Search for 2005
In the past, I have tried to match performances with the Academy's four vaunted categories: Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress. However, since who gets into what category is a matter of games and politics, I'm not going ...
Bottom 10 lists are curious things. They're more fun to read than to produce. (Doing so requires the critic to peruse titles of which he/she would prefer not to be reminded.) They are often used to promote a critic's "message," with some Bottom ...
Every year, I get asked why I don't post this list earlier. After all, some critics make theirs available in mid-December. To me, it's unseemly to reveal my favorites of the year before the year is over. So here's the list, with a few comments for...
The 40 Year Old Virgin is proof that motion picture comedies can still be funny. Sadly, the kind of consistent humor delivered by this film happens too rarely. This is the movie Wedding Crashers should have been: rude, raunchy, uproarious, yet wi...
U.S. Release Date: 2005-08-19
MPAA Rating: "R" (Profanity, Sexual Situations, Nudity, Drugs)
Genre: COMEDY
Director: Judd Apatow
Cast: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, ...
I'll never understand why studios sometimes choose to withhold films from critics. The lack of advance screenings of Aeon Flux establishes an expectation that the film is likely to be tough to sit through. It's the studio's way of throwing in th...
U.S. Release Date: 2005-12-04
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Sexual Situations, Brief Nudity)
Genre: SCIENCE FICTION
Director: Karyn Kusama
Cast: Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller, ...
What is a studio to do when all sequel possibilities have been exhausted for a brand name that retains name recognition? Why, do a remake, of course! Thus, we have first-time feature director Andrew Douglas' take on the events in late 1975 at 112...
U.S. Release Date: 2005-04-15
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Nudity, Drugs)
Genre: HORROR
Director: Andrew Douglas
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, Jesse James, ...
Luc Besson's Angel-A is about as offbeat of a love story as one is likely to find in a movie theater. Think of Wings of Desire crossed with It's a Wonderful Life and crafted applying a film noir style, and you'll have an idea of what the movie off...
U.S. Release Date: 2007-06-15
MPAA Rating: "R" (Profanity, Sexual Situations, Violence)
Genre: DRAMA
Director: Luc Besson
Cast: Rie Rasmussen, Jamel Debbouze
According to several of the roughly 100 talking heads in The Aristocrats, The Joke has been around for a long time, dating back to the days of vaudeville. In addition to being called "The Aristocrats," it has other names, like "The Sophisticates."...
U.S. Release Date: 2005-08-12
MPAA Rating: "NC-17" (Profanity)
Genre: DOCUMENTARY
Director: Paul Provenza
Cast: George Carlin, Gilbert Gottfried, Penn Jillette, ...
What is the world coming to when the film community is remaking John Carpenter movies? Admittedly, Assault on Precinct 13 isn't the best example of Carpenter's expert craftsmanship, but it was the picture that got him noticed, and that notice enab...
U.S. Release Date: 2005-01-19
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity, Sexual Situations)
Genre: THRILLER
Director: Jean-François Richet
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Maria Bello, ...
Bad News Bears may be the most entertaining remake of the year (thus far), but that's less a statement of praise than it is a condemnation of this class of movies. With a script co-credited to Bill Lancaster, who penned the original 1976 screenpla...
U.S. Release Date: 2005-07-22
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Profanity, Sexual Situations)
Genre: COMEDY
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Hardon, ...