January 4, 2007
2006's Top Movies
Okay, so it's been 2007 for the last four days but since everyone's doing it from the critics circles to the awards nominating pools, it seemed worth it to weigh in on last year's movies. However, constructing end of the year top ten lists can be both painful and thrilling. Looking at a long list of the year's movie releases reminds you how many films passed you by in the theaters and playing favorites amongst the pool is never easy. It's much more fun to look at a top 10 and what various moviemakers from around the world have churned out in the last 12 months as glass half full. In the midst of the dreck of horrible new releases are some very bright spots, and here are 10 of our personal highlights.
1. The Queen
2. Letters From Iwo Jima
3. Half Nelson
4. Old Joy
5. Volver
6. Shortbus
7. A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints
8. Last King of Scotland
9. Woman on the Beach
10. Iraq in Fragments
Worth An Honorable Mention (in no particular order):
Children of Men, 13 Tzameti, The Puffy Chair, Man Push Cart, Miss Potter, Perfume, Notes on A Scandal, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Holiday, Casino Royale, Babel, Marie Antoinette, The Science of Sleep, Sherrybaby, Talladega Nights, Brothers of the Head, The Devil Wears Prada, The Road to Guantanamo, Lady Vengeance, United 93, Brick, Inside Man, 16 Blocks, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, Tristram Shandy, Tristan & Isolde, Gabrielle, No Restraint
Amazingly, Helen Mirren seems to have been in both the best, The Queen, and the worst movie of the year, Shadowboxer. Ms. Mirren would do best to stick with roles where she can be regal royalty rather than say, a hired assassin dying of cancer, whose stepson (played by the dreadful Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is her protege and her lover. Ugh.
Even more year-end movie lists: Metacritic on the best reviewed movies of the year, J. Hoberman of the Village Voice, Manohla Dargis from the New York Times, Owen Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly and indieWire's critics poll. The Golden Globes also have their nominees out there as do the Independent Spirit awards, and the 79th annual Academy Awards nominees will be announced on Jan. 23.
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Little Miss Sunshine?!
I just saw The Queen this past weekend, and highly recommend it...
...Notes on a Scandal
The Departed?
Where's Little Miss Sunshine - not even an honorable mention??!!
I counted them up last night and realized I saw 77 (!) movies last year. My Top 10 is here:
http://scoboco.blogspot.com/
can someone explain why Old Joy is considered a good movie? i'm serious, since i thought it was the most sleep-inducing movie i'd watched all year, yet others claim it was a cinematic wonder.
Pan's Labyrinth!
To Ramble and Sam, Pan's Labyrinth and The Departed are two of the movies I've missed but am still planning to see. I also think I should try to get to Flags of Our Fathers because I hear the connections to Letters From Iwo Jima are interesting.
As for Kim and E=MG2's comments on Little Miss Sunshine, though I know this could set off a heated round of comments, I found it sort of overrated. Cute but not anything spectacular.
To Ganesh, re: Old Joy and why it's wonderful even though it's quite slow, J. Hoberman's review aptly describes it as "literate but not literary, crafted without ostentation, rooted in a specific place and devoted to small sensations."
thanks for the response, karen. unfortunately none of those "small sensations" were enough to wake me up...;-)
You all blew it big time - BORAT!!!!
I actually was fairly dissapointed with Talladega Nights. My list would have included Little Miss Sunshine and Stranger than Fiction, but that's just me.
I take it no one here saw "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu". it's out on dvd now, and if you consider yourself a film buff, it's required viewing.
16 Blocks? Seriously? Yikes.
Nothing for A Scanner Darkly?! You are dead to me.
really?? eek. the puffy chair is right up there with conversations with other women in being the worst of the year.
The Queen, the best movie of the year? Really? Don't get me wrong. Helen Mirren's performance was subtle and the conflict was bubbling under that austere, almost-smile, but as a complete film I think some of it was really cheesy. The music,editing, and cinematography was on part with an Adam Sandler film.
The Queen, the best film of the year, really? Mirren's performance was great, the conflict bubbling under that austere, big-glasses adorned face of hers, and I thought the theme was interesting, but the film itself, as a film, I thought was lacking. The music was overly sentimental and cheesy at parts, the editing was weird, and the cinematography was about as interesting as plain oatmeal (made with water, not milk). Maybe best performance of the year, but best MOVIE?