We’ve finally reached the end of 2005, a year of both good and bad films. We’ve only seen a few original ideas unfortunately and more remakes and sequels since summer 2002. Let’s take some time to recap the films of 2005, and remember the year in film. Here’s you’re A-Z guide to the films I’ve seen in 2005.

The 40 Year-Old Virgin- The Office’s Steve Carrel gives one of the most humorous of the year, with a plot that’s both fun and outrageous keeps us the laughing the entire two hours.

The Amityville Horror- It was interesting to see Ryan Reynolds do a serious role, but I believe he should stick to humor. Remaking a film that wasn’t good to begin with isn’t a great idea.

Bad News Bears- The remake of the classic film that once again delivers a drunken coach and nasty bunch of kids doesn’t give us much to laugh at or really anything worth watching that we haven’t seen before.

Batman Begins- One of the best action films of the year, which brings forth a new age of Batman with a darker mood. Christian Bale and Michael Caine bring out the film with great performances.

Be Cool- A poor attempt for a sequel, but then again sequels aren’t always what they are cracked up to be. It was almost hard for to stay cool while a variety of poor acting and gangs infested the screen.

Bewitched- Another unnecessary remake takes a lousy plot with some interesting actors meshes them into a mediocre film with little humor and injures Kidman’s acting and continues to kill actor Ferrell.

Brokeback Mountain- A stunning masterpiece of imagery and acting, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal bring out memorable characters in this artistic homosexual love story.
Broken Flowers- Bill Murray properly exibits a serious character and mantains a lot of the humor in the film. I look forward to seeing him in future serious roles.

The Brothers Grimm- A dull colorless film about two monster-hunting con artists, a little too dark and crude for the target audience.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- A bigger more musical remake of the 70s film gives us more interesting characters and modernizes the world in which the book took place and yet still stays true to the original story.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe- A solid story with excellent acting from some unknowns that will become very well knowns, but unfortunatly there film is overly infested with metaphors that just shows lack of creativity on C.S. Lewis’ part.

Chicken Little- I believe Disney’s first post Pixar divorce film, that has the good CGI as any other film, but lacks the true heart that made Finding Nemo and the Toy Story films great.

Cinderella Man- Another Oscar-worthy performance by Russell Crowe, tells the tale of Jim Braddock and the emotional struggle of his family during the depression.

Coach Carter- One of the best MTV films to date, that really shows how the power of teamwork can be used to accomplish goals through a true story starring the cool Samuel L. Jackson.

The Constant Gardener- An amazing picture that follows Ralf Fiennes who acts Oscar-worthy and may help bring in the coveted best picture.

Crash- An important film of the year that highlights on racism and brings up many great points, one of the films you should see this year.

Cursed- Another dull werewolf flick, though this film’s special effects are so poor it is almost humorous to watch.

Dark Water- The dullest hour film of the year that brings forth no appeal whatsoever except actress Jennifer Connelly who’s performance is the only thing the film has going for it.

The Devil’s Rejects- This film is nothing but a pornographic gore-fest empty with no plot and gross characters, which you are hoping will die.

Domino- The Hollywood-ized biography of famed bounty hunter, Domino Harvey. Poor filming and use of filters is really distracting from one trying to read the crazy-moving credits.

The Dukes of Hazzard- Poor acting on all parts, more remakes equal more sadness and less plot to go around. Being that there have been so many remakes this year, this film had no plot to begin with. Yee-haw! Not!

The Exorcism of Emily Rose- A psychologically powerful film that was inspired by the last recognized exorcism by the Catholic Church starring Jennifer Carpenter as the possessed Emily. The film is a little slow, but in order to actually establish horror you must build a supporting story and this film easily accomplishes that.

The Family Stone- A great dramedy that includes an all star cast, a new storyline that may revolutionize the plots in holiday romance films.

Fever Pitch- Finally a film that highlights the struggling of the fans of the Boston Red Sox as well as film that actually gets decent acting from Jimmy Fallon.

Flightplan- Another cool claustrophobic flying film, this time starring academy award winning actress Jodie Foster and personal favorite of mine, Peter Sarsgaard.

Four Brothers- An interesting film about the closeness of family depicted through crime and separation of four different and unique siblings.

Fun with Dick and Jane- A humorless attempt at a remake starring Jim Carey and Téa Leoni attempting to run around and rob banks to pay the bills is just short of entertaining.

Guess Who- A better film than I predicted it to be, but Ashton Kutcher has a real trouble of bringing any actual humor to the screen, perhaps he should stick to a more serious role like in the Butterfly Effect, even though I still disliked that film.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire- Return to Hogwarts with the best film yet, the all star cast is back and introduces a few new, important faces. Bigger special effects, and with a PG-13 rating, it appeals to audiences of all ages.

Hide and Seek- More multi-personality horror films are doing nothing for Hollywood or shows any progress in creativity. Fanning gives us more screaming than she did in War of The Worlds and the only way she appears to be achieving in her career is by appearing in more films, not actually improving her acting.

Hitch- A better Will Smith film than I, Robot, that brings out the funny humor of the actor. As for, Eva Mendes, her character could not have been duller.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy- A film that takes of quick but meanders around in space with a lot of humor, but no solid story whatsoever. Based on BBC show.

House of Wax- Another poor attempt at a remake of a film that wasn’t good to begin with, poor acting on all levels bring our generation’s horror films to a new low.

In Good Company- Topher Grace and Dennis Quaid star in this charming film with an interesting story and good toned humor.

The Interpreter- A slow film that manages to pick up as it carries, though Nicole Kidman’s interesting character really seems to connect on screen with Sean Penn’s.

The Island- Michael Bay’s fast paced sci-fi ride, that shows little effort by the director in exhibiting a strong second half after establish a strong first.

Jarhead- An emotionally horrifying film that holds the mind and keeps the viewer watching, the film’s psychological aura makes this an entirely new breed of film.

Kingdom of Heaven- A good story, mixed with pretty boy Orlando Bloom, saved by father Liam Neeson, and raised to glory by director Ridley Scott.

King Kong- The biggest adventure of the year, at over three hours and nonstop fun and special effects, from Peter Jackson we get another super-epic.

Kung Fu Hustle- This cartoon-like martial arts adventure is a real lot of fun and you are easily able to watch it over and over again. I hear there may be a sequel as well.

Land of The Dead- Romero creates another gory zombie splatter fest that continues in the world of the dead and at least manages to hold a plot and stay true to the actual genre.

The Legend of Zorro- A true mockery of the Zorro character and any characters affiliated with him. This film is a cartoon-like mess, having Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones running around after a divorce, without much sword fighting at all.

The Longest Yard- Adam Sandler stars in the old Burt Reynolds role brings in a few laughs with Chris Rock, but unfortunately the story doesn’t flow as well as it attempted.

Lord of War- The widespread actor, Nicholas Cage stars in this dark drama about the career of an arms dealer who has a hot headed FBI agent on his tail.

Madagascar- A loud crude jungle of unfunny jokes of bad humor not exactly suitable for the targeted audience.

Man of The House- A big unnecessary teen comedy takes a bunch of teenagers and Tommy Lee Jones and they all live in one house yelling back and forth grossing each other out. Not much of a plot, not much of a movie for Jones.

March of The Penguins- An impressive documentary with colorful footage and an amazing feat in filmmaking.

Millions- A cute British film that has a lot of meaning and can be considered a memorable children’s film.

Miss Congeniality 2- Lacks the fun and heart the original gave us and just seems to be an unnecessary sequel just to see Bullock as a hardcore FBI agent once again.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith- Bad plot, bad acting, unnecessary scenes posing no establishment of the story and poor humor.

Munich- Steven Spielberg has made another masterpiece with impressive directing, strong performances and an important film, this film could bring in an award or two.

Must Love Dogs- a cute love story with appealing characters, but unfortunately gives us the same story we have seen in almost every romance film in the past five years.

The Pacifier- a poorly written film that takes action star Vin Diesel and makes him into a mockery of the tough reputation he has built up, and gives us a film where the funniest thing is when he is bitten by a duck, not trying to take care of a bunch of stubborn children. What is happening to Disney?

The Producers- With poor directing from Stroman and acting from Broderick a dark shadow is cast on this film. Though it does include an enjoyable musical soundtrack and many musical performances.
Racing Stripes- Another horse racing film in which a kid attempts to bring a down trotted horse, or this case zebra, out of depression to win some races and confront some of the child’s own personal problems. Nothing new here.

Red Eye- Rachel McAdams actually gives a film-worthy performance, after ruining her reputation in The Hot Chick. Cillian Murphy reprises his role as a villain, earlier this year in Batman Begins, and is even creepier in this Wes Craven flick.

Rent- A “rough around the edges” musical that gives us a slow introduction, but thankfully manages to pick up in the second half with some fun songs.

The Ring 2- The same story in a different place gives us nothing new except for a few mistakes on the set that are very noticeable. Hopefully King Kong will protect her from the makers of the Ring series.

Robots- A careless compilation of CGI and big names to voice, gives us the same plot we have seen thousands and times and has no real fun and humor to hold itself.

Sahara- Perhaps a role more suited to Brendan Frasier rather than Matthew McConaughey. Some poor acting from Penélope Cruz drags this film down, though perhaps t’was the writing that killed the beast.

Serenity- Quirky humor and awkward humor tries to make up for honest dialogue, but who knows, perhaps you had to actually of seen Firefly to enjoy its meaning.

Sin City- An interesting adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel series, the film has an interesting black and white look that only highlights on special moments, characters and objects. The film is absolutely wild and graphic, but loves to keep the audience on the edge of their seat.

Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants- Probably the best girls’ film of the year that combines an interesting series of subplots of love and confusion to achieve a good touching film.

The Skeleton Key- A slow creepy film about witchcraft, givess us a somewhat predictable ending that I’ve actually seen on the new Twilight Zone series. Way to be original.

Sky High- Kurt Russell is easily the only interesting character in this film that fails to deliver a plot and not exactly realistic special effects.

A Sound of Thunder- An interesting story is destroyed with poor special effects after its original production company went bankrupt; it took a piece of the film with it.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith- Special effects galore in Lucas’ final installment of the famed Star Wars saga. In exchange for great special effects we get poor acting from lead Christensen and on screen wife, Portman.

Stay- This is easily one of the most original films of the year, and another psychological favorite of mine for the year.

Stealth- An outrageous plot with some mediocre actors makes this action adventure easily forgettable. This is Jamie Foxx’s first film since Ray and unfortunately comes nowhere near as good, too bad it may affect Foxx.

Walk The Line- The biographical story of Johnny Cash’s musical career and lovesick obsession of June Carter. The story drags on for a while, but without music, it would not be able to keep the audience’s attention.

Wallace and Gromit TCTWR- a humorous feature length film of the classic duo, that keeps us entertained the whole time, both kids and adults.

War of The Worlds- Steven Spielberg’s big, bad alien film, highlights on the survival of one family and limits the perspective, keeping us interested by putting us in a realistic point of view. The special effects are interesting and powerful, the new alien war machines are like nothing we have seen before.

The Weather Man- Nicholas Cage, one of my favorite actors, demonstrates his great talent by performing a complex on-screen personality and keeps things humorous with help from Michael Caine.

Wedding Crashers- A wild senseless crude party with little plot and just Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn running about at parties, trying to get themselves laid.

The Wedding Date- Sound that sounds like it was poorly recorded distracts the viewer to the point that one can’t pay attention, though with a story that’s been constantly recycled, we’re almost glad we don’t have to pay attention.

White Noise- Starts off very creepy and realistic but turns overly Hollywood which leads to poor plot development and barely passable special effects.

Zathura- An entertaining kids film that is a semi-ripoff of the film Jumanji which is ironically made by the same company. The film is more limited and the only big name we get is Tim Robbins who only has about a combined five minutes screen time.

***Note: The year’s not over yet, so I will continue posting new films as I see them throughout the month of January!