Top movies of 2005? Don't ask me.

Apparently, Hollywood and film critics didn't get the take-home message from the 2004 election.

I haven't seen the movie, but "Brokeback Mountain," is in the news. From the AP, December 12:

The New York Film Critics Circle became the latest group to name the cowboy romance “Brokeback Mountain” as the year’s top film...On Saturday, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association also chose “Brokeback Mountain” as its top film of 2005.

"The Boondocks" comic also had a fairly humorous take on this movie, from December 5-10.

Other IR bloggers are also weighing in...

Maybe I'll see it one day, but it's not on my "must see" list in the immediate future. I didn't find the highly touted period piece "Far From Heaven" (2002) all that entertaining, even if the acting, directing and writing were first rate.

So what do I want to see? Try these: "Walk the Line," "Syriana," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "A History of Violence," "Crash," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "King Kong," "Munich," "Match Point," "Capote," "Broken Flowers," "Jarhead," and "March of the Penguins."

That gives you an idea of what I haven't seen, eh?

Here's my rough rank-order rundown of what I did see this past year. You'll note that it is heavily tilted toward "family friendly" movies. Indeed, I saw six of these movies in the theater with at least one of my daughters:

"Millions" (2004)
"The Upside of Anger"
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
"In Good Company" (2004)
"War of the Worlds"
"Mr. and Mrs. Smith"
"Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"
"Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit"
"Sin City"
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
"Robots"

A couple of these movies were made in earlier years, but released in 2005. I don't know why "Sideways" is on the 2005 release list, I saw it last December...

Anyway, I scanned the top 150 grossing movies of 2005, and these were the only ones I saw.

I also scanned the movie critics lists of awards and nominations for 2005. Those lists gave me a better idea of what I've missed...not that there's anything wrong with the "Wedding Crashers" or "Batman Begins," which I also didn't see.

Like many people, I saw many of 2004's best films in early 2005. So I'll probably be watching my "must see" movies in the next few months.