The Top 10 Films of the Year

“Lies. Betrayal. Sacrifice.”

10. The Departed

So I wasn’t all amazed by this film as most people/critics/the academy was, but it’s still a pretty solid cops and robbers drama directed by Martin Scorsese. For some reason, and I’m not entirely sure why, the characters played by Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon looked incredibly similar to me, and I had a hard time telling them apart for most of the film. So I think that may have contributed to me understanding the film less than I should have. But in the end I was pretty impressed with the story as well as the characterizations, and I particularly loved the ending, which I won’t spoil here. Needless to say however it took me by surprise.

“The greatest motion picture of all time.”

9. Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny

This movie did terribly at the box office and critics pretty much slammed it as well. I heard the soundtrack to the film long before I actually watched it, and I was really unimpressed. I had been a fan of their first album and the band in general, so I was disappointed when it seemed the soundtrack was sub par. Once I finally watched the movie however, I realized that out of context the songs just aren’t that great and are a little confusing. But when presented the way they are supposed to be, within the movie itself, it’s incredibly funny and tons of fun. I loved the silliness in the movie and the many cameos, and I’ve said it before: I’m a sucker for musicals. The fact that Jack Black is one of the greatest musicians/comedians working right now helps as well.

“Don’t hide the truth. Just filter it.”

8. Thank You for Smoking

Aaron Eckhart always bugged me. I’m not really sure why. I think it was because I first saw him in the awful movie Paycheck and that soured me from him for a while. After seeing this movie however, I started to develop a fondness for him, and while it hasn’t grown considerably since then, he hasn’t ruined it either by acting in anything else alongside Ben Affleck. The movie is really clever and at the same time, really funny. It takes a subject that I have a strong opinion on, makes the main character be a champion for it and still makes me like him. It gives a new meaning to the word ‘anti-hero’ and makes you think about the people ‘behind the scenes’ of companies like Big Tabacco.

“Truth is stranger than fiction.”

7. Stranger Than Fiction

I think it was around this time that I started to hate Will Ferrell. I loved Will Ferrell for a long time, along with most of the population, after taking notice of him in Zoolander and his stuff on SNL. But then things started to get stale, and I started to realize there wasn’t much range to Ferrell’s comedic acting abilities. He was generally a dimwit of some kind, that you either loved (Elf) or hated (Wedding Crashers). So when I saw this movie I was notably impressed by his restraint and his actual, well, acting. He is almost the complete opposite of the characters he usually plays, and it works well. But on top of that, the movie itself is brilliant and I love meta-fiction like this. The other actors in the film are great as always, including Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. The end of the film is actually a really clever take on endings of stories in general, and I thought it was the perfect way to end it.

“Strangers shouldn’t talk to little girls.”

6. Hard Candy

This one kind of caught me by surprise, I never gave the movie a chance for a long time just because I thought it was a weird ‘little red riding hood’ adaptation or something. Turns out I was completely wrong, and when I finally watched it I was really impressed. Ellen Page does a fantastic job in this movie, and while everyone is crapping themselves over her performance in Juno I thought that was pretty average compared to her work in this movie. Granted I wasn’t a big fan of Juno but that’s another story. Patrick Wilson is also quickly becoming a favorite of mine as he does an excellent job as an alleged child molester in this movie. I thought it was a really interesting take on the world of internet stalkers and entrapment, and it’s pretty relieving to see the predator become the prey.

“Everyone just pretend to be normal.”

5. Little Miss Sunshine

This is another film that garnered a lot of praise this year, but with good reason. I’ve always been a fan of dysfunctional family comedies, and this family is one of the most dysfunctional I’ve seen. From the mute wannabe pilot, to the gay suicidal english professor, and of course the crotchety grandfather, there is plenty of conflict within the family itself to make this movie interesting to watch. Of course, Abigail Breslin plays the title character who gets into a children’s pageant and drives the movie forward. The climax of the film, where Olive (Breslin) does her ‘talent’ portion of the pageant, is already a classic movie moment and the family’s reaction to it is almost as great as the performance itself.

“No children. No future. No hope.”

4. Children of Men

An incredibly powerful film about a dystopian future where infertility is slowly turning the human race extinct. Clive Owen discovers a pregnant woman and must protect her and get her to safety, to hopefully give humans a chance at a continued existence. One of the things I noticed about this movie is the director(Alfonso Cuaron)’s use of long takes, which is something I’m always impressed by (Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson both used this technique often as well). The cinematography is incredible and conveys the sense of urgency and hopelessness that you feel for the characters as they rush to safety. While it helps that I absolutely adore both Clive Owen and Julianne Moore, the other actors are top notch as well, including Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Caine.

“What happens when make-believe believes it’s real?”

3. Pan’s Labyrinth

It’s not every year that a movie like this comes along. The first thing you’d notice is the visuals: they are incredible. The costumes, the special effects, everything visually is just stunning. Now before I knew much about this movie I thought it was going to be a fun, family fantasy movie in the same vein as The Labyrinth (maybe the name threw me). As it turns out this is definitely not a family film, as it’s got some of the most disturbing scenes I’ve seen in a film ever. But that’s not a bad thing. The film takes place in a post Civil War Spain where a young girl tries to hide from the horrors of the world she lives in by escaping into a fantasy world she made up (or did she?), helped along by the mysterious faun Pan. Throughout the film we go between real world and fantasy world and it’s never explicitly stated whether or not the fantasy world is in fact real, or just in the girls head. I like to believe it is real, though, as there are definitely some moments that could not be explained otherwise.

“You can’t judge a crime by it’s cover.”

2. Inside Man

A good year for Clive Owen it seems! This movie didn’t seem like anything special when I heard/read about it. After watching it however, I realized how much more to it there was than just a crime caper with (who else?) Denzel Washington. The title also threw me and I wondered why it wasn’t called ‘THE Inside Man’ and quickly understood the intentional grammar used for the title, as this isn’t simply about a man, but about man. Yeah, we’re talking deep stuff here. But even outside of the hidden meanings behind the movie, there is plenty to enjoy, with all people involved at the top of their game and a nice use of time shifting from the post-robbery interviews to the robbery itself, all leading up to the clever conclusion, and semi-ambiguous ending.

“Are you watching closely?”

1. The Prestige

Never have a seen a movie so clever, and have so many layers to it, and still be incredibly entertaining and awesome. I adored this movie the moment I watched it, but it wasn’t until my second viewing that I realized how insanely smart it was. Seriously. If you think it’s just a silly little ‘dueling magicians’ sci-fi thriller than you aren’t, to steal from the movie, ‘watching closely.’ Pay attention to the things Michael Caine’s character says in regards to magic, and you’ll understand that this is really a commentary on storytelling in general. Were you disappointed with the final reveal at the end of the movie? Good. Now remember when Christian Bale’s character shows his wife the trick behind his ‘bullet catch’ trick? She was disappointed after she found out how he did it. It’s all right there in the movie, the nature of storytelling, especially ones with ‘twists’ like this. It’s a brilliant, brilliant film and was an easy pick as my number one film of 2006.

“Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called “The Pledge”. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The Turn”. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call “The Prestige”.”

- Cutter (Michael Caine)

Honorable Mentions

Slither: A fun and disgusting horror film in the spirit of Evil Dead, and starring Nathan Fillion whom I would like to marry now please.

American Dreamz: A little disappointing, but still pretty funny and some pretty blatant shots at real life people (George W. Bush, Simon Cowell).

Silent Hill: As a HUGE fan of the video game this was based on, I loved probably 90% of the movie and hated the rest. But as an adaptation it’s done a LOT better than it could have been, and I geeked out on numerous occasions (one sequence was almost shot for shot the same as the game).

Lady in the Water: I seem to always like the M. Night Shyamalan movies that no one else does. While I admit this had some pretty huge flaws, I thought the work done by Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard was worth seeing the movie alone.

The Illusionist: Constantly compared to The Prestige, since they both have magicians, the movies are not a thing like each other. This was still a great film though, with both Ed Norton and Paul Giamatti doing great work.