BEST OF 2006

I always begin by noting the movies I've missed. The (somewhat unfortunately) trend continues as the number of movies on the list escalates. There are a lot of movies I really wanted to see, but couldn't, and they don't come out on DVD for a while. 2006 was a good year for films, not a great year. But any year that features my top two can't be dismissed. Also, it cannot be considered a bad year when Michael Mann, Robert Altman, and Martin Scorsese make movies.

So a redux is to come. But it's the season to be making self-important lists.

I wanted to see and missed or haven't yet seen: FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, LETTERS TO IWO JIMA, THE GOOD GERMAN, FAST FOOD NATION, BABEL, PANS LABYRINTH, BORAT, TIDELAND, IDIOCRACY, THE PRESTIGE, THE QUEEN, INLAND EMPIRE, THE ILLUSIONIST, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, DREAMGIRLS, APOCALYPTO, ARMY OF SHADOWS

So that said, here's the big top 10, with little fanfare or explanation

Normally I reserve a spot for a documentary, but this year I did not see (a 2006 release) worth considering.

10. LITTLE CHILDREN

Todd Field's film of Tom Perotta's book is flawed, but he makes the kind of bold decisions that I like to see filmmakers make. After leaving the film somewhat annoyed with those choices, I realized that I had unfairly taken ownership of the book and refused to see his vision. After much thought, I realized that he almost perfectly cinematized the book and gave us a version faithful in tone if not to the letter. Great performances throughout.

9. A PRAIRE HOME COMPANION

The second most fun movie of ot-6, and a good note for Altman to end on. It fits perfectly in his meandering, endless watchable canon. The dryness is hilarious and the world well-conceived. It also has this weird amped-up ticking clock of a narrative that Altman (and Keiler) refuse to take seriously. And that's all part of the fun.

8. A SCANNER DARKLY

I am torn on Richard Linklater. He is the most hit or miss director working. For every movie he makes that bores me (SCHOOL OF ROCK), he returns with this fascinatingly odd science fiction question. It's in the best spirit of the 70s paranoia film, fused with the innovative technique of rotoscoping. And (this may not be saying much) it's the best performance of Keanu Reeves' career.

7. TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE LEGEND OF RICKY BOBBY

The most fun movie of the year. I have not been more pleasantly surprised by a comedy since OFFICE SPACE. Unlike the overrated ANCHORMAN, this is a comedy that actualyl tries to tell jokes, instead of rolling out strange setpieces. Like the underrated HAPPY GILMORE, it has some interesting things to say about sports culture and celebrity, but it never blatantly says these, because it wants to be really, really funny. The scenes with Reilly and Ferrell are among the comic highlights of the century.

6. MIAMI VICE

Michael Mann made another movie. And I loved it. And I am immune to your criticisms, those of you who wanted this to be STARSKY AND HUTCH.

5. THE FOUNTAIN

I shrugged at PI and was horrified (in a good way, I guess) by REQUEIM FOR A DREAM. But THE FOUNTAIN gives me an Aranofsky I can go along, wide-eyed, with as he introduces me to magical trees and ambiguously interlinear magic. A meditation on love, justice, faith, hope, and reincarnation that will either haunt you or piss you off. You will not leave this movie unchallenged.

4. THE DEPARTED

All the stupid criticims of this movie are from the anti-traditionalists interested in boosting their own heroes as the "greatest living director." GANGS OF NEW YORK was an inglorious ambitious mess, and THE AVIATOR could have probably been directed by someone else (though not as well), but THE DEPARTED is Marty at his best. As with the best Scorsese, even the most base acts of violence are at once disgusting, exciting, and saddening. I am curious about how much of this (at any production level) was inspired by the superlative THE WIRE.

3. UNITED 93

I did not want to see this movie. I probably will not see it again. My biggest questions remains: would this still be a great movie if nothing depicted had happened? Does it matter? A perfect match of style and substance, it avoids memorialism and shameless sentimentality. And yet, it is kind of a memorial because of the respect with which Greengrass gives his subject.

2. CHILDREN OF MEN

Read my review in the next post.

1. BRICK

I have rarely felt more invigorated after leaving a movie. BRICK is creatively conceived, brilliant acted, and a thematic puzzle that doesn't beg to be put together, but can be (or maybe it's a mystery, I'll ask Malcolm Gladwell.) Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives the years best performance as the smart kid who never goes to class because he's too busy kicking around open lockers and falling in love with doomed girls. If I were to vote now, I would give the BRICK the "gashie" for BEST DIALOGUE OF THE DECADE. And it's not even showy about its conceit. This is why I have a hard time explaining its charms to so many people who expect it to be BUGSY MALONE or A SHARK'S TALE. High School is kind of a film noir, and Rian Johnson's first movie dances with that.

HONORABLE MENTION: INSIDE MAN

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS: SUPERMAN RETURNS, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, MARIE ANTOINETTE, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

I WAS NOT AS BLOWN AWAY BY AS I THOUGHT I'D BE BY: HALF NELSON, TRISTAM SHANDY, THE PROPOSITION

WORST MOVIE OF THE YEAR: AMERICAN DREAMZ

Anything I left off? Anything I MUST see? Write below.