19. TOKYO GODFATHERS
An animated Christmas movie about a bitter bum, a teenage runaway, and a homeless gay transvestite who find a baby and vow to reunite it with the mother. Once again Satoshi Kon (PERFECT BLUE) pushes the boundaries of the kind of story anime films can tell, with this hybrid Christmas miracle/comedy/drama/action romp that can casually introduce miraculous coincidences without ever once sugar-coating the hardships of homelessness.
18. FAHRENHEIT 9-11
It was tighter and less sloppy than BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, stoked legitimate outrage, and none of the facts stated in it were ever proven false (the best conservative critics could come up with was that it made misleading insinuations). My right-wing friends would have those of us on the left disown Michael Moore, while they refuse to toss David Horowitz and Ann Coulter overboard; sorry, but Moore entertains me, and he also entertains a whole lot of people who aren’t rabid socialists, judging by the national reaction to his film. The soundtrack album was a fave as well, with songs like “Rockin in the Free World” and “Shiny Happy People” side by side with “Believe it or not (Greatest American Hero theme).”
17. GOZU
The first Takashi Miike film that I’ve unabashedly loved. Insane mobsters, lactating walls, aging breast milk, androgynous cow demons, steam pressed tattoo skins, weird country bumpkins, and a thoroughly unforgettable scene of rebirth make this a must-see for fans of insane Asian cinema. Fuckin’ awesome.
16. COLLATERAL
The first movie about L.A. at night that really looks like L.A. at night. Some acquaintances have complained that the ending was predictable, but that’s true of most action/suspensers, ain’t it? Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are both actors I used to hate, but they’ve won me over. Love the way Mark Ruffalo’s character was handled, too — in any other movie he’d have defied death and saved the day in the end.
15. THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
On DVD you can finally watch Mel’s Jesus movie as he intended, with no subtitles, and it adds a new layer of understanding — the film is directed like a silent movie, and what seems bombastic when you know the words is less so when it plays like pantomime. Some reviewers have copped out and say you can’t possibly judge it from a non-religious perspective, but I call bullshit on that. The story of Jesus is a good story whether you believe it really happened or not, and Mel’s brutal interpretation is scary, disturbing, excessive, and arguably even a call for peace and love. Mel Gibson may be batshit insane, but this is his best film as director by far, possibly because he refrained from starring in it this time.
14. HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE
Those tiny burgers deserve their own movie, and they got the best comedy about an allnighter ever made. Playing like a funnier, raunchier DUDE WHERE’S MY CAR, this was another big surprise. Want more proof that it’s worth your time? Right-wingers actually started complaining about the movie, saying it was anti-white. I kid you not; I heard from some directly.
13. OVERNIGHT
Speaking as a comedically arrogant would-be icon, I watched this movie and learned the potential pitfalls of such a path. BOONDOCK SAINTS director Troy Duffy initially seems like a blustery but good-hearted guy, but his egotistical banter ultimately proves deadly serious, and this movie chronicles his transformation into paranoid asshole. Should endlessly amuse those who’ve managed to sidestep similar pitfalls, but I’ll also take it to heart as a warning.
12. SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN, WINTER…AND SPRING
Gregory Weinkauf was raving about this one over a year ago, and he was absolutely on the money. Korean director Kim Ki-duk took some of the ideas he used to shocking effect in THE ISLE, and put them to use in the service of a more contemplative tale of four time periods in the life of a monk who lives in the middle of a lake. Slow, yes, but never boring and frequently moving.
11. CONTROL ROOM
My favorite political doc of the year — a look at Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera from the start of the Iraq war through Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech. More evenhanded than most of the lefty flicks, the film gives equal time to the U.S. perspective, never mocking the military spokesman (though Rumsfeld effectively skewers himself in retrospect) even when it’s clear the film-makers don’t necessarily agree.
You’ve seen my top ten already — but the annotated version is still coming.
