WorkShed's Top Five Lists

[WorkShed]

Introduction:

Hey, all. WorkShed here. I've decided to come up with a column of sorts, collecting a bunch of top five lists based on films and filmmakers. I'm stealing the format from Joblo.com (he has top ten lists, but I can't come up with that many). Hopefully you find them informative or even humorous. We shall see...

[WorkShed]

Let's start right off the bat with a critic's favorite list. What are my favorite films of 2005?

5. Batman Begins



Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne is the first truly interesting take on the character behind the mask (okay, live action take, considering the Batman: Mask of the Phantasm still trumps it in heartfelt emotion). This film has the best looking Gotham City I have ever seen (the first time the train is shown, a tear nearly came to my eye). The filmmakers went full steam ahead in bringing a realistic portrayal to a superhero without any powers. Casting was nearly perfect save for one (you know who I'm talking about), and the characters were fully fleshed out (I couldn't have written Alfred or Gordon any better myself). They keep the razzle-dazzle CGI to a minimum and keep the film flowing smoothly. Also, is it just me, or does Liam Neeson look like a born asskicker? If Ducard and Qui-Gon Jinn were forced to battle, Ducard would have brought Qui-Gon to his knees, crying. Kneel before Ducard!


4. Good Night, and Good Luck



The use of silence in this film is absolutely haunting. Also, considering my hateful stance against censorship by political means, I found this to be the scariest film of the year. It's frightening to think of what happened during McCarthy's days and what had begun to happen now. People can be blinded by their fears of "The Others" whether that be homosexuals, communists, or Muslims. It is the job (no, the DUTY) of the media to report on the wrongs committed by their own government. As stated in the film, television can be used as a powerful tool to educate, but if it isn't, it's just a box, lights, and wires. A very moving drama.


3. The 40 Year-Old Virgin



Following Steve Carell’s work beginning from “The Daily Show” has been a blast. Through his great roles in Anchorman and the US version of “The Office” on NBC (which has gotten a lot better and has done a great job straying from the UK version), he has shown great comedic chops as an actor. This film proved to be no different. However, the best part of the film wasn’t Carell. It wasn’t the director. It wasn’t any of the actors. It was the script. Here was a script that was actually funny and worked to present realistic characters to care about. This is something that almost all recent comedies have avoided. However, Virgin delivers in spades. While it begins to get a little too crazy towards the end of the film, most of it stays grounded in real life settings and situations. “Steve Austin, you can stay.”


2. Jarhead



Definitely not a film for everybody. Bitingly funny, yet poignant. A war film without battle scenes. Men crying. Soldiers dealing with issues of abandonment from significant others. The loss of love. There’s some very heavy stuff here. It even takes shots at other Hollywood films, most notably Apocalypse Now which apparently has an anti-war message, yet is shown to the marines before they are sent into battle in order to pump them up (while shutting the film off before the anti-war message is presented). Mendes throws in some strong visuals (the charred bodies of the Iraqi refugees and the flaming oil fields) but leaves the storytelling to the actors. They deliver, especially Jamie Foxx. It’s amazing to see how far this actor has come. He is gifted when given the proper material. The film starts to stumble at the end, but the journey makes up for it.


1. King Kong



Okay, I’m cheating. But how awesome does this film look? The four-minute preview that was shown on NBC a couple of days ago sealed the deal. This is a realistic take on the classic story. Kong is an animal, but not a beast. This looks to be Jackson’s best work yet. I only wish that the Academy would be able to recognize Andy Serkis’s amazing physical talent and give the man a Best Supporting Actor nomination already! He deserved it in The Two Towers! Serkis owns Kong as a real, flesh and blood animal with true love under the gruff exterior. Amazing work.

[WorkShed]

With the best must come the worst!


5. Fantastic Four



Here’s a superhero story that, like Hulk before it, is actually very boring. The script does a little too much tinkering with the origin story to try and make is a science versus big business metaphor that doesn’t work. Doom (his Doctor was taken away because he’s an executive now, SCARY!) is boring and his cache of weapons is ridiculous. Seeing him try to wield a rocket launcher by himself was plain laughable. The relationship between Reed and Sue was forced. The effects work was done much better in The Incredibles (an all-together better film with a similar premise). The only saving grace in the film is the banter between Johnny and Ben. Seeing The Thing get belted by a fireball from the Human Torch brings a smile to my face. However, the fun of the story is taken out and replaced with a hammy drama (Ben’s wife) that never works.


4. The Ring 2



I wanted to like this film, I truly did! I was a big fan of the tone and the mystery of the original film. I thought that by having the Japanese director of the Ringu series would be a good idea. I was wrong. The Ring pulls A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 move and creates a standard possession story that is not very convincing, but very laughable. Sure, it was intense when a mother tries to drown her child in order to save him, but it’s not enough. The characters are hollow. The mystery of Samara becomes more confusing and less interesting. Then there’s the deer scene…


3. The Amityville Horror



Family moves into spooky house. Spooky stuff happens. Samara from The Ring shows up. More spooky stuff happens. Ryan Reynolds is out of character when he’s shirtless for the ladies. A red balloon shows up and reminds me I hate clowns at the circus. Apparently there’s a torture chamber on the grounds, but wasn’t shown in the building’s abstract. I waited for the walls to bleed, but it never happened. The story also moved far too quickly to get a grasp of the situation or feel any true dread. Finally, the ending copped out far too many times (the axe “murder”). The film posed interesting questions (a step-father’s alienation with his step-children) yet never follows through.


2. War of the Worlds



Another film that I wanted to like but was horribly let down. It starts off wonderfully with a great alien attack, but things go downhill quickly. Since when do the scenes involving human panic without aliens (the van scene) beat out the attacks with the aliens (the whole basement section of the film)? Spielberg vomits 9-11 imagery with fallen planes and missing person posters on the screen and expects it to be subtle. Major deaths are proved unimportant by the end (it’s okay, the rich people survived!). Tom Cruise gets sucked up what looks like an alien rectum (okay, that’s a good part). Dakota Fanning has NOTHING to do but scream and cry. So much potential wasted.


1. Wedding Crashers



Here’s a film that has the worst pacing of any comedy I’ve ever seen and places it with horrible stereotypes (the gay son). Vaughn and Wilson look genuinely tired with the genre, yet continue their spree for the money train instead of look for better story fare. Walken is underused (he is a comic genius, just watch him on SNL). The film is nothing but standard cliché following cliché (how big of a cliché was the love triangle with Wilson?). I truly wanted my money back so that I could see 40 Year-Old Virgin again.

[Jean-Pierre Bazinet]

With the best must come the worst!

1. Wedding Crashers

You're insane!
This goes on my Top 5 best of the year. One of the funniest films I've seen in a LONG time.

[WorkShed]

C’mon. It's Arnold. You know you love ‘em.

5. Last Action Hero



How great would it be to visit some of your favorite films. This film not only explores that possibility, but also uses it to throw some quick jabs at the studio-produced products, as well. Smarter than most give it credit for, most of the humor is threaded through Arnold. I have to give the guy some credit. Not only is he willing to dress up in a ridiculous costume to play Hamlet, but he looks awesome doing it. “To be or not to be? Not to be.” Great. Also, it’s great to see a celebrity poke fun at himself. His scenes as himself, playing against his real-life wife, Maria Shriver, stand out above most of the actions scenes, yet those are great too. Last Action Hero had some great action and some fun laughs. Plus, it contains a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it double cameo with Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick dressed up from Basic Instinct and Terminator 2, respectively, IN THE SAME SHOT!


4. Kindergarten Cop



Awww, Arnold with the kids. But wait, it’s also Arnold with a SHOTGUN calling himself “The Party Pooper.” How could this movie get any better? Wait, you mean there’s a face-biting ferret in it, too?! This film has it all. Little kids and a love story for the women; gunfights for the men. This was one of my favorite films as a child and still stands up today. It also surprisingly contains kid actors that can actually perform. There’s some great scenes between Arnold and the kids. They’re believable and they’re still great today. The greatest scene of the entire film is Arnold’s first day as the teacher of the class. “It’s not a tumor!”


3. True Lies



Jamie Lee Curtis’s best role since Halloween and also one of the most underrated James Cameron films ever! It’s got Arnold fighting terrorists aboard a crazy fighter plane, shooting between buildings. It’s great and also holds some great laughs through his interactions with his family, a wife and daughter who both think he’s boring. Arnold also does some worthwhile acting, as well. This was also a fairly original storyline, until Mr. and Mrs. Smith came along and stole almost all its good parts. Tom Arnold stars as well and isn’t that annoying. Toasts all around!


2. Predator



This film is the tits. You don’t just watch it, it becomes you. The sound design still can’t be beat. It starts out as a hardcore war/terrorist film with all kinds of action, then turns on a dime into a sci-fi survivor flick. It also contains a beast so amazing that it even causes Arnold to run! He’s tiny up against this thing. This is the REAL Predator before he wusses out in AVP. Everything about this film still holds up today from story to visual effects. It’s all good, here, and he ain’t got time to bleed. “Get to the choppah!”


1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day



Okay, I’ll admit it. The first time I saw it, I shed a tear at the end. Seeing a machine, who was the personification of evil in the first film, create a believable relationship with a teenage boy is amazing. It’s almost like Old Yeller, except this time Old Yeller wields a mini-gun and fights a liquid metal android instead of a rabies-infected wolf. Almost like the same thing. Plus it has some great philosophical thoughts on changing the future and contains some great action moments that trumps those in films made over ten years later. Tons better than the third film in the series and still leaves with a hopeful ending.

[Lestat]

I'm agreeing w/ JPB on this. Wedding Crashers was Hysterical.
Other than that, Great column Workshed. Hope we see more.

[editman]

Gee, one month to go and already best and worst of 2005?

And you really should wait till you've seen a film to decide whether it's the best of the year. Otherwise it only counts as the best hype of 2005.

(That's it. I'm putting my 'Oh my god it sucks' sig back up again till all the King Kong hype is over. )

[WorkShed]

I feel fairly safe in making my predictions. Other than Kong, there's nothing really coming out in December. Save for Munich, but I don't think it'll be that great. If it is and I see it, then there will be a re-listing.

[Shrubz]

I really hope Jack Black's character in King Kong is a bit tongue in cheek... otherwise, as far as I've seen in the previews, I won't be able to take his character seriously at all.

[Petri]

I feel fairly safe in making my predictions. Other than Kong, there's nothing really coming out in December. Save for Munich, but I don't think it'll be that great. If it is and I see it, then there will be a re-listing.

Narnia will be awesome too, I think.

[Granite]

December Movies (US release)-

Dec 2 - Aeon Flux
Dec 9th - Narnia
Dec 14th - King Kong
Dec 16th - The Producers
Dec 21st - Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (go golden raspberrys!) and Fun with Dick and Jane
Dec 23rd - Munich and Memoirs of a Geisha --> Probably the two most oscar worthy films of the month
Dec 25th - The New World

Many more smaller movies too

[WorkShed]

To go off of Granite's list of December Movies (US release)-

Dec 2 - Aeon Flux (No way)
Dec 9th - Narnia (looks far too polished to be that good. Good films have a dirty look to them. It needs the details. Look at Lord of the Rings. That looks like a real world. It doesn't help that the CG looks atrocious.)
Dec 14th - King Kong
Dec 16th - The Producers (I'll probably catch it on video, but I am looking forward to seeing it)
Dec 21st - Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (go golden raspberrys!) and Fun with Dick and Jane (I think you already got it)
Dec 23rd - Munich (meh) and Memoirs of a Geisha (Going off my working on the details remark for Narnia, some Chinese were cast as Japanese. It's like hiring an Austrailian to play a US plantation owner during the Revolutionary War period film The Patriot... oh wait...)--> Probably the two most oscar worthy films of the month (we'll see)
Dec 25th - The New World (Again, no way)

[WorkShed]

Did you see one of the clips that they had with Naomi Watts on The Today Show? I think I put it in my latest post for King Kong Trailer thread... Oh, hell... I'll just repost it here...

see 'Naomi Watts on Leno' in this post

There's a great Jack Black scene near the beginning. I think this will be fun. Since I've been seeing clips, my hopes are even higher. That T-Rex battle royale will own all.

[michalz00]

Just a few comments about your lists, Workshed.

It seems that you set your mind about "King Kong", that it will be great. Probably you're right But it's almost 3hr long movie and a lot of things can go wrong... If I were you I would wait with my final decision till December 14th.

I haven't seen "Jarhead" yet (I have to wait till 6th January 2006 ), but I think it will be on my Top 5 Movies of the Year too. Sam Mendes is a brilliant director and I love his movies.

I also wait for new Clooney movie, glad you liked it. He really suprised me with his "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind".

Now, I wouldn't put "War of the Worlds" on my worst list. I think Spielberg did a really good job on this film. As for 9-11 imagery, It won't suppose to be subtle. I liked his choice to show this story as realistic as possible.

I must say that I liked this new version "The Amityville Horror". I jumped in my seat few times I liked it better than "The Ring 2", maybe because of Melissa George I think she was great and I will definitely remember her.

Not much to say about your Arnold list. I agree 100% with top 3 positions. Don't know about "Kindergarten Cop", think I would change it to "Conan the Republican" sorry... "Conan the Barbarian"

[WorkShed]

Okay, yes, I did jump the gun on my prediction without basing it on the actual film. I admit that. I did admit that. However, unless the stars re-align, I doubt that I will be changing my mind. Everything that I have seen and heard points to this film being a winner.

editman, I'm not trying to start another Kong thread. I'm not. I'm conversing about my statements in the Top Five lists. You notice that I've left a majority of Kong comments in the Kong trailer thread, not here. If people start asking about other top five lists, I'll give them just as much attention.

Wedding Crashers sucks.

See?

I'm not being aggressive. I'm not lording my views over everyone else, but they are still my views. I'm not going to modify the top 2005 list because I haven't seen Kong yet. Yes, some of it is built on hype, but I haven't really been paying attention to interviews but on the film clips themselves. I'm trying to base it on the film (from how much I am able to view at a time), and not on what Naomi Watts tells me the film is. I think that adds a level of legitimacy that some are not providing me (not that that's a bad thing, it's good to question sources).

If I was so easily swooned by hype, I would have been like, "go see Aeon Flux because it's the new movie coming out and there's razor grass and Charlize Theron tells me to go see it so I will!" But I didn't. I based my thoughts on the scene presented on NBC earlier this week, not on interviews.

But editman wants me to move on, so I won't discuss Kong in this thread until after I've seen the film.

Moving on...