This look back at movies in 2006 is a personal favorite among the pieces I've actually had published somewhere.
I had a good deal of freedom with this but it's a general, not really a personal, look back. I had to acknowledge a few movies I haven't even seen, but the opinions are about 90% mine. And I'm happy with how it turned out.
I'll post a personal top 10 movies of 2006 later in the week.
And also, a quick mention of a worthwhile section of Entertainment Weekly's year end issue. Their "Great Performances" are well chosen, as usual. Already having covered Helen Mirren (The Queen, Elizabeth I, Prime Suspect), Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Talladega Nights), Kiefer Sutherland (24, no mention of The Sentinel—heh), Beyoncé (Dreamgirls but really more for B'Day and its single Irreplaceable and music video Ring the Alarm), Daniel Craig (Casino Royale), Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report, White House Correspondents' Dinner), Justin Timberlake (FutureSex/LoveSounds) and Spike Lee (Inside Man, When the Levees Broke) in their "Entertainers of the Year" section, the Great Performances include:
Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls
Penélope Cruz in Volver
Kate Winslet in Little Children
Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy in The Last King of Scotland
Rufus Wainwright's Live At Carnegie Hall concert
James Callis on Battlestar Galactica
Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock
Martin Scorsese for The Departed
Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
Rinko Kikuchi in Babel
The Women of Big Love (Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sëvigny, Ginnifer Goodwin)
And also Bill Nighy for the play The Vertical Hour, the guys from the Mac ads and OK Go at the MTV Video Music Awards.
And their "Breakouts" section finds room for America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, who has better stuff ahead of her I'm sure), Masi Oka (Heroes) and kicks off with the cast of High School Musical.
It's a big miss to not mention the dual achievement of Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed and Blood Diamond). Michael Sheen's standout support in The Queen and 24's hypeworthy couple Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart are also notable absences. But you have to draw the line somewhere, and EW did a fine job.
2 comments:
Great piece, I think you just about said it all. However, I think "Inland Empire" has "The Prestige" beat in the confusion department, and really, "Little Children" isn't an art film stunner so much as a stunningly bad art film. ;) I look forward to your list, and will have my own up shortly!
No doubt Lynch wins "Most Confusing" in any year (whether he has a new film or not) but I had to disregard a lot of smaller films, especially since they don't open in smaller markets until next year. Little Children only managed a mention because of Winslet's prodigious output. And of course because it's one of the best of the year. :)
I got a preview of your picks thanks to LA Weekly but I'll be on the lookout!
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