As many of you know, we here at Scribblista are a bit slutty when it comes to movies. We'll see just about anything, but we give our hearts to very few of the many, many movies that we see.
As the critics compile their lists, we've come up with our 20 Top Films of 2005, complete with a Haiku Review®. Here they are, in reverse order:
20. Pride and Prejudice
What We Liked: Devoted as we are to the A&E/BBC's Pride & Prejudice,
this big-screen revisit was completely winning in its own right. We got lost in the look
and feel of this version, even without Colin Firth.
What We Didn't: Despite the critics' adoration of Keira Knightley, we personally think she's a bit of a lightweight.
Haiku Tribute:
Austen's classic again
Empire-waist ballgowns charm us
We love period chick-flicks
19. History of Violence
What We Liked: Director
David Croenenberg; Ed Harris and his scarred-up face; Viggo - now that
he's escaped from Hobbitville; the focus on the complex relationship
between violence and entertainment; the pervasive dark humor.
What We Didn't: No much, actually.
Haiku Tribute:
We hate to admit it
Closing our eyes to bloodshed
But it thrills us too
18. The Aristocrats
What We Liked: The
behind-the-scenes peek into the world of stand-up; seeing how comedians
work on their craft; the concept of re-telling the same joke with
infinite variations; Sarah Silverman's inversion of the joke - which
ended up making it funnier, darker, twisted and a bit profound.
What We Didn't: Coulda used
more creative juice. A lot of comedians relied on raunch, vomit, pooh and
incest with granny to raise the comedic stakes. In our humble opinion, that's too easy and failed to either shock or make us laugh. The comics who, umm, bent the joke were much funnier
than the comics who broke it.
Haiku Tribute:
Repeat the same joke
Each version shows comedic flair
Humor is an art
17. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
What We Liked: Steve Carrell and Catherine Keener; the fact that it was much funnier and better than the Wedding Crashers; that neither of the Wilson brothers are in it.
What We Didn't: We got sucked up in the movie's generous spirit, and didn't notice.
Haiku Tribute:
He remained so chaste
Until his buddies pushed him
Into the good life
16. Jarhead
What We Liked: How they shot the desert sequences; Jake Gyllenhaal (and his X-Mas
dance); Peter Sarsgaard; the way it undermined war movie clichés.
What We Didn't: It was
ultimately kinda dull. Yes, we know that was the point, but there has
to be a way of illustrating wasted time and effort without inflicting
the same on the audience.
Haiku Tribute:
The Gulf War was fought
On the news and in the air
Foot soliders are passé
[Ed. Note: Agree? Disagree? Feel free to sound off with or without your own Haiku Review in the Comments section.]
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