films.

I FORGOT THAT I EVEN SAW THIS.
UM. I THINK I ... LIKED IT?

Pretty Persuasion

NO MATTER WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THESE TWO FILMS,
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU

The Squid and the Whale

I can swing with any opinion here: loved it, indifferent to it, hated it - hey, they all work for me. I could have done without the whole squid and whale analogy, though; did anyone know what the hell they were talking about?

War of the Worlds

I loved this film so much that I went again just three days later and then didn’t like it at all. What the ...?

DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE ON A POT BROWNIE NO MATTER HOW GOOD AN IDEA IT MIGHT SEEM BEFOREHAND

2046

THE BEST FILM IN THE THRILLER GENRE I SAW ALL YEAR

Red Eye

I think it might also have been the only film in the thriller genre I saw all year.

BECAUSE I’M A GAY MAN, I AM REQUIRED TO FAWN OVER THIS FILM AND GUSH ABOUT HOW MUCH I ABSOLUTELY LOVED, LOVED, LOVED IT

Brokeback Mountain

(In truth ... oh God, please forgive me ... I merely liked it. Sorry!)

THE MOST OVERRATED FILMS OF THE YEAR

Capote

Great acting, though.

Good Night, and Good Luck

Its heart sure was in the right place, but good intentions do not a great film make.

I WAS VERY SLEEPY WHEN I SAW THIS BUT THE PARTS WHERE I WAS AWAKE WERE FABULOUS

King Kong

THE MOST NEEDLESSLY AND ANNOYINGLY DEPRESSING FILM OF THE YEAR

The Weather Man

But worth the bummer trip to learn what “camel toe” means.

THE WORST FILMS OF 2005

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Did I laugh a lot, and hard? Yes. But I was SO appalled by how bad the story mechanics were that, unlike usual, the laughs didn’t make up for the movie's unforgivable stupidity.

Four Brothers

Last Days

Kay Riced, I haven't been this bored watching a film since art school.
(It should be noted that this was one of Harvey's very favorite films of 2005. He is all like “Boredom rocks! Yah!”)

Shopgirl

Sorry but I don’t get what everyone sees in this film; I don’t think I ever believed an entire minute of it, and it wasn't charming enough for that not to matter.

Wedding Crashers

This movie's popularity baffles me. It’s a great idea, but simply sloppy, crappy filmmaking with a half-baked, undigested screenplay. The first 10 minutes are hilarious and promising, but then comes the very disappointing minutes 11 – 119. Does a good idea and 10 good minutes make it a comedy classic?
(P.S. It's also quite homophobic)

THE VERY WORST FILM OF 2005

Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic

Not because it was shockingly offensive, but because it wasn’t very funny. I love shockingly offensive humor if the laughs are genuine, but the laughs here were few and the rotten taste it left was considerable.

UPDATE

ADDITIONAL 2005 RELEASES SEEN SINCE THE LIST WAS INITIALLY POSTED, MOSTLY ON DVD

THE MOST OVERLOOKED GEM OF THE YEAR

Nine Lives

Superb. It makes you mad wondering how many other little masterpieces are out there that we've never heard of.

RUNNER-UP FOR MOST BORING OF THE YEAR

Pulse

I forgot about this until it showed up on Harvey's list. A double bill of this along with "Last Days" would take grueling boredom to the most exquisite heights. Look for the American remake of the same title this year, which will undoubtedly take it to its polar opposite extreme.

THE THINKING PERSON'S FILM FOR A DUMBED DOWN AMERICA

Crash

I admit that this film made me think about racism in ways I never had before, so if it pierces the mindset of racist America, you can't say it's without merit. But a good film? No way. Embarrassingly bad scenes and one implausible coincidence after another after another. It sort of reminds me of a lot of self-help books I've read, in that I got tremendous value out of them even when the writing was atrociously mediocre.

HANDS DOWN BEST PENGUIN MOVIE OF THE YEAR

March of the Penguins

I always enjoy nature documentaries, and this was no exception, but ... uh ... why exactly was the country so taken with it? Well, I heard it was partially because the Christian right latched onto it as a metaphor for solid "family values." But then how do they explain the gay penguin couple in the Central Park Zoo? (I'm totally serious, by the way.)

BRING ON THE SEQUELS!

The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

A delight! I liked it even more than the Lord of the Rings. And the Christian allegory wasn't so blatant and glaring - I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't known it was there. Okay, okay, to be honest, I in fact did NOT see it (I mean the allegory, not the movie itself); my friend had to tell me what it was afterwards.

AND LASTLY

A NOTE ABOUT WHAT IS APPARENTLY A CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT FILM

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Depending on the company, I'm either thrilled or embarrassed to admit that I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter books (although I've read them each only one time, not the required minimum of 17 to qualify as a bona fide huge Harry Potter fan). I made a conscious decision after seeing 2½ of the first 3 films that I would stop going. Even though they've improved since Chris Columbus stopped directing them, the movies still alter the images I created on my own when I started reading them before the movies were made. I've heard this one was the best and I don't doubt it, but it still ruins (or perhaps I should say taints) the reading experience for me.