TOP TEN OF 2006 - aka Longest Post Ever

11? Clean, The Departed, An Inconvenient Truth, The Queen, Volver

10. Brick
Directed by Rian Johnson

Writer/director Rian Johnson's terrifically entertaining debut is (along with Veronica Mars, which I've already raved about), giving birth to a new sub-genre of film: the "teen noir" - where adolescents take on adult roles in the face of danger in movies that use the storytelling techniques of Raymond Chandler. Juxtaposing the old and the new like this has never been funner or more successful and I hope this little genre is around to stay. You don't know how totally refreshing it is to watch a teen movie that respects it's audience and expects them to be smart enough to keep up with it's razor-sharp dialogue and the nimble speed of it's plot.

9. Fast Food Nation
Directed by Richard Linklater

Sure, there may have been some relevant political subtext lying under the surface of movies like The Queen, Children of Men, Marie Antoinette and Letters From Iwo Jima. But Richard Linklater's ensemble piece about that awful fast food industry is the most in-your-face political movie of the year. It's more effective than Super Size Me, because it inflicts palpable horrors of this way of life upon sympathetic human characters, instead of just telling us facts that we already could have guessed. As the three principal characters (beautifully portrayed by Ashley Johnson, Greg Kinnear and Catalina Sandino Moreno) all come to startling conclusions about their line of work, the audience is encouraged to come along for the same examination-of-your-morals ride.

It's actually a little suspect that a movie with a star-studded cast like this and a popular director behind it barely got a release, not to mention it being adapted from an international phenomenon of a book. It's such a broad, devastating picture and it deserved to be seen by a much wider audience.

8. Shortbus
Directed by John Cameron Mitchell

While watching Shortbus, I couldn't help but think about Boogie Nights, and how the characters in that movie strived for a better, more mainstream porn industry. Now this movie may not have been successful by most people's standards (barely a $2 million box office intake), and despite what a lot of people think, I don't think Shortbus really changed anyone's opinions about nudity and sex in movies. But that's completely beside the point because what we have here is an audacious young auteur who not only knows how to make terrifically entertaining dramedies, but who has found a way to make graphic sex on screen (DO NOT try and call this movie pornography) stimulate the mind as well, making sex expose truths about his characters. Maybe if John Cameron Mitchell were alive during the 1970s and he was making grand, ambitious skin flicks like Shortbus, things would have turned out a little differently...

7. Children of Men
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

British crime novelist PD James, whose novel inspired Alfonso Cuaron's film adaptation, is one of my favourite writers. But for some reason, The Children of Men remains one of the only books in her oeuvre that I've never read. But the movie reaks of James' brilliant storytelling techniques. The story sets itself in a tight little genre (near-future dystopian thriller) but seems more concerned with interesting characterizations and artistic merit than elaborate set-ups and plot twists. The subtle but detailed performances of Clive Owen and Clare-Hope Ashitey, the breathtaking "how'd they do that?" cinematography, the awe-inspiring production design - all factors that elevate the film from just another disaster epic to a poignant, stunning creation of a moment in time.

6. United 93
Directed by Paul Greengrass

Since it's release almost a year ago, I've been all over the place with my opinions about United 93. Admittedly, the first time I saw it, I simply wanted to walk out of the theatre - I just couldn't take it. Paul Greengrass' cinema vérité approach to such a touchy subject made it too painful to even look at. But because I still believed that there were merits in the film (particularly in the editing and acting fields), I revisited it shortly after its DVD release. And suddenly I was convinced that it was one of the best movies of the year. Here was a movie that capably transported it's audience to a moment in time, a shocking and devastating moment in time, and just existed for a couple of hours, without making any political statements and without embracing its audience. Of course, it was still a little tough to sit through at times, so raw and revealing. But I admire it so much because it's challenging and thought-provoking, letting its audience draw their own conclusions about 9/11 by giving them a thoroughly well-executed platform to do so.

5. The Descent
Directed by Neil Marshall

Remember a couple posts ago when I said that horror-moviemakers need to get their acts together and bring it? Well, The Descent definitely brings it. In my original review, I said

All six of the characters are well-drawn and well-performed, and we actually get some group dynamics going and development with the characters' relationships as we go along. Imagine that! A horror movies with real characters - definitely not something you see on a regular basis. I know that may sound a little lame when reviewing a horror movie. "Who gives a fuck?! How much BLOOD is there?" the average scary-movie-lovin' citizen may want to know. And there's a whole lot of blood and guts in The Descent, don't worry. But what makes it truly great is the way it kind of transcends the boundaries of all the slasher-movies of late.

It's this pursuit for originality and depth (while also being funner and more thrilling than anything at the multiplex) that makes Neil Marshall's breakthrough hit a real keeper.

(Full review

4. L'Enfant
Directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

The title "L'Enfant" may be a little misleading. Sure, the movie revolves around the selling of a newborn enfant, but it's probably actually referring to it's protagonist Bruno, deftly portrayed by Jérémie Renier. Juvenile, immature and completely unwilling to grow up, Bruno can seem morally disgraceful on the surface, but as the movie unfolds, we start to understand his desperation and are brought deeper and depper into his fruitless quest for redemption. The movie is shot completely handheld (often in revealing close ups), with absolutely no music, creating an awe-inspiring sense of intimacy with the characters. An original and fascinating character study, wholly deserving of it's Palme d'Or, L'Enfant is the most creative and intensely dramatic movie I've seen all year.


3. Half Nelson
Directed by Ryan Fleck

Because I'm really lazy right now and need to get this top ten done sometime this year, I'll just leave you with a blurb from my original review of Ryan Fleck's genius, nuanced feature film debut, Half Nelson

Ryan Gosling is only 26 and has already given what most people would consider the performance of a life-time; a detailed and fully-realized character that manages to really leap off the screen. Watch the way he seems slightly distracted whenever he's not in the classroom or without his students. Or the nervous and shameful way he acts when he's getting his load from the drug dealer. He makes every moment crackle with the zest of real life...The closest the movie ever comes to sentimentality is when Dan spills his heart out to his co-worker/love-interest in a seedy motel room (Oscar clip!), yet the movie manages to be incredibly moving. The light, ambiguous conclusion is thought-provoking and I can't think of a better way to go out.



(Full review)

2. The Fountain
Directed by Darren Aronofsky

It's really almost impossible to say what makes Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain such a great film. First of all, it's technically dazzling, with a haunting score, beautiful acting and awe-inspiring visuals. In my original review, I said:

It felt like FILM itself being re-awakened. This is by no means a perfect film. But, if you're in need for a way to escape with a movie filled with moments just like that; a movie that speaks in equally epic proportions to your brain and to your heart without overt sentimentality or rambling explanations; a movie that may just make you believe again in the most wonderful art form of them all, then Aronofsky's The Fountain is a must-see for you.

True dat.

(Full review)

1. Marie Antoinette
Directed by Sofia Coppola



While all of the following points suggest a great great movie, I must admit that half the reason I pick Marie Antoinette as the very best film of the year is a simple one. It is such an unbelievably gorgeous piece of work, "technically" perfect - every single frame could easily be a painting in a high-class museum somewhere.

Of course, it's very hard to even call Marie Antoinette a biopic. Coppola's vision of the title character is so completely different than what history and facts tell us about her that it doesn't seem like much more than a figment of her imagination. But this daring and singular viewpoint is what makes the movie such a marvel. Here, Marie Antoinette is like a lost, dreamy character from any modern-day teen romance that happens to be stuck in 17th-century France, propelled into a role of immeasurable responsibility that requires maturity that she shouldn't be expected to yet have. It should've been a big hit among teenage girls (like all of Coppola's films so far), posing the simple question "What you would do if you were the queen?" (Evidently, the Marie Antoinette of Coppola's film would lead a life of debauchery, spend her money like crazy, all but ignore her responsibilities and philander with sexy soldiers.)

Modernization of old themes and characters has been done many times before, but never has it worked so effortlessly than in Marie Antoinette. The absence of correct accents, the indie-rock soundtrack, and that infamous shot with a Converse in it - all these things are just subtle ways for Coppola to ponder if teenagers may have always been the same as they are today. Not only does her "we-are-all-connected" mentality make sense, it's nice that she doesn't bash it on our head and pretend to know everything about life (*cough*Innaritu*cough*).

For being bold, fun, flashy, smart, and gorgeous, Marie Antoinette is the best movie of 2006.