Favorite Movies - 2005 edition. Last year I had the dilemma of selecting either Temptation or Incredibles as my favorite movie and I yielded entertainment to a truly excellent movie with a great message. This year, entertainment and an excellent message combine in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. That's my movie of the year.

Other favorites:

2. Cinderella Man. Terrific Movie -- even if it didn't have the wonderful comeback and rise, the portrayal of the Great Depression was one of the best I've seen.

3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- this is my favorite of the HP series (to date). Unfortunately, the movie does not live up to the written story. For one thing, too much had to be cut out -- really, this could've been broken into two movies. Second, the guy who plays Dumbledore, Michael Gambon, is way over the top at times -- just out of control. The rest of the time he seems to be channeling William Shatner. He's completely wrong for the character.

4. Batman Begins. Finally gets it right. Except for all the hokey oriental stuff.

5. March of the Penguins. Nice.

6. Walk the Line. Good movie about the descent of Johnny Cash. It's sad to think about how he threw away his marriage. Great acting.

7. The Great Raid. This makes the list based on being a terrific true story.

8. Munich. I'll have to say more about this later -- it was very well done, but also very frustrating. Slips away from the true story into being manipulative propaganda. More later.

9. Because of Winn-Dixie. A kids movie that was actually watchable by all. Again, pretty good acting.


Movies I haven't seen, but would probably like:

• Pride & Prejudice
• Dreamer
• Millions
• Crash
• The Gospel
• Bride and Prejudice
  

Two Disappointments:

• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith