One Last Formality: The Film Favorites From 2006
01 Ultraviolet
02 V for Vendetta
03 Ice Age: The Meltdown
04 Silent Hill
05 Akeelah and the Bee
06 An American Haunting
07 Art School Confidential
08 The Da Vinci Code
09 X-Men: The Last Stand
10 The Omen
11 A Prairie Home Companion
12 Nacho Libre
13 Superman Returns
14 The Devil Wears Prada
15 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
16 Monster House
17 Little Miss Sunshine
18 The Covenant
19 The Black Dahlia
20 All The King’s Men
21 School For Scoundrels
22 The Queen
23 The Departed
24 Flags of Our Fathers
25 Marie Antoinette
26 The Prestige
27 Babel
28 Happy Feet
29 The Fountain
30 The Nativity Story
31 Brick
32 Shadowboxer
33 Little Children
34 This Film is Not Yet Rated
35 Gideon’s Daughter
36 D.O.A.
37 Shortbus
38 Another Gay Movie
39 The OH in Ohio
40 Children of Men
41 The Pursuit of Happyness
42 Idiocracy
43 Sherrybaby
44 Hollywoodland
45 The Wind That Shakes the Barley
46 A Scanner Darkly
47 Dreamgirls
48 The Last King of Scotland
49 Curse of the Golden Flower
50 The Science of Sleep
51 A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
52 Pan’s Labyrinth
53 The Good Shepherd
54 The Good German
55 Running with Scissors
56 The Dead Girl
57 Blood Diamond
58 An Inconvenient Truth
59 The Painted Veil
60 For Your Consideration
61 Shut Up and Sing
62 Venus
63 The Illusionist
64 Stranger Than Fiction
So with those in mind, these are the movies and performances that I noticed the most. And now for the good part.......
Favorite Movies of 2006:
10. Children of Men
9. The Fountain
8. The Prestige
7. Brick
6. Little Miss Sunshine
5. A Prairie Home Companion
4. The Science of Sleep
3. Little Children
2. Pan's Labyrinth
1. The Departed
Honorable Mention:
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Special Genre Mention:
Running with Scissors
If there is one genre where I keep ending up watching, it is the "American Family Life" genre. As an outside observer looking on, it just fascinates me at times. Then again, I do enjoy making my dad watch these as I know how much he hates American Families and screwed up they are (having lived there for seven years himself).
Most Hated Movie:
Art School Confidential
Meandering, insulting and pretentious. The biggest sin? Wasting Anjelica Houston. Screw you movie.
Special Mention:
Charles Dickens's Bleak House
The BBC adaptation is one of the best mini-serieses I have ever seen and VERY engaging (I finished this thing in ONE SITTING. Insane. Even more insane? So did my dad.) Art direction, a great ensemble, mood, ARGH! EVERYTHING! Gillian Anderson should have won ANY award for her potrayal of Lady Dedlock but unfortunately, it was Helen Mirren's year even on TV. It's not on the list officially as the BBC showed it in 2005 but it was up for awards in 2006/2007 as well. Still, go watch this!
Favorie Animated Film:
Monster House
Something You Should Go Out of Your Way to See:
An Inconvenient Truth
Something Which I Regret Not Seeing:
Notes on a Scandal
I think you've all read and heard me complain over the lack of availability this movie has had here and seemingly anywhere else.
Great Discovery in 2006:
C.R.A.Z.Y.
The Canadian film C.R.A.Z.Y. got its release in 2005 (and absolutely swept the awards in Canada) so it's technically not of 2006 but I don't care. This was a great movie from one of my most obsessed about genres: the coming of age story. Grondin would be interesting set with Gael Garcia Bernal in Y Tu Mama Tambien. I had been postponing its viewing for over a year so as soon as I saw it, blown away, I immediately made everyone I could, watch it.
And now for the acting awards:
And the Favorite Lead Performances Came From:
James McAvoy
(The Last King of Scotland)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
(Brick)
Kate Winslet
(Little Children)
Patrick Wilson
(Little Children)
Gillian Anderson
(Charles Dickens's Bleak House)
Gael Garcia Bernal
(The Science of Sleep)
Peter O'Toole
(Venus)
And The Favorite Supporting Performances Came From:
Abigail Breslin
(Little Miss Sunshine)
Mia Kirschner
(The Black Dahlia)
Mark Wahlberg
(The Departed)
Catherine O'Hara
(For Your Consideration)
Diane Lane
(Hollywoodland)
John Hurt
(V For Vendetta)
Emily Blunt
(The Devil Wears Prada)
Emma Thompson
(Stranger Than Fiction)
Channing Tatum
(A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints)
Fiona Shaw
(The Black Dahlia)
Jill Clayburgh
(Running with Scissors)
Michael Gambon
(The Good Shepherd)
Meryl Streep
(A Prairie Home Companion)
Phyllis Somerville
(Little Children)
And Finally, One Special Citation For One Thankless Year:
Matt Damon
I wonder how Matt Damon must be feeling as the collective has forgotten his contributions to 2006. Matt Damon starred in both The Departed and The Good Shepherd but aside from Best Ensemble prizes for The Departed, his work has relatively been ignored. Granted his castmates on The Departed (receiving neither mentions of nominations or disappointment from others due to lack of it) may have had the more showy roles and lines but it would all fall short without Damon's work in establishing his character. The Good Shepherd (his work with the brief time he and Michael Gambon received was what actually interested me most as you could have made a movie about that relationship alone. Think of this year's Breach with Ryan Philippe & Chris Cooper) saddled him with carrying not only a three hour plus movie but also making us care and believe that Angelina Jolie is, well, still likeable. One might say that his performance in The Good Shepherd was flat or sedated but there is in fact a great deal of intelligence in the stable front that Damon wishes to communicate to us as, let us remember, it was his intelligence that everyone sought after added to the fact that he offered what the the fledgling CIA needed: stability. All in all, Matt Damon had a good year that unfortunately saw his work get obfuscated by more showy material (The Departed) and technical derailments (The Good Shepherd) in large ensembles.
That's it, I must now study!
02 V for Vendetta
03 Ice Age: The Meltdown
04 Silent Hill
05 Akeelah and the Bee
06 An American Haunting
07 Art School Confidential
08 The Da Vinci Code
09 X-Men: The Last Stand
10 The Omen
11 A Prairie Home Companion
12 Nacho Libre
13 Superman Returns
14 The Devil Wears Prada
15 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
16 Monster House
17 Little Miss Sunshine
18 The Covenant
19 The Black Dahlia
20 All The King’s Men
21 School For Scoundrels
22 The Queen
23 The Departed
24 Flags of Our Fathers
25 Marie Antoinette
26 The Prestige
27 Babel
28 Happy Feet
29 The Fountain
30 The Nativity Story
31 Brick
32 Shadowboxer
33 Little Children
34 This Film is Not Yet Rated
35 Gideon’s Daughter
36 D.O.A.
37 Shortbus
38 Another Gay Movie
39 The OH in Ohio
40 Children of Men
41 The Pursuit of Happyness
42 Idiocracy
43 Sherrybaby
44 Hollywoodland
45 The Wind That Shakes the Barley
46 A Scanner Darkly
47 Dreamgirls
48 The Last King of Scotland
49 Curse of the Golden Flower
50 The Science of Sleep
51 A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
52 Pan’s Labyrinth
53 The Good Shepherd
54 The Good German
55 Running with Scissors
56 The Dead Girl
57 Blood Diamond
58 An Inconvenient Truth
59 The Painted Veil
60 For Your Consideration
61 Shut Up and Sing
62 Venus
63 The Illusionist
64 Stranger Than Fiction
So with those in mind, these are the movies and performances that I noticed the most. And now for the good part.......
Favorite Movies of 2006:
10. Children of Men
9. The Fountain
8. The Prestige
7. Brick
6. Little Miss Sunshine
5. A Prairie Home Companion
4. The Science of Sleep
3. Little Children
2. Pan's Labyrinth
1. The Departed
Honorable Mention:
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Special Genre Mention:
Running with Scissors
If there is one genre where I keep ending up watching, it is the "American Family Life" genre. As an outside observer looking on, it just fascinates me at times. Then again, I do enjoy making my dad watch these as I know how much he hates American Families and screwed up they are (having lived there for seven years himself).
Most Hated Movie:
Art School Confidential
Meandering, insulting and pretentious. The biggest sin? Wasting Anjelica Houston. Screw you movie.
Special Mention:
Charles Dickens's Bleak House
The BBC adaptation is one of the best mini-serieses I have ever seen and VERY engaging (I finished this thing in ONE SITTING. Insane. Even more insane? So did my dad.) Art direction, a great ensemble, mood, ARGH! EVERYTHING! Gillian Anderson should have won ANY award for her potrayal of Lady Dedlock but unfortunately, it was Helen Mirren's year even on TV. It's not on the list officially as the BBC showed it in 2005 but it was up for awards in 2006/2007 as well. Still, go watch this!
Favorie Animated Film:
Monster House
Something You Should Go Out of Your Way to See:
An Inconvenient Truth
Something Which I Regret Not Seeing:
Notes on a Scandal
I think you've all read and heard me complain over the lack of availability this movie has had here and seemingly anywhere else.
Great Discovery in 2006:
C.R.A.Z.Y.
The Canadian film C.R.A.Z.Y. got its release in 2005 (and absolutely swept the awards in Canada) so it's technically not of 2006 but I don't care. This was a great movie from one of my most obsessed about genres: the coming of age story. Grondin would be interesting set with Gael Garcia Bernal in Y Tu Mama Tambien. I had been postponing its viewing for over a year so as soon as I saw it, blown away, I immediately made everyone I could, watch it.
And now for the acting awards:
And the Favorite Lead Performances Came From:
James McAvoy
(The Last King of Scotland)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
(Brick)
Kate Winslet
(Little Children)
Patrick Wilson
(Little Children)
Gillian Anderson
(Charles Dickens's Bleak House)
Gael Garcia Bernal
(The Science of Sleep)
Peter O'Toole
(Venus)
And The Favorite Supporting Performances Came From:
Abigail Breslin
(Little Miss Sunshine)
Mia Kirschner
(The Black Dahlia)
Mark Wahlberg
(The Departed)
Catherine O'Hara
(For Your Consideration)
Diane Lane
(Hollywoodland)
John Hurt
(V For Vendetta)
Emily Blunt
(The Devil Wears Prada)
Emma Thompson
(Stranger Than Fiction)
Channing Tatum
(A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints)
Fiona Shaw
(The Black Dahlia)
Jill Clayburgh
(Running with Scissors)
Michael Gambon
(The Good Shepherd)
Meryl Streep
(A Prairie Home Companion)
Phyllis Somerville
(Little Children)
And Finally, One Special Citation For One Thankless Year:
Matt Damon
I wonder how Matt Damon must be feeling as the collective has forgotten his contributions to 2006. Matt Damon starred in both The Departed and The Good Shepherd but aside from Best Ensemble prizes for The Departed, his work has relatively been ignored. Granted his castmates on The Departed (receiving neither mentions of nominations or disappointment from others due to lack of it) may have had the more showy roles and lines but it would all fall short without Damon's work in establishing his character. The Good Shepherd (his work with the brief time he and Michael Gambon received was what actually interested me most as you could have made a movie about that relationship alone. Think of this year's Breach with Ryan Philippe & Chris Cooper) saddled him with carrying not only a three hour plus movie but also making us care and believe that Angelina Jolie is, well, still likeable. One might say that his performance in The Good Shepherd was flat or sedated but there is in fact a great deal of intelligence in the stable front that Damon wishes to communicate to us as, let us remember, it was his intelligence that everyone sought after added to the fact that he offered what the the fledgling CIA needed: stability. All in all, Matt Damon had a good year that unfortunately saw his work get obfuscated by more showy material (The Departed) and technical derailments (The Good Shepherd) in large ensembles.
That's it, I must now study!