The nature of dramatic films and to a more limited extent of documentary films is to highlight and focus on selective features of reality or dramatic scene selection. Just as the impossible idealistic appearance of gorgeous female actresses, so to, the distinction between the reality and exaggeration found in Crash is quite fine. What one might call exaggeration, another might call highlighting. The elements of time distortion in the movie is a subjective, psychological fact. For those who have experienced such episodes and coincidences, such depictions of drama have an inordinate resonance that other film goers can only guess at.

I'm sorry to be such a jerk, but all you people who drool over Sin City are MORONS. Seriously. Next you're going to tell me that "American Psycho" is one of the greatest movies of the past 20 years.

Oh, and The Life Aquatic was released in the U.S. (and the U.K. as well, I think) in '04.

That said:

Best movie of the year: Wong Kar Wai's "2046." WKW really puts his peers to shame.

The rest of the list are just honorable mentions:

"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (BEST DEBUT FILM SINCE "CITY OF GOD"!)
"Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"
"Crash"
"Land of the Dead"
"Cinderella Man"
"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"
"Murderball"

And what the hell?

"The Island"

"War of the Worlds" has too many plot holes in it to be put in seriously.
"Mr. and Mrs. Smith" is just totally silliness and can barely be considered a film, even though its better than most movies of its kind.
"Kung Fu Hustle" is more of a kooky, cartoony, fighting feast than an actual movie. There's barely a plot there.
"Wedding Crashers," while its witty and all, is utterly formulaic and the jokes can be seen coming a mile away. It's weird to see two big indie film stars like Wilson ("Bottle Rocket") and Vaughn ("Swingers") get changed into THAT over a decade.

Most of these picks in the post above mine are terrible. God.

That's a very interesting list above too. Now, Hitchhiker's Guide is an honorable mention, and War of the Worlds has tons of plot twists? Will you please explain those? I'll leave 2046 alone for now.

"Hitchhiker's" I give a lot of credit. It was the guy's debut film and he made a marvelous movie. Nonetheless, it has a lot of first film mistakes.

Visually, the thing is staggering (especially the scene where Arthur Dent tours the construction site of the planets! I choke up involuntarily every time I think about it), but the director played it awfully safe. Why did he do that? Because it's a summer movie, and summer movies usually just go on autopilot and let the effects do all/most of the work. Plus, the acting from Zooey Deschanel and Mos Def really left something to be desired, as much I like both of them.

If "Hitchhiker's" had stronger acting and were more of a movie and not so much of a visual feast, I'd put it higher. Much respect to Douglass Adams for finally putting one of visions on celluloid before he passed. I'll miss that man's writing.

"War of the Worlds" has plot HOLES, not twists. It was... ok, in my mind. It was just SO... Spielberg, which is a huge compliment and kind of a insult. It's about a B+.

You can't even touch "2046," though. Have you SEEN the movie? Make sure you watch "In the Mood For Love" several times beforehand. Both of these movies (a two-part series) are real, real growers. You need to pay attention and be sharp as hell. Wong Kar-Wai makes consistently great films.

New List:

01. Cinderella Man
02. Layer Cake
03. Crash
04. Batman Begins
05. The Constant Gardener
06. Star Wars: Ep III- Revenge of the Sith
07. The Wedding Crashers
08. War of the Worlds
09. Kingdom of Heaven
10. Broken Flowers
11. Sin City

quote:

Originally posted by NEPTUNE, OVERLORD OF THE SEA!:
I'm sorry to be such a jerk, but all you people who drool over Sin City are MORONS. Seriously. Next you're going to tell me that "American Psycho" is one of the greatest movies of the past 20 years.
...
Most of these picks in the post above mine are terrible. God.

Calling other members of these Forums "MORONS" is a sure-fire way to get yourself removed from the premises, Neptune. Watch the name-calling and the trolling...we won't hesitate to pull the plug if you continue to act this way.

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:

quote:

Originally posted by NEPTUNE, OVERLORD OF THE SEA!:
I'm sorry to be such a jerk, but all you people who drool over Sin City are MORONS. Seriously. Next you're going to tell me that "American Psycho" is one of the greatest movies of the past 20 years.
...
Most of these picks in the post above mine are terrible. God.

Calling other members of these Forums "MORONS" is a sure-fire way to get yourself removed from the premises, Neptune. Watch the name-calling and the trolling...we won't hesitate to pull the plug if you continue to act this way.

You seem to take your job pretty seriously. Excuse me for voicing an opinion.

We don't mind individuals who 'voice an opinion' the ones who anger us call others 'morons' simply because they have different tastes. The reasons why this is frowned upon, other than the fact that it is immature and pointless, is because those types of conversations generally lead in circles and are not based on anything concrete.

quote:

Originally posted by NEPTUNE, OVERLORD OF THE SEA!:
I'm sorry to be such a jerk, but all you people who drool over Sin City are MORONS.

What's your problem with Sin City? Where's your argument? You say it sucks but don't back it up.

I happen to be a Sin City fan. Back in '91 when the comic first dropped. I've been a fan. As a comic fan and movie fan I happen to think Sin City is a well crafted film. I think as far as narrative, visual style, and acting goes it was done extremely well. Plus Rodriguez had the balls to pull off a mostly digital movie better then its predecessors, i.e. Episodes 1-3 and Skycaptain, etc. Complain all you want about the misogynist undertones and one-sided archetypal characters, but Frank Miller was creating a world indicative of noir-films and pulp books. As far as comic book adaptation goes Sin City pulls it off very well. He follows the book very closely, not only visually but the dialogue is almost to the 'T'.

What I don't get is that you hate Sin City but like Episode III? that slays me. Did you even watch Sin City?

It seems very contradictory to like Wong Kar Wai and reference City of God then rank Episode III on a best of list. That's like saying your favorite movie is Citizen Kane, which is only slightly better then your second favorite movie...Freddy Got Fingered.

But...to each his own I guess.

Best way I can sum up my problem with Sin City, is that its an "unadapted adapation."

Crediting Frank Miller with an "adapted screenplay" is ridiculous, because it wasn't adapted for the screen. They didn't rewrite it at all. You see what I mean? A movie that's just a bunch of still frames acted out isn't a movie, it's basically a slideshow, in essence.

I'll give Sin City's creators credit for doing something sort of original, but to me it's (and I don't want to come off like I'm trolling or starting arguments here) just a purile, ultra-violent, visual feast of a hyper-noir that's accurately, but badly, adapted.

I enjoyed Revenge of the Sith, on the other hand, not only simply because its the last Star Wars for a long, long time (probably ever), but because I thought it did a really good job of bringing together Episodes 1 and 2 and 4, 5 and 6, even though Sith's ending felt a tad rushed. I also liked how it was the darkest Lucas movie since THX 1138 -- VERY family unfriendly. Sure, a lot of it's corny, but so are all the Star Wars movies.

I can only bother to write so much. I think my point's been made.

quote:

Originally posted by NEPTUNE, OVERLORD OF THE SEA!:
Best way I can sum up my problem with Sin City, is that its an "unadapted adapation."

Crediting Frank Miller with an "adapted screenplay" is ridiculous, because it wasn't adapted for the screen. They didn't rewrite it at all. You see what I mean? A movie that's just a bunch of still frames acted out isn't a movie, it's basically a slideshow, in essence.

I'll give Sin City's creators credit for doing something sort of original, but to me it's (and I don't want to come off like I'm trolling or starting arguments here) just a purile, ultra-violent, visual feast of a hyper-noir that's accurately, but badly, adapted.

The nerd that I am I've actually went back and re-read the comic after re-watching Sin City on DVD. The dialogue and scences used in the movie were reflected well in comparison but many scences were taken out and dialogue was cut short. So Miller did have to adapt his comic script to fit a cinematic narrative. If he didn't then each of the three segments: The Hard Goodbye, That Yellow Bastard and The Big Fat Kill, could have each been there own films. So there was a sense of "adaptation". Fans of novels or comics that hit the big screen, i.e. LOTR, The Bourne movies, Spider-Man, etc., wish the movie stayed truer to the material it was re-creating, hence the, "the book was better" commentary after viewing. Isn't Sin City a testament to that? Isn't it staying true to form? Isn't that what fans want?

As far as the still images being acted out isn't a movie...why not? Cuz its like a "slideshow"? That is the dumbest thing I ever heard. Watch "La Jetee" by Chris Marker, a French New Wave 'film' that inspired Gilliam's 12 Monkeys, and tell me that's not an awesome 'film'.

Lastly, you think its childish and ultra-violent? I bet you liked a couple of other ultra-violent films, i.e. Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, The Professional, The Wild Bunch, any HK era John Woo movie, etc. I bet one of those types of film creep into an all-time best list. You like City of God, which is one of the most violent and affecting films I've seen in a long time.

Thanks, Neptune, for giving me a reason to post. One of the things that became immediately apparent to me after reading your many agressive posts is that you not just opinionated, but simply wrong in many cases. First and foremost, Frank Miller DID adapt Sin City for the screen, I know because I own it. There ARE different shots in the film (i.e. ANGLES, and those many other frames that weren't in the comic). Plus, the guy was on the scene, helping set up different shots to try to recreate certain moments. The fact that hes not writing and inking, and that hes actually telling real people to move, is an adaptation.

Also, calling all of us fanboys 'morons' isn't going to gain you any respect. I'm beside myself with disbelief at your assumption that we also enjoyed American Psycho (yes, a good movie, and no, not for the same reasons as Sin City.) And NOTHING is more annoying than you calling Sin City a slideshow. Okay, a rather large slideshow, with many extra and unneeded frames (you know, since its got to take on the appearance of a moving picture show) and the voice acting dubbed over it. Waiit...that doesn't sound like a slideshow to meeee...

I have a hard time taking shit from someone with "Penis" in your small quote space.

UPDATED:

9. Wedding Crashers
8. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
7. Life Aquatic
6. Star Wars
5. Batman Begins
4. 40 yr. old Virgin
3. Sin City
2. War of the Worlds
1. Crash

UPDATED:

1. War of the Worlds
2. Sin City
3. Lord of War
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
5. Batman Begins
6. Robots
7. Be Cool
8. Coach Carter
9. Constantine
10. Kingdom of Heaven
-The Interpreter

1. Grizzly Man
2. Enron
3. Kung Fu Hustle
4. A History Of Violence
5. Thumbsucker
6. Broken Flowers
7. Everything is Illuminated
8. Junebug
9. Sin City
10. Hustle and Flow
And I've seen about 32 or 33 2005 films so far.

In no particular order (that just takes way too long to decide), here they are:

Oldboy (I know it isn't a 2005 film, exactly, but that's when I saw it)
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (Likewise)
Sin City
Batman Begins
Broken Flowers
A History of Violence
Kung Fu Hustle
The Constant Gardener
Howl's Moving Castle (not Miyazaki's best, but come on, it's Miyazaki)
Nobody Knows

Well, that's all for now. The next couple of months are bringing all the Oscar-bait for serious film lovers to feast on. A few particularly anticipated films:

Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Good Night, and Good Luck
The Producers: The Movie Musical
Bee Season
Thumbsucker

Catch you guys later.

My Best List:
1. Sin City
2. Batman Begins
3. Star Wars Episode III
4. War of the Worlds
5. Cinderella Man
6. The 40 Year Old Virgin
7. Charlie and the Chocolate Facctory
8. Kung Fu Hustle
9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
10. Wedding Crashers

My favourite film of 2005, so far, is The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse.

I haven't really seen stand out films, and most of the good films in this list are commercial ones. I hope the Fall Season will bring better films. And can't wait to see HP4. So far...in no particular order.

Crash
Broken Flowers
Millions
Sin City
Batman Begins
2046
Moolade
History of Violence
Kung Fu Hustle
Nobody Knows

Also, Capote is my new #1 of the year.