Movies

We all need something to take our mind of Britney and Anna Nicole. Thank goodness the time has come for The Brians. This marks the fifth year I have given awards for the best new movies which I saw in the theater during the preceeding year. In 2006, I had to bend the rules and add in movies I rented or bought on pay-per-view because we hardly made it to the movies.

This year, we’re back to the old rules with lots of contenders. In no particular order (except the order I remember them), we saw “Casino Royale,” “Click,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” “Talladega Nights,” “The Break-Up,” and “Date Movie.” The field of six is the largest in Brians history, I think.

We also have a new category for animated films. Those can be called the Bridgets because I came along for the ride to see “Curious George,” “Over the Hedge” and “Ice Age: the Meltdown.”

So without further ado, come down the Rivers-free red carpet and find out the winners.

Do you know how some years, film experts talk about the lack of good candidates for The Oscars? Well, it’s that kind of year for The Brians, now celebrating their fourth year. Actually, the quality of the films eligible remains very high. The number of films, not so much.

In fact, I have had to expand the rules beyond the original concept, which was movies I saw in the theatre. This year, all movies released in 2005 that I saw in any form were eligible.

I only saw three movies released in 2005, however. Pretty sad, huh? “The Wedding Crashers” (we ordered that on the TV while on vacation), “Hitch” (cable) and “40-Year-Old Virgin” (we actually saw that in the theatre) will battle for honors.