Best Movies of 2005

Peter Jackson's King Kong

Anyone who has followed the career of The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson knows that the original version of King Kong is the movie that made him want to grow up to make movies. The giant ape has never had a decent big screen treatment in modern movie history (as Dino DeLaurentis' 1976 debacle hardly counts) until now. Jackson's magical directorial style coupled with a screenplay that can't be beat (and, of course, the original source material) served to make the familiar story of a blonde Beauty and her Beast into a memorable tale that we watched as if we didn't know it would all end in tears. And end in tears it did, thanks to stunning performances by the film's cast. Surprisingly good is Jack Black (Envy, School of Rock) who proved that he actually can act.

Brokeback Mountain

Twenty years ago if someone told you that a film about two gay cowboys on the range would be generating the most Oscar buzz a film has generated since Forrest Gump you'd have thought they'd been to one Village People concert too many. Then you probably would have asked "what's Forrest Gump?" since that film came out in 1994. Still, director Ang Lee's (The Hulk, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) touching story in Brokeback Mountain is doing just that. The fact that the movie snagged Golden Globes for Best Dramatic Picture, Best Director (Lee), and Best Motion Picture Screenplay certainly didn't hurt either. Cast members Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams were also nominated for their performances. When the Oscars roll around, this will be the one to watch. It will be interesting to see if the subject matter makes the Academy second-guess whether to vote for it.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

By most accounts, this was clearly not one of the best movies of 2005. In fact, many consider it one of the worst. Still, it is impossible to ignore it since it is the culmination of nearly thirty years' worth of cinema and the final chapter in George Lucas' beloved space opera. This one answers all the final questions about how that cute little Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd in Episode I and Hayden Christiansen in Episode II and Episode III) winds up inside the bad black suit with the unmistakable breathing problem. Star Wars fans may not have liked some of those answers and one gets the feeling that Lucas is trying very hard to tack this movie onto the first one he made way back in 1977, but - again - it was definitely the cinematic event of 2005 regardless whether you felt it was any good. Lucas is crying all the way to the bank if you didn't like his picture because it was the number one box office draw for the year. At least it didn't have any Ewoks in it and that annoying Jar Jar Binks was almost completely unseen.