Top 5 Non-2005 Films of the Year

This is a list of films that I saw for the first times this year even though they were made and released before 2004.

Napoleon Dynamite

Released at the Sundance Festival 2004 and edited on the producers' Mac, this film is marmite: people either love it or loathe it. Thankfully, the majority of people I've shown it to got it and loved it. Essentially a series of short clips, strung together into a feature length film, it acts as a window into the life of geeky outcast Napoleon. At high school a backwards Iowa town, still living in the 80s, Napoleon hates school. Living at home with his grandmother and 32-year old brother, Kip (who spends his days "chatting to babes online"), his life starts to change with a visit from local weirdo Deb, the arrival of Pedro - a new student from Mexico. When Napoleon's grandmother is injured in a freak dune-buggy accident, their '82-obsessed Uncle Rico arrives to "look after" the boys. Although it gets off to a slow start and some of the early gags don't quite hit home, once the film gets going some of the set-ups such as taking Pedro's bike off a "sweet jump", Napoleon's art "skills", Kip and Rico's money-making demonstrations, "Pedro's protection" and the time machine. Even though Napoleon starts off the film being pretty obnoxious, by the end, we are really rooting for him and as the picture fades to the strains of When in Rome's The Promise, we feel satisfied that Napoleon has made some genuine progress and jokes set up early on in the film such as Rex and his Rex-Kwan-Do system pay off. Despite some suggesting that the film actively promotes Mormon values, this is a very sweet film - things such as Pedro's naivete that cause him to shave his hair and Napoleon's desire to help out Pedro in the presidential race no matter what. It's especially nice as it's a film that cost only $40,000 to make (with the main star Jon Heder earning only $1000) and broke though by word of mouth alone. After the initial success, an epilogue was filmed later and the 10 minutes sequence cost half as much again as the rest of the film. The film grossed $40m in the US alone.

Garden State

Another Sundance premiered film. This one was written and directed by Scrubs star Zach Braff. I've already mentioned the fantastic soundtrack and it fits the film so well. The film deals with Andrew "Large" Largeman - guy in his mid 20s whose life is completely numb due to the large number of drugs prescribed to him by his father. He lives alone in LA in a completely sterile world. Although he had success in films earlier in life he now waits at a Vietnamese restaurant. When is father calls to tell him his mother has died, he decides to stop taking his medication. As his mother's funeral winds down, so does his lack of feeling. He reintegrates himself with his childhood friends who have had variety of interesting lives, although they still reside in their small childhood town.
He soon meets Sam (Natalie Portman), a girl who is everything he isn't. The 2 of them seek acceptance in each other. Their relationship slowly builds throughout the film until they finally get together over a Simon and Garfunkel track that blends into the gentle beauty of Iron and Wine's cover of Such Great Hights in a manner similar to Donnie and Gretchen in 2001's Donnie Darko. The film acts as a metaphor; as Large comes back to full consciousness you can draw parallels with slowly realising that you have no idea how you got to where you are in life, but that it's never to late to "explore the infinite abyss". At one point Large asks Sam, "You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone." - it strikes a chord with me. Although I technically still live at "home" with my parents, it doesn't feel like home anymore - that idea is gone. He continues, "it just sort of happens one day and it's just gone. And you can never get it back. It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist...You won't have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something." Despite all this the films manages some very comedic moments - from Large be written on as he is passed out to his fear of dogs. Despite being a rookie director, Braff draws out fantastic performances from his cast to create a moving, genuine and beautiful film. The end has drawn criticism, but really the film couldn't have been ended any other way after Large's experiences. The only problem is the lack of depth given to Gideon, Large's estranged father; more scenes were filmed, but only feature as deleted scenes on the DVD. Do yourself a favour and watch this film.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

The first of 2 Miyazaki films in this list. Originally conceived in the late 70s, Miyazaki failed to get funding for his project as the film wasn't based on manga. Miyazaki went away and created a manga series for Nausicaa which took off. The next time he went to get funding the project was green lit and in 1984 Nausicaa was released to expectant Japanese fans. In the aftermath of the film's release Miyazaki set up the now-renowned Studio Ghibli with his friend and mentor Isao Takahata. Nausicaa only saw the light of day in the West in a butchered version called Warriors of the Wind. Finally in 2005, the DVD of the original untampered-with film was released in the West with a newly recorded English dub featuring the likes of Patrick Stewart, Uma Thurman and Alison Lohman. In the distant future, civilisation was destroyed by the seven warriors during the "seven days of fire". The world is left covered by a toxic jungle guarded by giant insects with small groups of humans surviving wherever they can. One such haven is the Valley of the Wind which is protected from the toxic spores that spread the jungle by the winds that flow through the valley. As with all Miyazaki's film there is a strong theme of aviation throughout the film as we follow the adventures of Princess Nausicaa as she tries to help her people when 2 rival warring kingdoms arrive at the Valley, both intent on reviving one of the soldiers to destroy the jungle and insects and reclaim the Earth for mankind.
Using a retrofuture that would resurface in 1986's Laputa: Castle in the Sky (despite the medieval landscapes, giant flying machines exist), Miyazaki crafts a fantastic tale. He refuses to create stereotypical bad guys - in the minds of the invaders are thoughts of destroying the jungles to allow mankind to come back from the brink of destruction, the story twists as foes become friends and Miyazaki's breathtaking animation infuses a superb sense of freedom and space for the airborne sequences and sense of awe as the rebirth of the warrior draws close. The theme of man versus nature would be revisited in 1997 with the release of Mononoke Hime. A very 80s soundtrack is provided courtesy of long-time Miyazaki collaborator Joe Hisaishi. If you want to see how a film can draw you in until you forget it is animated, then watch this film.

Howl's Moving Castle

Another Miyazaki release. This first saw the light in 2004 in Japan and finally reached these shores in September. Although this was easily the best animation of the year, it was the first Miyazaki film that felt like Miyazaki-by-numbers. The thing I've loved about Studio Ghibli's output is how varied it is - we've had films about the environment (Nausicaa/Mononoke Hime), an Indiana Jones style fantastic adventure (Laputa), coming of age tales (Kiki's Delivery Sevice, Whisper of the Heart and Spirited Away), heartbreaking adaptions (Grave of the Fireflies), the freedom and romanticism of flight (Porco Rosso), illustrations of Japanese life (My Neighbours the Yamadas), films that simply capture the imagination, magic and innocence of childhood (My Neighbour Totoro) and, er, a film about shape-shifting tanooki and their testicles (Pom Poko). Howl's Moving Castle ticks all the Miyazaki boxes; a shy, unassuming heroine, a roguish protagonist and his sidekick who share a secret history, baddies who turn out to be not that bad and a fantastic environment with a bit a flying thrown in for good measure. Perhaps it's because it's adapted from a book, perhaps it's because it followed the similarly themed Spirited Away or maybe simply because I've only seen the English dub (although as with all the new Ghibli English dubs, this was overseen by Pixar).
No doubt the Japanese version of Calcifer would have been more restrained than Billy Crystal (who was a lot better than I expected) the same way that Phil Hartman's Jiji in Kiki's Delivery Service significantly alters the outcome of that film. The resolution to the war is almost laughable in how it comes about (it involves the scarecrow). But there is something so moving and wonderful about all Miyazaki's work that these problems are easily overlooked. The scene where Sophie must climb a large staircase with the Witch of the Waste is fantastic. The undoubted star of the show though is the castle itself - again part of a Victorian retrofuture - and Calcifer, the flame spirit that powers the castle. The film is so enjoyable that it enchanted me and my housemates. To say it is a below-par Ghibli film, it still beats anything put out by Disney and Dreamworks in many years. In fact, the only animation studio that can match Ghibli is John Lassiter's Pixar. If you haven't already, see this film - unless you are completely dead inside you will be charmed and won over with ease.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 1st GiG

This is a bit of a cheat because this is actually a boxset of a TV series, but it is so fantastic that it deserved a place on the list. Utilising the same set-up as the film Ghost in the Shell, but in an alternative timeline, the show follows Public Security Section 9 - a secret division of the government. In a future where man has become integrated with technology, body and brain augmentations are common and the majority of Section 9 are full cyborgs - their bodies replaced with heavy duty "shells". The only remaining human aspect of them is their ghost - essentially their human spirit. In this world people can communicate telepathically over the net, brains can be hacked and cyberterorism is the source of most of section 9's problems.
All the members from the film, Kusanagi, Batou, Ishikawa and the relatively human Togusa and section chief Aramaki return in addition to some new characters who are developed over the series including a sniper with a cybernetically enhanced eye that can be hooked up to GPS to gain superhuman accuracy. The stars of the show (and their own mini-postcredit show) are the Tachicomas - small AI driven tanks. At the start of the series they are child-like; eager to learn about the world they "live" in, but at the same time fiercely loyal and quick to dish out lethal force if so ordered. The Stand Alone Complex title refers to the nature of the series. Like such western shows as The X-Files and Buffy, the series contains sand alone episodes and complex episodes which form the major series arc. At the same time the characters (especially the Tachicomas) develop over the entire season arc. The stand alone episodes range from action oriented missions such as a hostage rescue, the storming of a terrorist hideout and chasing of a runaway tank, to more character based episodes and even entire episodes given over to the tachicomas becoming self-aware. The complex episodes link together in to build up in a similar way to Fox's 24. Told from the point of view of Togusa (who apart from some minor brain augmentations to allow him to contact the team is entirely human). It starts out with the team uncovering a surveillance conspiracy in the police force and soon becomes linked to the Laughingman incident - a kidnapping by a skilled hacker of the president of a large biotech firm some years earlier. The hacker hacked into bystanders eye's to conceal his identity with a logo and the phrase "I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes" from Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. The plot escalates to unravel a conspiracy that certain people will go to any lengths to cover up the truth behind the incident. The intrigue is frequently broken by exciting action sequences featuring the extensive section 9 hardware.
Initially it may not seem that accessible - the first episode throws viewers in at the deep end and explains things later on. The complex episodes too, are exactly that, yet never suffer from the outrageous twists of 24. Whilst the film and it's 2004 follow-up - Innocence - are based around what it means to be humans and the dangers of merging with technology, the series puts these topics on the back burner only allowing them to surface at key moments during the series. The music is sublime and perfectly complements the lush visuals. The opening credits are fully CG animated, but rest assured that the episodes themselves are done with traditional animation. As mentioned, the episodes are followed by a short called Tachicoma Days where the lovable Tachicomas perform an on going skit based on the contents of the episode.
The 26 episodes fly by. There is a gap in the complex story in the middle but it returns at the end building up to a fantastic conclusion, although since the episodes are only 25 minutes, the final episode is fairly subdued with most of the action having occurred in the previous 2 episodes. A second series: 2nd GiG has been aired in Japan and a 3rd series is eagerly awaited. The complete boxset of the 1st GiG is available for only £30 and is definitely worth a look.

Tomorrow I'll put up the top 5 films of 2005. If you are interested by the films of Studio Ghibli, then please check out Nausicaa.net for much more information and news.