In these last hours of 2006, I offer you a list of great movies from…2005.
I ran my friend Bob’s top ten movie list from 2004, now I give you his list from 2005. When will we get 2006, Bob?
Without further ado, here’s Bob:
OK, OK, it’s almost the end of 2006 and the top ten list for the movies of 2006 are showing up all over the place. I was actually going to send a list of the top ten reasons why I have not completed this list. Of course, so many times I feel there’s a movie out there that might earn a spot on the list. This year I thought Woody Allen’s “Match Point” would do that. With it’s nomination for best screenplay and my affinity for his work, it seemed likely that it would have a chance. Well, it’s an excellent film but not a top ten candidate for this year.
So before 2006 stops playing, let’s get in one more dance.
As always, this list is subject to change as years go by.
#10 Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Wererabbit
These two characters have dominated the short subject animated film category for years which amazes me because Gromit never speaks. I’ve never actually been able to even detect a change in Gromit’s expression yet still he conveys a feeling by simply looking at the situation. The film’s plot stems from Wallace, the inventor, developing a way to change the behavior of rabbits that had been damaging neighborhood vegetables. He succeeds but a flaw in the process leaves him taking on the attributes of rabbits. Anyone familiar with Wallace would know that he never eats vegetables but loves cheese. The most touching point in the movie is when the expressionless Gromit hugs Wallace. Well, actually the most touching point for me was sitting next to my daughter, Gabriela Elizabeth Jones. This was her first movie and, yes, she stayed through the credits.
#9 The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
I guess this would be described as a “small” film and it certainly received mixed reviews from critics and didn’t last long at the box office. With all of the attention that illegal immigration got this past year, it would seem that people would have been talking about this movie all year long. But then, it isn’t really about illegal immigration. It’s about Melquiades Estrada and the promise made to him by the Tommy Lee Jones character. It’s also about revenge. And, ultimately, it’s about forgiveness. Yes, it’s a small movie but it accomplishes some great things.
#8 Yes
Any film that is done completely in verse will certainly get recognition from me for boldness if for nothing else. Not only is the film in verse, it’s pretty much in iambic pentameter throughout. From the opening scene where the maid discourses on the dust that she cleans up around our lives to the main characters named “He” and “She”. Wait, there’s more. She is a rich, white and unhappily married western woman played by Joan Allen. “He” is a poor Muslim from Lebanon. They first meet at a dinner party where he is serving the rich party folks. On the other hand, he was a surgeon in Lebanon and now is a cook in London. They are sexually attracted to each other-Yes this movie is very erotic. The two cultures attract and clash at the same time. This is one of the most daring, innovative movies that you’ll see anytime.
#7 Capote
With a good script and a great performance, this movie gives us a wonderful character story. In some ways, this movie is misnamed. The title implies the traditional biopic. A more accurate title would be “The Writing of In Cold Blood” but I’m not sure how that would play on the marquee. On the other hand, by narrowing the focus of the main character to this one event, I felt I got a very real sense of the “life” of Truman Capote. Through talk shows and gossip columns, he became known to people who never read his books at all. This film lets us know that the shallow surface this writer gave the world hid one incredibly sensitive and gifted writers. One of the best Christmas stories is his “A Christmas Memory”.
#6 The Constant Gardener
Originally, Hollywood wanted John Le Carre to rewrite his novel and not have it take place in Africa. To his credit, he refused. So we get this suspenseful film that connects the health industry with the poverty of Africa. The acting in this film is superb but the main stars are the people in the African villages. And, of course, they are also the victims in this story. The moral questions raised by this film are immense and one we all will struggle with as the people on the other side of the Globe step out of the pages of National Geographic and become our neighbors.
#5. A History of Violence
This story of one individual’s violent past can also be a metaphor for our country as well. We may proclaim peace as our object but not facing our own violent past is what gets us back into the Vietnams and the Iraqs. And how often is the peace we get based on the violent acts of the past? This may be a fast forward approach to this movie. On another level, it’s the story of our hero who has tried to obliterate his violent past by running a local diner. He is everyone’s Mister Nice Guy. Two people come into his diner threatening customers and he goes on automatic pilot taking both of them out and becoming a small town hero. The attention brings in those people from his violent past and all those who know him begin to question who it is they know. The scenes between him and his wife near the end of the film speaks volumes although barely a word is spoken.
#4. Walk the Line
Great performances by Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix give us the Johnny Cash/June Carter story. The title is from his hit song “I Walk the Line” but it brought back memories of the Rolling Stone cover article on him years ago entitled “He Walks the Line”. He was the first performer to sing on one of Bob Dylan’s albums and he wrote the liner notes for Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album. My personal memories of Johnny Cash come from a performance when I was a student at Virginia Tech. He was doing a fund raiser for the local student radio classical music station. His concert was at the end of a semester that had been saturated with great concerts by big name artists so attendance was low. With no fanfare, he waived his fee totally and even contributed to the station. His performances at Folsom and San Quentin prisons are legendary. He once spoke of prisoners saying that they should certainly be punished for the crimes they committed but that all of us outside need to remember that we are all children of God. With all of the heat that rap music gets these days for its violent lyrics, Johnny Cash still has one of the best lines in country music from his Folsom Prison Blues-”I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.” As the title says, he walked the line.
#3. Good Night and Good Luck
Filmed in black and white, I was back in my childhood living room. We got our first TV when I was 7 years old. It was 1953 and we watched TV every night. The following morning or at the next evening’s dinner table, we discussed everything we saw from comedies to dramas to news. I remember Edward R. Murrow on television but I dont’ remember the particular episode that is at the center of this film. However, I do remember the family discussions that went on for weeks afterwards. Although neither of my parents ever made it to high school, they were both very well read. My mother would have been labeled a socialist/communist sympathiser except that her kindness and her strange expressions were endearing to all. My father was not a socialist, communist nor much of a sympathiser except that he was married to my mom and loved her for all of that. So those discussions went on and on and gave me the framework for much of my political philosophy today. Thanks to this film for giving me that brief visit with mom and dad around that dinner table of so long ago.
#2 Brokeback Mountain
So much has been written about this film and it created so much political controversy that I felt this tender story of unrequited love got lost in the shuffle. These two characters described by Annie Prioux as a “couple of deuces going nowhere” find love for each other in a world that does not permit that love. They struggle to make a go of it in the straight world but they cannot deny the attraction they have for each other. It saddened me to read of the number of theaters that refused to show this movie while having no problems with showing movies like Saw II and other gory films. Then that is the subtext of this movie. Our society doesn’t want any of our gay cousins showing up at the family reunion. I saw this movie twice here in Asheville, this city I love. Both times, the house was packed. I loved being surrounded by that community and sharing seeing this movie with my neighbors.
#1 Crash
Cultures collide with each other in Los Angeles in a complex set of story lines intertwined with these characters. It was a movie where I felt they held nothing back but ventured into the ways that the differences in our society collide. The collision causes the “crash” that often has tragic consequences but the “crash” is also creating something new in our society because these pieces of our social fabric are ever changing. This film got people talking about everything. I spent many years trying to ignore the differences in others, trying to find that common ground that connects us all. I still do that but this film gave me the permission to actually look again for the differences in others. Despite all of the issues about tolerance raised by this movie, I felt similar to way I felt after Brokeback Mountain. I live in the most diverse country in the world. Ethnic, racial, religious, country of origin–the USA has the greatest range of these than any other country in the world. At the end of this film, I was glad to be part of the “mix” and I’m glad that I live here. I wanted to start hugging everybody. This film should be required viewing for any diversity training course.
Whew, I just got under the wire for this year. Now, where’s your top ten list?
Cinematically yours,
Bob Falls
Poetry Alive! Inc
