Best Movies Of 2006

Just like last year, I watched a lot of movies. (Perhaps even a few more). I saw a few really awful movies, but also a lot good ones and even a few great ones.

The best film I saw was Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. It took me a long time to get around to seeing it (and it was so long that it took me two nights to watch it), but it's easily one of the greatest movies of all time.

I like drama movies. I saw a lot of good ones. So I don't think I can pick one or two that were the "best". A River Runs Through It was an interesting story about two brothers growing up in Montana at the start of the century. I liked Bill Murray in Broken Flowers. Another quirky story was the Irish ensemble Intermission about a bank robbery gone bad. Lord of War has another good mix of story and character were Nicholas Cage plays an arms dealer who tires of his career. Finally, The Passion of the Christ lived up to its reputation and was better than I expected.

The best thriller was V for Vendetta. The third time (after The Matrix) was finally the charm for the Wachowski brothers, who delivered another great movie. A notable mention goes to The Prestige, the bitter rivalry between two magicians that gives you a lot of "tricks" to figure out as the Hugh Jackson and Christian Bale's characters battle each other.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet is an awesome director. I like Audrey Tautou too. The best foreign film was A Very Long Engagement. It's about Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) searching for her fiancé because she doubts the fact that he was killed in World War I (as reported). The Motorcycle Diaries, the story of Che Guevara deserves a recognition as well.

The best comedy was easily the satire Thank You For Smoking. It's absolutely hilarious. Stranger Than Fiction stars Will Ferrell in an unconventional role (for him) and has a good (and funny) story too.

The best documentary was March of the Penguins, one of my favourite movies of all time. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth was good also.

The best action movies were Blood Diamond and Casino Royale, a great addition to the James Bond franchise - Daniel Craig is a great James Bond and Eva Green is very hot.

The best crime film was A History of Violence. It's a part drama, part thriller as the past of an "ordinary" man in a small town becomes exposed after he appears on the news for stopping a robbery at his diner.

The best historical movie was Good Night, and Good Luck. David Strathairn portrayal of Edward R. Murrow was good. Of all the movies nominated for the best picture Oscar last year that I watched (also Brokeback Mountain, Crash, and Munich), this was the one that I liked best.

The best biographical films were Kinsey and Michael Collins. Liam Neeson is the lead actor is both. I think he's one of the best actors in Hollywood.

The other good movies that I didn't mention above include Brokeback Mountain, Enigma, Kingdom of Heaven, Match Point, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Munich, Seven Years in Tibet, Syriana, The Future of Food, The Illusionist, The Pursuit of Happyness, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Wedding Crashers, Who Killed the Electric Car?, and You, Me and Dupree.

Now for a few "fun" categories for movies that weren't good, but are worth mentioning anyway:

I didn't see any superhero movies worth endorsement. I was disappointed with both X-Men 3 and Superman Returns. Both of which merit no more than 3 stars of out 5.

The best "B" movie was Snakes On A Plane. It has no chance of being even a "B+" movie (and I would give it 3 stars out of 5 and argue it isn't even good), but it was entertaining.

Last year, I called Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind the most disappointing movie. This year, I'm calling out George Lucas and Peter Jackson for THX 1138 and King Kong, respectively. Perhaps ever director needs a mulligan. (Or maybe even more than one. Spielberg's War of the Worlds wasn't that great either and I'm not sure all of the blame can be assigned to Tom Cruise).

The movie that most exceeded by expectations was Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Quentin Tarantino is a self-indulgent director who movie making process is solely to satsify his whims, and not designed to improve the story or benefit of this audience. He emphasizes of style at the expense of substance and has a penchant for puddles of blood and streams of profanity. Nevertheless, Kill Bill was almost good.

The worst film is a tough call between Coffee and Cigarettes and Sin City.