Selecting the best of the best is pure torture -- and exhilarating. But the most rewarding part is the reminder that, despite the fuss over a slew of bad movies in 2005, there is plenty of quality in our cinemas.
BEST FILM - King Kong: Peter Jackson did not just remake a childhood favourite, he pushed mainstream cinema forward again with his technological innovations, especially in motion capture. Just as critically, he turned the Kong saga into a thrilling spectacle. While the 1933 original remains a treasure, the Jackson film has depths of emotion and social relevance that no creature feature has ever been able to muster.
KUDOS TO CANADA - This is an exceptional year for Canadian filmmakers and three of them -- David Cronenberg with A History Of Violence, Deepa Mehta with Water and Jean-Marc Vallee with C.R.A.Z.Y. -- made my Top 10. The made-in-Toronto Cronenberg film is a 100% American production but thoroughly Canadian in sense and sensibility. Toronto-based Mehta searched the roots of her Indian heritage for her masterwork while Vallee breaks out of Quebec with a French-language film deserving of Oscar attention in the foreign-language category.
BEST ACTOR - Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain: Prior to seeing Brokeback this past weekend, I was leaning to Joaquin Phoenix for channelling the early days of Johnny Cash in Walk The Line. But Ledger's subtle, stifled, moving performance in the Ang Lee film will haunt audiences.
ALSO WORTH MENTIONING: Jeff Daniels in The Squid And The Whale, Viggo Mortensen in A History Of Violence, Bill Murray in Broken Flowers and Russell Crowe in Cinderella Man.
BEST ACTRESS - Maria Bello, A History Of Violence: One of Bello's co-stars, William Hurt, confides that he took enormous pleasure in watching her reveal layer after layer of personality and psychological complexity. By the end of the drama, in her role as Viggo Mortensen's wife, she creates a riveting portrait of a complete human being.
ALSO WORTH MENTIONING: Naomi Watts in King Kong, Reese Witherspoon in Walk The Line, Laura Linney in The Squid And The Whale and Miranda July in Me And You And Everyone We Know.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Andy Serkis, King Kong: This is a familiar refrain, at least from me. While Oscar never listened, I argued the same honour for the British actor after he created Gollum for The Lord Of The Rings. Now Serkis has polished this form of new-millennium, computer-based acting. Without his work, the big ape in King Kong would not possess the personality and scope of feeling he displays in this film.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Seema Biswas, Water: Deepa Mehta's film revolves around three different women as the story evolves. The first act belongs to child actress Sarala, the second to radiant Lisa Ray and the final act to the mature South Asian star Biswas, whose face rivets our attention in the final frame. Biswas' performance is one of dignity and internal power, delivered with such effortlessness and sleight-of-hand you think she is playing herself. This is true, pure acting at the highest level.
BEST DIRECTOR - Peter Jackson, King Kong: Watch the goodies on the behind-the-scenes DVD, King Kong: Peter Jackson's Production Diaries, and you get insight into the challenges he faced marshalling a production of this scope into action. Jackson is at the peak of his powers.
ALSO WORTH MENTIONING: Robert Rodriguez/Frank Miller for Sin City, Deepa Mehta for Water, David Cronenberg for A History Of Violence, Stephen Gaghan for Syriana and Andrew Adamson for The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.
SPECIAL CITATION - Jean-Marc Vallee for C.R.A.Z.Y.: His penetrating dramatic comedy -- a portrait of a Quebec family struggling with a boy's identity crisis -- is already one of the most entertaining films of 2005. But Vallee also deserves special attention for his skill with music. The tunes here are not just mood manipulators or an excuse to sell soundtracks. Instead, they are used to develop character and advance the story. Vallee's film offers one of the most sophisticated examples of this technique in recent film history.
BEST DOCUMENTARY - March Of The Penguins: As the resident nature nut of the Sun's entertainment department, I am known for my passions for birds specifically and the wilds in general. So this French documentary -- in its English- language version with Morgan Freeman as the omnipotent voice of Nature -- was a film highlight of my year, even if it did not make the Top 10 list. But, in a year in which documentaries re-emerged as a potent artform, this one stands out.
OTHER DOCS OF NOTE: Born Into Brothels, Grizzly Man, Murderball, The Wild Parrots Of Telegraph Hill and Thieves Of Innocence.
DON'T FORGET - Other worthy feature films of 2005: Walk The Line, Cinderella Man, Munich, Madagascar, Millions, Match Point (Woody Allen's revival flick) and early-in-the-year releases such as Hotel Rwanda (included in the Oscars for 2004) and The Woodsman.
BRUCE'S 10 BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR
In alphabetical order
- Brokeback Mountain
- The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
- C.R.A.Z.Y.
- A History Of Violence
- King Kong
- Sin City
- The Squid And The Whale
- Syriana
- Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit
- Water
2005 SHOWCASE AWARDS
GEORGE CLOONEY
BRUCE KIRKLAND'S ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
As a serious filmmaker, chameleon actor and playboy celebrity, George Clooney has a good thing going. His maturation might even qualify as extraordinary because, while he is a movie star in throwaway flicks such as the Ocean's series, Clooney is willing to risk that status in his sterling personal work. In an America which eats its own in the guise of nationalism, especially if they lean to the left, Clooney has the guts to direct and act in Good Night, And Good Luck and produce and co-star in Stephen Gaghan's oil industry spy thriller Syriana. Now there is talk that Good Night, a B&W Edward R. Murrow drama set in the odious McCarthy era, is breaking out as an Oscar frontrunner (which is driving me crazy because I haven't seen it yet -- meaning it could not make my Top 10 list, despite its credentials).
George Clooney is earning critical acclaim and Oscar buzz for two of his films: Syriana and Good Night, And Good Luck.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
2004 SpongeBob SquarePants
2003 Peter Jackson
2002 Leo DiCaprio
