The 'Bag's Top 10 films of 2005

My employers may think I have too much free time when they learn that I saw 34 films in theaters in 2005 (and a few dozen more on DVD). But here's one man's opinion of the year's best:

1. Brokeback Mountain. I still don't know how Heath Ledger suddenly developed Method acting chops, but this movie blew me away. Far and away the best film of the year.

2. Munich. Some people thought the assassinations got repetitive, but I'd argue Steven Spielberg nailed it in two ways, producing a Hitchcockian thriller and a philosophical masterpiece. I never checked my watch once in nearly three hours.

3. Capote. We've already expounded at length on Phil Hoffman's remarkable portrait of Truman Capote. The best film evidence yet of Janet Malcolm's old adage: Journalists are always using somebody.

4. Head-On. Finally caught this Turkish-German sleeper on DVD last week and instantly regretted wasting time in theaters on lame sequels (Star Wars Episode III) and remakes (King Kong) instead of seeing this on the big screen. (We hope Florida's Joakim Noah makes roommate Corey Brewer read the subtitles on this one, too. It's worth it.)

5. Good Night, And Good Luck. After we recommended this a couple months ago, one 'Bag reader actually wrote in with a rousing defense of Senator Joseph McCarthy's red-baiting tactics. (Yikes.)

6. Grizzly Man. My favorite documentary of the year. It details the bizarre world of a guy who communes with grizzlies in Alaska (until they eat him). Fascinating stuff from director Werner Herzog, whose own existential epiphanies are unintentionally hilarious in a Dieter-from-Sprockets sort of way.

7. A History of Violence. Hey, that Aragorn guy from The Lord of the Rings can really act.

8. The Beat That My Heart Skipped. We see our share of French films for a few reasons: 1) the 'Bag Lady is half-French; 2) I'm always pumped about the chance of encountering Ludivine Sagnier; and 3) they don't produce a lot of crap (though I fear former fave Isabelle Huppert is getting a little wacky for my tastes). Anyway, this is the best of the French bunch for 2005 (by a hair over Caché).

9. 2046. Director Wong Kar-Wai could make a test pattern look visually captivating. And we'll admit it: any movie with Ziyi Zhang and Gong Li is already headed in the right direction.

10. The Squid and the Whale. Call me crazy, but I'll say it now: Jesse Eisenberg will win an Academy Award in the next 10 years. As scouts might say, the youngster's got a big upside.

Also receiving votes: Syriana, Gunner Palace, The Holy Girl, Brothers, Look at Me, Caché, Shopgirl, Match Point and Broken Flowers.