We love WFMU Volunteer Bill W. and his annual film picks. He's more spot-on than Roger Ebert in many ways, and no one has ever put a public hex on his colon as far as we know.
TEN BEST
(roughly in order of preference):
Munich (US, Steven Spielberg)
2046 (China-France-Germany-Hong Kong, Wong Kar Wai)
The White Diamond (nonfiction, Germany, Werner Herzog)
Saraband (Sweden-Italy-Germany-Finland-Denmark-Austria, Ingmar Bergman)
Kung Fu Hustle (China-Hong Kong, Stephen Chow)
L'Esquive (Games of Love and Chance) (France, Abdel Kechiche)
Private (Italy, Saverio Costanzo)
The New World (US, Terrence Malick)
Breakfast on Pluto (Ireland-UK, Neil Jordan)
Schultze Gets the Blues (Germany, Michael Schorr)
SECOND TEN
Chain (US-Germany, Jem Cohen)
Grizzly Man (nonfiction, US, Werner Herzog)
The Ice Harvest (US, Harold Ramis)
Me and You and Everyone We Know (US-UK, Miranda July)
Rize (nonfiction, US-UK, David LaChapelle)
Tony Takitani (Japan, Jun Ichikawa)
Land of the Dead (US-Canada-France, George A. Romero)
Mysterious Skin (US-Netherlands, Gregg Araki)
Cinévardaphoto (nonfiction, France, Agnès Varda)
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (UK-US, Tim Burton, Mike Johnson)
RUNNERS-UP
Tropical Malady (Thailand-France-Germany-Italy, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
A State of Mind (nonfiction, North Korea-UK, Daniel Gordon)
Head-On (Germany-Turkey, Fatih Akin)
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (UK, Steve Box, Nick Park)
Machuca (Chile-Spain-UK-France, Andrés Wood)
War of the Worlds (US, Steven Spielberg)
Save the Green Planet! (South Korea, Jeong Jun-hwan)
BEST LEAD ACTORS
Mathieu Amalric, Kings and Queen
Kate Dollenmayer, Funny Ha Ha
Dina Korzun, Forty Shades of Blue
Tony Leung Chiu Wai, 2046
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mysterious Skin
Cillian Murphy, Breakfast on Pluto
Liv Ullmann, Saraband
BEST SUPPORTING ACTORS
Jeff Daniels, The Squid and the Whale
Robert Joy, Land of the Dead
Mathieu Kassovitz, Munich
Natacha Koutchoumov, Garçon Stupide
Michael Lonsdale, Munich
Oliver Platt, The Ice Harvest
Yuen Qiu, Kung Fu Hustle
Billy Bob Thornton, The Ice Harvest
Ziyi Zhang, 2046
BEST NON-ACTORS
Mark Anthony Yhap, The White Diamond
Timothy Treadwell's girlfriends, Grizzly Man (Wait, maybe they WERE acting...)
THE B LIST
Junebug, The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Kings and Queen, Good Night and Good Luck, Turtles Can Fly, Forty Shades of Blue, Caché, Paradise Now, The Squid and the Whale, Henri Langlois: Phantom of the Cinematheque, Hitler's Hit Parade, The Nomi Song, Memories of Murder, Garçon Stupide, The
Aristocrats
BEST INTERNATIONAL TV RELEASED IN U.S. THEATERS
The Century of the Self (nonfiction, UK, Adam Curtis)
The Best of Youth (Italy, Marco Tullio Giordana)
The Power of Nightmares (nonfiction, UK, Adam Curtis)
"SAVE THE PIECES"
On the Outs, Funny Ha Ha, Wheel of Time, William Eggleston in the Real World, L'Intrus, Match Point, Travellers and Magicians, Brokeback Mountain, Nobody Knows
BEST UNDISTRIBUTED FILMS
The Joy of Life (US, Jenni Olson)
Los Muertos (Argentina-Fr-Neth-Switz, Lisandro Alonso)
the "A Time for Freedom" middle section of Three Times (Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-hsien)
Gabrielle (Germany-France-Italy, Patrice Chéreau)
Midwinter Night's Dream (Yugoslavia, Goran Paskaljevic)
Clean (Canada-France-UK, Olivier Assayas)
Aaltra (France-Belgium, Benoît Delépine, Gustave de Kervern)
Through the Forest (France, Jean-Paul Civeyrac)
We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen (nonfiction, US, Tim Irwin)
MOST LIKELY TO BE PROMOTED OR DEMOTED ON SECOND VIEWING
L'Intrus (France, Claire Denis)
MOST EFFICIENT, HOLLOW PRANK BY A SADIST
Caché
MOST CONSERVATIVE "REVOLUTIONARY" ROMANCE
Brokeback Mountain
MERDE!
Crash (Nothing else even close, not even Batman Begins, Ma Mere or Happy Endings)
BEST REVIVALS
(seen by me for the first time and in a theater)
Winter Soldier (Winterfilm collective)
The Fire Within (Malle)
Vengeance Is Mine (Imamura)
Wagon Master (Ford)
Spring in a Small Town (Mu Fei)
The Asthenic Syndrome (Muratova)
How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (Nelson Pereira dos Santos)
Come Back, Africa (Rogosin)
The Furies (Mann)
Samurai Rebellion (Kobayashi)
The Small Back Room (Powell & Pressburger)
Donkey Skin (Demy)
The Two of Us (Berri)
Sound of the Mountain; Floating Clouds (Naruse)
Wanda (Barbara Loden)
The White Reindeer (Blomberg)
Strictly Dishonorable (Stahl)
The Gunfighter (Henry King)
Classe Tous Risques (Sautet)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHERS
Christopher Doyle, Kwan Pun Leung, Yiu-Fai Lai, 2046
Agnès Godard, L'Intrus
Janusz Kaminski, Munich, War of the Worlds
Emmanuel Lubezki, The New World
MOST IN NEED OF COUPLES THERAPY
Sibel Kekilli, Birol Ünel, Head-On MOST IN NEED OF SUBTITLES the cast of Breakfast on Pluto
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
THE "TARNATION" NARCI-CINEMA GOLDEN MIRROR: Andrew Wagner, The Talent Given Us
BEST LAUGHS
cathartic: Kung Fu Hustle, The Aristocrats
mordant: Breakfast on Pluto, The Ice Harvest
incredulous: Crash
BEST FIGHTS
Kung Fu Hustle, Oldboy, Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior
BEST SLAP
Laura Linney to Jesse Eisenberg, The Squid and the Whale
BEST POP-RECORD SOUNDTRACK
Breakfast on Pluto
MOST INSANE SCREENPLAY (that isn't "Crash")
Jeong Jun-Hwan, Save the Green Planet!
BEST FILM BLOGS
http://daily.greencine.com
http://mattzollerseitz.blogspot.com
http://slantmagazine.com/film/film_current.asp
SHOULD GET ALL OF MORGAN FREEMAN'S VOICEOVER WORK
Werner Herzog
"Munich" was a god awful propaganda piece meant to show Israeli hitmen as avenging angels while they kill unguarded diplomats.
The "eye of eye" cycle of violence that has sucked United States in has no realistic way to be resolved except for negotiation, acceptance of peoples rights and STOPPING OF VIOLENCE.
Posted by: yragentman | March 06, 2006 at 01:11 PM
I differ with you on the themes of "Munich" ... as would those who attacked Spielberg and Kushner for allegedly pushing an anti-Israeli agenda in the film.
Update: Add Celia Weston and Amy Adams to the list of supporting performers for "Junebug."
Posted by: Bill W | March 06, 2006 at 01:41 PM
Agreed. The world does not need to hate Arabs more.
Posted by: zac | March 06, 2006 at 01:45 PM
Some of these movies were interesting, but I have a hard time accepting them as top10 material. White Diamond is not even top10 Herzog. I read the book of Breakfast on Pluto when it came out, and you I'll be dead in my grave before I see a movie based on that sludge.
Posted by: vanjulio | March 06, 2006 at 01:57 PM
Wait, who's gonna be dead in your grave, you or me?
Posted by: Bill W | March 07, 2006 at 04:31 PM
I also think it's very possible for TWD to be less than "top 10 Herzog" and also be the #3 film of last year.
Posted by: Bill W | March 07, 2006 at 04:33 PM
Mathieu Amalric
best actor of the year, hands down! fantastic!
Posted by: Elisabeth | March 13, 2006 at 12:09 PM
Amalric (for Kings and Queen, that is)
I didn't see Munich
Posted by: Elisabeth | March 13, 2006 at 12:13 PM