Best Movie of 2005- Cinderella Man. Just finished it, and it is one you want to own. Wish I hadn’t waited so long.
Against my better judgement, I also picked up the 40 Year Old Virgin, and it is a letdown. Although, I have to admit, the hair removal scene is pretty damned amusing.
Speaking of movies, Gary Farber has the latest Serenity clip.
Zifnab
No love for 40-year-old Virgin? :-p Oh well, no one’s perfect.
John Cole
Well- i wanted to see it, but I sorta half built it up to be more than it was goingto be and the other half of me knew it wasn’t going to be that good, so maybe I ruined it for myself before watching it.
Did that make sense?
Cinderella Man was spectacular, though.
MN Politics Guru
I saw the 40 Year Old Virgin last week on $1 movie night at the local cheap theater. At that price, it’s hard to be disapppointed by just about anything.
It was a juvenile comedy, big surprise.
aop
FYOV was one of my faves this year. Thought the characters were remarkably believable and human for a studio comedy. I may be biased by my love of Freaks and Geeks, though…
Gary Farber
Damn you for contradicting me (in private e-mail) by quoting me! Damn you, sir!
But there are still all those Whedon posts in the past. That’s all I’ll say. And I’ll try to let past be past.
As much as a Browncoat about the war.
;-)
tbrosz
Read an article that said that the star of “40 Year Old Virgin” actually underwent that waxing on camera. No special effects. Serious pain.
Jess
Is it just me, or was this year’s crop a serious disapointment? I’m glad to hear that Cinderalla Man is worth seeing–I’m saving it for when I’m done grading. I’m a bit in lust with Russell Crowe. Especially liked him in Master and Commander.
I’m in the middle of grading the papers my students wrote on the movie “Fight Club”–it’s always good for provoking interesting discussions, as well as being a brilliantly crafted film.
J. Michael Neal
1) The Interpreter
2) Serenity
3) King Kong
Cinderella Man suffers from the simple fact that I am tired of the story of the cinderella team/athlete scoring the huge upset. For me, at least, it’s played out. I’ve thrown it onto the same scrapheap as the “Insane Genius Makes a Brilliant Discovery, and Finds a Way to Heal Himself” pictures.
Been there, done that.
HH
“I am tired of the story of the cinderella team/athlete scoring the huge upset.”
As is noted in the bonus features of the DVD however, the story of Jim Braddock is the original underdog upset story, and it has the additional advantage of being true.
HH
Re: 40 Year Old Virgin – Lots of great improvisational scenes and a protagonist who seems like an actual person. Plus the always great Catherine Keener. What’s not to love?
Jack Roy
A little off-topic, but Wolcott had a very interesting (although slightly insulting) theory about conservatives and Cinderella Man.
John Cole
Has James Wolcott ever written anything that was less than slightly insulting when it came to conservatives?
I loved the movie, but not for the reasons stated by the conservatives at the time. First, it is simply a great story, and as Henry noted, he is the original underdog. Second, I think Ron Howard just has a really nice touch. Third, I am a sucker for period pieces. Fourth, I love Paul Giamatti. Fifth, I like how much Braddock and his wife communicated simply by looking at each other. Sixth, I felt the fight scenes were very realistic and staged well. Seventh, I like the soundtrack (at one point, they even had the Afro Celt Sound System playing- during the scene when he is training). And on and on. I just thought it was a solid flick.
Jack Roy
I wish I could discuss the movie itself, but I skipped it (happy endings give me a toothache).
As to Wolcott… I’ll get back to you. My instincts are that, he’s fifty-ish, there had to be one time.
In somewhat more seriousness, Wolcott’s cranky and not reluctant to express his crankiness, but his primary targets are the low-hanging fruit of Right Blogsylvania. Extending all due courtesy to, say, Jonah Goldberg seems more an empty ritual of comity than doing the same to the likes of James Q. Wilson.
db
History of Violence?? On anybody`s list for 2005?
You get to see how tremendous of an actor Viggo Mortenson actually is. And the violence that is in there is well done and appropriate to the story line.
And let us not forget the directing by Cronenberg – where has he been since the Fly? And where has Bill Hurt been since the 1980s?
Retief
You couldn’t be more wrong on 4 year-old virgin. Well worth the price of admission for the finale alone.
oopla
History of Violence was a good flick, but the ending was such a letdown. I was waiting the whole movie for two simple words to pass Viggo’s lips to another member of his character’s Family. “I’m sorry.” In the original comic, the character Tom Stahl says that in abundence, and has to confess his previous life to his family (radically different in the comic form, BTW.)
So much was changed in the movie, but the movie never explores the implications of those changes. In the comic, the title “History of Violence” refers to the theme, that once you start down the path of violence, you usually cannot leave it. Tom is forced back to the path and must travel further down it to protect his family. In the movie, it refers to Viggo’s character passing the violence down to his son. It never deals Tom having to break the cycle. The movie just ends.
Films like Cinderella Man and Constant Gardner just out shine it. It really hasn’t been that good of a year for film. especially this summer. Sure there has been som very good films like Kong, a few gems like Serenity, but my mind just keeps jumping back to the dissapointments like War of the Worlds, when I think of films this year.
Krista
I have to admit to having been quite pleasantly surprised by Layer Cake. Very dark, very cool, and some really funny bits.
J. Michael Neal
As is noted in the bonus features of the DVD however, the story of Jim Braddock is the original underdog upset story, and it has the additional advantage of being true.
I don’t care that it is true. It would be possible to make 500 movies about underdog teams scoring the big upset and frame them in an uplifting way. Probably more. And Jim Braddock most assuredly was not the first athlete to do it. We could probably go back to the ancient Olympics and find a story just as compelling. We’ve had dozens of them, and they’ve worn out their welcome, because they have become every bit as formulaic as the summer action blockbuster. Bleh. I go to the movies to see something I haven’t seen before.
History of Violence?? On anybody`s list for 2005?
Not mine. Mortenson was great. Some of the other acting was good, but nothing special. I thought that the script was really trite. After a very intriguing beginning, it just sort of sputtered along, arriving at the utterly insipid scenes with William Hurt.
Films like Cinderella Man and Constant Gardner just out shine it.
I loved, loved, loved the acting and the cinematography in The Constant Gardner. Fiennes should definitely get a nomination; even though I’m still not sure if he can play anything other than tormented introverts, boy can he play a great tormented introvert. He’s also the greatest Laurence Olivier impersonator in the world, which is nothing to sneeze at.
But the *plot*. I hope I don’t ruin my liberal credentials, but it made no sense. It wasn’t internally consistent, the villian’s plot made no sense, they felt compelled to completely rehabilitate Rachel Weisz’s character to sainthood by the end, and it showed all of John le Carre’s annoying obsessions. Great acting, but not a great movie.