Your Top Ten Films of 2006

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 12:23pm

List your Top 10 Films of 2006 as they currently stand, updating your post as you see more films from the year.
1. Little Children
2. Pan's Labyrinth
3. Dreamgirls
4. United 93
5. The Departed
6. Apocalypto
7. The Queen
8. Notes on a Scandal
9. The Good Shepherd
10. Cars
Runners Up: The Devil Wears Prada, An Inconvenient Truth, Curse of the Golden Flower, V For Vendetta, Thank You For Smoking, Stranger Than Fiction, World Trade Center, Akeelah and the Bee, Borat, Inside Man, Monster House, Babel, Superman Returns, Flags Of Our Fathers, Shut Up and Sing, Infamous, Sherrybaby, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Lives of Others

Films of note that could make my list but have not seen yet:Venus, Inland Empire, Blind Sight, Deliver Us From Evil, Eragon, Miss Potter, The Notorious Bettie Page, The Science of Sleep, We Are Marshall

Updated On: 1/12/08 at 12:23 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 12:25pm

THE DEPARTED

CLERKS 2

TRISTAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY

and....um....I didn't see alot of great movies this year, I'm afraid. But those three rock!

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 1:03pm

1. Pan's Labyrinth
2. Shortbus
3. Little Children
4. The Queen
5. Half Nelson
6. For Your Consideration
7. Iraq in Fragments
8. Children of Men
9. Jesus Camp
10. A Prarie Home Companion

Need to see: The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Letters from Iwo Jima, Venus, Evil, Old Joy, The Proposition

Seriously overrated movies:
Borat, Apocalypto, Thank You For Smoking, The Departed

Best performances of the year:
Cate Blanchett (The Good German), Forest Whitaker (Last King of Scotland), Helen Mirren (The Queen), Will Smith (Persuit of Happyness), Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Abagail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children), Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), Catherine O'Hara (For Your Consideration),

Updated On: 12/29/06 at 01:03 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 1:13pm

THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR:
10.) Volver
9.) The Queen
8.) The Departed
7.) Happy Feet & Cars (tied)
6.) Borat
5.) Little Miss Sunshine
4.) United 93
3.) Come Early Morning
2.) Little Children
1.) Dreamgirls

(A special mention should go to NOTES ON A SCANDAL as well; just landing out of my top 10)

I'm having trouble thinking of a bottom five because I probably blocked them all out of my memory. :) LITTLE MAN & RV top it though.

BEST PERFORMANCES:
10.) Eddie Murphy, DREAMGIRLS
9.) Leonardo DiCaprio, THE DEPARTED (this is a three-way tie with..) Mark Whalberg & Matt Damon, all in THE DEPARTED; all equally sensational
8.) Judi Dench, NOTES ON A SCANDAL
7.) Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
6.) Cate Blanchett, BABEL and NOTES ON A SCANDAL
5.) Kate Winslet, LITTLE CHILDREN tied with Ashely Judd, COME EARLY MORNING
4.) Jackie Earle Haley, LITTLE CHILDREN
3.) Penelope Cruz, VOLVER
2.) Jennifer Hudson, DREAMGIRLS
1.) Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 1:17pm

A lot of stunning performances and movies this year. I'm thrilled that most of the Oscar categories are hard to predict at this point in time. Who's gonna win Best Actor? I mean, Forest Whitaker undoubtedly gave the year's best leading male performance but does he have enough star power to push him to the top like his projected competetors (Will Smith & Leonardo DiCaprio, specficially).

I have yet to see VENUS although I hear Peter O'Toole gives his best performance in it. Which is incredible praise.

[Marlothom]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 2:21pm

The Queen,
The Pursuit of Happyness,
United 93,
Little Miss Sunshine,
Volver,
The Devil Wears Prada,
Dreamgirls,
The Departed,
Thank You For Smoking,
Borat

Updated On: 12/27/06 at 02:21 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 2:29pm

Of the films I've seen so far:

Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
Prairie Home Companion
United 93
Monster House
Volver
World Trade Center

[CapnHook]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 2:45pm

So far I have seen 26 films this year:

- Babel
- Blood Diamond
- Bobby
- Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
- Click
- The Da Vinci Code
- The Departed
- The Devil Wears Prada
- Dreamgirls
- The Good German
- The History Boys
- The Illusionist
- The Last Kiss
- Little Miss Sunshine
- Man of the Year
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- The Prestige
- The Queen
- RV
- Snakes on a Plane
- Step Up
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Thank You For Smoking
- United 93
- Volver
- X-Men: The Last Stand

As it stands right now, my top 10 films in order are:

1) Dreamgirls
2) Blood Diamond
3) Little Miss Sunshine
4) Babel
5) The Departed
6) The Devil Wears Prada
7) Bobby
The Queen
9) The History Boys
10) Man of the Year and Stranger Than Fiction tie for the final position.

Keep in mind, before Oscar season is over, I will also see: The Pursuit of Happyness, The Good Shepherd, For Your Consideration, An Inconvienent Truth, World Trade Center, A Praire Home Companion, Wordplay, L'Enfant, Flags of Our Fathers, Notes On A Scandal, Little Children, The Last King of Scotland, Letters From Iwo Jima, and Venus.

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 3:34pm

I haven't seen that many movies this year, but i would have to say...

1) The Departed
2) Blood Diamond
3) Borat
4) For Yor Consideration
5) The Prestige
6) Talladega Nights

[Pinguin]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 4:35pm

Let's see...so far:

1. Children of Men
2. Pan's Labrynth
3. Babel
4. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
5. Half Nelson
6. Brick
7. Little Children
8. The Departed
9. A Scanner Darkly
10. Little Miss Sunshine

Honorable Mentions: Dreamgirls, The Proposition, The Science of Sleep

Films of note I haven't seen: Notes on a Scandal, Letters from Iwo Jima, Flags of our Fathers, Bobby, For Your Consideration, Volver, Venus, The Prestige, The Dead Girl, The Painted Veil, The Good German, Sherrybaby

I'm working on it...

Updated On: 1/6/07 at 04:35 PM

[broadway86]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 4:36pm

I've pretty satisfied with what I've seen. I still need to see "Notes on a Scandal", "The Painted Veil", "Letters from Iwo Jima", "Curse of the Golden Flower", and "Inland Empire", but I've seen just about everything else.

Top 10 (in alphabetical order)

Children of Men
The Dead Girl
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Half Nelson
Little Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
A Prairie Home Companion
The Queen
United 93

Runners-up: Blood Diamond, Borat..., Casino Royale, The Descent, The Devil Wears Prada, Happy Feet, Inside Man, Little Children, Monster House, Thank You for Smoking, Tristram Shandy, V for Vendetta, and Volver.

Acting categories (not final)

Best Actor (Drama)
Daniel Craig, Casino Royale
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland*

Best Actor (Musical/Comedy)
Sasha Baron Cohen, Borat...
Steve Coogan, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
Joseph Cross, Running with Scissors
Aaron Eckhart, Thank You for Smoking
Will Ferrell, Stranger than Fiction
Greg Kinnear, Little Miss Sunshine

Best Actress (Drama)
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Sherrybaby
Helen Mirren, The Queen*
Gretchen Mol, The Notorious Bettie Page
Ellen Page, Hard Candy
Kate Winslet, Little Children

Best Actress (Musical/Comedy)
Annette Bening, Running with Scissors
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Anne Hathaway, The Devil Wears Prada
Bryce Dallas Howard, As You Like It
Catherine O'Hara, For Your Consideration
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada*

Best Supporting Actor (Drama)
Ben Affleck, Hollywoodland
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children*
Djimoun Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Jack Nicholson, The Departed
Michael Sheen, The Queen
Donald Sutherland, Aurora Borealis

Best Supporting Actor (Musical/Comedy)
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine*
Rob Brydon, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
Kevin Kline, A Prairie Home Companion
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Stanley Tucci, The Devil Wears Prada
Eli Wallach, The Holiday

Best Supporting Actress (Drama)
Claire-Hope Asitey, Children of Men
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Mary Beth Hurt, The Dead Girl*
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
Diane Lane, Hollywoodland
Sharon Stone, Bobby

Best Supporting Actress (Musical/Comedy)
Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada
Blythe Danner, The Last Kiss
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls*
Frances McDormand, Friends with Money
Emma Thompson, Stranger than Fiction
Lily Tomlin, A Prairie Home Companion

Best Young Actor
Cameron Bright, Thank You for Smoking
Joseph Cross, Running with Scissors*
Paul Dano, Little Miss Sunshine
Rupert Grint, Driving Lessons
Sam Lerner, Monster House
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness

Best Young Actress
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Shareeka Epps, Half Nelson
Lindsay Lohan, Bobby/A Prairie Home Companion
Ellen Page, Hard Candy*
Keke Palmer, Akeelah and the Bee
Ivana Baquero, Pan's Labyrinth Updated On: 12/27/06 at 04:36 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 5:51pm

Two questions for you, broadway86:

1. How can AS YOU LIKE IT be considered in your categories when the film hasn't even been released?

2. Aren't Joseph Cross and Ellen Page a bit too old to really be considered "young actors"?

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 7:05pm

I just saw "The Queen" today, and I must say that Helen Mirren, who is always good, is WAY over-hyped for an Oscar here. She can fall out of bed and act this part. Her role on "Prime Suspect" for BBC is more demanding. I'm not saying that she isn't GOOD in the film. She's very good, but that's like saying, "she jumped extremely well, six inches off the ground." Well, yes, it was a nicely executed jump... but it was SIX INCHES off the ground... not ten feet. The degree of difficulty, particularly in Helen's case, is terribly minimal.

Plus I thought the movie's story was VERY small. It's not really about the Queen. It's about her decisions regarding Diana's death and how to come to terms with the changing opinion of the monarchy in modern England. I wish they had used this premise as a framework to show her flashing back throughout her life, as a child, a young adult, an adult, and finally to the present. It's as if the audience has to write its own subtext to make her "backstory" interesting.

Instead we have a "very well made little TV movie" getting FAR more attention than it deserves.

Nicely done, all involved, and an engrossing, detailed, SMALL story... but Oscar hype? Critics awards? "Outstanding?"

No. Not this time.


EDIT: Is this REALLY the BEST leading actress performance out there this year? I haven't seen all of the potential nominees, but I was more impressed with Beyonce's "raw" work in Dreamgirls than I was with Helen's solid, but run-of-the-mill performance as Queen Elizabeth. And Beyonce is considered merely a "dark horse" for a nomination at best... so how did Helen come out on top? Is it THAT weak of a year for leading ladies?

Updated On: 12/27/06 at 07:05 PM

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 7:14pm

Has "The Last King Of Scotland" been released in LA or NY already? I wanted to see it in NY this past weekend but couldn't find any times for it.

Saw Iwo Jima instead.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 7:20pm

It doesn't seem to be playing out here right now, Tiff, but it had to play for at least one week in 2006 in L.A. to qualify for this years Academy Awards. I think it came and went already.

But if Forrest scores an Oscar nom (as predicted), I'm sure it will be back for a limited run.

EDIT: BTW, how was Iwo Jima? Did it make your own "best of the year" list?

Updated On: 12/27/06 at 07:20 PM

[broadway86]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 7:23pm

1. How can AS YOU LIKE IT be considered in your categories when the film hasn't even been released?

I saw a DVD screener of it.

2. Aren't Joseph Cross and Ellen Page a bit too old to really be considered "young actors"?

I don't think so.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 7:40pm

best12bars - I 100% agree with your assessment of THE QUEEN.

While Helen Mirren jumped six inches, Beyonce Knowles jumped 10 feet. The only problem is that Beyonce was standing in a 10 foot hole in the ground, so now she is back on flat land and won't get a nomination. Helen Mirren is six inches off the ground and would be nominated over Beyonce. Make sense?

That being said, Helen Mirren doesn't DESERVE an Oscar nod but will get one due to Oscar politics. Shame.

Posted: 12/27/06 at 7:51pm

10.Borat
9. Cars
8. Brick
7. Thank You for Smoking
6. Children of Men
5. Babel
4. Flags of Our Fathers
3. Marie Antoinette
2. The Departed
1. Little Miss Sunshine

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 9:13pm

Capn---Love your analogy.

So, have you seen any other performances that are "award worthy?"

I'm concerned. Helen and Beyonce aside... there will be five noms, and one win... and I'd love to hear how everyone else measures up (or doesn't), if Ms. Mirren is the "one to beat."

EDIT: Sorry, I don't mean for this to be a threadjack. I'm interested in the "best of the year," and The Queen is supposed to contain the best performance by an actress in a leading role, and that surprises me, after having seen it today. So... what is the "best?"

Updated On: 12/27/06 at 09:13 PM

[worrell4077]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 9:30pm

Didn't see alot of films, but out of the films I saw these were my favorites....

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
The Prestige
Over The Hedge
Flushed Away
Night At The Museum
X-Men: The Last Stand

The only film I saw this year that I really didn't like was Superman Returns. It was just okay, it wasn't as amazing or lived up to the hype like Batman Begins did(I can't wait for July 18, 2008 and The Dark Knight)

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 11:47pm

I still have some more things to see but I can definitely tell you where I'm at right now and stuff. Bear in mind that I still have more things to see:

PROBABLY THE BEST FILM OF THE YEAR: THE DEPARTED (Unless anything else blows it out of the water, THE DEPARTED will stand as the best film of 2006. More on this when the actual list is complete.)

BEST COMEDY - FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION (Perfectly details what ruins the artistry of filmmaking. This is one of Guest's very best films and the addition of Ricky Gervais to the troupe is inspired casting.)

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE - Leonardo DiCaprio - THE DEPARTED (His best acting job ever. As a tough hothead who is extremely insecure and paranoid, DiCaprio is absolutely amazing.)

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE - Adriana Barraza - BABEL (One of the most genuinely heartwrenching performances of the year. Every moment of her portrayal feels real.)

BEST MOVIE MOMENT - Elevator Scene - THE DEPARTED (I'm not describing anything that goes on during this scene. I'm just not. Nonetheless, I will say that no other moment in any other 2006 had me as involved or as riveted....or as shocked.)

MOST DISSAPPOINTING - CARS (Maybe it was just that I had such monstrously high expectations after the amazing double feature of FINDING NEMO and THE INCREDIBLES, but this was an oddly bland movie from the makers of films known for such energy and spirit. NEMO remains one of the greatest animated films I've ever seen.)

WORST MOVIES OF THE YEAR:

1) DEATH OF A PRESIDENT
2) PIRATES 2
3) HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL
4) TURISTAS
5) SUPERMAN RETURNS

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 11:53pm

And a special mention must be made towards hearing Jack Nicholson uttering the "N" word in THE DEPARTED. The way he said it was absolutely hilarious.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 12:36am

best12bars,

I haven't seen several mainstream Oscar films yet, but if you look above at my original post, of the films I have seen, stand-out performances are:

Meryl Streep in DEVIL WEARS PRADA; Penelope Cruz in VOLVER; Sharon Stone in BOBBY; Jennifer Hudson in DREAMGIRLS; Cate Blanchett in THE GOOD GERMAN; Toni Collette in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE; and Emma Thompson in STRANGER THAN FICTION. Also the actress who played the caretaker of the children in BABEL.

I feel the only Oscar-worthy performances for Leading Ladies are Helen Mirren, that BABEL actress, and Jennifer Hudson. But Hudson and the BABEL actress are in Supporting, so that leaves Helen Mirren. It is sort of a sad year for Leading Ladies. It's all about the men this season.

[DG]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 1:26am

I haven't even seen ten films out this year - but DREAMGIRLS still wouldn't be on any list of mine.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 4:11am

DG: SCHMEH!!

:P