Father Geek's Top Films Seen In 2005

Well, it's that time of the year again. A time when we all think back over the last 365 days of movie going and try to decide if it was worth all the lines, traffic, noisy audience members, security checks, and skyrocketing prices (at the pump as well as at the ticket office and snack bar). I don't know about you... buuut for me, a 60 year old admitted Movie Addict, it was a very good year (not the best ever, but far far from the worse). After viewing 350+ feature length motion pictures theatrically with audiences in 2005 I found it difficult to cut the list of favorites down to just 25. Believe me I've been working on it for a couple of weeks now. There were just alot of films I really enjoyed this year.

First off, the list that follows is not necessarily the BEST MADE films of 2005, although many are. These are the movies that pushed MY buttons, that turned ME on, that made ME laugh and cry, sweat and shiver, that took me out of my life and put me somewhere else, in someone else's shoes. They are movies that made me blowoff my problems, or shoulder the weight of the world. Some required me to leave my brain at home and just leave the driving to others... and some (the best) made me think, not only about myself and my family and country, but about the human race in general. Where are we headed? How will we get there? Will we? Is it worth it?

I believe the primary, up front, goal of a theatrical motion picture should be to entertain. If it does that, well, good it's done it's job, but that's all. It's done it's job. I'd say about half the movies I viewed on the big screen this year did their bare to the bones jobs and collected their boxoffice paychecks, buuuut I give extra points for literacy, artful design and photography, lots of extra points. Boxoffice proceeds are not what my list is about, it helps, some of the films below have and will make tons of cash, but to me that is not the "end all", the ultimate yardstick of the success or failure of a motion picture, nor does that alone condemn a flick, buuut to make MY list there must be multiple extras. Not the least of which is thought. Not just intelligent design on the part of the filmmakers, but the actual implanting of thought processes into the minds of the audience. Now I'm not saying that every film on my list has deep thought enriching premises, but the closer you get to the top the more of that you'll find. That said, I do like rolicking, mindless mayhem when its called for, remember above I did say some of this years favorites required me to leave my brain in the trunk of the car.

So here we go... 25 motion pictures seen (but not necessarily released) in 2005 that Father Geek feels you can't go wrong with, the top of my heap, films that should leave you feeling something deep inside, films easily worth the price of admission. These are in reverse order... with repeated viewings and depending on my mood this order could change... but not radically. One more thing... while I've seen a hell of alot of movies this past year, I haven't seen all of them, soooo if your fave isn't here maybe it just fell through the cracks in my incomplete film viewing...

THE LIST...

rank......title......viewing date

25. WAR OF THE WORLDS 6-26

24. AEON FLUX 12-2

23. LAND OF THE DEAD 6-21

22. HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE 4-26

21. KISS KISS BANG BANG 10-20

20. WALLACE & GROMIT: CURSE OF THE WERERABBIT 10-4

19. HOOLIGANS 3-18

18. WOLFCREEK 10-8

17. HOSTEL 10-9

16. DANNY THE DOG 2-23

15. WALK THE LINE 11-17

14. SIN CITY 3-21

13. SYRIANA 12-5

12. BATMAN BEGINS 6-6

11. MATCHPOINT 12-21

10. NOBELITY 8-15

9. CORPSE BRIDE 9-22

8. HISTORY OF VIOLENCE 9-27

7. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN 11-29

6. HUSTLE & FLOW 3-17

5. MUNICH 12-20

4. GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK 11-2

3. KING KONG 12-10

2. SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGENCE 12-10

1. V...FOR VENDETTA 12-11

There you have it... I don't make a worse list. I don't enjoy revisiting them, and especialy don't really want to think further about them. Out of sight... out of mind... that where they belong.