1. The Motorcycle Diaries
Beautifully filmed, wonderfully acted and well written, this is the story of a young man who discovers that divisions of nationality, politics, race and class can be -- ought to be -- transcended for the greater good of all humanity. And in such polarized "us vs. them" times as we now live, that's a very inspiring ideal.
2. Before Sunset
Richard Linklater presents a beautiful pas de deux, where so much is said yet so much is left beautifully unsaid.
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The year's most romantic movie, 'Eternal Sunshine' doesn't break ground in ideas (love and people you love are always a part of us) but the way it presented them felt fresh and involving.
4. The Sea Inside
I saw this in Toronto in September, and it gets better and better in hindsight. For me, it raised powerful questions not just about death, but about love. What does loving someone truly mean? What do we owe to those we love, and what do they owe us?
5. Garden State
It's strange to think you can be beaten down by life by the time you've reached your 20s, but it's definitely possible as this first feature so aptly demonstrates. On the bright side, good friends are always a welcome antidote to life's miseries.
6. Closer
I don't like plays, which is why I was surprised that I liked 'Closer.' Luckily, the superb actors soften the hard angles of some of the play's most stilted lines. For me, the movie was made in the scene between Clive Owen and Jude Law -- the former aggressive though wounded, the other weak and grasping.
7. Sideways
Nearly everyone calls it the best movie of the year. I can't agree with them, but I can agree that 'Sideways' is a pleasure to watch -- intelligent, acutely observing, and often laugh-out-loud hilarious.
8. In Good Company
I don't know why there aren't more good movies about the workplace, like the brilliant British TV show 'The Office.' Most of us spend our days there, right? Here, director Paul Weitz applies the sensitive humor of 'About a Boy' to the corporate world.
9. Napoleon Dynamite
Everyone, of course, loves the final dance sequence, but the movie brims with small, hilarious touches -- the opening credits, Pedro's wig, Napoleon trying to run to his date's house.
10. I Heart Huckabees
It's crazy, full of half-baked ideas and doesn't make sense a lot of the time -- but that's why I liked it. The scene where Mark Wahlberg and Jason Schwartzman whop each other with the rubber ball might be the funniest of the year.
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