2005 In Film

The mid-2000s may have been the heyday for smart big budget films of this generation, as the 1960s and 1970s had been before formulaic fare (everything with John Hughes' name on it and everything imitating it) took over the 1980s and still contaminate the art form to this day (though the biggest problem with the film industry today is the studios' race for profits rather than proposing anything original, but still ends up serving rehashes, recipes, sequels, remakes and reboots for the sole purpose of making extra millions rather than actually entertaining or impressing audiences).

Previous posts: 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001.

Today, a leap forward (as far as these lists go) to 2005:

Top 25 Films:

25. BATMAN BEGINS, Christopher Nolan (USA)
24. MR. AND MRS. SMITH, Doug Liman (USA)
23. WALK THE LINE, James Mangold (USA)
22. SKY HIGH, Mike Mitchell (USA)
21. CONSTANTINE, Francis Lawrence (USA)
20. HUSTLE & FLOW, Craig Brewer (USA)
19. THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE, Mary Harron (USA)
18. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, Tim Burton (USA/Australia)
17. WEDDING CRASHERS, David Dobkin (USA)
16. GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK., George Clooney (USA)
15. CRASH, Paul Haggis (USA/Germany)
14. CACHÉ, Michael Haneke (France)
13. THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, Noah Baumbach (USA)
12. TIDELAND, Terry Gilliam (UK/Canada)
11. SYRIANA, Stephen Gaghan (USA)
10. THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, Rob Zombie (Germany/USA)
9. CAPOTE, Bennett Miller (USA/Canada)
8. SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE, Park Chan-wook (South Korea)
7. WAITING..., Rob McKittrick (USA)
6. LAND OF THE DEAD, George A. Romero (Canada/France/USA)
5. THUMBSUCKER, Mike Mills (USA)
4. THE CHUMSCRUBBER, Arie Posin (USA/Germany)
3. MAURICE RICHARD: THE ROCKET, Charles Binamé (Québec)
2. V FOR VENDETTA, James McTeigue (UK)
1. SIN CITY, Robert Rodriguez (with Frank Miller & Quentin Tarantino) (USA)

Top 20 Directors:

20. GAVIN HOOD, Tsotsi
19. WERNER HERZOG, Grizzly Man
18. JOSS WHEDON, Serenity
17. GUY RITCHIE, Revolver
16. JIM JARMUSCH, Broken Flowers
15. GEORGE A. ROMERO, Land Of The Dead
14. DAVID CRONENBERG, A History Of Violence
13. NEIL JORDAN, Breakfast On Pluto
12. ROB ZOMBIE, The Devil's Rejects
11. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, Batman Begins
10. CHARLES BINAMÉ, Maurice Richard: The Rocket
9. TERRY GILLIAM, Tideland
8. SAM MENDES, Jarhead
7. MARY HARRON, The Notorious Bettie Page
6. TIM BURTON, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
5. PARK CHAN-WOOK, Sympathy For Lady Vengeance
4. ROBERT RODRIGUEZ (with FRANK MILLER & QUENTIN TARANTINO), Sin City
3. JAMES MCTEIGUE, V For Vendetta
2. DAVID LACHAPELLE, Rize
1. ANG LEE, Brokeback Mountain

Top 20 Lead Actors:

20. JEFF DANIELS, The Squid And The Whale
19. JOAQUIN PHOENIX, Walk The Line
18. NICOLAS CAGE, Lord Of War
17. SAMUEL L. JACKSON, Coach Carter
16. HEATH LEDGER, Brokeback Mountain
15. ROBERT DOWNEY JR., Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
14. JOHN MALKOVICH, Colour Me Kubrick
13. JOHNNY DEPP, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
12. SAM SHEPARD, Don't Come Knocking
11. RUSSELL CROWE, Cinderella Man
10. ROY DUPUIS, Maurice Richard: The Rocket
9. MICKEY ROURKE, Sin City
8. GAEL GARCIA BERNAL, The King
7. BILL NIGHY, The Girl In the Café
6. WILLIAM H. MACY, Edmond
5. TERRENCE HOWARD, Hustle & Flow
4. DANNY AIELLO, Brooklyn Lobster
3. CILLIAN MURPHY, Breakfast On Pluto
2. PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, Capote
1. DAVID STRATHAIRN, Good Night, And Good Luck.

Top 20 Lead Actresses:

20. RACHEL WEISZ, Constantine
19. CHARLIZE THERON, North Country
18. CAMILLA BELLE, The Chumscrubber
17. DINA KORZUN, Forty Shades Of Blue
16. ANGELIQUE HENNESSY, Bad Reputation
15. JULIETTE BINOCHE, Caché
14. HALLE BERRY, The Eyes Were Watching God
13. KELLY MACDONALD, The Girl In the Café
12. JULIE LE BRETON, Maurice Richard: The Rocket
11. MARIA BELLO, A History Of Violence
10. JODELLE FERLAND, Tideland
9. LEE YOUNG AE, Sympathy For Lady Vengeance
8. ROBIN WRIGHT PENN, Sorry, Haters
7. REESE WITHERSPOON, Walk The Line
6. KEIRA KNIGHTLEY, Pride & Prejudice
5. NATALIE PORTMAN, V For Vendetta
4. LAURA LINNEY, The Squid And The Whale
3. ZHANG ZIYI, Memoirs Of A Geisha
2. FELICITY HUFFMAN, Transamerica
1. GRETCHEN MOL, The Notorious Bettie Page

Top 20 Supporting Actors:

20. DELROY LINDO, Domino
19. MOS DEF, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
18. MATTHEW MCGRORY, The Devil's Rejects
17. NICK FROST, Kinky Boots
16. MORGAN FREEMAN, An Unfinished Life
15. TIM ROTH, Don't Come Knocking
14. SETH ROGEN, The 40 Year-Old Virgin
13. NIELS ARESTRUP, De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrêté
12. JAKE GYLLENHAAL, Brokeback Mountain
11. JUSTIN LONG, Waiting...
10. JESSE EISENBERG, The Squid And The Whale
9. PAUL GIAMATTI, Cinderella Man
8. GEORGE CLOONEY, Good Night, And Good Luck.
7. JEFFREY WRIGHT, Broken Flowers
6. STEPHEN REA, V For Vendetta
5. WILLIAM HURT, A History Of Violence
4. GEORGE CLOONEY, Syriana
3. GARY OLDMAN, Batman Begins
2. DON CHEADLE, Crash
1. STEPHEN MCHATTIE, Maurice Richard: The Rocket

Top 20 Supporting Actresses:

20. SCARLETT JOHANSSON, Match Point
19. ZOOEY DESCHANEL, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
18. MARION COTILLARD, La Boîte Noire
17. ROSARIO DAWSON, Sin City
16. EMMANUELLE DEVOS, De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrêté
15. MICHELLE WILLIAMS, Brokeback Mountain
14. RUTH NEGGA, Breakfast On Pluto
13. MARICELA GOMEZ, Apocalipsur
12. LAURA (ELENA) HARRING, The King
11. SHIRLEY MACLAINE, In Her Shoes
10. SARAH POLLEY, Don't Come Knocking
9. CATHERINE KEENER, Capote
8. MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, Happy Endings
7. ISLA FISHER, Wedding Crashers
6. GLENN CLOSE, The Chumscrubber
5. RACHEL WEISZ, The Constant Gardener
4. THANDIE NEWTON, Crash
3. BRENDA BLETHYN, Pride & Prejudice
2. AMY ADAMS, Junebug
1. FRANCES MCDORMAND, North Country

Top 20 Screenplays:

20. SHOPGIRL, Steve Martin
19. THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, Rob Zombie
18. REVOLVER, Guy Ritchie & Luc Besson
17. WAITING..., Rob McKittrick
16. CRASH, Paul Haggis & Robert Moresco
15. MAURICE RICHARD: THE ROCKET, Ken Scott
14. THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, Judd Apatow & Steve Carrell
13. SYRIANA, Stephen Gaghan
12. CAPOTE, Dan Futterman
11. ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW, Miranda July
10. BROKEN FLOWERS, Jim Jarmusch
9. GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK., George Clooney & Grant Heslov
8. BREAKFAST ON PLUTO, Neil Jordan & Patrick McCabe
7. THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, Noah Baumbach
6. TRANSAMERICA, Duncan Tukcer & William H. Macy
5. V FOR VENDETTA, Larry Wachoswki & Andy Wachowski
4. EDMOND, David Mamet
3. THE CHUMSCRUBBER, Zac Stanford
2. TIDELAND, Tony Grisoni & Terry Gilliam
1. THUMBSUCKER, Mike Mills

Top 20 Cinematographers:

20. NEWTON THOMAS SIGEL, The Brothers Grimm
19. STÉPHANE FONTAINE, De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrêté
18. SALVATORE TOTINO, Cinderella Man
17. PETER ZEITLINGER, Grizzly Man
16. DECLAN QUINN, Breakfast On Pluto
15. JEONG JEONG-HUN, Sympathy For Lady Vengeance
14. CHRISTIAN BERGER, Caché
13. BOJAN BAZELLI, Mr. & Mrs. Smith
12. WALLY PFISTER, Batman Begins
11. PIERRE GILL, Maurice Richard: The Rocket
10. PHILIPPE ROUSSELOT, Constantine
9. PHIL PARMET, The Devil's Rejects
8. AMY VINCENT, Hustle & Flow
7. DION BEEBE, Memoirs Of A Geisha
6. ROBERT RODRIGUEZ, Sin City
5. PHILIPPE ROUSSELOT, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
4. TONY SHEARN, MirrorMask
3. ADRIAN BIDDLE, V For Vendetta
2. NICOLA PECORINI, Tideland
1. MORGAN SUSSER, Rize

Top 10 Villains:

10. KEVIN GAGE, Chaos
9. ANDREW GLOVER, Boogeyman
8. PATRICK WILSON, Hard Candy
7. KATHY BAKER, Nine Lives
6. BILL MURRAY, Broken Flowers
5. WILLIAM FICHTNER, The Chumscrubber
4. NICK STAHL, Sin City
3. CILLIAN MURPHY, Red Eye
2. WILLIAM H. MACY, Edmond
1. SID HAIG, The Devil's Rejects

This Week's Top 10s

Top 10 Songs:

10. GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS (Peter Gabriel cover), Arcade Fire (2013)
9. MIND YOUR MANNERS, Pearl Jam (2013)
8. REFLEKTOR, Arcade Fire (with David Bowie) (2013)
7. ALL THINGS BREAK THROUGH, Freelove Fenner (2013)
6. COSMIC CANNIBALISM, UUBBUURRUU (2013)
5. BLOOD ON THE CURTAINS, Melted Faces (2013)
4. CAN'T HELP MYSELF, Dead Messenger (2013)
3. BIG SHOT, The Pack A.D. (2013)
2. HIGH ROAD, Cults (2013)
1. FOR IT ALL NOW, Outernational (2013)

Top 10 Paul Newman Films:

10. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN, John Huston (1972)
9. THE STING, George Roy Hill (1973)
8. NOBODY'S FOOL, Robert Benton (1994)
7. CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, Richard Brooks (1958)
6. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, George Roy Hill (1969)
5. THE COLOR OF MONEY, Martin Scorsese (1986)
4. THE VERDICT, Sidney Lumet (1982)
3. COOL HAND LUKE, Stuart Rosenberg (1967)
2. SLAP SHOT, George Roy Hill (1977)
1. THE HUSTLER, Robert Rossen (1961)

I'll admit I haven't seen Cars, though... probably will this weekend, though I'm more in the mood for a really stupid film, à la Battleship or Pacific Rim.

Rob Ford Re-Enacted

Video Of The Week: Freelove Fenner

Freelove Fenner is a Montréal three-piece who make music as clean and finely crafted as you would expect from serious creators who listened to The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and George Harrison's work too much, then gave way to their inner Pavement.

It's like being stuck in the late 1960s, except with a very real sense of now. Caitlin Loney (vocals, bass, guitar) Peter Woodford (guitar, vocals, keyboards, bass) and drummer Michael Wright, who plays in half the bands in town at the same time and yet always manages to sound both exactly like himself while creating brand-new beats or new variations on beats you've heard before, at times sound like they don't want you to fear the Reaper (yes, I'm capable of a Blue Öyster Cult reference), other times they get a good groove on, and once in a while throw in a little bit of Nightwood in there too. (I really miss Nightwood.)

But back to the Freelove. After a busy past couple of years of heavy touring and an EP following a relatively quiet first half-decade, they're set to release their first full-length later this week (hometown launch this Saturday, November 30th) and even managed some valuable media exposure last week in the Montreal Gazette. I'd advise you to attend if you're in town.

This video, for All Things Break Through, stars Jane L. Kasowicz, another fine local creator of sounds, as she rolls the dice on life the way you would blindly follow a Magic 8-ball if you, too, were in a hazy video lost in a forest.

R.I.P Nicolas Plamondon

I had to write about Expozine recently for someone involved with it (he participated from 2007 to 2011) to go through enough hell to alter the life experience of everyone who knew him...

Artist Nicolas Plamondon took his own life a few days ago, unable to cope with a world he never quite fit in. Ever searching for his place in it, recognizing himself always only in part in what was offered, even his art reflected his dazed outlook:

The above picture was taken from Théâtre Des Souffrances and reprinted in the last edition of Four Minutes To Midnight, which I also occasionally contribute to.

Because life and art often intersect, he participated in the Spring demonstrations to support striking students, getting arrested multiple times. They weren't his first times behind bars, as he wrote about his 10-hour detention for the G20 demos in 2010 here.

The world loses one sensitive young adult who thought the world we live in doesn't make sense. The status quo loses an opponent and rolls on that much closer to victory.

This Week's Top 10s

Top 10 Songs:

10. BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES, Atoms For Peace (2012)
9. MIND YOUR MANNERS, Pearl Jam (2013)
8. GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS (Peter Gabriel cover), Arcade Fire (2013)
7. BLOOD ON THE CURTAINS, Melted Faces (2013)
6. REFLEKTOR, Arcade Fire (with David Bowie) (2013)
5. BERZERK, Eminem (2013)
4. BIG SHOT, The Pack A.D. (2013)
3. COSMIC CANNIBALISM, UUBBUURRUU (2013)
2. HIGH ROAD, Cults (2013)
1. FOR IT ALL NOW, Outernational (2013)

Top 10 Months To Live In Montréal:

10. January
9. October
8. March
7. December
6. September
5. April
4. May
3. June
2. August
1. July

Nothing bet Montréal in the summer. Nothing. Not heroin, sex (though it's the perfect time to get plenty), sports, music, films, arts, being healthy (though it helps), poutine, video games, Facebook, squishing your own fruit to make juice, good-hearted people, traveling, sleeping in, sleepless nights, nothing.

April edges September because the specter of hockey playoffs beats a plethora of birthdays just because I'd rather it start getting warm than start getting cold - though the end result is the same (cotton hoodies or jackets over your t-shirt), it's better when you're subtracting a layer rather than adding. It's reverse-math. That's the same reason why November lost to January and didn't make the cut: the ''cold November rain'' Axl Rose was talking about? It just proves there is no God: it smelled like winter, feels like water, but freezes you up at the slightest bit of wind worse than your worst breakup ever did.

And don't get me started on February, despite it being the shortest month, it's the coldest by far. And I mean sub-sub-sub-zero temperatures, the type that make your home heater explode, that literally freezes your eyeballs and makes Hoth seem like a Hawaiian vacation. You know how most beauty pagent wanna-bes would wish for peace on earth? A smart person would wish for February hibernation for mankind.

Video Of The Week: The Pack A.D.

I was all set to feature a cheesy 1980s video this week when I learned that a band I really like and whom I have seen 5 times in concert had released a brand-new video to set up the release of their next record early next year (well, 5 or 6 weeks from now), The Pack A.D.

They hail from Vancouver, BC and, because they're a two-piece, have often been compared to The White Stripes (of course), The Kills (more understandably), and The Black Keys (hopefully not lately), though I'd put their brand of garage rock closer to the likes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (though cleaner), where, sure, the riffs abound, but they're packed with a dark bass-level ''full'' sound that works wonders with singer Becky Black's clean and pitch-perfect voice, one that is slightly reminiscent of Elastica's Justine Frischmann.

In concert, the duo exhibit a fierceness and edge like you'd expect, but also a dry sense of humour the British would love. I was somewhat surprised to learn they'd jumped from small indie label Mint Records to the bigger Nettwerk for this release, but perhaps it's a step they needed to make to move from playing bars with 100 standing-room only places to the 1,500-3,000-people places they should be in and would fill out easily - both in crowd capacity and largeness of sound.

Without further ado, from Do Not Engage (January 2014), Big Shot:

Today's Hypocritical Republican: Trey Radel

Motherfucker, it happened again.

This time, his name is Trey Radel. His main gripe was welfare and food stamp recipients, or so we thought, and he wanted them all to have to test for drugs to receive government help and services.

He's a GOP Congressman, whose salary is paid by the government. He just got caught buying cocaine from an undercover cop, and has resigned.

Don't get me wrong - I'm happy he got caught.

But these fucking Republicans with their holier-than-thou causes always seem to get caught doing that very thing they were most against.

Hypocrites, the lot of 'em!

I tell ya, when one of them wants to outlaw something, just watch them closely for a year or two... they're the ones they're really afraid of.

Rob Ford / Chris Farley Mashup

The only bit missing is Rob Ford, (warning of) living in a van, down by the river...



... well, and Ford's most recent magical quotes, such as the one where he has plenty to eat at home.

Expozine Last Weekend

I was hit with a flu this weekend, which stopped me from doing many things I had planned, including attending this year's edition of Expozine, the annual get-together of independent publishers in fields as varied as poetry, graphic design, calligraphy, comics, fanzines and many others.

A lot of my friends were there on both sides of the tables - selling and buying, learning and meeting new creative people, including the sometimes illustrator of my music singles AMM (Anne-Marie Martino), whose recent comics collaboration is this:

Also there was whiz designer Kevin Lo, who displayed his famous Wu-Tang Clan C.R.E.A.M. diptych, letterpress printed in gold ink on thick black cardstock:

Now that's postmodern genius.