The Best Films of 2006
9. Slither
A must for any hardcore and casual fan of the horror-genre. James Gunn's film is a wonderful tribute to all those 80's horror films both from the great ones (most of John Carpenter's output from the 80s) to the cheesy fun bad ones like the remake of The Blob. If you didn't know any better you could very well think this movie was made in 1986 (that's a compliment by the way). The film is never too clever with its references and delivers on both the gore and fun characters. This is still without a doubt Nathan Fillion's best performance in anything ever.
8. Pan's Labyrinth
I probably couldn't pick a more geek-friendly foreign film. While I don't think it is Guillermo del Toro's best film, that is a spot I reserve for his 2001 film The Devil's Backbone it is very much a damn brilliant second. Pan's Labyrinth is the perfect example of an auteur effortlessly working his craft, everything from the moving story to the excellent creature designs it is a damn fine piece of work that gets better with age and with each viewing.
7. A Scanner Darkly
By far still one of the most under appreciated sci-fi films ever. Everyone seems to forget this movie exists and sometimes I do too but then I remember Graham Reynolds strange score and one of Keanu Reeve's best performances. For those of you closeted Keanu-appreciators you can always tout this overlooked gem to the over-passionate Keanu haters out there. Sometimes Richard Linklater's "Bush did it" liberal politics can be a little eye-rolling at times but it never overbears or totally detracts from the movie. Linklater lets the characters be as fascinating and interesting as the visuals, with great performances from a supporting cast that includes Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson.
6. Miami Vice
I am unabashedly a Michael Mann fan, that could be why this film is on my list, could also be because of the great use of Mogwai's "Auto Rock" at the climax of the film or the wonderfully suspenseful standoff at the trailer park. Mann's adaptation of the TV show he created (of which I own the entire series, so damn I may be a bit biased here but then I remember it's my list damnit) is concerned with subtlety maybe too much subtlety at times, it's a crime drama that refuses to hold your hand and sort of drops you completely detached into Michael Mann's Miami, it's a cold and harsh place, but always slick and pleasing to the eye. Miami Vice also marks Mann's penchant to have characters mumble esoteric things to each other, sometimes it is frustrating and sometimes it is spot on true to the characters he's created (lone and detached manly men who don't have time to fuck around, see Heat and Thief). Despite the claim of partnership this is all Colin Farrell's movie with Jaime Foxx sidelined but Farrell is more than up to task to play the Mann usual. Gong Li is also excellent playing Farrell's eventual love interest, their relationship ends up taking center-state making this curiously Mann's version of a romance film, although one can argue he did that to the nth degree with Last of the Mohicans. This is a movie I enjoy even more with each subsequent viewing. I appreciate the handling of the camerawork, Mann and his cinematographer are perfectly in tune with the HD hand-held style which adds to the atmosphere of the film rather than detracts from it (unlike in Mann's last effort Public Enemies, in that film that camera work is distracting, sometimes even ugly and takes away from the film). When Michael Mann is a the top of his game I am ecstatic, and Miami Vice is certainly a really fine piece of work from one of my favorite directors.
5. The Descent
This is a film that introduced me to director Neil Marshall as a genre-man worth paying attention to. He hasn't made a film that's disappointed me (he's only made four films thus far), the over-looked action tribute/pastiche Doomsday (which I'm likely to expand upon later) to this year's Centurion he brings a level of skill to his "b-movies" that puts other more well-known genre directors to shame (I'm looking at you Eli Roth and Paul W.S. Anderson). It is much too presumptuous to call him the heir to John Carpenter but damned if he isn't trying. Back to The Descent, this is a straight-forward and well-made classic horror movie, the creatures are practical, the score is fantastic and you actually care about the characters instead of waiting for them to get picked off one by one.
4. The Departed
While undoubtedly Martin Scorsese's most popular film of the last decade, I don't think it was his best. His best film of the 2000's and one of my absolute personal favorites is still The Aviator, a film which I don't think is appreciated enough. But back to The Departed, it is a finely-tuned piece of work, Monahan's oscar-winning screenplay was well-deserved in what probably is one the best cop/crime dramas of all time. It is a film where everyone behind and front of camera are firing on all cylinders and definitely deserved all the academy-awards they received.
3. Children of Men
Holy Shit. There are very few movies I can describe as wholly perfect but this is definitely one of them. This is a flawless piece of work through and through. Not only was it one of the best films of 2006 but without a doubt the decade.
2. Brick
Rian Johnson's directorial debut came at the right place and time for me. Brick is the best high-school detective noir movie ever made, well, it's probably the only high-school detective noir movie ever made. I adore this film, from it's clever dialogue to it's great sense of mood and atmosphere, this is a film that stays with you unlike the "grow out of it" Donnie Darko (which I'll definitely assume is a good thing). This is a great little film and that's that.
1. United 93
I am not articulate enough to give this film justice or clearly express how this is one the most important films ever made. But United 93 is one the most important films ever made, there I said it. Paul Greengrass treats the event with an objective eye and in the process makes one of the most human films ever made. This is not some jingoistic patriotic nonsense, nor is it some left leaning conspiracy bullshit. This is truly a masterpiece and a defining piece of work.
Disclaimer Thing: The lack of a 10? Simple, I hadn't seen a good 10th movie but I will give you a couple titles that could've been in my 10 spot had I seen them in 2006 or had a more keen eye for really damn good movies: Inside Man, Running Scared, Casino Royale, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima
All images taken from google image search motherfucker.
