Movies produced in 2005

While escaping from the cops after a failed toyshop robbery attempt for a Christmas present for his niece, likable small-time crook Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) finds himself fortuitously in an audition for a Hollywood detective movie. Impressed by his energy and forcefulness, the producer sends Harry to Los Angeles for a screen test where the latter meets private-eye and movie consultant Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer), also known as Gay Perry, who teaches him all the tips on how to act. At a Hollywood party Harry crosses the path with his unrequited old flame, Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), an aspirant actress. Harmony mistakes Harry for an actual detective and implores him to investigate her younger sister’s death. Teamed up with Gay Perry, Harry is out to solve an intricate murder case.

When Kyle Williams (Matthew Le Nevez) takes up a position as sheriff in the sleepy town of Bywater, he hopes of having a quiet life. Contrary to all expectations Kyle has to roll up his sleeves and get down to work. A string of mysterious murders makes him believe that there is a weird force in the nearby swamps which has been claiming the lives of people. A tribe of Seminole Indians warns Kyle about a sinister ancient spirit which has been reawakened in their sacred place but the local oil tycoon, Frederic Schist (Jack Thompson), anxious to lay hands on the vast swampland, doesn’t believe in myths and legends. Nevertheless, eerie groans and screams are heard from the swamps by night. The sheriff makes up a decision to set out on a mission to discover the truth. There, in the very heart of the baleful deep swamp, he will have to face the Man-Thing (Conan Stevens), a monster that grows more ferocious as your fear grows.

This film, based on the novel by Arthur Golden, unfolds from the perspective of Chiyo (Zhang Ziyi), a girl who, at the age of nine, is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house in the early 1930s. Here, she goes through the training to become a geisha, and the life she leads as one. She learns that becoming a geisha can be the single path to wealth and independence for a woman. Despite a treacherous rival who nearly breaks her spirit, the girl blossoms into the legendary geisha Sayuri. She can play with the hearts of the mightiest men, but the only one she adores is beyond her reach. Sayuri must confront the possibility that history will leave all that she has worked for behind as World War II approaches, and as Japan stands at the brink of a new era.

Devastated by the abuse from her husband, Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) gets a divorce and returns to her hometown in North Minnesota. With two kids to take care of, Josey takes a back-breaking job at the iron mine where she becomes one of only a handful of female employees and faces harsh reality. Along with the other women, she endures humiliation and sexual harassment from the male miners who brook no competition from womanhood. Despite the risk of losing her good-paying job, Josey finds the courage to take legal action against the company in order to stand up for herself and her fellow female coworkers. As a result, the case becomes the first sexual harassment lawsuit in the history of the United States to be won.

Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a young intelligent woman who would have followed in the footsteps of her father Robert (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant mathematician, if he hadn’t begun to suffer from dementia. Catherine gave up a seemingly promising future and devoted herself to caring for her ailing father. Now, after his death, Catherine comes face to face with her fears of inheriting her father’s madness which eventually lead her to the verge of a mental breakdown. The situation becomes aggravated with the unexpected arrival of her overbearing elder sister Claire (Hope Davis) who wants to help Catherine settle their father’s estate. Moreover, Robert’s former student and now teacher Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal) turns up at her door. He worshipped Robert and now wants to search through his mentor’s notebooks in the hope of finding valuable work.

While having a consultation with psychiatrist Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor), deranged college student and amateur artist Henry Lethem (Ryan Gosling) claims to have killed both of his parents. He also informs Sam about his plan to follow the lead of his idol and commit suicide in three days, on his 21st birthday. Wanting to prevent the suicide of the troubled patient, Sam decides to help him break free from his obsession. While investigating the intriguing case, he gradually gets drawn into the web of Henry's nightmarish illusions, standing on the sharpest edge of death or life.

Tobacco industry lobbyist Nick Naylor has a seemingly impossible task: promoting cigarette smoking in a time when the health hazards of the activity have become too plain to ignore. Nick, however, revels in his job, using argument and twisted logic to place, as often as not, his clients in the positions of either altruistic do-gooders or victims. Nick's son Joey needs to understand and respect his dad's philosophy, and Nick works hard to respond to that need without compromising his lack of values. When a beautiful news reporter betrays Nick's sexually-achieved trust, his world seems in danger of collapsing. But there's always one more coffin nail in Nick's pack.

Thirty years ago, in the Carpathians Mountains of Romania, a group of explorers blows an entrance to a cave hidden under a church, but the explosion causes a landslide and they become trapped inside. In the present days, the expedition leaded by Dr. Nicolai and his assistant, Dr. Kathryn are exploring the place and they find the access through an underwater river, requesting the experienced cave divers team leaded by Jack. Dr. Nicolai discovers that, in accordance with the local legend, the church was built to seal the cave as a display of God's protective power, and that Templar Knights entered the cave to fight winged demons. When the group reaches a cave though a tunnel one mile below and three miles in, a creature attacks one of the members and his breathing apparatus explodes, collapsing the tunnel and trapping the group in the cave. Sooner they realize that they are the rescue team and they have to find an exit to survive from the attack of the monsters.

Samantha Goodman (Kate Greenhouse) is an attractive thirty-something woman who is married to a writer, Dave Goodman (Gordon Currie), and works as a psychiatrist at an institution for the criminal insane. For many years everything in her life seems to be coming up roses. Then suddenly the whole world begins crumbling and disintegrating about her ears. Her incurable brain tumor starts to grow at an alarming rate. Feeling totally stressed and needing to get away from it, she decides to spend the weekend at a winter cottage in the woods, where her husband is working on editing his latest book with the assistance of her younger sister Melody (Iris Graham). It knocks Sam back on her heels when she notices that there is something in the nature of an incipient love affair between Dave and Melody. To make matters worse, Sam's weekend is ruined by an invited guest who turns out to be her former patient, Harlan Pyne (Aidan Devine), a violent sexual offender. Convinced that he has been unethically experimented on, Harlan takes revenge by compelling the family to participate in his diabolic game that is a sort of psychological and physical tortures.

The sportswoman Sarah loses her husband and daughter in a car crash, but she survives. One year later, her friends Beth, Rebecca, Sam and Holly, leaded by Juno, invite her to explore a deep cave in the mountains. When the expedition is about three kilometers underground, a rock collapses and blocks the access tunnel, trapping the group inside the cave. With limited supplies, they try to find a way out, but sooner they face a hunger and savage breed of predators.

Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) thinks Christmas is a wonderful day to get together with his tight-knit family and his sweetheart at the dinner table and make a marriage proposal. So he invites his girlfriend, Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker), to his house. However, every member of the eccentric, ultra-liberal family gives the cold shoulder to the conservative guest. They seem to hate absolutely everything about Meredith: her appearance, her outlook and her behavior. Feeling uptight and completely offended by the hostile reception, she asks her younger sister, Julie (Claire Danes), to join her for moral support. In fact, the situation only becomes aggravated with the arrival of the outgoing sister, who immediately fits in with the family and unexpectedly finds herself attracted to Everett.

The plot takes place in the Philippines in 1945. The Second World War is coming to an end. Under the command of the confident Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt), the 6th Ranger Battalion gets an order to infiltrate deep into enemy territory and liberate U.S. prisoners. The mission appears to be virtually impossible to undertake but the tough Mucci sends his soldiers to their doom, performing one of the most daring rescue missions in history. The Rangers manage to penetrate thirty miles behind enemy lines and rescue over five hundred prisoners who are about to be transferred to the infamous Cabanatuan Japanese POW camp.

Set in Wichita, Kansas, the black comedy centers on mob lawyer Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) and his associate Vic Cavanaugh (Billy Bob Thornton) who decide to give themselves a Christmas present and embezzle $2 million in cash from Charlie's crime boss, Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid). The lawyer is impatient to slip out of town with the alluring strip club owner Renata (Connie Nielsen). But you never know what surprises are in store for you. For Charlie, Christmas Eve proves to be a great surprise...

In the sequel to 1998's "The Mask of Zorro" Elena Montero (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Don Alejandro de la Vega (Antonio Banderas) find themselves married with their 10-year-old son Joaquin (Adrian Alonso). Their happy marriage begins collapsing as Alejandro spends too much time and energy fighting various villains. When Alejandro once again breaks his promise to give up his secret identity of Zorro, the frustrated Elena separates from her adventure-seeking husband and soon begins dating her former classmate Armand (Rufus Sewell), an odious French Count. Armand allegedly runs a wine-producing business but he actually plots to prevent California from becoming the 31st state by committing electoral fraud. It's up to Zorro to protect the future of California and its citizens as well as to win back his wife and son.

In Havana, Cuba in the late 1950's, a wealthy family, one of whose sons is a prominent nightclub owner, is caught in the violent transition from the oppressive regime of Batista to the Marxist government of Fidel Castro. Castro's regime ultimately leads the nightclub owner to flee to New York.

Young energetic woman Caroline Ellis (Kate Hudson) takes a job as a live-in caretaker for Ben Devereaux (John Hurt), an elderly stroke victim who is speechless and wheelchair bound. To make maneuvering throughout the mansion an easier task, Ben’s wife Violet (Gena Rowlands) gives the nurse a skeleton key that unlocks every door in the house. One day, while exploring the rambling old house, Caroline discovers a secret room at the back of the attic. Curiosity prevails and she opens the room containing an intriguing mix of mystical items, hair, bones, blood, and spells, to name a few. Caroline soon realizes that odd, and sometimes inexplicable, things start occurring around her. The more time she spends in the hidden room, the more convinced she is that something ominous may be lurking in the mansion...

The charming dramedy follows the life of legendary New Zealander Burt Munro (Anthony Hopkins) who spent years improving and modifying his beloved 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle. He travelled all over the world on his bike and eventually made his dream come true. During the 1967 famous race held at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats, he set a world speed record of 190.07 mph, which has not been broken yet.

Promising football player Brandon Lane (Matthew McConaughey) sustains a serious knee injury which puts the kibosh on his football career. Failing professional options he takes a job in a telephone service foretelling the outcome of games for sports betters. His talent to pick the winners soon attracts the attention of Walter Abrams (Al Pacino) who runs a large sports prognosticating business. He lures Brandon to join his enterprise, hoping to make lots of money off him. Brandon changes his name and personality and the perilous game starts!

No good deed goes unpunished. When Ray (Rick Cramer) rescues an aged Creole woman, trapped in a car after an accident on the bridge, he gets bitten by venomous snakes from her suitcase. He loses consciousness and the car falls from the bridge with him. The woman turns out to be a voodoo witch who sucked up all the evil spirits from various villains with the help of the serpents. Now, thirteen wicked souls inhabit his body, making him a bloodthirsty zombie-like creature stalking his prey in the swamps of Louisiana.

The biopic depicts the life of Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix), a legendary country and rock-and-roll singer-songwriter. The early years of his life were saddened by his elder brother's tragic death and his father's scornful attitude towards him (his dad considered Cash to be a bad son). The soon-to-be musician served in the United States Air Force in Germany. After his discharge Cash married his sweetheart, Vivian Liberto (Ginnifer Goodwin), who gave birth to four daughters. But their marriage was not without shadows as he neglected his family duties and devoted all his time and energy mainly to playing the guitar and singing along with his two close friends. At the age of 23, he released his first hit "Cry Cry Cry" and soon went on a tour of the USA, along with Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne), Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) and June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). He adored June and her songs since he was a kid. When their paths crossed, he came to realize that June was a woman of his dreams. He had been trying to win her hand for several years. The critical moments in his life were accompanied by his addiction to amphetamine and alcohol. In 1968, Cash and Carter got married and lived together long and happily till death did them part.