What are your picks for the 10 best movies of 2006?

Cafe Society
1

If there’s already a SDMB thread on the best movies of last year, I apologize for this duplicate, but I haven’t been here much lately and I used the search feature but couldn’t locate a thread dedicated to this topic, so here is mine.

With three of my ten favorites directed by Mexican filmmakers (Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro), I’d say 2006 was the year of the Mexican! My #1 film is my favorite, the rest are in no particular order.

  1. Little Children–After seeing it for the first time I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Easily an all time favorite. Last year I picked Syriana a close favorite over Match Point, but for me, Little Children is far above everything else that I saw last year. Each scene was perfect and I left the theater wishing that Kate Winslet was in every movie. I can’t wait for the DVD.

  2. Pan’s Labryinth–I’ve been a Guillermo del Toro fan since Cronos, so I’d been dying to see this since I read about it while it was still filming and even though it was a much different movie than what I was expecting, I wasn’t disappointed. I also loved that the movie was made for adults and not children or teens.

  3. Volver–I’ve never understood the adoration for Pedro Almodóvar and his movies and after years of disappointments I stopped watching them, but decided to check out Volver one night because there was nothing better available. I’m glad I did. Just a great story, beautifully acted. The guy really does love his characters and there was no woman in Volver who didn’t feel geniune. He even managed to make Penélope Cruz look drop dead sexy to me and I’d never seen what the big deal over her was before!

  4. Babel–I’ve rarely felt as tense watching a movie as I did while watching Babel. I cared about every story and each time the film cut from one story to another, I couldn’t wait to get back to the previous characters to see what happened next.

  5. Little Miss Sunshine–As funny as the movie was, the whole thing was just a warmup to Olive’s performance at the end, which was as funny as anything I saw all year. After The 40 Year Old Virgin and now this, I can’t wait to see more of Steve Carell in movies.

  6. Children of Men–I’ve had the P.D. James novel sitting on a bookcase, unread, for years and I’m glad because I got to enjoy the movie with the plot completely unspoiled. I love Clive Owen, the man can do anything.

  7. Rocky Balboa–I’m shocked to include this. I rolled my eyes a year ago when I heard this was in production, but Stallone pulled this off beautifully. Too bad that a lot of people won’t give it a chance because of the awful Rocky 5. Anyone who liked the original should check this out. It’s a perfect way to close the Rocky series.

  8. L’ Enfant–So naturally acted that it’s easy to forget that you’re watching fiction and think instead that it’s a French reality show or a documentary and, like Little Children, everyone’s behavior is believable, even Bruno’s.

  9. The Illusionist–Not a great film, the accents didn’t sound so great, but I was hooked for the entire movie from the opening minutes and couldn’t wait to see it again when it was over. Just really fun, light entertainment with two of my favorite actors (Edward Norto and Paul Giamatti).

  10. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan–If I ever laughed my ass off more, I can’t remember when. I think my wife and co-workers are sick of hearing me say “High five!” and “Sexy time!”

Most disappointing film of the year: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as the book, but damn, if the book had been as dull as the movie, I never would’ve finished it.

2

I’m kind of ashamed of my top ten. I didn’t see enough movies this year that didn’t star animated rodents.

Here it is:

It had to be released in 2006, no matter if I saw it at the movies, on DVD or in a hotel.

Here goes:

  1. THANK YOU FOR SMOKING- The best movie of the year…no one heard of it. This incredible black comedy (style, not ethnicity) follows the adventures of an amoral lobbyest/talking head who works for Big Tobacco. Spectacular. NBC just signed a deal to turn this show into a single camera sitcom. I am excited.

  2. THE DEPARTED- As I posted earlier, this movie will probably win Scorcese an Oscar, but the film succeeds despite the direction. I would be more than pleased to see this one win Best Picture.

  3. BORAT- This movie ROCKED! This film is unlike anything ever made. And despite the press, I think America comes off looking ok despite a few bad apples. Best quote? “My moustache still tastes of your testes!”

  4. SUPERMAN- In a year of good superhero movies, this one was the best. The fact that it was not a gigantic blockbuster tells me everything I need to know about the public’s tastes.

  5. TALLADEGA NIGHTS- I like Will Ferrell in good comedies. This one actually held up better in a second viewing. Downside? It has me humming Pat Benetar’s “We Belong” all the time.

  6. IDIOCRACY- The Mike Judge comedy that everyone ignored. It follows Luke Wilson’s average army man into the distant future where, because dumb people breed like rabbits, he is the smartest man alive. Good stuff.

  7. X3- The final installment of the X Trilogy was excellent. Despite not having the director of the first two, X3 didn’t miss a beat.

  8. THE PRESTIGE- I had problems with it, but overall I really liked it. It was a smart film with good acting.

  9. NAKED MILE/BAND CAMP- I’m lumping two into one. Both were direct to DVD sequels to the American Pie films. Both were dumb as hell and cracked me up. Naked Mile was the best AP film since the first.

  10. GRANDMAS BOY- Another “crap comedy” that cracked me up. I am an all or nothing film patron. I want highbrow art or lowbrow, beating off to a Lara Croft doll and accidentally cumming on your best friend’s mother jokes (“Sorry…oooh…feels good!”)

I wanted to see Dreamgirls and the Good Shepherd but alas, my kids were sick over the holidays. I also still need to see Little Miss Sunshine and Devil Wears Prada.

3

10)Children of Men - A gripping action movie with a brain, set in a world where woman are no longer able to have babies. The thrust of the movie has Clive Owen trying to get a pregnant woman to a secret society where she can have the baby safely. I wasn’t as emotionally involved with the characters as I would like - but they were well developed. Opinions and all, blah blah.

9)Half Nelson - A drug addict teacher played by the unexplainable heartthrob Ryan Gosling has an unlikely friendship with one of his students. The real shock comes when he doesn’t try to have sex with her even once (read: not a cliché). A tough movie to watch with a satisfying ending with deep, deep characters. Ryan Gosling gives a performance on the level of Marlon Brando - yeah I said it.

8)The Departed - I get the feeling that there are people out there who liked this movie a great deal more than me, but I did enjoy it. Good Cast, a director that usually does well, and lots of killin’. What’s not to like.

7)The Queen - Dame Helen Mirren plays the queen for the week following Princess Di’s death. You get a great understand of the royal family and a performance by Mirren that will probably win the academy award. There is a great dynamic between Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth that really works well. It’s also just plain interesting - unless you are one of those guys who aren’t secure enough about your masculinity to watch a movie like this…your loss.

6)Borat - It’s genius and flat out funny. What do you want from me?

5)Casino Royale - Quite simply the best Bond ever. It wasn’t afraid to show Bond make a mistake or two which was nice. He is learning how to do his job, one would expect some mistakes. You also get a glimpse into how he turns into the sociopath he ends up becoming. It’s also action packed in the way one would expect a bond film.

4)Volver - Proof that Penelope Cruz can act. She should really stick to her native tongue, she’s exceptional in this movie. Overall, the movie is touching and funny yet deals with some very tough subjects. It also has a mood that is quite unique.

3)Babel - Cate Blanchett is one of my favorites but in the end, this ranks so highly because I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. After 21 Grams, I wasn’t sure what kind of ending we’d get. Even thinking about 21 grams gets me depressed so you know Inarritu isn’t afraid of a depressing finish. I thought all plotlines delivered a unique perspective into what it’s like to be in a situation where it’s tough to get your thoughts across. The Japanese plotline broke my heart.

2)Little Children - When i saw this movie, I couldn’t imagine any movie topping this one. It looks at the suburbs much in the same way that the discovery channel would look at one of their subjects with the addition of a good deal of humour. As we approach the climax, however, Todd Field takes a very thorough dramatic shift toward a very tense ending. Also…any director that can make you feel badly for a pedophile has really done remarkable work.

1)Pan’s Labyrinth - A movie that beautifully marries Fantasy and reality. Ofelia is off to live with her mothers new husband in the forests of Spain during the Spanish civil war. There is a villain in this movie that would be quite believable even if her were real but is stil one of the most vicious antagonists every put on screen. The performances are great and each world is well put together with both world having equal importance to the plot. Also, neither world is there to service the other which is rarely the case.

4

**My favorites: **
Documentaries outnumber “normal” movies(!)

  1. Little Miss Sunshine
  2. Borat
  3. Jesus Camp
  4. The Departed
  5. The Ground Truth
  6. An Inconvenient Truth
  7. Why We Fight
  8. Inside Man
  9. Who Killed the Electric Car
  10. This Film Is Not Yet Rated
5

Crap! Forgot “Thank You for Smoking”!

Amended list:

  1. Little Miss Sunshine
  2. Borat
  3. Jesus Camp
  4. The Departed
  5. The Ground Truth
  6. Thank You for Smoking
  7. An Inconvenient Truth
  8. Why We Fight
  9. Inside Man
  10. Who Killed the Electric Car?
6

Didn’t see as many films as usual this year, so I won’t try to stretch it to ten.

  1. The Queen
  2. Casino Royale
  3. Dreamgirls

These were the only films I saw this year where I came out saying “Damn, that was a great movie!”

  1. An Inconvenient Truth

Better than I expected, and recommendation-worthy – but not a “great” movie.

Everything else was fairly “enh,” including “Borat,” which I liked, but which wouldn’t make a ten-best if I had seen enough movies to have a ten-best list.

7

Well, I didn’t see all that many movies this year, so this list will include almost everything that wasn’t flatly terrible. I offer it with the caveat that I still haven’t seen most of the films released in December that are expected to compete for Oscars.

  1. An Inconvenient Truth. Possibly the most important movie ever made.

  2. Thank You for Smoking. A rare Hollywood comedy that completely respects our intelligence and refuses to go for the corny ending.

  3. The War Tapes. I found this to be one of the most fascinating documentaries I’ve ever seen. It tells the fundamental truth that war is mostly about finding ways to fill the boredom while also capturing the intensity when violence suddenly erupts.

  4. A Scanner Darkly. It’s easy to go wrong with a Philip K. Dick novel adaptation, but onyl because most directors won’t stick with the script and keep the off-the-wall plot twists. In this one they were more faithful to the source not only in terms of plot and character, but also the tone of the piece.

  5. The Illusionist. I really liked the plot even though some people apparently view it as a ripoff. To me the ending fulfills the fundamental demands of a mystery: that it make sense in retrospect while taking the viewer by surprise.

  6. The Cars. Even a lesser Pixar effort still makes the top ten.

  7. Hoodwinked. As a dedicated contrarian, I feel obligated to include this genuinely funny animated fairy-tale takeoff.

  8. Casino Royale. For the reasons already listed.

  9. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. While far inferior to the original, this movie did feature Captain Jack Sparrow, and hence I will not leave it out.

  10. Marie Antoinette. I felt that the writing and directing were pretty poor. On the other side, some of the supporting actors were extremely good. Also, the production staff (set designers, costumers, makeup artists, and so forth) did an outstanding job, and I expect it to win Oscars in several of those categories.

8

TEN?

Certainly The Departed. I’m trying to do a list from memory, assuming that anything that jumps out at me will be worthy. . .

I really liked
Little Miss Sunshine
Borat

Other than that. . .I’m kinda lost.

Except for Scorcese, my favorite directors were off this year (Tarantino) or doing crap (A Year in Provence, or whatever the hell that Ridley Scott movie was called which also took Russel Crowe’s time). Spielberg didn’t do anything (Munich was 2005).

My favorite actors were in charisma-sucking pieces of shit (Hanks in Da Vinci, and Hoffman in MI:III).

I was pretty disappointed with Ricky Bobby. I stayed away from the big budget stuff.

For the year, no entertainment comes close to how good I thought **Deadwood **and The Wire were on HBO, and I also really liked Spike Lee’s Requiem in Four Parts.

Oh, I did recently see** Down in the Valley**. I liked that quite a bit, and I’m looking forward to Children of Men which is coming to one of my theaters soon.

9

Was hoodwinked from 2006? It WAS pretty good.

10

I didn’t see a lot of movies this year as opposed to previous years, so my list is somehwat lacking.

  1. United 93
  2. Little Miss Sunshine
  3. Thank You for Smoking
  4. Casino Royale

Nothing else really strikes me: Apocolypto, Twin Towers, The Prestige were all pretty good.

11

I haven’t seen too many current films this year, but there were a few standouts:

Pan’s Labyrinth - just a great great film, best of the year by some distance

Children of Men - not perfect, but brilliantly shot, and I’ve quite the soft spot for Michael Caine

Casino Royale - eat it, Jason Bourne!

The Queen - arise Dame Helen, Oscar awaits

12

I was disappointed with movies in 2006. I heard both Superman Returns and Clerks II were good so I bought them both on DVD. Superman Returns was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. It deserves a place with Cool as Ice and Battlefield Earth as one of the worst ten or so films in history. How could you screw up Superman so badly?

Clerks II was OK, but not nearly as good as I thought it would be.

I haven’t seen Son of Man or The Departed yet, though. I have high hopes for both.

13

She did an interview on “60 Minutes” this weekend.

It convinced me to go rent the DVDs of “Prime Suspect”. I’m sure the Brits are familiar with this.

I’ve only seen the first two episodes, but that’s a damn good show so far.

14

Oh yes! They only did seven 3 hour stories in 15 years, and it’s worth watching them in order. She’s a fantastically good actress. To paraphrase someone on this MB, it’s amazing that a woman who radiates such raw sexuality can play HM the Queen so convincingly.

15

To further the hijack (as one who has all Prime Suspect on DVD), it’s the second best crime drama ever. Any media, any language, any time. A couple of years ago, I ranked it #1, but The Wire is better. Only just.
Prime Suspect is better storytelling, but The Wire is closer to reality.

And Dame Helen might just be one of the five sexiest women alive. At 61, she just oozes sex.

16

I haven’t seen a lot of pre-DVD films this year; been a broke year for me. But I’ve really liked:
*
The Devil Wears Prada
Little Miss Sunshine
A Scanner Darkly
The Departed
Casino Royale*

The best film “event” of this or any other year for quite a long time was:

Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.
(Like many people in this thread, I also enjoyed Thank You for Smoking, but that’s a 2005 release.)

Haven’t yet seen, but want to, and suspect they might make their way onto this list when I do:

  • The Queen
    Pan’s Labyrinth
    Volver
    Babel
    Children of Men
    Borat
    An Inconvenient Truth
    Marie Antoinette*

(I hated hated hated The Black Dahlia (De Palma), Talladega Nights, and The Lady in the Water.)

17

Sort of.

It got shown at the Toronto Film Festival in 2005, but for Oscar sake (and Best Of Lists) it qualifies as a 2006 film because it did not see commercial release until 2006.

The same debate surrounded Memento if memory (heh) serves.

18

I forgot The Devil Wears Prada! Great movie. Also loved Thank You for Smoking and felt that Marie Antoinette was criminally underrated.

Agree with lissener on The Black Dahlia. Just fucking awful.

I’m avoiding The Queen because it looks like the sort of movie that would put me to sleep even though I’ve enjoyed quite a few Stephen Frears films (The Snapper, The Van, The Grifters).

19

I didn’t see that many movies last year and only four stand out as the best to me: Casino Royale, A Prairie Home Companion, Clerks II and the POTC sequel.
I was pretty disappointed with Superman Returns and X3.

20

It was a nice little film with one spectacular performance.

FYI, I forgot to include Babel in my list. I guess I could drop Award bait like Grandma’s Boy to include it…