Top 10 Films of 2006 (Rich's picks)
This list is compiled purely on the basis of entertainment value, and how much I want to see a movie more than once. There have been plenty of films that I've seen this year that have been good, but not all of them would I rush to see again. All of the films on this list are ones that I either have watched more than once or want to.
10. Cars [My review]
There were far too many computer-animated films this year, and only a few of them were really any good. Predictably, Pixar's effort stood out from the crowd, even though initial signs didn't look good. Just the very idea of talking cars seems really childish, but it actually made for a surprisingly good film. I was pleased that it eschewed the Pixar buddy comedy formula (as did The Incredibles), even though its plot was rather simple. The race sequences that start and end the film are amazingly well made and really get your blood pumping. The main section of the film is quite slow, though, but I actually liked the leisureliness of it; it gave the characters time to breathe and the pace suited the slow life of the town's inhabitants. Pixar again have outdone the competition on both looks and substance.
9. Deja Vu [My review]
Deja Vu just came and went as a moderately successful Denzel Washington vehicle, but I thought it was really entertaining and deserved more attention than it was given. Of course, the plot is complete nonsense, but it made for some really entertaining set-pieces. It's great to see Tony Scott back on form after Domino, although I even thought that film was slightly underrated. While Washington plays a pretty standard cop character, Jim Caviezel is an excellent villain, and there's decent support in the minor roles. Deja Vu is very slick, typical Jerry Bruckheimer entertainment, but it's not completely brainless, and is really engrossing.
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest [My Cinema review] [My DVD review]
The fact that this one's on this list proves that films often deserve a second chance, even if first time round you weren't that thrilled by them. The makers of POTC2 had a hard ask to make up a sequel to a film that was not originally planned to have one. What they came up with is basically several very entertaining action scenes held together by some stunning locations, great CGI (should be an Oscar shoe-in) and Johnny Depp. Now I've seen Dead Man's Chest three times, the third entry in the series, At World's End, is one of my most anticipated films of 2007. I have a feeling that DMC is only the teaser for the main event. Two Bruckheimer-produced films in my Top 10? Whatever next?
7. Silent Hill [My review]
What does a videogame adaptation have to do to find favour with critics? Others have been accused of departing from their source too much, but Silent Hill was criticised for its faithfulness. One of the main reasons that the game was so damn scary was its atmosphere, and the foggy environs of the spooky town are excellently replicated here. Unusually, nearly all of the main characters are women (other than Sean Bean, whose subplot feels unnecessary), a deliberate choice by director Christophe Gans, as the plot hinges on the maternal instincts that a mother has for her daughter. Speaking of the plot, it's pretty ambiguous. There's a chunk of exposition that comes at the start of the third act that explains it to some degree, but still leaves the audience with a lot of questions, which I actually liked. There are several theories about what actually happens in the film (was the town actually hell, etc), and I find that only decent films provoke such debate. Thankfully, Silent Hill was apparently successful enough to prompt a sequel, which Gans wants to make - so I, for one, will be looking forward to it.
6. The Prestige [My review]
I'm still not sure about the final direction the plot takes, but nonetheless, The Prestige was hugely engrossing. I've never seen a film quite like it, focusing on Victorian magicians, with a hint of the supernatural, and a narrative constructed to provide the audience with just enough information to keep them satisfied but eager to know more. The film moves back and forwards in time constantly, at first seemingly at random, but the pieces of the puzzle keep slotting into place throughout the well-paced running time, keeping the viewer hooked. The film is very densely plotted, reflecting its origins as a novel, but it skilfully manages to avoid feeling bloated. Of course, if nothing else, the film deserves to be seen for the face-off between Batman and Wolverine.
5. Marie Antoinette [My review]
Marie Antoinette bears quite a few similarities with The New World, and endured many similar criticisms: that it is slow, that nothing happens, and that there's little more to it than surface sheen. I found the last of those comments to be particularly incorrect. The film is less a biopic and more a melancholic story about a girl who is thrust alone into a world she doesn't know. Sofia Coppola set herself up for a fall after the critically adored Lost in Translation, and perhaps because of the expectation levels, this was seen as a disappointment. A particular bugbear was its perceived historical inaccuracy, but after seeing the film and doing some (brief) investigating, it seems to me that it's much more accurate than many historical films. Obviously the modern music was anachronistic but that worked extremely well in the context of the film, surprisingly. Kirsten Dunst gave a strong, sympathetic performance as the young queen, aided by a cast almost as eclectic as the music (but equally successful). 2006 seems to have been a strong year for cinematography, and this was up there with the best of them in that regard too.
4. Miami Vice [My review]
Apparently a theme of my list this year is films that received decidedly mixed audience reactions. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this one didn't go down too well, simply because it was so unconventional. I loved how it avoided all the usual trappings of a buddy cop movie. There was no sarcastic banter between the two leads and no messing around. In fact, there was absolutely no comic relief in the film at all, but that's typical of Michael Mann. He set out his intentions immediately by jumping right into the scene at the start without even a title card. The first thirty minutes or so are absolutely top-notch, with a fast pace and plenty of tension. I do agree with those people that said the romantic interlude on Cuba was a bit long and unexciting, but it was necessary to establish the relationship between Colin Farrell and Gong Li. After that it picks up again, continuing with the great atmosphere. The digital photography was stunning in places and rather grainy in others, but I don't think that was necessarily a negative because it was appropriate for the grittiness of the story. The ending had to be changed after a shooting incident at one of the South American locations, so I'd be interested to know what it was planned to be, but the ending that we're provided with I still thought was perfectly good, and the shootout was great. It wasn't exactly Heat, but then, what is?
3. The New World [My review]
Terrence Malick has a knack of splitting audiences down the middle (actually, there are probably more people that don't like his films than those that do, but I certainly fall into the latter category). He has the unique ability to make really slow films that are not, in my opinion at least, the slightest bit boring. The New World is like a good chill-out album: relaxing, gentle, and mesmerising. A typical Malick trait that is well in evidence here is the use of extensive narration and little actual dialogue, but even the narration is unusual. As a device it's normally used to summarise events and explain plot details, but Malick uses it to express his characters' inner thoughts and feelings, somewhat similar to the way a novel can. Malick also captures nature like no-one else, and the unspoilt Virginian landscape has never been seen quite like this. It's as if we're actually watching a window into the past. In fact, so much of the magic of the film stems from its idyllic setting that something is lost when the story moves to England in the final stages. Still, it does not spoil the overall experience, which I found enchanting.
2. Children of Men [My review]
I find it pretty shocking that Children of Men has been so generally overlooked by the various awards voters so far. Alfonso Cuaron clearly poured all his talents into making this film, because some of the directorial touches are mind-blowing. The likes of the audacious long takes that he employs in the film have simply never been seen before, and I can't even begin to fathom the amount of planning they must have required. The film is set in the future (2027), but it's one of the most plausible-seeming depictions of the future that I've ever seen; it almost doesn't seem like science fiction. But forgetting about the visuals, the film is also an edge-of-seat chase movie in which the suspense hardly ever slackens because you're never sure who could get dispatched next - none of the characters are safe, a point demonstrated emphatically quite early on. It's not a cheerful film, and its bleakness may put off some, but it shouldn't, because underneath the grim exterior I detected a slight hint of optimism by the film's end. Children of Men ends like it begins, with a bang, and left me speechless.
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