At last, Steven D. Greydanus posts his Best of 2005.
Here are the best films of 2005, according to Decent Films, along with some commentary about significant developments of the year.
Specials: Sundance review. Walter's "New World" rave. "Lost" money. DaVinci debut. X3 pic. New mom Jessica Poundstone. And Seahawks.
Monday specials:
SUNDANCE ME TO THE END OF MEDIOCRE FILMS
GreenCine coverage of the Sundance Film Festival is almost too expansive to comprehend. So many movies, so many reviews. From a review of Thank You for Smoking that calls it "I Heart Huckabees For Dummies," to a review of the intriguingly titled A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, to a review of Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man ... they're all over it.
NEW WORLD'S NEW RAVE
Adam Walter joins me and the rest who were swept away by Terrence Malick's The New World:
Great, sweeping, lyrical shots of the natural world. A passionate but respectful infatuation between the camera’s eye and the lovely face of a young beauty we’ve never seen before. Ever-climbing, harmonious waves of symphonic delicacy. And a powerful, labyrinthine mood built of images that court the eye rather than assail it. These are just a few of the pleasures offered by The New World.
Something to realize, right from the start, about Terrence Malick’s new film is that he’s telling his story on an abstracted plane and by way of the mythological mode. If just hearing that gives you a headache, then maybe this isn’t the movie for you. Otherwise, you’re in for a real treat.
BEING LOST PAYS
You can stop feeling sorry for those stranded Lost folks. They're all getting super-rich.
DA VINCI CODE WILL COME FROM A CANNES
The Da Vinci Code will kick off the Cannes Film Festival. And then we get to replay the whole "Is it fact or fiction?" hubbub. Great.
LET'S HOPE THIS WASN'T HER REACTION TO THE X3 SCRIPT
(from Ain't It Cool)
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK (OF 150 PAGES OR LESS)? WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RECIPE?
Finally, my dear friends Ben and Jessica Poundstone of Portland, Oregon, are new parents. Jessica is asking three simple questions to help make these exciting days even better. Take a minute and answer them. There are only three...
THEY DIDN'T BLOW IT
Oh, yeah, and... way to go, Seahawks. I won't pretend I've had any hope... or even cared... about this team. But that's what happens when your team has been such an embarrassment for so many years. You learn not to get your hopes up. While Seattle went nuts with joy yesterday, the best I could manage was, "Well, it's a step in the right direction." Seattle teams are famous for collapsing when it matters most. We'll see what happens on Super Sunday.
Spielberg Attacks "Extremist" Munich Critics
Spielberg defends his movie...
"Munich" was blasted by some US Jewish commentators who accused Spielberg of equating the Israeli assassins with the Palestinian militants.
Spielberg dismissed the charges as "nonsense".
"These critics are acting as if we were all missing a moral compass. Of course it is a horrible, abominable crime when people are taken hostage and killed like in Munich," he said.
"But it does not excuse the act when you ask what the motives of the perpetrators were and show that they were also individuals with families and a history.... Understanding does not mean forgiving. Understanding does not mean being soft, it is a courageous and strong stance."
Act One's Sean Gaffney reviews "The Book of Daniel"
The Jesus of THE BOOK OF DANIEL would never say, “Go and sin no more.” He would only say, “Go.”
Want to Buy a Pixar? Sorry. Sold Out.
Scott Cunningham reveals the evidence pointing to Disney's purchase of Pixar.
Shazbot. And I'd been saving for so long...
Oh well, at least I can afford one more peppermint mocha at Starbucks before the season's over. Wait... the season's over??!
I concur with Scott's comments: May God watch over Pixar, the finest American filmmaking studio. Long may their perfect record stand.
Specials: Sam Rockwell! Spear-ited debate! EIEIO!
Seattle Seahawk Sunday specials:
SAM ROCKWELL IS (not)... BATMAN!
If you really want to see what happens when Sam Rockwell puts on a Batman suit, click here, then click on the image from the film. Don't say I didn't warn you. (PG-13-level content)
THE MUNICH WARS
GreenCine Daily rounds up the latest bulletins. Screenwriter Tony Kushner starts it off saying,
In the last month, the co-creators of Munich have been accused of being apologists for the Palestinians, apologists for Israel, defamers of Palestinians and of Israel, softheaded Hollywood liberals, dupes of the radical left, dupes of the radical right, even of being anti-Semitic or self-loathing, for showing Jews talking about receipts and handling money. We're morally confused, overly complicated, simplistic. We're cowards who refused to take sides. We took a side but, oops! the wrong side.
SPEAR-ITED DEBATE
What? The actor playing the central missionary in End of the Spear might not be sinless? Holy Ian-McKellan-as-Gandalf, Batman!
I'm late in getting to this, but that might not be such a bad thing, since I can just link to Amy Wellborn's convenient collection of links about the debate amongst Christians over actor Chad Allen. Read the comments too... they're the best part.
"WITH A FACT-CHECK HERE AND A FACT-CHECK THERE..."
Kathy Shaidle finds today's example of New York Times' incompetence.
Greg Wolfe on Why the Inklings Aren't Enough
In the new issue of Image, editor Greg Wolfe writes about the problem of Christian veneration of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
...it has often been noted that the two Oxford dons at the center of the famous literary group known as the Inklings — C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien — would be appalled by the virtual canonization that has been conferred on them by adoring fans.
What concerns me, however, is not so much the tendency of many Christians to treat these two writers as saints, as dubious as that may be. Rather, I find worrisome the fact that for many believers today, the Inklings seem to provide the sole literary diet. As we near the half-century mark since their deaths, this clinging to Lewis and Tolkien seems less a matter of homage and more an act of quiet desperation.
The problem is not the Inklings, but Inklingism.
As much as I love the Inklings, I gotta admit, Wolfe's right. It's a shame that these two are the only writers celebrated so enthusiastically in Christendom, and it's an ever greater shame that the very culture honoring these men fails to understand or encourage the virtues that made them... and so many other great Christian artists... able to achieve literary greatness in the first place.
If you want to catch a glimpse of how deep and how wide are the worlds the Christian imagination can explore, be sure to subscribe to Image.
Chattaway on "The New World." And no, we're not the same person.
Today, for the first time in our... golly, ten-year friendship? ... I received an email from someone asking if Peter Chattaway was one of my pseudonyms.
Wow.
We do show up in a lot of the same places online and in print. But we frequently disagree on films, and sometimes clash mightily.
This time, though, we're both recommending that you rush out and see The New World. My review was posted earlier today. In 2006, it's going to be a hard movie to beat on my Year's Best list.
Now, here's Chattaway's review. But his is cool because he got to interview Pocahontas. Lucky devil.
"The New World": What Got Cut, What Was Added, What Will Be On the Expanded DVD?
F.X. Feeney answers the nagging questions about the theatrical version of The New World ... and teases us with news about the upcoming DVD... news that has made me stand up and rejoice.
(Thanks to GreenCine Daily, of course, for the link...)
Gaffney on "Scrubs"
My friend Sean Gaffney has a window on screenwriting in Hollywood that gives him unique insights on the industry, so I'm thrilled to see him blogging.
Too bad he started out by defending King Kong.
Oh well, anyway... THIS week he's highlighting something that happened on "Scrubs," and it makes me very sorry I missed the show.