Top 11 films in 2005--#11, #10, #9

As a tribute to the 'Tap, I'll make a Top 11 films for the year as I countdown to the best film ANDROID.

11. A History of Violence. Directed by David Cronenberg and at times a black comedy and a taut, suspenseful film about identity and the hidden nature we all bury below the surface. On first look it's a departure for the notoriously quirky Cronenberg, but if you look beneath the first layers, you’ll see a film with all the complexities he’s been exploring for decades now. A History of Violence is an assured, confident film that never blinks once as it takes you down its path.

10. Serenity. The best science fiction film in years—and this includes the bloated, past its prime Star Wars mess of a franchise—is this film based on the beloved TV series Firefly. I loved Firefly so I was either harder to please as a fan or easier to please because I already loved the characters and didn't want to see them ruined. It is the closest thing to a true western in space you’ll ever see. Serenity is tense, full of adventure, surprising and funny and will live on as a cult classic to those who’ve embraced it.

9. Broken Flowers. Bill Murray gives another stoic performance as a man looking for a possible son in a road trip film from the wonderful and odd Jim Jarmusch. I’m not sure Murray can take this silent act much further but placed in Jarmusch’s world it’s a perfect fit. The usual Jarmusch deadpan comedy and slowness that often feels more like a foreign film than an American one. Broken Flowers is one of Jarmusch's best.