2005 Top Tens

When I first started doing top ten lists, I found that, inevitably, 7 or 8 titles out of each top ten were foreign language or American independent films that had only played in the art houses, and over half the people who read my lists had never heard of any of them. So for the purpose of getting some more "popular" titles that people are familiar with (and to acknowledge that the two worlds really ARE different and probably shouldn't be competing against each other), I began doing separate top ten lists for the commercial and art house theatres. So I now present my personal choices (FAVORITES, mind you, not the absolute unquestionable BEST) for the top ten movies in those two categories that played in the Twin Cities area in 2005...

COMMERCIAL THEATRES
10. Kung Fu Hustle (Grandview)
9. King Kong (Block E)
8. Walk The Line (Har Mar)
7. Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (Highland)
6. Munich (Block E)
5. North Country (Highland)
4. Syriana (Har Mar)
3. Hotel Rwanda (Har Mar)
2. The Constant Gardener (Highland)
1. Crash (Grandview)



ART HOUSES
10. Downfall (Uptown)..........Germany
9. Howl's Moving Castle (Uptown)..........Japan
8. Enron: THe Smartest Guys In The Room (Uptown)..........U.S.
7. March Of The Penguins (Uptown)..........France/U.S.
6. 2046 (Uptown)..........Hong Kong
5. Brokeback Mountain (Uptown).......... U.S.
4. Zaman, Man From The Reeds (Mpls./St. Paul International Film Festival)..........Iraq
3. Yes (Lagoon)..........U.K. (England)
2. Good Night, And Good Luck (Uptown)..........U.S.
1. The Welts (Mpls./St. Paul International Film Festival)..........Poland

You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here

...considering the fact that I haven't been here in about three months. That is, you WOULD probably be wondering that if anyone was actually reading this thing, which i seriously doubt. But let's pretend that someone is. Without getting into long, boring details nobody cares about, let me just say that the past three months have been three of the craziest in my life, leaving me with very little time to do these reviews... since I have no home computer, and when I get to the library I've had to devote all my computer time to other things (you only get one hour per day in Minneapolis). However, I do still hope to pick this thing up again very soon... if anyone cares... and if I can grab some time later today I hope to post my year-end top tens (one for commercial theatres, one for art houses). So if anyone cares, I am still here and I am still planning to come back... and the top tens will be here soon. And for those who don't care... well, I can't say that I blame you.