Twenty flicks for 2005

This past year was pretty choice so far as cinema goes, with "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Sideways," "Kill Bill Vol. 2," "The Passion," "Garden State," "The Incredibles," "Spider-Man II," "The Life Aquatic," "Ray" and "Collateral" faring best among the stuff I saw. Happily, there's a good chance that 2005 might be even better. Here's what looks to be the cream of the crop. \n1.) "King Kong" (Dec. 14) -- Peter Jackson ditched his mantle as a premiere cult movie director with the astounding "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Now he's a mainstream maven tackling the time-tested ginormous gorilla tale "King Kong." With a top-notch cast featuring Oscar-nominee Naomi Watts in the Fay Wray role, Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and Jack Black, this should rule over all comers. \n2.) "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" (May 19) -- Much like "The Empire Strikes Back," the best and bleakest of the original "Star Wars" flicks, "Revenge of the Sith" will undoubtedly be the most somber -- and thus significant -- of the prequels. \n3-4.) "Sin City" (Apr. 1) and "Batman Begins" (June 17) -- Comic-to-film adaptations have been a dime a dozen these past few years -- some were stellar ("Spider-Man 2," "X2"), others stupid ("Blade: Trinity"). Now comes two translations from talented directors (Robert Rodriguez and Christopher Nolan, respectively) with all-star casts. "Sin" sports Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Elijah Wood and innumerable others, while "Batman" boasts Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Ken Watanabe, Katie Holmes and Tom Wilkinson. Each should elevate the genre. \n5.) "Jarhead" (Nov. 11) -- Sam Mendes, director of "American Beauty" and "Road to Perdition," is tackling the ever-timely Gulf War with a literal who's who of America's finest young actors -- amongst them Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Peter Sarsgaard and Sam Rockwell. Throw elder, thespian statesman Chris Cooper into the mix, and this can't come soon enough.\n6.) "Elizabethtown" (July 29) -- Cameron Crowe is one of the best writer/directors working today. Those with refined tastes await his pictures much like sci-fi geeks do the latest "Star Wars" entry. His latest dramedy should be no different, though, it'll be strange to see Orlando Bloom tackle something other than an epic. \n7.) "War of the Worlds" (June 29) -- Steven Spielberg returns to the slam-bang summer spectacle that first made him famous, i.e. "Jaws" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark," after a hiatus in smaller cinema -- "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Terminal." Having Tom Cruise and Tim Robbins along for the ride can't be a bad thing. \n8-9.) "The Bad News Bears" (Summer TBA) and "A Scanner Darkly" (Sept. 16) -- Richard Linklater is the very definition of versatility, as personified by his slate for 2005. The Austin, Tex.-based auteur is not only tackling a remake of Walter Matthau's kiddie baseball comedy starring Billy Bob Thorton from his "Bad Santa" writers, he's also adapting Philip K. Dick's headiest and most drug-induced novel replete with the rotoscoping that marked his "Waking Life." Both should be boss. \n10.) "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" (June 10) -- Director Doug Liman is batting 3-for-3 with me, as "Swingers," "Go" and "The Bourne Identity" were all hugely entertaining. His latest supposedly derailed Brad Pitt's marriage. Regardless, this flick looks choice. A cast including Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Angela Bassett (the woman who should've been Storm in the "X-Men" pics), Keith David (of "Platoon" and "There's Something About Mary" fame), Vince Vaughn, "The O.C."'s Adam Brody, Efren Ramirez (Pedro in "Napoleon Dynamite") and William Fichtner (the creepy, Amway-loving cop of "Go") populate a plot which plays as a mishmash of "Prizzi's Honor," "The War of the Roses" and "True Lies." \n11, 12 and 13.) "Kicking and Screaming" (May 13), "Wedding Crashers" (July 22) and "Untitled Mike Judge Project" (Aug. 5) -- The recently dubbed "frat pack," consisting of Vince Vaughn, the Wilson brothers, Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Ben Stiller and Jon Favreau, are unleashing yet another onslaught of films starring one another. Thank Christ, these dudes have been providing us with the funniest comedies of the past few years.\n14-15.) "High Tension" (June 3) and "George A. Romero's Land of the Dead" (Oct. 21) -- Horror movies had a dry spell in 2004 aside from Zack Snyder's slick "Dawn of the Dead" remake and its punningly-titled comedy counterpart "Shaun of the Dead." This year promises to be better with a hardcore NC-17 French import that looks to be chock-full of psychological terror and zombie movie maestro George A. Romero's first undead flick in 20 years. \n16-17.) "Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior" (Feb. 11) and "Oldboy" (March 25) -- These Asian actioneers were highly touted upon their releases abroad last year. The first seems to have a plot akin to that of "Enter the Dragon" or "Fist of Legend," in which one supreme fighter squares off against the world. The second is a revenge pic in which an innocent man is wrongfully imprisoned for 15 years, and the whirlwind reaping that ensues. Word has it both are brutal and bad-ass. \n18.) "Lords of Dogtown" (June 3) -- This skateboard flick should serve as a nice companion piece to 2001's dope documentary, "Dogtown and Z-Boys," with "Thirteen" helmer Catherine Hardwicke directing and David Fincher producing. 19.) "Domino" (TBA 2005) -- Tony Scott is looking to follow-up his mesmerizing "Man on Fire" with this intriguing true tale penned by "Donnie Darko" director Richard Kelly. The titular character (as played by Keira Knightley) is the real-life daughter of famed actor Laurence Harvey (the original "Manchurian Candidate"), as well as a Ford model-turned-bounty hunter. Christopher Walken, Mickey Rourke and "90210" stalwarts Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering round out the cast ... seriously.\n20.) "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (July 15) -- Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are untouchable whilst working together. That this material is tailor-made for the men's collective strengths only drives home how hard this movie will rock.