Best of A Decade: 2005

In Good Company

This is one of those highly underrated movies that people tend to forget about. Topher Grace stars as a synergizing business wunderkind who gets moved into a sports magazine ad department, previously dominated by Dennis Quaid. What follows is a story about life, business, family and friendship. Grace's Carter becomes infatuated with Quaid's daughter, played with cutey sex appeal by Scarlett Johansson, and eventually learns the value of hard work and ethics. Plus any movie that uses Peter Gabriel's "Salsbury Hill" deserves notation.

Sin City

"You go down the right alley in Sin City, and you can find anything." Robert Rodriguez is BRILLIANT! Seriously people? It's called Desperado. Also Planet Terror. Anyway, Sin City is the beginning of Rodriguez's partnership with comic God Frank Miller, on Miller's iconic stories of Basin City and it's underground. The second film is in the works, but his one focuses on stories, "The Hard Goodbye," "That Yellow Bastard," "The Big Fat Kill," and "The Customer is Always Right." The style, all green screen was later adopted for other comic adaptations. But Sin City was the first, and by far the best.

Fever Pitch

Apparently this movie is supposed to be a fluffy romantic comedy. I think it's a tragedy. I remember watching the second half of it with my hands over my eyes. Also this only furthered my brother and my theory that the 2004 Baseball post season was a large media conspiracy intent on destroying everything Yankee fans held dear.

Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of The Sith

On multiple viewings, not a favorite. But I walked out of the theater and said "WOW! Thank God!" The first twenty minutes are a return to the joy of the original Star Wars trilogy. Actually the first two hours are really good. It's the last half hour (minus the kick ass duel fights between Sidious/Yoda and Obi-Wan/Anikan) that kill it. Plus, Jimmy Smits? Really?

Batman Begins

"Why do we fall?" "It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me." "I don't need to kill you, but I don't need to save you either." I could just keep quoting it, but I won't. It's just awesome. Nolan's vision of Batman is so clear it's hard to talk about much else. The movie isn't perfect. (The Scarecrow? Really? That's your villain choice) But the flaws are minimal. As great as The Dark Knight was, I prefer Begins. I love origin stories.

Sky High

I don't care that it's one of the lamer Disney tween movies of the decade. It has a character in it named "Warren Peace!" Get it? That's comedy man. Also a punk girl who can shapeshift into a Guinea Pig. And Michael Angorano is one of those underrated young actors who people never think of, but when they see him always love. (I adore his work on Will and Grace as Jack's son Elliott.)

The 40 Year Old Virgin

Judd Apatow. I think the man is one of the best writers out there. I'm serious. Watch the movies that he wrote, not just produced and be awed by what he does. The absurdity of his vulgar sex comedies are offset by such incredible heart and reality that you can't help but root for his out there protagonists.

Wedding Crashers

Hello world, meet Isla Fisher.

Walk The Line

You'll notice that Reese Witherspoon is on this list a lot. She's one of my favorite actresses. But Walk The Line gets its note because of, well everything. It was released in a time when music bio-pics were flooding (Ray is the other really good one) but it stands out because of it's heart and the greatness of the music. Oh, right and Joaquin Phoenix and Reese did their own singing, so you know, cute.

Corpse Bride

Yay Tim Burton doing it right! I miss when Tim Burton got it right. Don't you?

Serenity

Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion. Big Screen time and budget. Oh and um, this:

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire

Back before Edward Cullen and his whole not showering thing, I had a major crush on Robert Pattinson because of his performance as Cedric Diggory. By far the most faithful adaptation of the six movies so far, it's not the best, but it's my favorite book. Shut up! I like exploring the "world" of a fantasy universe. And this one does that more than any of the others. Plus VIKTOR KRUM!!!!!

Pride & Prejudice

Although not the definitive adaptation of Jane Austen's most famous novel, it is the one you can stand to watch more than once a year without tons of chardonnay to aid in the six hours of exact translation. Not that this is something I've done. Ever. *cough* But I do love Ang Lee's interpretation. Kiera Knightley and Matthew Mcfayden's Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are adorable and awkward as their romance blossoms.

Rent

Yes, I went the day it opened, and I wore a jean mini skirt, pink fishnets and black leather boots. Yes, I quacked at the screen when Aaron Lohr started singing "Will I?" (If you don't get it leave!) And yes, I cried, a lot. It's not a perfect movie, but before they released the final performance on DVD, it was all we had OK?

Coming in 2006: Tristan and Isolde, Clerks II, Dreamgirls, The Departed and more.

No Day But Today

For some reason (actually I know the reason) I've been connecting to my musical theater roots a lot lately. It culminated in my current activity, watching the filmed live closing night DVD of Rent.

As a pre HSM post Chicago era high school actor there are very few things more special to me than the music and experience of Rent. The 2005 movie version was good, if only because it introduced the world to Tracy Thoms and let Jesse Martin be seen for what he is beyond his Law and Order role...but it was such a fraction of Rent's power....there's nothing like actually sitting in the Nederlander, hearing the music and crying your eyes out...but somewhere in between the slick cleaned up movie version and the real thing, sits this DVD.

I saw Rent live on stage 3 times. Each experience was unique. The first was with my older brother, as my 16th birthday present. Mike and I hadn't been getting along (not much of a shock) but all was forgiven for the night. The second was with my mother, sister and the friends I grew up with. I've mostly grown apart from these friends but it's nice to know that I had that experience with them. The 3rd and final time was the most special. A few summers ago Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, the original Mark and Roger came back to Broadway for a limited engagement. My friend Deanna and I, mostly past our theater geek obsessiveness decided to meet up and try our hand at the lottery. See, at 5 o'clock before every performance most shows do a lottery for cheap tickets. Rent started the practice. Deanna and I got ours, and I remembered for at least that night why I was so obsessed with Rent.

The energy and emotion of the show are like nothing else. The only thing I've ever experienced close to it was In The Heights.

As for this performance, it sits somewhere in the middle too. I'm grateful that I've now seen Eden Espinosa's Maureen. I've thought she was a superior singer to Idina Menzel for years (Honestly, Brooklyn had its flaws, her vocals was not one of them) and Will Chase's Roger is really good too. My problem falls with Adam Kantor as Mark. Anthony Rapp's Mark is the icon, and Matt Caplan is the one that I saw first and always used as a measuring stick. Kantor's performance falls somewhere in between Rapp's manic interpretation and Caplan's straight sarcasm. It's always what I pictures Neil Patrick Harris's version to be like, only still lacking something.

Overall, I highly recomend checking this DVD out if you're a Rent fan, or if you're someone who only saw the movie and didn't understand what all the fuss was about...I know quite a few people who felt that way.