THE TOP TEN BEST MOVIES OF 2006
Suj's Picks
Honourable Mentions:
The Departed
13 Tzameti
Half Nelson
Borat
Marie Antoinette
Pan's Labyrinth
THE TOP TEN
#10 Clerks II
Kevin Smith returns to his roots, with grandiouse results. We all know the kid can write long comedic diatribes about pop culture all of which are highly pressent in Clerks II, but I have to say the best part of this movie is the fact that it turns on you during the last act and actually catches you off gaurd as a pool of ungarded emotion is exuded on the screen. Oh, and you can't forget that "donkey show" and too that moment where Rosario Dawson bounces on the roof.
#9 The Last Kiss
The Last Kiss is an honest look into what a relationship is all about. It’s never easy, the answers are not always there, and relationships are often always a tough business. Don’t go into this movie thinking it’s going to be one of those happy-go-lucky date movies, because its not and while watching it you’ll come to know how heavy the material actually gets. I was lucky enough to have seen this films original source material, L'ultimo bacio, a 2001 Italian film, which I might add is a wonderful movie in it of itself. The Last Kiss is essentially made up of its source material, remade with young Hollywood standing present, though there is one fundamental difference and its in that instance that sets it apart and perhaps even surpasses its originator...click here to read the full review
(orginally written on: 09/19/06)
#8 Monster House
The wonder years, those days spent as a child aimlessly walking around without a care in the world. It’s in these years that you’re faced with the promise of endless opportunities, be it the opportunity to stay up way past your bedtime, eat an unhealthy amount of teenage mutant ninja turtle’s cookies (am I the only one who remembers these), and watch cartoons at all hours of the day in your underwear with several bowls of count chocula cereal in hand. These moments in your history, this era of time that is called childhood is indeed the best years of ones life. You’re not boggled down with responsibilities and decisions instead wide-eyed innocence becomes the buzzword...click here to read the full review
(orginally written on: 07/16/06)
#7 Superman Returns
This movie is insanely good. It’s on par with the first time you laid eyes on a pair of breast, your first kiss, the day you lost your virginity, the day you fell in love, the moment when your firstborn child open its eyes, and the first time John Stamos uttered the opening lines to “Forever” on that one episode of Full House. Superman Returns is everything one can ask for in a movie, be it superhero or other. It’s just a damn good movie. I can slip into an endless amount of hyperbole to match the greatness of Superman Returns to the likes of Star Wars, The Godfather, and all the other classic films that have garnered such mass amounts of praise and admiration. And to some these exaggerations could be considered blasphemous, but to me it’s on point...click here to read the full review
(orginally written on: 06/28/06)
#6 Little Miss Sunshine
So, earlier today I caught the movie, Little Miss Sunshine, and I have to say it's one of the year’s best. Sure, it may be bit early to say such a profound statement, but the film will speak for itself. It’s a film that swirls with endearment to not only its characters, but too with its story as it’s a perfect blend of comedy, emotional family drama, road movie, charm, and an introspective look into the modern unpleasantries of the world, family, and life itself...click here to read the full review
(orginally written on: 08/22/06)
#5 V for Vendetta
This is an incredible film, plain and simple. At its heart, the film is not a terribly complicated story. It's the journey of three characters. One towards vengeance, one towards awakening, and as the third tries to understand the slipstream of destruction left in their wake, he ultimately finds himself enlightened by the journeys of the other two - save for a few twists and turns along the way. Based on the brillant graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, the people behind this flick did the book justice. Plus, if you have Natalie Portman starring in your movie you know damn well that its going to be fucking great. Oh, how I love miss Portman - (insert high hyperbole as to what i would do if i were to meet the aforementioned actress here).
#4 The Fountain
A swirling epic, a burgeoning take on romanticism, and a fine look into devotion is the essential make-up of Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain. It’s simply too early to call this film a masterpiece, ah fuck it, this movie is a masterpiece because of it’s sheer elegant beauty in both its visual appearance and storytelling. It’s a human science-fiction story told it such a heart-breaking manner and showcased on a pedestal of visual perfection that you can’t bare not fall to the floor, ultimately touched by what you’ve just witnessed and asking yourself if this kind of love can exist, if it can live and go on forever...click here to read the full review
(orginally written on: 09/17/06)
#3 Children of Men
Taken from the novel of the same name by P.D. James, Alfonso Cuaron's translation into living celliod is a sight to see. On the surface, the movie moves along like a standard chase movie, almost each and every scene offers pause to consider the ramifications of what a world in this state would be like. And it’s a very grim outlook. What sets Cuaron’s film apart from all the other high-concept sci-fi tinged pictures is that it attempts to examine the psychological and emotional devastation that a world without children, without youth, would have on its remaining inhabitants. It's a beautiful film, by how it looks, acted, and directed. It's a genuinely interesting and ambitious piece of work that succeeds as both compelling human drama and a thought-provoking future-noir.
#2 The Science of Sleep
Michel Gondry is one odd man, but sometimes odd can mean genius and in this case it may very well mean that. His flick, The Science of Sleep, demonstates Gondry's genius by mixing both his visual and psychological themes of all of his previous work into one definitive vision. And thus you have one strange imaginative tale of a man trapped within the boundaries of his own dementia and trying desperately to communicate properly with the outside world, and as strange as this all may seem, it proves to be one beautiful little narrative. Here, Gondry pulls out all of his visual tricks, crafting a beautiful dream world filled with stop motion, blue screen effects and camera tricks galore. The imagery is surreal, the storytelling is surreal, it all keeps you off balence, and that's what makes this movie so heartbreakingly beautiful. It turly is imagaination run wild as It never really ends, it never really answers all the questions, and quite simply its life - there are no true endings, there are no real answers. A brilliant film that showcases the sorrid fraility of the human condition and the sparring power of the human imagination.
#1 Brick
Brick, has it all. That shimmering feeling of utter coolness, the hot dames that plaster themselves on the screen like they were meant to sizzle, and a story and style that just begs any film student to write a long orgazmic diraibte about it. I've been pimping this film to anyone and everyone since I read a little blurb about it at the 05 sundance film fest. And when I actually got to see the film for the first time several months later, all my over zealous praise became cemented in truth. There's just something of this movie's cool at work here in writer/director Rian Johnson's all-American detective story played out against the backdrop of the savage jungle of high school. It's not a joke, and it never intends to be. It's a film-noir displayed in an unatural setting that actually works. Joseph Gordon-Levitt isn't playing some self-appointed Philip Marlowe wanna-be, and the word "detective" is never used. He's simply someone who finds himself wrapped up in a mystery that threatens to destroy him if he doesn't solve it. And its a damn well crafted movie from begining to end, "she called me a dirty word".