HERE ARE MY TOP FILMS OF 2005 IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
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Michael Haneke "Hidden" (france)
Wong Kar-Wai "The Hand" (china)
Tsai Ming-Liang "Wayward Cloud" (taiwan)
Hirokazu Koreda "Nobody Knows" (japan)
Ingmar Bergmann "Saraband" (sweden)
Jia Zhangke-Ke "The World" (china)
Hiroshi Teshigahara "Face of Another"/"Man Without a Map"/"Pitfall"
(Re-released adaptations of Kobo Abe from the 60's - first time subtitled in English) (japan)
Paolo Sorrentino "Consequences of Love" (italy)
Aleksander Sokurov "The Sun" (russia)
Miranda July "Me & You & Everyone We Know" (usa) - (actually enjoyed it - surprise!)
David Croenenberg "History of Violence" (usa)
... a coupla films I have been waiting for have yet to show up stateside, so I'm sure that this is a less informed list than it could be. Wong Kar-Wai's "2046" was finally released over here after a year long delay thanks to Sony Pictures Classics, so that was on my list from last year. Otherwise this was another pretty darn stimulating year in Cinema. If Haneke's "Hidden" is coming to a town near you in this next month - Make sure not to miss it!
Oh, what the hell. Here's a few Television Series I watched on DVD and was pleasantly surprised by:
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Ghost in the Shell "Stand Alone Complex - First Season" (actual, good anime that explores the cyper-sociology and politics of the future civilization in ways that go beyond the surface - with a well formed resolution at the end!)
Carnivale "First Season" (Wow. Depression period drama about a traveling carnival with Masonic/Rosecrutian connections- pretty cool. Really well shot and edited.)
Firefly "Complete First Season - before the dimwits at Fox Cancelled it" (Damn. This was seriously some of the most original, consistent quality and believable Sci-Fi I have seen in a veeerrry long time - with spaceships and lasers even.)
