Favorites of 2006 -- TV and Movies.
TELEVISION:
Well, as I discovered a few nights ago, my biggest reaction to television news was also my biggest chance for others to say "I told you so."
Heroes: I'm totally engrossed. Each episode has had me on the edge of my seat. The pacing is phenomenal, the mysteries are fair and solved in a reasonable amount of time, and the characters actually develop over time. My favorite new show of the season.
Lost: The spring run was mostly terrific. A miss here or there, but mostly on target with good character development and plenty of mysteries. The resolution of those mysteries is not as quick as I'd like, but it still hasn't become quite as murky as X-Files became. The cliffhanger had me saying "oh fuck" and the season premiere in October had me saying "oh fuck." I loved the first scene with The Others. Sadly, the other five fall eps didn't quite live up. Some of the flashbacks seemed not to really give much new about the characters, and the focus on the Others to the exclusion of many of the original Losties was a bit overmuch even as much as I love Michael Emerson. The death of Mr. Eko is still a sore point, as well. I hope that the main run improves when the show returns in February.
Smallville: I was reasonably okay with the season premiere. The show has problems, but it's still a fun watch when I remember to watch or tape it. (This should not be as much of a problem now that I will not be working nights!). I caught the first few eps, and missed the rest for various reasons. What I saw of Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen I liked. I do agree with the criticism that Lois is essentially redundant to the other female characters. I still think Chloe is the lynchpin of the series -- despite her frequently sketchy taste in men (before Jimmy came along, anyway). Looking forward to seeing the debut of the Justice League. I might be in the minority, but I actually liked the show's interpretation of Bart Allen.
The Winter Olympics: I usually enjoy the winter more than the summer events. I loved watching the figure skating programs (well, except for Ice Dancing, which honestly is lost on me the way rhythmic gymnastics is), and what super-hero fan can't help cheer on a guy called The Flying Tomato?
Conviction / Law & Order: Conviction didn't live up to the expectations and was gone by the end of the spring. Thankfully, Milena Govich jumped over to the flagship L&O show. And I'm not just saying that because her husband is one of my best friends. I haven't watched any L&O show in ages, but I was swept up in the show for more than just Milena's performance.
Invasion: Should not have been cancelled. Period. The End. It's good that so many of the cast have found other work ... but man I want to know where this was going. Sean Cassidy, the show's creator, should write a novel or two if he can't put the funding together to make a movie. When I was in LA with Karen and Eric, on the WB Tour we got to see the lagoon set and Russ' homestead.
JLU: Didn't catch every ep, but what I did catch, I liked. Shame it's gone.
Biggest Disapointment: Studio 60 has definitely failed to live up to the hype and has gotten preachy and predictable. Still, I hope it will take advantage of a full season pickup to improve. Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet and Timothy Busfield are all capable of, and deserve, better material.
Guilty Pleasure: House of Carters. Yeah, I know. Silly, rediculous, obviously staged (by the family, if not the producers) and just plain chaotic. And yet, like the train wreck on the late night news, I can't look away.
MOVIES:
(Anything that I saw for the first time in 2006, regardless of theatre or dvd, counted).
Finding Neverland: Hands down, the most engrossing and involving movie I saw all year. It met and exceeded the hype I'd heard and read before finally seeing it on dvd. Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, amazing. Equally amazing: Freddie Highmore. It's hard to steal scenes from Depp, and this kid did.
V For Vendetta: Once upon a time, I commented that in Dragonheart, Sean Connery did more acting with his voice than most actors do with their whole bodies. Hugo Weaving now takes the title. I had chills. The storyline was compressed, Natalie Portman's character was aged, other characters were compressed. And the movie still worked just as well as the original comics mini-series. Incredible.
Mirrormask: Neil Gaiman. Dave McKean. The Henson Company. Surreal, off-kilter, and heartfelt. Loved the guy who played Valentine. Loved the effects. Terrific.
Brokeback Mountain: Moving. Real. Oscar-worthy performances and beautiful cinematography. And an ending that is as likely to make you sigh with familiarity as it is to inflame you with anger.
Mysterious Skin: Disturbing story, not easy to watch. But Joseph Gordon-Levitt deserved an Oscar nomination for it. He is captivating in his near-self-destruction.
Memento: Yeah, I know. I should have watched it years ago. Guy Pearce and Joe Pantoliano are great. The fractured timeline and internal mystery are mind-bending.
Word Wars: Best documentary I saw this year, and that's a hard decision to make considering how many I watched. It's the story of four national Scrabble champions.
X-Men: The Last Stand: crowded, but good performances from Kelsey Grammer and Ben Foster equaled out the fact that James Marsden and Famke Jannsen and Patrick Stewart were pretty much window dressing.
Superman Returns: At least James Marsden got something to do in this one, and did it well. Brandon Routh channeled Chris Reeve; Kevin Spacey took the campy (but beloved) Gene Hackman Luthor and added a very dangerous edge to it. But Kate Bosworth's Lois was a cipher, and Singer's direction was slavishly imitative of Donner's original.
Bully and The Chumscrubber. Of all the "damaged teens / suburban ennui" movies I indulged in this year, these two stand out. The first is the Larry Clark movie that KIDS should have been; the second proves that Jamie Bell is an actor, not just Billy Elliot.
The Illusionist and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Val Kilmer, Robert Downey Jr. Two of the best mysteries I've seen or read this year -- the first thankfully overshadowing the predictable love story with a Usual Suspects type of twist, the second mixing self-effacing comedy with gunplay.
Biggest Disappointment: Happiness, which in now way met the hype I'd heard.
Guilty Pleasure: The Ten Commandments: The Musical Val Kilmer as Moses, with a talented singing cast and music by Patrick Leonard. I like Patrick Leonard. I like the story of Moses. I can excuse the rest. The guy who plays Ramses I and the guy who plays Ramses II (Moses' brother) are great, as is the woman who plays Moses' wife.
Well, as I discovered a few nights ago, my biggest reaction to television news was also my biggest chance for others to say "I told you so."
Heroes: I'm totally engrossed. Each episode has had me on the edge of my seat. The pacing is phenomenal, the mysteries are fair and solved in a reasonable amount of time, and the characters actually develop over time. My favorite new show of the season.
Lost: The spring run was mostly terrific. A miss here or there, but mostly on target with good character development and plenty of mysteries. The resolution of those mysteries is not as quick as I'd like, but it still hasn't become quite as murky as X-Files became. The cliffhanger had me saying "oh fuck" and the season premiere in October had me saying "oh fuck." I loved the first scene with The Others. Sadly, the other five fall eps didn't quite live up. Some of the flashbacks seemed not to really give much new about the characters, and the focus on the Others to the exclusion of many of the original Losties was a bit overmuch even as much as I love Michael Emerson. The death of Mr. Eko is still a sore point, as well. I hope that the main run improves when the show returns in February.
Smallville: I was reasonably okay with the season premiere. The show has problems, but it's still a fun watch when I remember to watch or tape it. (This should not be as much of a problem now that I will not be working nights!). I caught the first few eps, and missed the rest for various reasons. What I saw of Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen I liked. I do agree with the criticism that Lois is essentially redundant to the other female characters. I still think Chloe is the lynchpin of the series -- despite her frequently sketchy taste in men (before Jimmy came along, anyway). Looking forward to seeing the debut of the Justice League. I might be in the minority, but I actually liked the show's interpretation of Bart Allen.
The Winter Olympics: I usually enjoy the winter more than the summer events. I loved watching the figure skating programs (well, except for Ice Dancing, which honestly is lost on me the way rhythmic gymnastics is), and what super-hero fan can't help cheer on a guy called The Flying Tomato?
Conviction / Law & Order: Conviction didn't live up to the expectations and was gone by the end of the spring. Thankfully, Milena Govich jumped over to the flagship L&O show. And I'm not just saying that because her husband is one of my best friends. I haven't watched any L&O show in ages, but I was swept up in the show for more than just Milena's performance.
Invasion: Should not have been cancelled. Period. The End. It's good that so many of the cast have found other work ... but man I want to know where this was going. Sean Cassidy, the show's creator, should write a novel or two if he can't put the funding together to make a movie. When I was in LA with Karen and Eric, on the WB Tour we got to see the lagoon set and Russ' homestead.
JLU: Didn't catch every ep, but what I did catch, I liked. Shame it's gone.
Biggest Disapointment: Studio 60 has definitely failed to live up to the hype and has gotten preachy and predictable. Still, I hope it will take advantage of a full season pickup to improve. Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet and Timothy Busfield are all capable of, and deserve, better material.
Guilty Pleasure: House of Carters. Yeah, I know. Silly, rediculous, obviously staged (by the family, if not the producers) and just plain chaotic. And yet, like the train wreck on the late night news, I can't look away.
MOVIES:
(Anything that I saw for the first time in 2006, regardless of theatre or dvd, counted).
Finding Neverland: Hands down, the most engrossing and involving movie I saw all year. It met and exceeded the hype I'd heard and read before finally seeing it on dvd. Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, amazing. Equally amazing: Freddie Highmore. It's hard to steal scenes from Depp, and this kid did.
V For Vendetta: Once upon a time, I commented that in Dragonheart, Sean Connery did more acting with his voice than most actors do with their whole bodies. Hugo Weaving now takes the title. I had chills. The storyline was compressed, Natalie Portman's character was aged, other characters were compressed. And the movie still worked just as well as the original comics mini-series. Incredible.
Mirrormask: Neil Gaiman. Dave McKean. The Henson Company. Surreal, off-kilter, and heartfelt. Loved the guy who played Valentine. Loved the effects. Terrific.
Brokeback Mountain: Moving. Real. Oscar-worthy performances and beautiful cinematography. And an ending that is as likely to make you sigh with familiarity as it is to inflame you with anger.
Mysterious Skin: Disturbing story, not easy to watch. But Joseph Gordon-Levitt deserved an Oscar nomination for it. He is captivating in his near-self-destruction.
Memento: Yeah, I know. I should have watched it years ago. Guy Pearce and Joe Pantoliano are great. The fractured timeline and internal mystery are mind-bending.
Word Wars: Best documentary I saw this year, and that's a hard decision to make considering how many I watched. It's the story of four national Scrabble champions.
X-Men: The Last Stand: crowded, but good performances from Kelsey Grammer and Ben Foster equaled out the fact that James Marsden and Famke Jannsen and Patrick Stewart were pretty much window dressing.
Superman Returns: At least James Marsden got something to do in this one, and did it well. Brandon Routh channeled Chris Reeve; Kevin Spacey took the campy (but beloved) Gene Hackman Luthor and added a very dangerous edge to it. But Kate Bosworth's Lois was a cipher, and Singer's direction was slavishly imitative of Donner's original.
Bully and The Chumscrubber. Of all the "damaged teens / suburban ennui" movies I indulged in this year, these two stand out. The first is the Larry Clark movie that KIDS should have been; the second proves that Jamie Bell is an actor, not just Billy Elliot.
The Illusionist and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Val Kilmer, Robert Downey Jr. Two of the best mysteries I've seen or read this year -- the first thankfully overshadowing the predictable love story with a Usual Suspects type of twist, the second mixing self-effacing comedy with gunplay.
Biggest Disappointment: Happiness, which in now way met the hype I'd heard.
Guilty Pleasure: The Ten Commandments: The Musical Val Kilmer as Moses, with a talented singing cast and music by Patrick Leonard. I like Patrick Leonard. I like the story of Moses. I can excuse the rest. The guy who plays Ramses I and the guy who plays Ramses II (Moses' brother) are great, as is the woman who plays Moses' wife.