Serenity is one of 2005’s most irresistible pleasures filled with strong performances, breathtaking action sequences, remarkably affecting emotional nuances and a collection of surprising twists and turns, Whedon crafting one of the most blissfully entertaining movies I’ve seen this year.

I can’t say it is perfect, and not all of the questions it raises are answered, but the same can unquestionably be said about the man it chronicles, Grizzly Man the type of human adventure that makes going into the cinematic wilderness fascinatingly worthwhile.

Always an astonishing visual craftsman, House of Flying Daggers is as impressive as anything Yimou’s ever done. The shifting colors and landscapes flow in and out of one another like a dreamy netherworld, while the tiniest woodland sounds sparkle and hum with the majesty of a symphonic orchestra.

Bad Education is a brazen, ambisexual noir that embraces the conventions of the genre while at the same time shattering them with explicit wickedness.

The Incredibles is just that, well, incredible, and here’s hoping people go and see just that for themselves at their first opportunity to do so.

What’s amazing isn’t that Sam Raimi’s follow-up to his 2002 smash is a lot of fun, but instead that it might just be the greatest superhero comic book adventure film I’ve frankly ever seen. Spider-Man 2 is superb.

It’s a beautiful screenplay overflowing with moments of such sudden, tight-fisted insanity that frequently knocked my socks off, all of its coupled with a poignant purity that’s beyond terrific. As early-year movies go, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind isn’t just a surprise, it’s a bona fide cinematic miracle I’m not ever going to forget.

Alien holds up as if it were made yesterday.

American Splendor is an absolute delight.