@ The Movies: Top 10 In 2005

Another year of movies, and another tough challenge of whittling a list down to the 10 best. This year's list actually cites 11 movies, but as you read on, you'll see why. Thanks for reading our movie coverage over the past year. See you @ The Movies in 2006!

10. "King Kong" "Lord of the Rings" auteur Peter Jackson's imaginative vision of the classic beauty and the beast story is a breathtaking cinematic achievement -- a feat only tempered by it's exhaustive 3-hour running time.

The first and third acts, set in 1930s New York, each have a classic movie aura about them, punctuated by the classic movie-star look and feel of stars Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody and Jack Black. It's only the second act where the film takes a dive: If Jackson had only shortened a "Jurassic Park"-like visit to Kong's home Skull Island by a half-hour, the film would have found a much-higher spot on this list.

Making up for any misgivings is film's climactic scene atop the Empire State Building, one of the most breathtaking scenes seen on film in years.

9. "March Of The Penguins" The year's biggest surprise comes to us from the frozen barrens of Antarctica, where Luc Jacquet and his team of documentary filmmakers trace the footsteps of a group of Emperor Penguins as they make their yearly 70-mile trek (that's a long way to walk, if you're a waddling penguin) to meet their mates.

The resilience these creatures show to protect the egg of their new mate is a true lesson of love, as they face without hesitation the worst of the South Pole's elements. If humans had a hundredth of these creatures' dedication, the world would no doubt be a much better place.

Adding an extra layer to the film's warmth is the natural storytelling prowess of actor Morgan Freeman, who does the narration for the U.S. release of the film.

8. "Crash" Not all of the pieces come completely together at the end of "Crash," a riveting tale of racism and redemption written and directed by "Million Dollar Baby" scribe Paul Haggis -- but it's an impressive piece of work nonetheless. The film follows the separate paths of a racially diverse cast of characters during a day in Los Angeles and how their lives eventually intersect.

The film demonstrates how you can indeed have multiple storylines and maintain a cohesive narrative, unlike the confusing and horribly over-rated "Syriana" (some high-brow critics tried to justify the film's confused, multi-layered plot as an allegory to the confusion of the players in the corrupt game of global oil -- I'll buy that argument this time, but let's see if they give a pass to the next "confusing" film they see).

Don't get me wrong, I really wanted "Syriana" to work; but its self-indulgent need to solely make an artistic statement -- thus alienating Joe moviegoer and blowing a big opportunity to make a real statement -- was a big mistake. "Crash," on the other hand, proved it could mix art with realism.

7. "The Jacket" A vastly under-appreciated thriller from early 2005, "The Jacket" is a classic mind-bender of a tale that delivers the kind of creepy intensity and intrigue that hearkens such cult classics as "Jacob's Ladder" and the Bruce Davison version of "The Lathe of Heaven."

Adrien Brody stars as Jack, a Desert Storm veteran who suffers amnesia after being shot in the head in action. Upon his return home, he's a lost soul, and is eventually convicted of a crime he can't remember. Landing in a mental institution, Jack falls prey to sadistic doctor (Kris Kristofferson), who conducts experiments on him that leads to travels through time that could change the past, and ultimately, the future.

In addition to another impressive star turn by Brody, Keira Knightley shows a stunning amount of range as a woman Jack had connections to in the past. Full of interesting twists and turns, "The Jacket" is great film that should never have been hung out to dry.

6. "Batman Begins" Holy makeover, Robin! Writer-director Christopher Nolan gave the Caped Crusader a much-needed makeover in what promises to be a long lasting re-birth of the movie franchise.

Christian Bale gives a daunting performance as the Bruce Wayne/Batman, as Nolan peers hard into the past incidents that led Wayne to becoming the Darkest of the Dark Knights we've screen on the big screen yet.

Even though it's loaded with spectacular supporting players including Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine, Nolan is the true star of the film, concocting an ingenious doomsday scenario not involving some stereotypical weapon of mass destruction, but self-destruction -- propelled by an intense climate of paranoia and fear.

5. "Corpse Bride"/"Wallace & Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit" This year's list is the first in many that I haven't featured a computer-animated film -- and for right reason. Sure, "Madagascar," "Robots" and "Chicken Little" were entertaining, but due to the over-abundance of films in the genre, the magic is wearing thin.

Transversely, the puppet-driven "Corpse Bride" and clay-animated "Wallace and Gromit" each show that there is still plenty of life left in the stop-motion animation trade, as the films not only deliver original and entertaining stories, but memorable characters that somehow make you believe they've come to life (or death, in the case of "Corpse Bride") on screen.

Of course, it helps when you have two geniuses at the helm of each project in Tim Burton ("Corpse Bride") and Nick Park ("Wallace and Gromit"), two filmmakers who solidified their places in film history with these two, well, moving, offerings.

4. "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge Of The Sith" Writer-director George Lucas finally gets revenge on critics and fans who unmercifully knocked his first two prequels by building an indestructible bridge to the classic "Star Wars" trilogy.

The special effects are top-notch, as expected, but Lucas surprises with an emotionally satisfying storyline about the degree people will go to protect the ones they love, and weaves in some Shakespearean elements, to boot.

Hayden Christensen makes the role of Anakin his own after a shaky start in the second prequel, and the final transformation scene from the fallen Jedi knight into the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader -- particularly when the iconic black mask is put into place -- will go down as one of the most memorable moments in cinematic history.

3. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" Tim Burton's kaleidoscopic interpretation of Roald Dahl's classic children's book was the first of two tasty offerings from the imaginative director in 2005. It's another classic pairing of the quirky director and his frequent star Johnny Depp, who takes another risk by going completely out on a limb -- and delivering another brilliant performance -- as the enigmatic candy-maker who opens his palace up to five children for a competition.

The story is familiar, of course, thanks to the Gene Wilder version -- but Burton gives a new spin to the tale and exists of four of the five children that's wilder than ever, thanks to the insanely funny tunes of composer Danny Elfman and the multiple performances of Deep Roy as the Oompa Loompas.

2. "Munich" Separate criticisms for being both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian notwithstanding, director Steven Spielberg proves far and away that, as a filmmaker, he's simply the best at his craft with "Munich."

An intense look at the aftermath of the 1972 tragedy at the Munich Olympics where 11 Israeli athletes were kidnapped and murdered by Palestinian terrorists, the film boasts impressive turns by Eric Bana, Geoffrey Rush and future James Bond star Daniel Craig.

As a work of cinema, "Munich" plays much like a classic 1970s revenge thriller, as Bana leads a group of covert Israeli Mossad agents to hunt down and kill the Black September members responsible for the Munich tragedy. But the fact that it's based on true events -- and the resulting criticisms from Israelis and Palestinian -- makes the story and it's aftermath all the more compelling.

1. "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" Why Warner Bros. wasn't game to hang tough with this movie and release it wide after playing on only a few hundred screens in the fall, makes "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" the biggest cinematic mystery of 2005.

A wickedly funny noir film that turns the gumshoe genre on its ear, "Kiss Kiss" has the edginess of "Pulp Fiction" and the inside-Hollywood feel of "Get Shorty," yet defines itself as a genre-busting action-suspense comedy that is clearly one of the most original films of the year.

Complimenting the film's razor-sharp script and dizzying direction (both by "Lethal Weapon" creator Shane Black) is a hilarious turn by Robert Downey Jr. as Harry, a New York thief who literally stumbles into the madness of Hollywood when he's offered the part of a detective in a big film while on the run from the cops. But Downey isn't the only star of "Kiss Kiss" -- Val Kilmer gives a career performance as a real detective who gets caught up in a real-life murder mystery that Harry finds himself a part of thanks to an old crush (Michelle Monaghan) from his hometown.

Had this film been given the proper exposure, not only would have audiences seen these great performances would also have discovered relative newcomer Monaghan as Hollywood's Next Big Thing. Don't hesitate one second when "Bang Bang" is locked and loaded for DVD.