The Best Of...
Hey, why not. Everyone else is doing it. Every magazine, web site, and critic on Earth is busy compiling their list of "The Best of 2005". And since list columns are the only thing more lazy than Random Thoughts columns (except yours Kel, which are FABULOUS), I'm all in. I will note that these are hardly comprehensive. I see a lot of my stuff on dvd and since they release all the "Oscar contender" movies about 2 days before the end of the year, I haven't seen them. No Brokeback Mountain, no Syriana, no Capote. Deal with it.
Anyhow, here goes for this year...
LAN 2005 Best Movies (theatrical)
1. King Kong- Peter Jackson delivers again. I hate remakes on principle and this is still my best picture.
2. Sin City- What every comic book movie should be. Great stuff that looked like it was ripped straight off the page.
3. Walk The Line- Johnny Cash is one bad mutha. And the movie's great too. Bonus points for letting Shooter Jennings play his dad.
4. Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire- The rare series that gets better with age. I fear the kids may be eligible for free coffee at Denny's by the time they make all 7 movies, but I'm looking forward to seeing where they head.
5. Star Wars Episode 3- Lucas brings it home after bobbling the first two.
6. Mirrormask- Bizarre, but I liked it. Neil Gaiman (of Sandman fame) wrote the script. Definitely the most imaginative thing you'll see all year.
7. Corpse Bride- I love Tim Burton and claymation.
LAN 2005 Best Movies (DVD) aka "stuff that came out last year that Gryph didn't see until they hit video."
1. The Woodsman- I've seen a lot of horror movies in my life. I like them. Horror movies don't scare me. This did.
2. House of Flying Daggers- My wife has resigned herself to the fact that, although we are now married, I retain my severe crush on Ziyi Zhang. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted, and Zhang's not hard on the eyes either.
3. Million Dollar Baby- Even with it winning all the awards, I was surprised how much I liked it.
4. Kung Fu Hustle- Stephen Chow's a funny guy.
5. March of the Penguins- Proving that Morgan Freeman could narrate the phone book and make it cool.
6. Murderball- Surprisingly fun doc about quadraplegic rugby players.
7. Hidalgo- Brainless but entertaining. Viggo Mortensen is looking to be one of those "watch everything he's in" types.
8. Finding Neverland- Another Oscar contender from last year that I didn't get around to until this year.
9. An Evening With Kevin Smith- Almost 4 hours of clips from speaking tours. Just a guy standing on stage answering questions. But it sure was fun. His story about trying to write the Superman movie for Warner Brothers ("we don't want a cape. Or flying. Or the suit...") is worth the price of admission alone.
LAN 2005 Not-so Best Of Movies (aka "movies I went to expecting more and was disappointed).
1. Phantom of the Opera- I always thought I enjoyed Phantom (having never seen it but having a couple of albums with music from it). This made me question that. I think I may just like Michael Crawford. This movie made me sleepy.
2. National Treasure- I heard such good things. What I got was Jerry Bruckheimer's "Da Vinci Code For the Retarded".
3. Sahara- People kept telling me I should read Clive Cussler's books. I may still one day but if it's anywhere near as idiotic as this movie, I'll want my money back.
4. Elektra- I'm one of the three fans of the Daredevil comic who enjoyed the Daredevil movie. I went into this one expecting the same. Two hours later I wondered how it all could have gone so wrong in a year...
LAN 2005 Best of Television
1. Dead Like Me- The unfortunately now cancelled series' second season was orders of magnitude better than the first, which was pretty damned good. Thank you Showtime for cancelling this to give us "Barbershop: The Series".
2. Deadwood- Nobody does tv shows like HBO, as you'll see throughout my list. Deadwood was the best of the best this season.
3. Rome- Yet another HBO entrant, and a new series to boot. Beautifully shot, excellent acting, and a "hook you in from moment one" plot. It's so expensive ($100 million for the one season) that I'm not sure it can ever make the ratings needed to make it profitable, but it's fun while it's lasting.
4. Six Feet Under- This was their last season and they went out with a bang. I'll miss The Fishers, if for no other reason than to be reminded that there is a family (fictional or not) that's more screwed up than mine.
5. Entourage- I hate HBO comedies almost universally. This is the exception. Jeremy Piven is a genius and easily the slimiest character on tv today.
6. Iron Chef America- I'm a sucker for Iron Chef. I tivo it daily. The American version isn't nearly as good as the original, but it's not bad. Alton Brown is a virtual encyclopedia on commentary. Mario Batali and Masaharu Morimoto are geniuses in the kitchen. Cat Cora I can live without but I felt the same way about Sakai in the original series as well. I just try to forget Bobby Flay is even involved...
Ok. I've got some more best and not-so best lists but it's my bedtime so they'll have to wait until tomorrow. Debate amongst yourselves until I return.
Until then...
-Gryph
Anyhow, here goes for this year...
LAN 2005 Best Movies (theatrical)
1. King Kong- Peter Jackson delivers again. I hate remakes on principle and this is still my best picture.
2. Sin City- What every comic book movie should be. Great stuff that looked like it was ripped straight off the page.
3. Walk The Line- Johnny Cash is one bad mutha. And the movie's great too. Bonus points for letting Shooter Jennings play his dad.
4. Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire- The rare series that gets better with age. I fear the kids may be eligible for free coffee at Denny's by the time they make all 7 movies, but I'm looking forward to seeing where they head.
5. Star Wars Episode 3- Lucas brings it home after bobbling the first two.
6. Mirrormask- Bizarre, but I liked it. Neil Gaiman (of Sandman fame) wrote the script. Definitely the most imaginative thing you'll see all year.
7. Corpse Bride- I love Tim Burton and claymation.
LAN 2005 Best Movies (DVD) aka "stuff that came out last year that Gryph didn't see until they hit video."
1. The Woodsman- I've seen a lot of horror movies in my life. I like them. Horror movies don't scare me. This did.
2. House of Flying Daggers- My wife has resigned herself to the fact that, although we are now married, I retain my severe crush on Ziyi Zhang. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted, and Zhang's not hard on the eyes either.
3. Million Dollar Baby- Even with it winning all the awards, I was surprised how much I liked it.
4. Kung Fu Hustle- Stephen Chow's a funny guy.
5. March of the Penguins- Proving that Morgan Freeman could narrate the phone book and make it cool.
6. Murderball- Surprisingly fun doc about quadraplegic rugby players.
7. Hidalgo- Brainless but entertaining. Viggo Mortensen is looking to be one of those "watch everything he's in" types.
8. Finding Neverland- Another Oscar contender from last year that I didn't get around to until this year.
9. An Evening With Kevin Smith- Almost 4 hours of clips from speaking tours. Just a guy standing on stage answering questions. But it sure was fun. His story about trying to write the Superman movie for Warner Brothers ("we don't want a cape. Or flying. Or the suit...") is worth the price of admission alone.
LAN 2005 Not-so Best Of Movies (aka "movies I went to expecting more and was disappointed).
1. Phantom of the Opera- I always thought I enjoyed Phantom (having never seen it but having a couple of albums with music from it). This made me question that. I think I may just like Michael Crawford. This movie made me sleepy.
2. National Treasure- I heard such good things. What I got was Jerry Bruckheimer's "Da Vinci Code For the Retarded".
3. Sahara- People kept telling me I should read Clive Cussler's books. I may still one day but if it's anywhere near as idiotic as this movie, I'll want my money back.
4. Elektra- I'm one of the three fans of the Daredevil comic who enjoyed the Daredevil movie. I went into this one expecting the same. Two hours later I wondered how it all could have gone so wrong in a year...
LAN 2005 Best of Television
1. Dead Like Me- The unfortunately now cancelled series' second season was orders of magnitude better than the first, which was pretty damned good. Thank you Showtime for cancelling this to give us "Barbershop: The Series".
2. Deadwood- Nobody does tv shows like HBO, as you'll see throughout my list. Deadwood was the best of the best this season.
3. Rome- Yet another HBO entrant, and a new series to boot. Beautifully shot, excellent acting, and a "hook you in from moment one" plot. It's so expensive ($100 million for the one season) that I'm not sure it can ever make the ratings needed to make it profitable, but it's fun while it's lasting.
4. Six Feet Under- This was their last season and they went out with a bang. I'll miss The Fishers, if for no other reason than to be reminded that there is a family (fictional or not) that's more screwed up than mine.
5. Entourage- I hate HBO comedies almost universally. This is the exception. Jeremy Piven is a genius and easily the slimiest character on tv today.
6. Iron Chef America- I'm a sucker for Iron Chef. I tivo it daily. The American version isn't nearly as good as the original, but it's not bad. Alton Brown is a virtual encyclopedia on commentary. Mario Batali and Masaharu Morimoto are geniuses in the kitchen. Cat Cora I can live without but I felt the same way about Sakai in the original series as well. I just try to forget Bobby Flay is even involved...
Ok. I've got some more best and not-so best lists but it's my bedtime so they'll have to wait until tomorrow. Debate amongst yourselves until I return.
Until then...
-Gryph
posted by Gryphon at 9:53 PM
5 Comments:
I can't believe it! I'm here before my mother! I read one first! I...I... forgot what I was going to say. ;)
I was touched and delighted that Harry Potter made your list, and equally happy that you have read the books. I can't believe Kelly commented first!
Not only did Harry make the list, but he's now seen the movie twice. :)
House of Flying Daggers- unbelievably beautiful, magical and touching. I may have to see "Memoirs of A Geisha" just to see Zhang again.
Time to blog again, young Gryphon.
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