A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. ~Maya Angelou

Back in 2004 I read Kevin Smith's list of movies he'd seen that year. I really liked the idea so I borrowed it and started my own list back in January, 2005. To document the whole year, I started the monthly tradition of posting a list of movies (and sometimes other entertainment-related shows) that I had seen on my web journal, usually placing my thoughts in italics or parenthesis.

Here is that year long project's fruit:

• Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (First time seeing this fun event.)
• Harold & Kumar go to White Castle (Great film. Fresh. Funny.)
• Some Kind of Monster (Metallica documentary. Fan-film turned real-film.)
• Shawn of the Dead (One of my favorites. We originally saw it in theater. Tagline says it all: Romantic Comedy. With Zombies.)
• Girl Next Door (Sweet film, from what I hear: in the style of Risky Business.)
• Love, Actually (Wonderful film about love. Great characters in terribly sad, joyous, silly, breath-taking, sweet scenarios.)
• Terminator 2 (The show which the governor of California pulls lines from for all his speeches.)
• Versus (A show with zombie ninjas. 'Nuf said.)
• Napolean Dynamite (You'll find yourself shocked; you want to be like Napolean. That is until you identify that feeling and are suddenly filled with horror.)
• Bourne Identity (Jason Bourne does things you wish you could... with a pen.)
• Bourne Supremacy (Jason Bourne gets revenge and some answers... with a scope.)
• Seasons 1 & 2 of The Office (A show amazingly well done and perfect in its length. A must see for anyone currently in or having been in an office.)
• Season 1 of Smallville (A show about an amazing man, Tom Welling. And something about the origins of Superman.)
• Ring 2 (Not as unexpected as the original, The Ring. Therefore not as charming. Still good.)
• Season 1 of Aquateen Hunger Force (A milkshake, some fries, and some meat. I’m so glad they really aren’t supposed to be saving the world.)
• Butterfly Effect (Ashton isn’t that awesome.)
• Down With Love (A quirky flashback at early 60’s movies. Touching on taboo subjects without making a big deal about them.)
• Sin City (Robert Rodriguez said it best: He didn't want to make a comic book movie, he wanted to make a movie a comic book.)
• Closer (Four people deperately trying to figure out their relationships, fucking up, losing it and trying to make good.)
• Smallville: Season 2 (Perfect jewel-like moments of brilliance scattered amongst some dull life-less episodes.)
• Smallville: Season 3 (A most vigorating season, making me look forward to the next.)
• Star Wars 1, 2, 3, 4 (...)
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (It wasn't as terrible as most everyone said, nor was it a great film. It was good. Simply, okay.)
• Risky Business (The movie that placed Cruise securely on his rocket ship to stardom... and I just can't see why.)
• A Series of Unfortunate Events (An adorable movie, making me want to read the books.)
• Batman Begins (I have great hope for Batman movies again, if they follow in the same style as this one.)
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Brad and Angelina make a great spy couple. Totally dug the fun.)
• Land of the Dead (Was I suppose to feel simpathy for the zombies? 'Cuz I did.)
• Howl's Moving Castle (This movie made me feel special for taking the time to view it.)
• X-Men (Storm's line wasn't as bad as I remembered and Wolverine's bike ride was too formula.)
• War of the Worlds (Great effects, wonderful destruction and when they say extermination, they mean extermination.)
• The Haunted Mansion Thoroughly disappointed in what could have been a scary, sweet movie... instead, it was garbage, filth, slime, putresence... wait, what am I talking about. This show didn't have a chance.
• The Incredibles Most excellent super-hero story, just right for adults and children.
• Volume 2: Aquateen Hunger Force It just gets funnier and funnier!
• The Island Ewan is cute, as always, and Scarlett is shaping up to be quite the blockbuster actress. Nice romp of a movie.
• Dark Waters This movie rode a fine line of independant versus big budget film. Beautiful and eerie, the movie's big budget went towards advertising the movie incorrectly.
• Fantastic Four With so many great stories they could have pulled from, how could it have gone so wrong?!
• X2 (X-Men: 2) After watching Fantastic Four- Must. Cleanse. Palate. A good super-hero movie was necessary.
• Crash A preachy story of racism. Rampent racism from many races for many races.
• Finding Neverland An adorable movie with a simple and bittersweet story.
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I dug it all, even the loathed Oompa Loompas and Depp's aquired-taste Wonka.
• The Punisher What can I say, he punishes and punishes well.
• Battle Royale A story of a 9th grade class forced to fight each other on an island until only one stands. We watched it in japanese, no subtitles. I loved this movie, maybe because of that.
• Mystery Men The cast of misfit funny actors play a team of misfit superheroes. A classic.
• March of the Penguins Bet you didn't know penguins' lives were so epic?
• Murderball Quadrapalegics? Playing rugby? This (and their whole eye-opening lives) I gotta see.
• Wedding Crashers The actors are what make this film. The awe-shucks and fast-talking leads don't need any premise to bring us in.
• Mighty Wind A mockumentary of folk music. Need I say more?
• Stargate An older film that follows cliche storylines. It's good.
• The 40 Year Old Virgin Yes, there are cliches in this movie- but remarkably, it isn't about those.
• Red Eye Lead woman becomes the hinge of an assassination attempt. Lead man/villain is psychotic and ~hot~.
• John Carpenter's The Thing Can an 80's suspense/horror still stand up to our modern day, sophisticated tastes? Yes, but not because of the effects. It's because of the universal and over riding feeling of paranoia that permeates every centimeter of film.
• The Brothers Grimm A fun and inevitable fiction about the Brothers Grimm. From 'Once upon a time' to 'and they lived happily, ever after'. Not so good.
• Songcatcher This tale of a validation doesn't validate. If it were a song, it would be sweet but tuneless.
• Mark Twain Tonight! I can't believe this was created in 1967. The stressed points (though aimed at the racially charged US of the 60s) still speaks directly to us today, particularly regarding the war we are currently fighting.
• Once Upon a Time in Mexico - The first time I watched this I didn't fully appreciate the nationalism. Or my beloved Johnny Depp.
• The Aristrocrats - Proof that the simplest ideas can also be the most complex- and the most rewarding. Make a movie about a joke? You must be crazy! Yeah, crazy like a fox.
• Saw -Wasn't all that great. I did like the way it got in the viewers head. "Would you...?"
• Eurotrip - Why do I ever doubt AAP? He was right- it was great.
• Dodgeball - Sometimes you get exactly what was advertised. Lighthearted silliness.
• Mark of the Avenger - An old black and white western- when men were men and women were footstools.
• Cabin Fever - Perhaps the worst movie. Evah.
• Dawn of the Dead (remake) - I just realized I like this version over the original- like a lot.
• NBT: Never Been Thawed - In the tradition of Kevin Smith, a story of odd collectors.
• Reality Bites - I saw this perhaps a million years ago originally, didn't remember much- this time I wanted to slap some of the characters upside the head because I identified so much with Ben Stiller's older-acting character.
• Ghost in the Shell II: Innocence - Gorgeous animated movie. Thoughtful.
• Serenity - Yes, I'm a fan. Still doesn't stop the fact that it was really good.
• Season 4: Smallville
• Finished rewatching all of Firefly
• Whole season of PBS' Colonial House
• Serenity- (Watched it twice in October making it a grand total of three viewings. Looking back at it, I still think it was an excellent film.)
• Doom- (When a film is worse than the lowest expectations, you know- down to your core- it was bad. I warn you: Be ye not so foolish.)
• The Fog (2005)- (It had a shower scene with Tom Welling. Perfect for a Nomad. Seriously, the film was alright. Not fantastico, not food poisoning.)
• The Crow: Wicked Prayer- (I like to consider this the end of my Tom Welling sandwich. Two slices of crap with a tasty morsel nestled between.)
• Gangs of New York- (Loved it. I was all over the main "villain"'s- (supurb acting, by the way)- accent.)
• Fright Night The bad guy in this movie played Prince Humperdinck in the Princess Bride and I couldn't stop the association.
• Be Cool The sequal to Get Shorty wasn't as refreshing but was still mmm...okay, especially because of Dwayne- I mean, The Rock.
• Jarhead Great storytelling. Good acting. Beautiful film-work. Not political.
• Strange Days Even though this movie's timeline technically happens in the past, it was originally set in the future but it maintains a feeling of gritty, realistic futurism. And damn, why haven't black female actresses been given more lead roles?!
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Love is being reminded again and again of why you fell in love in the first place...
• D.E.B.S. *cough* ... I wanted it to be good. The idea was campy enough to work. Alas, stretching a 12 minutes premise into a 91-minute movie doesn't.
• 50 First Dates So good. Unbelievably sweet. I was thinking about it most of the next day. That's saying a lot for a Happy Madison production.
• The Warriors eh. and uh, hm... I can see why it's a cult classic.
• Sci-Fi's Dune mini-series on DVD I'm glad I watched it but can't really recommend it. Like they say, read the book.
• Seasons 1 & 2 of Arrested Development So. Very. Good. A tight, smart comedy!

December's additions:

• King Kong (2006) I found myself thinking about this film for days afterward and to me, that's a sign of a good movie. Sweet and full-bodied.
• Jesus is Magic! The Sarah Silverman movie. It didn't feel full enough to be a movie yet I enjoyed the premise; an impromptu comedy stage show about Silverman.
  
• Unleashed I feel sheepish trying to explain the level of innocense found amid this kung fu/family movie. Beautifully filmed. Remarkably acted.
  
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy This being the second time I saw it this year, I have comments above. This time I'll comment on the DVD: Not as expansive as you would think but there are two notable Really Deleted-deleted scenes that are a real, refreshing treasure.
• The Jerk I originally saw this film when I was very young and could only recall a couple scenes and that my parents loved it. Upon watching it this month and with adult eyes, Adam Sandler, Tom Greene and other child-like character actors owe quite a bit to Steve Martin.
• Stand By Me Did you know I had a crush on Wheaton when he was on Star Trek: The Next Generation? He was a cute little kid too. The movie did a good job of balancing sentiment (up until the end, where it was a bit too nostalgic, a frequent problem with these types of movies) with the awkward and frequent cruelty of childhood.