wendersfan

Since I so rarely see "new" movies, I did this last year in lieu of a "best of" list, and I thought I'd continue the tradition. Below is a list of my ten most enjoyable filmwatching experiences of the past year, regardless of format. The only condition is that they had to all be films I'd never previously seen.

1. Les Enfants du Paradis (Marcel Carne, 1945)
   
   Yet another classic I'd never seen... Weirdo that I am, I have a tendency to put off seeing highly-regarded films such as this, just so I have something to look forward too in coming years. I was not disappointed. This is, I suppose, the French Gone With the Wind, in the sense that it's huge, grand, epic, and magnificent. There's tremendous subtlety and pathos as well.



2. Masculin, féminin: 15 faits précis (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966)
   
   I say this with some reserve, but this is possibly the quintessential 60s film. Godard makes a big statement here, about youth culture, consumerism, and the naivete of radical politics, but he makes it entertaining as well.



3. Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)
   
   Take a trite plot, make a musical of it overlay a beautiful set and possibly the best score Michel Legrand ever composed, and top it off with Catherine Deneuve.



4. Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970)
   
   Nicholson's best ever performance, and probably the best attempt by an American to capture the style of Ingmar Bergman. This film captures America, c. 1970 better than any other I've seen.



5. Rois et Reine (Arnaud Desplechin, 2004)
   
   Desplechin's masterpiece. It''l rip your guts out. I've given up trying to explain how or why this film is so great, so instead I just tell everyone to see it. Now.



6. Histoire(s) du Cinema (Jean-Luc Godard, 1989-1998)
   
   Forget what I wrote above. THIS is Godard's big statement, about damn near everything - art, literature, war, fascism, sex, and yes, even film.



7. Keane (Lodge Kerrigan, 2004)
   
   Maybe the best film by an American director made so far this decade. It's a shame it never gets screened anywhere.



8. Serenity (Joss Whedon, 2005)
   I'm an obsessive Whedon-phile, so this was a no-brainer. I actually saw it twice on the same day. As das put it, proof that entertainment doesn't have to be stupid. (I think that's what he said).



9. La Maison des bois (Maurice Pialat, 1971)
   
   A miniseries made for French TV, I caught it over two consecutive at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Yet more evidence that, in the hands of a great filmmaker, the miniseries format can be the most rewarding for the viewer.



10. Star Wars Episode 3: The Revenge of the Sith (George Lucas, 2005)
    
    Don't get me wrong - the movie sucked ass, but I was at least content in the knowledge I'd never have to sit through another shitty Star Wars movie for the rest of my life...

The Ferret

I remember your list from last year and was glad to see you did it again. You just put Les Enfants du Paradis at the top of my list of movies to see. I hope this isn't considered hijacking but... here's mine, without the nice descriptions:

1. From Russia With Love
2. The Bicycle Thief
3. Rio Bravo
4. Lost in Translation
5. Red Beard
6. Almost Famous
7. Die Hard 2
8. Sin City
9. 8 1/2
10. Million Dollar Baby

These movies either introduced me to something/someone new, became an instant favourite and/or was just a great experience.

PopcornTreeCt

In no particular order...

1. Jules et Jim -I abolutely love Francois Truffaut and this movie lived up to everything I had expected from this movie.

2. Oldboy - Amazing film. I'm usually pretty good at predicting where a film is going but this movie blew me away.

3. Sin City - Incredible experience. I was laughing, I was cheering it was awesome.

4. Cinderella Man - Probably the best "feel good" movie ever.

5. Before Sunrise/Before Sunset - I'm lumping these together because I saw both in the same week. Amazingly simple beautiful films.

6. La Notti Bianche - Beautiful film that had me almost at tears at the end.

7. Nights of Cabriria - My favorite Fellini from what I've seen. Incredibly powerful movie I was so depressed afterwards I wanted to kill myself, well not that depressed but you get it.

8. Lord of War - I went in with issues already about this film but decided to give it a chance. This movie knew exactly what it was trying to say and said it well.

9. Batman (1989) - Finally saw this movie in it's full DVD glory and it ranks as one of my all time favorite films. I love it.

10. Shadows - I don't really know what I was expecting from John Cassavetes but this movie just blew me away.

fiver

Interesting thread topic...let me see if I can contribute...

1) King Kong (2005) - While overly long and not without its share of average to bad acting, quite a few bad cgi shots...the CGI Kong himself made me feel like few other of our 'modern' computer generated films have (save perhaps LOTR and Pixar)...a sense of wonder and awe at a Hollywood production.

2) Serenity (2005) - Few action or scifi films excite me anymore...as a fan of Firefly from day one, I knew I'd have to see this on the first day...I was truly on the edge of my seat for this one...I could not have been happier.

3) To Be Or Not To Be (1942) - This was my first experience with Lubtisch although I'd heard plenty of praise on this board for this particular film...gave it a try with the Warner Comedy box and was quite surprised how much I laughed at every joke in this film when the synopsis didn't really do anything for me. Probably my second favorite in this box after Bringing Up Baby (one of my favorite films of all time)

4) 2046 (2004) - As has been criticized before, it isn't as great as 'In the Mood for love', but its really not a fair comparison since this film seems to be trying to be something entirely different...full of spectacular visuals which I wish I'd seen on a big screen...and of course Ziyi Zhang (love her in anything)...a highly enjoyable movie for me.

5) Hero (2002) - Gosh another movie with Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, and Ziyi Zhang...I'm not an expert on Asian cinema but I'll give just about anything these three are in a try...beautiful use of colors in this film...absolutely mesmerizing to me although I'm not sure how accurate the depiction of the time period was it was still beautiful to watch the story unfold.

6) Downfall (2004) - This is one period of WW II that I have always been curious about; Hitler's last days in his bunker before the end of the war...I didn't feel that this was an actor performing in a spectacle the acting of Bruno Ganz was so enthralling...put this on my Christmas list immediately after seeing it.

7) Solaris (2002) - I admit I have not yet seen Tarkovsky's version although it's in my netflix queue...I've loved Soderbergh's "The Limey" and "Out of Sight" very much but I approached this film with trepidation since I'd heard such tepid reviews when it came out...I found this film beautiful in visuals, acting, and music...while the film took its time, I actually wished it had gone on longer not from any lack in story telling but just because I was so enthralled with this movie

8) Ocean's Twelve (2004) - I know you'll say this is a strange choice; however, I always found the remake of Ocean's Eleven too slick for its own good, fairly uneven in its humor, and bland altogether...however, both my wife and I thought the sequel was much funnier and more entertaining than we were led to believe...I'd probably watch this one much more often than the first film.

9) Bambi (1942) - I'm not a big Disney fan although I like a couple of their animation titles (Lilo and Stitch, Fantasia, and the lion king) but had never seen bambi except for a couple scenes until its dvd release. Its an amazing experience to go back to Disney's youth and see a filmmaker who genuinely wanted to entertain before the corporation bearing his name became too big for its own good.

10) Man On Fire (2004) - Never thought I'd like a denzel washington pic as I usually find him rather bland as an actor...loved dakota fanning in this movie, just thought the acting and story was top notch.

I know my list is populated by more recent overall; but that's just because I spent a lot of time watching TV on DVD or rewatching classics that I've already seen before...so that pretty much leaves catching up on newer or international faire not that that's a bad thing either. I've found Hollywood churning out mostly movies that do not interest me the last few years so I'd love to find suggestions for foreign or indie films.

Michael

Neitzl

In no particular order:

1. Undertow
2. Secrets and Lies
3. Vera Drake
4. Oldboy
5. King Kong (both versions)
6. Magnolia ( I watch this at least once a year)
7. Saddest Music in the World
8. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (showed for a film club...was great rewatching)
9. M
10. Bad Education (this one blew my mind)

NatrlBornThrllr

Alright, I'll give this a go. For starters, I got all of these DVDs signed during the year 2005. Each and every signature marks an experience that I'll cherish for the rest of my life.

10. Classic Cinema (N/A): I used this year to catch up on all of the classics that I'd either never seen, or that I hadn't seen since I was a very young child. Among them; Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The Godfather, The Deer Hunter, and The Sting, plus various Bergman, Kurosawa, and Hitchcock titles. It was a great year for catching up on classics, and overwhelming my favorites list.

9. Reconstruction (2003): I bought this film blind early in the summer. I was motivated to do so by the preview on the "Dolls" DVD...and it's a good thing I did. I've since seen the movie a half a dozen times, and it's rocketed to the top of my favorite films list. I'm not sure if it's the movie, if it's me, or if it's a combination of the two, but this movie works for me on so many levels that I can't even begin to convey how thrilled I am to have found it.

8. Lady Terminator (1988): An absolutely horrible late 1980's B-movie out of Indonesia...and one of the ten best movie-watching experiances of the year. The movie was screened in something known as "Foleyvision." It's an Alamo Drafthouse treat, in which the film is projected without sound. The sound effects, voices, and music are then done live, as the film goes on. A good bit of practice goes into each screening, so there are very few slip-ups. The icing? On this particular occassion, the sound effects were done by none other than Michael Winslow (of Police Academy fame). Awesome.

7. The Amityville Horror (2005): The film itself was mediocre, though I don't think it was as bad as most made it out ot be. However, the title of the thread is ten best movie-watching experiences...not ten best movies. This experience was virtually unparalleled. Ryan Reynolds was in town for a Q&A, and it was this screening that made me decide to start a signed DVD collection (with Van Wilder as my first title). On top of that, we weren't just handed tickets at the door. We had to go into a room (built to look like the Amityville house) that had been filled with 25,000 flies. Only then, by a man inside, would we be given our ticket. Creepy, kinda nasty, and totally cool.

6. Hustle & Flow (2005): I have to admit, I didn't expect much out of this movie. However, an advanced screening was going down, and John Singleton was set to be there. I wanted to get my Boyz N the Hood DVD signed, so I decided to grab a ticket. Needless to say, I was blown away by Terrence Howard's performance and the film in general. The movie was preceeded by live rap battles, and following the screening was a brief Singleton Q&A. A fun night out at the movies.

5. The Last Picture Show (1971): I had never seen this film when director Peter Bogdonavich came to Austin with a beautiful print. Needless to say, the movie was absolutely amazing. The experience was topped off by a Q&A with Peter Bogdonavich that I hoped would never end. The man is a fountain of film knowledge, and hearing him reminisce about times spent with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, James Stewart, and Orson Welles was simply astounding.

4. Fantastic Fest (2005-2006): The event started a couple weeks early with an advanced screening of Serenity, held outdoors under the night sky in the middle of the shockingly authentic set built for Disney's 2004 film "The Alamo." Summer Glau and Jewel Staite were around for a Q&A after the screening. A week later came an advanced screening of Domino, with Richard Kelly in attendance for a Q&A. Just having the opportunity to meet the writer and director of one of my favorite films was awesome. Then the actual festival started a few days later. If you want to check out the line-up, you can do so here. The biggest special guest of the event: Jon Favreau.

3. The Austin Film Festival (2005-2006): I didn't make it out for every screening I could, but I got a chance to meet a lot of people, get a lot of DVDs signed, and see advanced screenings of a lot of fantastic movies. Those I saw, with Q&A guests in parenthesis: Shopgirl (Anand Tucker, Claire Danes, Jason Schwartzman), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black), The Ice Harvest (Harold Ramis), Bloodrayne (Uwe Boll), Prime (Ben Younger), Transamerica (Duncan Tucker), Manderlay, The Squid and the Whale (Jeff Daniels). At the various panels, I got a chance to meet and chat with Terry George, James Franco, and one of my idols, Mike Judge. For a complete listing of what screened, you can check out this site.

2. Butt-Numb-a-Thon 7, and King Kong (N/A): In regard to BNAT-7, you can click here for the rundown. Regarding King Kong in particular; for all of the flaws that people found in it, I thought it was perfect. I've never been so enthralled as I was while sitting there watching that film. The audience was electric with applause, shock, and yes a few tears. I can't explain to you what it was like to be in that crowd, watching that movie. For all the negative things anybody can point out about the film, all I have to say is that I feel terribly sorry for you. I only wish you could have shared the amazing experience I had while watching this movie.

1. QT Fest 6 (N/A): For this event Tarantino comes into town with a handful of movies from his personal collection that he's hand-picked to share with us...and for the most part, they're all amazing little hidden gems (plus, his introductions are always insightful and hilarious). I attended two nights, the first and the last. The first was secret agent night, with screenings of The Spy with my Face, The Venetian Affair, and Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle. Adam Duritz (lead singer for Counting Crows) and Wiley Wiggins were in attendance. The last night of the festival, Grindhouse night, featured screenings of Crack House, The Dirty Outlaws, and Fistful of Talons. Audience members included Robert Rodriguez and Richard Linklater. I can't tell you how cool it is to watch an old western or an obscure kung-fu film with Tarantino, Linklater, and Rodriguez sitting side by side by side one row in front of you. Easily the greatest movie-watching experience of my life, much less of 2005. For the entire QT Fest 6 line-up, check here.

Johnny Boy

I'm so jealous of you NatrlBornThrllr. For me personally, Tarantino and Rodriguez would've been a dream come true. That whole thing sounded really exciting! This is a yearly event, right?

Did you talk to Tarantino or Robert during this event? If so, give a few more details about your personal conversations. How were they on autographs?

And last but not least, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THIS!? Just kidding.

I'm really going to make a conscience effort to go to this next year.

Oh, and to stay on topic, I can't name 10 new best moviewatching experiences for 2005, but I can say that my favorite movie of the year was King Kong. I also thoroughly enjoyed Sin City and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

chente

I've seen 189 movies that were new to me according to the 2005 Rank em as you see them thread. I'll probably be able to squeeze in one more tomorrow morning. Here are the movies that I've ranked as 4 stars out of 4.

City of God - Seen 01/02/05
Wings of Desire - Seen 02/11/05
The Incredibles - Seen 03/18/05
I Am a Fugitive From A Chain Gang - Seen 05/16/05
Kanal - Seen 06/11/05
3 Women - Seen 07/19/05
Naked - Seen 09/29/05
The Face of Another - Seen 10/06/05
Swing Time - Seen 10/13/05
Curse of the Cat People - Seen 10/21/05
Sunrise - Seen 11/2/05
The Body Snatcher - Seen 11/13/05
Le Samurai - Seen 11/25/05
Laura - Seen 12/01/05
Stalker - Seen 12/05/05
Ugetsu - Seen 12/06/05
Pather Panchali - Seen 12/07/05


If I had to pick ten out this list of 17 films they would be

Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders) - The photography was incredible, amongst the best I've ever seen. I also admired the non-conventional soundtrack and how it meshed with the dialogue in places. Dreamy.

I Am a Fugitive From A Chain Gang Pre-code goodness. I love it especially for the end. "I steal" (fade to black)

Kanal (Andrzej Wadja) - for the hallucenatory feel of crawling around hopelessly in the sewers.

3 Women (Robert Altman) - The movie was so different from anything I had ever seen. It was disturbing and mesmerizing at the same time. I particularly like the strange murals in the pool. And Sissy Spacek... she just kills me in everything she is in.

Naked (Mike Leigh) Brutal, intelligent, and actually very hopeful in its pessimestic way. David Thewlis was amazing in this. The bar code rant.

The Face of Another (Hiroshi Teshigahara) Very intelligent movie about the nature of identity. Very surreal in places.

Curse of the Cat People (Val Lewton) I pretty much loved the entire box but this study of the isolation of a lonely child really took me by surprise. It is a beautiful film.

Sunrise (F.W. Murnau) One of the best movies I have ever seen. It is pretty manipulative in leading your emotions around but I was happy to be lead. At times heartbreaking, cutesy, hilarious and especially joyful. This is the movie I show to people who say "I don't like silent films".

Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky) I'm going to need about a week and probably 3 more viewings to digest this tasty morsel of a movie. The soundtrack and audio score are really great. Every splash of water, chirp of bird and grunt by the seekers builds the tension, then the score kicks in bringing everything to a boil. I never thought plodding down a tunnel at 0.001 miles/hour could be so unnerving. The sepia tones of the apartment really bring out the seediness of the interiors. There is so much contrast that the every crack in the wall looks like it is draw with an ink pen. Really strangely wonderful.

Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray) I saw the entire trilogy in one day. The movies were like a good book that you just can't put down. While they were all very good, I felt that the first movie in the series was the best. I was crushed to the point of nearly crying at the homecoming of the father. Ravi Shankar's music is very stirring.

There are a many other films that I saw this year that should be on this list. Looking over my personal rankings at the end of the year I find that I probably made some errors but what the hell, I did it just for fun anyway. Oh and Winter Light (Igmar Bergman) should have made the cut. I keep thinking about that one.

NatrlBornThrllr

Yeah, it was definitely a community event. Between movies, the entire audience would file out into the lobby and chat with one another. For the most part, my conversations with everybody were just small talk. I chatted with Linklater about the upcoming Dazed and Confused Criterion. Talked with Rodriguez about the (then forthcoming) Sin City Extended Edition, as well as Sin City 2 and 3. I chatted with Tarantino about Tarzoon (a ridiculous, borderline pornographic animated take on the Tarzan character, featuring an army of marching penises, more nudity than your average Jenna Jameson feature, and voicework from a very young Bill Murray [his first IMDB credit] and John Belushi [his second]). I also asked him what he figured for the first movie with a twist ending, since that discussion was taking place here on the forums at the time. He came up with the same title that I had: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

As far as autographs...I didn't expect to see Linklater or Rodriguez there, so I didn't bring anything for them to sign. I took a copy of Pulp Fiction to have signed, but Tarantino politely declined. He said that this is one week where he tries to get away from everything, and just get back to watching movies and talking with people like any other normal guy. I was disappointed, but I can totally respect that...and I don't need a souviner to remember the experience by. Maybe I'll catch him in town at some other event in the future...because a signed copy of Pulp Fiction would be my holy grail.

Last of all, yes it is an annual event...kinda. It was annual (I think) for the first five years. Then there was a two or three year break (I believe Tarantino was busy with various projects), and this was the first year it was back. It'll be back. Judging from the way he talked and interacted with everybody, it seems like this is an event that Tarantino really looks forward to. You should definitely try to come. I'll be sure to make a post here when the next one rolls around, or you can just bookmark that site and check back every once in a while. Badges are pretty hard to get ahold of...they usually go really fast. As long as you get there early enough, though, the standby tickets ($10 a film, I believe) aren't really a problem. I got there a couple hours early and managed to get in on opening night (though I was on the cusp). On weeknights especially, during the middle of the event, you shouldn't have any problem getting in on standby.

-JP

NatrlBornThrllr

Yes, you did. You must revisit City of God soon, and then promptly find a spot for it in your top ten of the year list.

-JP

wendersfan

Hey chente, it probably goes without saying that Wings of Desire, Sunrise, and Stalker are three of my favorite movies.

Tracer Bullet

Not to threadjack, but is there a decent DVD release of Sunrise?

chente

Yep. The Fox Studio Classic disc I have is very good and includes a fascinating documentary on Murnau's lost film The 4 Devils. I think you can still get this as part of the a boxset along with All about Eve, How Green was My Valley and Gentlemen's Agreement.

Amazon link.

There is also a MOC (Masters of Cinema) R2 dvd if you are region-free that includes the same features but also has a booklet.

chente

It's been a very exciting year for me movie-wise as I feel that I've really broadened my horizens. I'm looking forward to a great 2006 movie year.

Tracer Bullet

Cool, thanks. I'll check this out.

Johnny Boy

I can't believe Quentin pimped you out of an autograph! I bet he was smiling, right? And I bet he was nodding his head down and to the side and glancing at you from time to time and saying "nah nah nah, I'd LOVE to give an autograph... but UMMMM you know, HAHAHAHA OKAY?"

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to provide that info! I'll keep a lookout for the announcement of the next event, and I'll keep checking the site.

BTW, a signed Pulp Fiction would be my Holy Grail too.

kitkat

Hard to narrow down, but here they are, in no particular order:

In a theater:

Sin City
Happy Endings

On DVD:

A Face in the Crowd
Hotel Rwanda
In the Mood For Love
The River
House of Sand and Fog
L'auberge Espagnole
Chungking Express
Unfaithfully Yours

Giles

on a purely wow factor, the films that were true experiences for me were:

The Polar Express - IMAX 3D
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory - IMAX
Chicken Little - Disney Digital 3D

see a trend here.

In the theatre:

'Pather Panchali' - utterly transfixed
'MirrorMask' - the imagery was glorious.
'King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis' - powerful docu. That had me in tears at the end.
'Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' - fun, fun, fun!


DVD:
- Nothing
- 3 Iron
- Galaxy Express 999
- The Nomi Song

HBO Film's: 'Yesterday' - extremely powerful and achingly sad

lordwow

10) Collateral - For it's unique look and style.
9) Big Fish - a strange tale that really caught my attention.
8) One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Great performances, a little disturbed by the ending, but overall good.
7) Batman Begins - A Great comic book movie, Simply superb, and I love Nolan's work.
6) Adaptation - Fell in love with this movie for its witty style and truths about screenwriting.
5) Crash - My pick for movie of the year, a definate keeper.
4) Million Dollar Baby - Another great movie that I hadn't seen. I went out and purchased it after seeing it via Netflix.
3) Hotel Rwanda - A great film, wish I ahd paid more attention to the buzz when it was released.
2) 12 Angry Men - An absolute classic. Loved every minute of it.
1) Dr. Strangelove - I had never before seen this brilliant comedy, and it was worth it. Very Very funny and intellegent.