My Top 5 Movies

I have something cheesy to confess. With the year coming to an end (thank god!), there are all sorts of "Best of" lists in the news and in the magazines and I kinda love them. I devour them like Homer scarfs down donuts. So, without further adieu, here's my "Top 5" list for movies of the year:

Honorable Mention - Garden State

When I hear that an actor decides to write, direct and star in his own film, I usually groan. (Kevin Costner anyone?) But I like Zach Braff well enough on Scrubs, plus he seemed fairly self-deprecating. The trailers were intriguing, so I decided to give him a chance. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a warm, honest look at the sort of anhedonia and aimlessness that many twentysomethings reach at a certain point in their lives. Braff gets an extra thumbs up for the stellar soundtrack, which seems to have been cribbed from one of my iPod playlists. Now, this movie would have made my top 5 list, except for the cheesy ending. But I foresee Braff as a formidable talent in the future. Perhaps his next effort will make in into my top 5 whenever it comes out.

5. I Heart Huckabees

I know Zack hated this movie. I know it can be super pretentious and annoying. But the movie digs into the liberal malaise with a wicked sense of humor, and doesn't pretend to offer any solutions. (Existential detectives? Come on.) Mark Wahlberg is hilarious as a disillusioned post 9/11 fireman, whose big beef with petroleum has left him bicycling to his rescue sites. And of course, Jude Law looks pretty (and vomits on himself). Yet for all of its confusion and convolutedness, the movie ends on a surprisingly optimistic note. The only answer is to keep trying, even though it may be hopeless.

3-4. (tie) Spiderman 2 and the Incredibles

Yes, I know they're both superhero popcorn movies. And yes, I know Spiderman 2 is supposed to be a summer popcorn movie. But what makes Spidey any less valid than the Incredibles? Pixar? Product placement? Okay, the science is really, really, bad. But it's my list dammit, and I'll put whatever the hell I want down.

Both movies try to address the day to day realities a superhero might have to endure - a bureaucratic job, making rent, public backlash, the inevitability of failed romance and the question of whether or not their superpowers make them any more exceptional than an average individual. There's a darker edge in both of these movies too. The Incredibles has echoes of Watchmen, with the superpowered Parr family trying to blend in as "normal", while Peter Parker struggles to overcome his depression that stems from the consequences of just simply being Spiderman. Throughout both movies, a sort of gleeful subersive humor pervades - from a rather obvious possible wardrobe malfunction that many superhero costume stereotypes fail to recognize, to Sam Raimi poking fun at his star's much ballyhooed back problems. But perhaps most importantly, both movies have a compelling story told with certain gee-whiz artistry, eyepopping stunts and a pop art color palette. Which is all you can really ask for from a superhero popcorn movie.

2. Before Sunset

I don't really go for "romantic comedies" (Out of boredom, I recently watched "Love Actually" on cable - "Love Only in the Movies" or "Love Doubtfully" is more like it. Ugh. But that belongs in a different post). Now, I loved "Before Sunrise", and didn't really think that it needed a sequel. But I did want to know what happened to Jesse and Celine, and I'd heard good things about it. Turns out their one night in Vienna nine years ago (chronicled in "Before Sunrise") have shaped Jesse and Celine far more deeply than either would like to admit. Although nothing truly bad has happened to either of them, it's rather tragic to see what they've become. The movie is filmed in real time - Jesse has less than two hours before he catches a plane back to the States - which makes their time together in Paris (beautifully shot, I might add) all the more fleeting and desperate.

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I keep telling everyone I know... go see this, even if you can't stand Jim Carrey, and think that he's a rubber faced screechy caricature of himself. Instead, he buries himself so deeply inside the character of Joel, the withdrawn passive aggressive that you forget it's him, while Kate Winslet shines as Clementine, the hyperkinetic live wire whose moods are as capricious as her hair color in a tale that retraces (backwards) love gone wrong. While the premise is gimmicky ("erasing" one's ex from your mind), once you decide to just go with the flow, it grabs you and becomes surprisingly affecting. It's a movie that brings up some pretty deep themes - are certain relationships fated to end? Are we doomed to make the same mistakes again? If someone hurts you deeply, would you want to forget him or her completely, no matter how much he or she meant to you? It stands up to repeat viewings, and contains lots of little details than one might miss the first few times - book spines, a store sign, an envelope - that contribute to making the improbable premise more believable.