2006 has been labelled by many a weak year in movies, but I have to disagree. While the year started very slowly and with hardly any noteworthy releases in the winter months, and while spring and early summer brought a fair share of mostly disappointing blockbusters, the last three or four months more than made up for it. In fact, I’ve had the hardest time fitting in the viewings of many (of what I deemed ‘must-see’) films in recent weeks, and I’m convinced not only did I see more than a dozen really good movies, I also had the privilige to experience two (not just one, but two!) in particular that I will hold dear among my all-time favourites.

Many critics both of online and print publications have already selected their favourite films of 2006 and published their lists right around new year’s day. I felt a need to wait an extra half a month before I assembled my own list. For one, I wanted to attain some critical distance to movies I had just watched (it’s difficult to put a film into a bigger perspective right after viewing it), but also there were more than a dozen films I had to catch up with in the past two weeks. Now that I’ve been able to cross out most of the films on my ‘must-see’ list, I feel I’m ready to review the movie year 2006 by discussing what I feel were the twenty best films released in that year.

20. Apocalypto
Mel Gibson’s movie about the fall of the Mayan civilization lost a lot of the attention it deserved after the director lost some of his credibility spewing out discriminating comments while drunk and disorderly. This doesn’t change the fact that his latest film is incredibly well crafted and beautifully photographed. And even if not everyone agrees with his choice to focus the story on one single person instead of on a decaying nation (which might have catapulted this film right into Oscar territory), the cat-and-mouse chase in the film’s second half creates a high amount of suspense and gets your adrenaline pumping.

19. V For Vendetta
The first real hit of the year came at the hands of the Wachowski brothers, and many movie goers and critics who applauded this bold political commentary at its release seemed to have forgotten about it at the end of the year. Which is a shame, because while this dystopian tale is set in a world less intricate than the Wachowski’s previous hit The Matrix, it feels much more real, and thus more immediately frightening. And the brilliantly choreographed action made sure that the film was seen by a broad audience, in spite of its controversial themes.

18. An Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore caused this film to be more mainstream than other documentaries, and that’s a good thing. The statistics and charts that Gore shows in his presentations throughout the United States leave you with a very sobering, if not shattering impression of how little responsibility mankind has been and is showing towards our environment. Hats off also to director David Guggenheimer who managed to create this film in a way that doesn’t put the emphasis on Gore the person or his work, but on the naked and factual climate problems still too many un- or disinformed people are tragically oblivious to.

17. Running Scared
Wayne Kramer’s breathless action stomper is violent and engaging. The film is beautifully crafted (some gorgeously edited sequences stand out in particular) and explores some very dark themes, all while Paul Walker celebrates is second (or rather: first) coming as an actor to take seriously. The movie features lots of tension, and while the story may twist and turn a few times too many for its own good, it’s perfect for a DVD gettogether among people tired of endless repeats of Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill.

16. Rocky Balboa
The most amazing comeback of the year is staged equally by Rocky Balboa in the film and Sylvester Stallone as a filmmaker and actor. Reclaiming the glorious and acclaimed roots of the franchise, the sixth and surprisingly very intimate Rocky movie deals with the shadows of success, and with how different people find out of their disillusionment and get their lives back on track. Mirroring the film’s final clash between Rocky and the young new heavyweight champ Mason Dixon, the movie provides a punch to the head of all those simplified underdog stories, which fail because there’s only ever one real winner: Rocky Balboa.

15. Little Children
The unnecessary and distracting narrating voice-over in the adaptation of the Tom Perrota novel may lean too much on the bookish side of things, but nevertheless Todd Field’s film is a very sober and beautifully depressing look at the struggle against superficial happyness in marriage. Kate Winslet is touching in her quest for more sense in her life, but Jackie Earle Haley’s performance as a loose pedophile is a knock out of the park. Even if Patrick Wilson hardly provides more than a bland beau, this film provides great character study.

14. Casino Royale
The 007 franchise returned to the big screen with with a new Bond that went for less showing off and more brute force. Daniel Craig gives the series a much grittier edge, and instills his character with much more vulnerability and credibility than his predecessors. Which is something that can also be said about the new film itself. It’s still action packed and spectacular, but director Martin Campbell and his team thankfully came to the conclusion that less is often more. And on top of it all, the story has real emotions, brought over perfectly in the great onscreen chemistry between Craig and Eva Green.

13. Breaking And Entering
Anthony Minghella may have crafted one of the finest films of the 1990s with The English Patient, but his latest film is his first original screenplay since his 1991 film debut Truly Madly Deeply. Rich in allusions and metaphors, his story set in the shadier parts of London King’s Cross delicately deals with the effects of having the familiarity around you being broken into. Jude Law gives an astonishing performance as a young businessman almost wantingly losing the safety around him, but it’s Juliette Binoche who gives the story a real emotional depth playing a protective and lonely immigrant mother of a delinquent fifteen-year old.

12. Borat
Chameleon Sacha Baron Cohen delivered the most outrageous and provocative film of the year, and anyone shrugging it off as bad taste completely misses its point. Cohen unceremoniously uncovers social prejudices and hypocritical opinions of the most shocking kind, and often employs his very radical methods of satire to hilarious effect. The ancient Greeks said that drama touches the emotions, but it’s comedies that appeal to the intellect. And this is certainly the case with Borat, a film that is wildly entertaining while simultaneously offering plates full of brain fodder.

11. Children Of Men
Alfonso Cuaron’s latest movie is filmmaking in perfection. The craftsmanship that went into the tiniest details this film is so complete that the viewer is transported into an apocalyptic world in the not too distant future that is all the more scarier because it’s so believable and familiar. Clive Owen is the ideal resolute hero in this picaresque adventure, and the very different end-of-world scenario that sees mankind gone infertile is a real breath of fresh air in the movie landscape. The movie’s spirit is also brilliantly captured by the outstanding cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezki.

10. Happy Feet
One of the best animated films to come out in years, Happy Feet is undeservedly underrated. Don’t let the cuddly penguins and their frequent singing and tap-dancing deceive you, Frank Miller’s feature is an inspired and moving tale presented in a very progressive and exciting manner. Miller put a real cinematic depth into the film and its often visible in the gorgeous and subtle photography. Plus, the animation is incredible in its detail, and the story does not shy away from boldly touching upon some not uncontroversial topics such as blind faith, making this a film that adults can enjoy with their kids in equal measures.

9. The Prestige
“Batman” Christian Bale going head to head with “Wolverine” Hugh Jackman in an obsessive feud between rival magicians may be reason enough for genre fans to pay for a ticket, but the latest feature from Memento and Batman Begins director Chris Nolan has so much more to offer. The Prestige runs off the smartest script of the year and finds new riches in the mystery thriller genre. Structured like a magic trick itself, Nolan’s film playfully keeps us just a nose’s length away from the riddle’s solution, tantalizingly prompting us to simply look closely enough.

8. United 93
Paul Greengrass filmed the most distressing movie of the year, and what’s remarkable about it is how he achieves it. Not with great dramatic twists, not with engaging pathos, but with a meticululous objectivism in his recreation of that one hijacked plane on September 11 that did not reach its destination. The tranquil and dry narrative, amplified by the knowledge that most of the cast are lays, provides a brilliant build up to the sacrificial bravery of the passengers on board United Airlines flight 93 that leaves you utterly upset and devastated in the end. A film that you won’t want to watch ever again, but absolutely need to see once.

7. The Queen
Covering the critical period amongst the British Royal family just after the death of Lady Di, director Stephen Frears blend of fact and fiction could have gone disastrously wrong. But Peter Morgan’s carefully written script has just the right mix of respect and criticism to make for a compelling tale of responsibility and change. The interaction between the very different and interesting characters sustains an engaging narrative, and Helen Mirren delivers the most memorable acting performance of the year, providing her Queen with a sensible amount of restraint and lots and lots of subtlety.

6. Perfume - The Story of a Murderer
German director Tom Tykwer dared to film a bestselling novel that was deemed entirely unfilmable, and his efforts resulted in a sensually told crime story that manages to spectacularly translate the book’s emphasis on the olfactory sense onto the big screen with great camera work and some very progressive editing. Never mind Dustin Hoffman’s overplayed character, the film never loses the book’s thematic brilliance, following the existencial crisis of newcomer Ben Wishaw’s olfactorily gifted Grenouille, who kills young women in order to capture their unique scent to make the ultimate perfume out of it.

5. Little Miss Sunshine
Jonathan Dayton and Valie Faris have directed some of my absolute favourite music videos of all time (like the Smashing Pumpkin’s “Tonight, Tonight”), but Little Miss Sunshine is the pair’s first cinematic endeavour. And it’s landed them the biggest indie hit of the year! Little Miss Sunshine is a beautifully uplifting and often immediately funny road movie with a great set of characters. The story of a dysfunctional family finding together in their struggle to get the slightly obese young daughter to a beauty pageant in time is lovingly told, and stunningly captured with its lush but purposeful cinematography.

4. The Departed
The Departed might just finally give Martin Scorsese his long deserved break at the Oscars, because his latest film is arguably his best work since Goodfellas in 1990. The gangster story set among the Irish community in Boston is intrigueingly told and boasts the year’s strongest and most memorable assortment of characters. Leonardo Di Caprio and Matt Damon are impressive rats among their respective enemies, and their face off leads uncompromising ending. But it’s the cast as an ensemble that makes this film stick out, with Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin excelling in their supporting roles.

3. Babel
Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu managed to film a very intricate story that follows the principle of the butterfly’s wingbeat on one continent causing a hurricane on another. Not only is the movie perfect on a technical level, the theme of how dangerously bad the understanding between people of the world is is absolutely timely. And it is dazzlingly amazing to watch how the four different stories in Marocco, Mexico and Japan are interwoven and resonate with eachother. And the strength of the film’s cast extends beyond the tested and tried talents of Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett to international discoveries like Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barazza.

2. The Fountain
Darren Aronofsky’s new work is without question the most ambitious film to come out of Hollywood in years, and its a wonder it ever got made - or rather a testimony to the director’s determination to get his dream project done. His meditative narrative covers the epic tale of a love story spanning a thousand years, and Hugh Jackman stars in the role of his life as a man desperately looking for a cure against death. The Fountain is a wholly engrossing philosophical ride through space and time that is completed with its gorgeous and innovatively filmed outer space visuals and the scintillating soundtrack courtesy of Clint Mansell, the Kronos Quartett and Mogwai. This is the equivalent to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey in the new millennium.

1. Pan’s Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasy picture is a precious rarity: a perfect cinematic experience. The very adult fairy tale of a young Spanish girl seeking refuge in a fantasy world from the Civil War her surrounding is embroiled in features frightening imagery that perfectly contrast the immensly touching and melancholy escapist story. Del Toro’s narrative is poetic through and through, and on so many different levels, that all the elements coming together is simply awe-inspiring. The unforgettable characters are so beautifully written and acted that they deserve to be screen icons in their own right, just as much as Javier Navarrete’s incredible score that uses one single melodic lullaby as the basis for an exquisitely rich and dense soundscape. Pan’s Labyrinth must not be missed, because there’s no telling if you’ll ever get to see anything quite as extraordinary again.

There were of course plenty more films I watched in 2006 that didn’t make this list but I still enjoyed (in parts or in full), and I feel they deserve mention at this point. They are, in no particular order: Dreamgirls, Marie Antoinette, Superman Returns, Inside Man, Mission Impossible III, Miami Vice, The Devil Wears Prada, Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor), Silent Hill, Tristan & Isolde, The Break-Up, and Slither.

Obviously there were also some movies that I would have liked to have seen and taken into consideration when assembling this list. These are features that haven’t been released yet where I’m located or films that I unfortunately missed during their theatrical run. These are, again in no particular order: Letters from Iwo Jima, Notes on a Scandal, The Last King of Scotland, The Illusionist, The Pursuit of Happyness, Volver, Sherrybaby, Blood Diamond, Venus, Thank Your For Smoking, Miss Potter, Stranger than Fiction, Running with Scissors, Monster House, The Lives of Others, Vitus, Hollywoodland, The Black Dahlia, The Painted Veil, Bobby, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The Last Kiss, The Science of Sleep, The Good German, Inland Empire, The Shepherd. And probably many more.

You can share your on list of favourite movies in 2006 in this thread on the X-Boards.

Posted by Tai in Commentary, Movies, Reviews • Add to del.icio.us Add to Digg