By David N. Butterworth
It was the year of the Bs. Not B-movies, or
Akeelah and the Bee for that
matter, but a foursome of films beginning with that letter (too bad
Babel, Blood Diamond, and
Breaking and Entering didn’t make the cut). Here, therefore, are the best
2006 had to offer:
Brick
A teen take on The Maltese Falcon that plays remarkably well.
Great characters, crackling dialogue.
Bobby
Emilio Estevez (of all people) plops some 22 significant characters down
in L.A.’s Ambassador Hotel the day R.F.K. was assassinated and makes the
inter-storytelling work. That other Bobby (Altman) would be veddy proud.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make
Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Seinfeld producer Larry Charles steers Brit comic Sacha Baron Cohen
through a gut-busting trashing of the American Dream in a riotous, crude, and
politically incorrect comedy that has taken this glorious nation (not to
mention this giddy reviewer) by storm. “Jagshemash!”
Bubble
Steven Soderbergh (sex, lies, and videotape,
Ocean’s Eleven) finally returns to
form with this deceptively simple–and simply captivating–look at small-time
Americana devastated from within. The first film ever to be released
simultaneously on cable TV and DVD,
as well as theatrically.
Half Nelson
With Half Nelson, Ryan Gosling (The Notebook) proves he’s
not just a pretty face any more. An acting tour-de-force, with newcomer Shareeka
Epps equal to him.
An Inconvenient Truth
Any film that makes Al Gore appear human, passionate, and entertaining
all at once can’t be too bad. But Davis Guggenheim’s affecting documentary goes
a step further by raising a critically important issue, that of global warming.
The inconvenient truth presented herein is a wake-up call, a call to arms, and a
must-see at one and the same time.
Little Children
Todd Fields’s follow-up to his equally disquieting
In the Bedroom is hypnotic in its
appeal and devastating in its approach, ruefully acted (by Kate Winslet, Patrick
Wilson, and Jennifer Connelly) and bravely narrated.
Little Miss Sunshine
If they gave awards for Best Ensemble Acting Little Miss Sunshine
would win it hands down.
Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing &
Charm School
One of those small, unassuming films you go to see because of its
intriguing title and wind up being wowed by. Robert Carlyle and Marisa Tomei are
among the handful of thespians charming their way through director Randall
Miller’s successful expansion of his 1990 short.
A Scanner Darkly
Anything worth doing is worth doing right no matter (as in the case of
Richard Linklater’s animated version of a Philip K. Dick novel) how painstaking
a process it might be. The result is an animated feature unlike any other (well,
unlike any other bar Linklater’s Waking Life that is, a 1990 film that
used the same painstaking rotoscoping technique).
Nicest Surprises/Most Fun:
Casino Royale, Lucky Number Slevin, The
Departed, V for Vendetta, The
World’s Fastest Indian, The Matador,
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
Disappointments (Not Unexpectedly I Suppose):
Pirates of the Caribbean 2:
Dead Man’s Chest, The Da Vinci Code, Charlotte’s Web (2006), The Ringer,
Drawing Restraint 9
Could’ve Been a Contender (If I Would’ve Actually Seen ’em):
Volver, Curse of the Golden Dragon, The Last King of Scotland, Notes on a
Scandal, United 93, Dreamgirls, Jesus Camp, Fast Food Nation, Letters from Iwo
Jima
Best Original Score:
Babel (Gustavo Santaolalla). (OK.
So Babel kinda sorta made the cut after all…)
