Well, our first posting has been going very well. Again, remember that this is a joint effort with my friend Greg's blog over at Child of Sod . If you have missed either part, just click on that link and catch up.
Now for my response to Greg's Best in Movies 05.
1 - Batman Begins - I think we have established that this was the best film. Of course, come awards season, it will be noticeably quiet in favor of a bunch of overly self-important films that no one actually watched except some critics. In reponse to your politely veiled crack at comic books, I would like to say that I also enjoy reading and getting the mental picture from the words on the page. But I like comic books because it is almost like reading a small movie. And they are more exciting than about 85% of the junk out there.
2 - Hitch - I also liked this film. The scenes with Kevin James were great. The DVD extras where they show the entire thought process behind those killer dance scenes are even better. I don't know if this was top 3 level. But it sure was good. And it showed that Will Smith could film a movie about competitive phone book readers and it would open to $50 million.
3 - Walk the Line - I haven't seen it. But I loved the movie poster.
And in defense of my picks...
Narnia -- I didn't say it was one of the best movies of the year - I said it was one of the best things that happened in the realm of movies in 2005. Seeing yet another mainstream Christian film was awesome. And the scene where Aslan charges into the Queen's castle to set the captives free gave me goose bumps - just to see that powerful phrase and concept brought to life. Also, out of the seven movies I did see, it probably did rank in the top three. What was going to knock it out?
Movie Slump -- Yes, this has been going on for years, but this year you couldn't read a story about the movies without hearing about it. Every big film was hailed as the one that would kill the slump -- until it flopped. It was an indication of several things. First, the over-inflated ticket prices that have created a glut of $100 million films. That used to be a benchmark. Now, it is $200 million. Second, it highlighted that people won't stand for crappy movies. Even the two R films in the top 17 (Wedding Crashers and 40 Year Old Virgin) were hailed for their well-written scripts and well-executed performances. [That was NOT an endorsement of those films.] Third, the desire for quality and decent movies. I really hope that movie studios will start to pay attention and push to make movies that are worth spending $8.50 on. Of course, with the stupid fascination with turning video games into movies still alive, I doubt that.
Well, that should wrap up movies - unless Greg wants to respond back. Next up, we will do the Worst in Movies 2005. See you all soon. Don't forget to check out the other half of this discussion over at Greg's site.
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