Late-year addendum

Wouldn't ya know it, I finish off my little "Best of 2005" post and sit down the night of Dec. 30 to be blown away by a movie that deserves to be on the list.

Finding Neverland is a sweet story about how J.M. Barrie created Peter Pan after encountering a young widow and her four sons, including a youngster who has reacted to his father's death by growing up too soon.

Johnny Depp is magnificent as always, Kate Winslet for the second time this year has made me forgive her for the gawdawful Titanic (The other time was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), the actors who play the four boys are priceless, and the play-within-a-play features a terrific Peter Pan and a faithful re-creation of how people flying on stage must have electrified audiences in 1904.

And of course, I'm a sucker for hopeless love stories and anything that dramatizes the creative process. Finding Neverland doesn't knock any of the other films off of the "Best of 2005" list, but it definitely belongs in their company - even if it's really a 2004 film.

I suppose I should really add Netflix to my "Best of 2005" list - this fall we canceled HBO and Starz and signed up for Netflix with the money we saved. Seizing the power over the TV schedule has upgraded our home entertainment experience big time.