Flashback to 2005: My top 10 films from 10 years ago

Here we go again. I'm continuing my tradition of top tens by the decade.

In 2014, I looked back on the prior five decades, and now that it's 2015 I have a brand new batch of eras to feast on.

This past year was a decent, if not mind-blowing year at the movies and I guess the same could be said for 10 years ago.

Back in 2005, the polarizing Crash upset the critical darling Brokeback Mountain at the Academy Awards, and my favorite film of the year (which I will reveal shortly) wasn't even nominated.

It was the year George Clooney really established himself as a dramatic actor and as a director. It was also the year Christopher Nolan really broke though as a commercial, brand-name director. The late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman gave one of the greatest performances of his career and we saw the first signs of the resurgence of Mickey Rourke.

Without further ado, here are my top ten favorite movies from 2005:

10) Wedding Crashers - A mainstream romantic comedy disguised as an unapologetic frat-pack romp. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson had terrific chemistry in this guilty pleasure and Will Ferrell contributed one of the greatest comic cameos of all time during the film's denouement. Frequent repeat showings of this movie have somewhat diluted its impact, but I still remember what a blast it was when I saw it in theaters back in 2005. I especially enjoy the first half of the film which just revels in the debauchery.

9) Munich - With the exception of one of the most awkwardly staged sex scenes of all time, director Steven Spielberg hardly makes any missteps with this dark, brooding thriller based on the real life revenge plot following the terrorist hostage crisis of the 1972 Olympic Games. Eric Bana and Daniel Craig turn in star-making performances in this underrated film, which does a great job of evoking a unique time and moment in our history. It's missing the sappiness that had frequently plagued Spielberg films.

Mickey Rourke in Sin City

8) Good Night and Good Luck - George Clooney's earnest exploration of broadcaster Edward R. Murrow's epic fight with red baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy is a worthwhile history lesson. Clooney assembled a top-notch cast to dramatize the behind-the-scenes CBS drama, but his most brilliant broad stroke was casting Oscar nominee David Stratharin in the lead role. He has the perfect mixture of poise and steely resolve to enliven this important chapter in American life.

7) Batman Begins - The resurrection of the Batman franchise began here, and while I still prefer Tim Burton's take on the Dark Knight, it's hard to deny the power and originality of director Christopher Nolan's bruising, more realistic take on the Caped Crusader. The series reached greater heights with The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, but this first effort came across as a fascinating crime epic and it was the first Batman film to almost totally center around Bruce Wayne.

6) Sin City - Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller crafted one of the coolest looking and most original comic book adaptations of all time with this episodic noir masterpiece. Mickey Rourke was the standout as the seemingly indestructible Marv, but the duo got great work from several other stars like Benicio del Toro and an appallingly creepy Elijah Wood. This film felt so fresh ten years ago and not unlike Batman Begins was a real return to superhero films with a tinge of darkness after too many spandex-centric cartoonish movies.

5) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Most film fans probably consider Iron Man to be Robert Downey Jr.'s coming out party as a bonafide movie star, but this under-seen gem could have been and should have been. This hilarious, twisted dark comedy thriller deserved to be a box office smash but never found and audience. Downey teams up with a never-better Val Kilmer in a caper film about a fugitive posing as an actor who gets drawn into a surreal murder plot. It's actually kind hard to explain but extremely entertaining to watch.

George Clooney in Syriana

4) Syriana - This incredibly complex and thought-provoking look at our relationship with the Middle East was both ahead of its time and unappreciated in its day. The film does not excuse terrorism but certainly puts it in context which was especially daring in the Bush era. The film also works as a thriller which helps its political agenda go down smooth.

3) Capote - Philip Seymour Hoffman's titular Oscar winning role was the culmination of all his previous work. Hoffman's speciality was his ability to eschew his vanity to really burrow into a character. He lost weight and seemed physically smaller in this iconic role and his fierce and funny performance is the engine that makes this thoughtful biopic work. The film does an excellent job of dramatizing the classic true crime novel In Cold Blood.

2) Broken Flowers - The culmination of Bill Murray's darker, dramatic period -- this quiet but effective Jim Jarmusch film really resonates after repeated viewings. Murray plays an aging Lothario who receives a letter informing him he has a son. After some prodding from his best friend (played by an amiable Jeffrey Wright), Murray goes on a soul searching road trip, reuniting with old flames and coming to realize something deeper abut himself. A masterpiece of minimalist acting by Murray.

1) A History of Violence - Savage and sexy, this brutally violent look at a hoodlum who tries to remake his life as a small town owner of a diner is just my kind of movie. Director David Cronenberg has a fascination with the flesh and he puts his preoccupations to good use in this impeccably acted mediation of the nature of violent men. Viggo Mortenson showed great new depths as an actor and Ed Harris played one of my favorite antagonists of the decade. A brilliant movie which deserves rediscovery.