Lists, 12/24.

Here we roll into the canon round. The results of the Village Voice's "Take 7" are up and the New York Times critics have made their lists. "It is impossible to predict which of the many fine movies released in 2005 will still claim our attention 10 years - or even 10 weeks - from now," writes the NYT's AO Scott, but all these titles and numbers are early contributions towards deciding just that. Though Scott's list isn't numbered, there is a best here, The Best of Youth, "an intellectual as well as an emotional feast, with dozens of superb performances." Then "20 second-best movies of 2005" follow the top ten.

"Was this a good year for the movies or what?" asks Manohla Dargis, whose list is even less list-like than Scott's. Before taking on that critic's duty, in fact, she addresses what the year will truly be remembered for, the "paradigm shift, encompassing how movies are produced - the new technologies, the complex financial deals - and how they are consumed.... Whatever you think of the state of the art and the health of the industry, there is no denying that the experience of moviegoing has changed as radically as our perception of what the movies mean to our lives." Specific movies do get mentioned and mentioned best in the accompanying audio slide show.

Stephen Holden's top ten and his ten runners-up are listed alphabetically, but like Manohla Dargis, he pays particular attention to Brokeback Mountain in that audio slide show.

That A History of Violence would come out on top in the Voice poll is hardly a surprise, but that its score would separate it so decisively from #2, 2046, is. There'll be more to say about all this when the essays and commentary appears on the site on Tuesday, but another clear winner should be mentioned: Heath Ledger, for his performance in Brokeback; the supporting performance category shows a much tighter race. One more to note: look at those docs.

Video Watchdog's DVD of the year? King Kong. Seven smartly annotated lists from the mag's editors and contributors. Good reading - and watching.

Geoffrey Kleinman at DVD Talk: "DVD continued to experience explosive growth in 2005, but despite that fact a number of phenomenal films never got picked up for either theatrical or DVD distribution." His list of "the best films you've haven't been able to see this year" includes The Puffy Chair, I Am a Sex Addict and Police Beat.

Also: DVD Savant (aka Glenn Erickson) picks the ten "most impressive" DVDs of the year. His #1: Danger: Diabolik. Several honorable mentions follow. And the Anime Talk team chooses its top ten. #1: Samurai 7.

Grady Hendrix presents "Kaiju Shakedown's List of the Best of Asian Film in 2005," beginning with: "Best Movie: Korean Madness. It's short, it's funny, it's like Kamikaze Girls meets Hana & Alice with better choreography than Rent, The Producers and Perhaps Love all put together. You can go watch it here."

The Guardian launches a "2005 in review" special.

Ingmar Bergman's Saraband tops Jeffrey M Anderson's year-end list at Combustible Celluloid.

Father Geek's got 25 at AICN.

In the Korea Herald, Yang Sung-jin has an upbeat survey of national and international returns for Korean films. Via HanCinema.

Cinematical selects the "Worst Movies" and "Best Acting Ensembles" of 2005.

Nick Rombes: "Farewell, 2005. In many ways, you were as important as 1895, when the Lumière brothers projected film for the first time for a public audience.... The paradox is that, having been given what we want, we are left with virtually nothing."

Posted by dwhudson at December 24, 2005 3:52 AM