2006 -- The Year in Movies (so far)

I have hestitated posting any reviews of 2006 movies because, frankly, this has been a horrible year for movies. And I'm not comparing it to a 'typically bad' year -- when I can successfully avoid the duds that Hollywood ships out during the summer -- I'm talking about total duds coming from all sides: mainstream, indie, and foreign.

In a typical year, the standard complaint of "no good movies" applies every February to October. It's the nature of the business. Even then, I could find some indie-or-foreign gems to fill-up my early "Best" lists (before Oscar* Season heats up). This year, even the so-called 'gems' are either disappointing or equally as bad as the summer blockbusters. I've waited an extra two months and I still cannot fill up a top ten list!

In short, expect a comprehensive "Worst" list for 2006 (in February 2007). Until then, here is a rundown of my hits and misses for 2006:

Top Ten material (in the order I saw them):
THE DEPARTED -- even a slumming Scorsese is still worth watching.
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS -- finally, a legitimate Oscar* contender!
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS
THE QUEEN -- simply brilliant.
STRANGER THAN FICTION

Best of the Rest:
CASINO ROYALE -- I could have done without the Madagascar scenes early on in the movie: that elaborate but pointless sequence served only to postpone the introduction of the lovely French actress Eva Green, Bond's one and only true love. The movie takes off when she enters the picture. Enjoy the ride!
INSIDE MAN -- Spike Lee is a master when he exercises discipline. Great soundtrack by Terence Blanchard, too.
HOLLYWOODLAND -- an 'adult' drama about old Hollywood, something I didn't expect to see in a multiplex... in Houston ... in July ... starring Ben Affleck !!
LITTLE CHILDREN -- a very 'affecting' yet disturbing drama from director Todd Field ("In the Bedroom") -- and I had major problems with ITBR (Marisa Tomei was not one of them, I assure you!) -- outstanding performances, too. If I sound surprised that I liked it, I am!
V for VENDETTA -- as a friend said: "I love dystopian universes!"

Good, not great:
All The King's Men -- worth seeing, despite its shortcomings.
Brick -- extra points for originality.
The Illusionist
The Lake House -- Sandra Bullock returns to making *good* movies (yay!)
The Last King of Scotland -- see it for Forest Whitaker's amazing performance.
World Trade Center
And : Factotum - An Inconvenient Truth - Mission Impossible 3 - A Prairie Home Companion - Scoop - Word Play

Ehhh....
Half Nelson -- why all the fuss? You want to see Ryan Gosling act? Rent Marc Forster's overlooked 'Stay' from 2005. And please, spare us the caricatured "hypocritical, self-medicating, ex-hippie sell-outs from the Sixties" who play his parents. Sheesh!
Little Miss Sunshine -- the fact that this was "the indie-hit of the summer" proves my point about it being a BAAD year for everybody in the movie business. (See a later post for why I didn't like this movie).

"Ambitious failures"
[This category covers those movies that aim high, have good intentions, but fall short of success. I created this category last year, in response to 'Crash' -- a most UN-deserving Oscar winner.]

Babel -- I wanted to like it, but the impact of the three individual stories is undercut by the director's (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) inopportune cutting among the two compelling ones and the third, unbelievable one. He made the same mistake in his last movie, 21 Grams, but that featured the lovely Naomi Watts. (See a later post for more).

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus -- I can't help but admire the earnestness of everyone involved in this misadventure. Robert Downey, Jr. deserves special recognition. Nicole was a quite effective lead (not miscast, as many critics have said). But, really...what a waste of talent! The only thing I learned about the subject of this film was that she pronounced her name 'Dee-onn.'

Marie Antoinette -- Sofia's unique talent for exploring young female fragility is sadly undone by a truly in-over-her-head lead actress, Kirsten Dunst (a miscast Jason Schwartzman, the reliably off-balanced and interesting actor here plays a boring dolt, doesn't help). I guess Sofia can relate to Kirsten's plight (see Godfather 3), but still, she was able to coax a good performance out of Scarlett Johanssen in Lost in Translation (quite a feat, as her subsequent roles attest). Great pastries, but they don't give awards for that -- yet. Great costumes, too (although showing a pair of sneakers to a shot of M.A.'s closet was over the line, S.C.!!)

Terrible!
Where to begin! How about from WORST to just bad:
Art School Confidential; Clerks 2; The Lost City (by Andy Garcia--stick to acting Andy!!); Stolen (art theft documentary); Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (and I loved the first one!); I'm Your Man (L. Cohen doc. that doesn't do justice to its subject); The DaVinci Code; The Black Dahlia; and Thank You For Smoking (not funny...a comedy is supposed to be funny!)

"Let the Oscar* Season Begin!"