Friday January 12, 2007 SGN.org |
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Volume 35 Issue 02 |
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Friday, Aug 29, 2008
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Best of Film 2006: Babel, The Queen, Dreamgirls make the list |
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| Best of Film 2006: Babel, The Queen, Dreamgirls make the list | ||
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by Lorelei Quenzer -
SGN A&E Writer The hardest part of a best-of list is whittling it down. Honestly, I go to movies really, really wanting to like them, and I'm usually pretty happy. (See my list of disappointments for the major exceptions of 2006.) So I finally got my list down to 30 when I stalled trying to place them in any order. How do you compare Dreamgirls to Children of Men? Pretty ridiculous scenario, and now that I've said it, all I can picture is Clive Owen singing and dancing while bombs explode around him. The good news is, all three of the Mexican-born directors - González Iñárritu, Cuarón and del Toro - collectively known as "the three amigos" made my list. (Good news for me, that is - I can't imagine 2006 without their films, but I suspect that the amigos don't give three, uh, hoots for my opinion.) The bad news is I still have a list of 10 films that I really, really should have seen (I'm verklempt that I postponed seeing Half Nelson during the 3 months it was at the Exit). Oh, well. I resolve to be timelier next year. BEST FILMS OF 2006 (In Order) 1. Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles (Directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Ken Takakura) I gushed in my review back in September and I'm still gushing: Ken Takakura is a revelation as Takata-san, the father who travels to China in order to film a Chinese Opera for his critically ill - and estranged - son. Apparently Zhang had his heart set on making a movie with the 75-year-old Japanese actor, and if Takakura hadn't liked the script of Riding Alone& Zhang would have trashed it and started from square one. This quiet, emotional and introspective movie certainly makes up for the disappointing Curse of the Golden Flower. 2. The History Boys (Directed by Nicholas Hytner, starring Richard Griffiths, Stephen Campbell Moore) The History Boys is about more than style vs. substance. It's also about self-discovery, the love of great literature, and polishing turds. No, really. 3. Babel (Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Rinko Kikuchi) Some folks don't get why this is a great movie. The storylines don't make sense as a whole, and no one seems to be able to communicate clearly - that's the point. Once I left the theater, the more I thought about this film, the better it got. Whoops, that came out wrong. 4. Shakespeare Behind Bars (Directed by Hank Rogerson) Twenty men in a Kentucky prison rehearse and perform The Tempest. I never thought a documentary about a penitentiary could be so moving but, after Riding Alone, this movie made me use up my entire pocket-Kleenex supply. 5. Children of Men (Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, starring Clive Owen, Michael Caine) I couldn't get past the first chapter in P.D. James' bleak novel, but put yummy Clive Owen in front of the camera and I'll even try to read it again! 6. The Queen (Directed by Stephen Frears, starring Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen) If you told me that Helen Mirren was the Queen, I wouldn't be surprised. Her first moment on screen will make your jaw drop, and you'll still feel that way at the end. 7. Quinceañera (Directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, starring Emily Rios, Chalo González, Jesse Garcia) A sweet, touching story about an L.A. girl who, on the eve of her 15th birthday, discovers she's pregnant. The trouble is, she's also still a virgin. 8. Dreamgirls (Directed by Bill Condon, starring Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson) I can't believe I poo-poohed the idea that Dreamgirls would be Oscar-worthy. Color my face red - it's spectacularly entertaining. 9. Pan's Labyrinth (Directed by Guillermo del Toro, starring Ivana Baquero, Maribel Verdú, Ariadna Gil) Dreamy and scary at the same time, del Toro's film celebrates the imagination and innocence of children. He also frightened the bejeezus out of me. 10. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (Directed by Michael Winterbottom, starring Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Stephen Fry) If you really want to see the best mock-umentary of the year, forget that mean ole' Borat, and sigh "goodbye" to Christopher Guest's Oscar aspirations. Tristram Shandy manages to be literate and freaking hi-larious at the same time. And no chickens or bears were harmed in the making. Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order): Casino Royale; The Departed; Hard Candy; Letters from Iwo Jima; Little Miss Sunshine; Notes on a Scandal; The Science of Sleep; Stranger Than Fiction; Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; Volver. |
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