Best Films of 2006

Here's my list of the 10 best films of 2006, plus some runners up. As a caveat, I haven't yet seen Letters From Iwo Jima, which has not been released in my city yet, and I have a hunch it could fit in here. I'll amend as needed and repost. Until then...

1. The Queen

This was a brilliant film, well acted and lean (it clocks in well under 2 hours). Helen Mirren is amazing as Queen Elizabeth II, but I also really liked Michael Sheen as Tony Blair. She makes you understand what a completely unique person the Queen of England is, while he makes you feel the exuberance of an exciting change-oriented government leader--both exhibit how larger than life figures are human too. I can't say enough good things about it.

2. Babel

This was a hard choice between film #3, as both, along with The Queen, rate as "5 star" films in my mind. In the end Babel wins out, as it haunted me for weeks. The best thing about the film is Adriana Barraza as an illegal immigrant maid who risks everything to attend her son's wedding, something that wouldn't have been a risk at all had the wedding been held in San Diego instead of Mexico. Amazing how much difference a border makes. There's also this truly amazing film sequence where a deaf Japanese teenage girl (Rinko Kicuchi, also quite good) gets stoned and goes clubbing--a dazzling composition of image and sound. As hard as this film is to watch (nobody comes out happy), I'd gladly see it again.

3. Flags of Our Fathers

I almost cried after seeing this film, as I thought the final images really drove home the point that the people who fight our wars--wars in which countless lives, dollars, resources, etc. are wasted--are really just children (Blood Diamond, another great movie, makes this point too, pointing out that the word "infantry" has "infant" as its root). Clint Eastwood's war film is gripping, visually stunning, and completely relevant to modern times, which is perhaps why it didn't do that well at the box-office, as it is serious reminder of the grimness of war.

4. Little Children

In the Bedroom was one of my favorite movies of 2001, and director Todd Field didn't let me down with this scathing portrait of suburban life, a study of how we "other" those whose sins are on the outside to better cover the sins we keep hidden. Kate Winslet was, as usual, amazing and perfect, and Jackie Earle Haley was completely creepy, yet worthy of compassion too. It didn't hurt that Patrick Wilson was really really hot too.

5. The Departed

Yes, this movies lets you down a bit at the end, but ignore that and enjoy the rest, a tightly-woven, intricately plotted gangster/spy thriller that plays circles in your mind as you think about cop DiCaprio pretending to be a gangster to spy on Nicholson and uncover who in the force is the mole giving him information, while Nicholson finds out through gangster Damon pretending to be a cop that he has a mole in his organization. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it. DiCaprio, Damon, and Nicholson are stellar here. Scorsese famously hasn't won a Best Director Oscar yet, but this will be his year. Another gem in his recent line of brilliance that includes such a variety of films such as The Aviator, Gangs of New York, The Age of Innocence, and Goodfellas.

6. Casino Royale

I adore James Bond--I just got the previous 20 films for Christmas--and this is hands down the best James Bond movie yet. Yes, better than The Spy Who Loved Me, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and all the other classics. It's action-packed, exciting, funny, thrilling, and shows an awareness of the human side of Bond never before seen. Yes, Bond screws up, bleeds, cries, and sometimes fails, even though he is Bond...James Bond. Daniel Craig is superb as Bond too; I hope he makes many more.

7. United 93

Going into this movie, I knew it would be hard to watch, and it was, since its documentary style and attention to detail perfectly capture what the morning of September 11, 2001 was like. Credit it for showing the facts without sentimentality and for pulling together a compelling ensemble cast who completely melt into their roles. The best part though was despite its grim nature, when the passengers rise up against the terrorists it is perhaps the most moving display of raw courage in a film ever. It warms your heart, providing hope among all the terror--very powerful.

8. Little Miss Sunshine

The summer's best movie was another entry in the expanding line of quirky comedies, bearing easy comparison to films like The Royal Tennenbaums and I Heart Huckabees. This film far surpasses those effforts though, by showing us a family that is completely believable as a family and drawing quirky characters that stand by themselves as well-rounded, true-to-life people rather than archetypes. Little Abigail Breslin also delivers the goods in the funniest scene of the year when she performs at the child beauty contest the title refers to.

9. Half Nelson

Ryan Gosling is amazing here, and I certainly hopes Oscar doesn't overlook his commanding performance of a do-gooder inner city middle school teacher who so badly wants to be a role model for his kids but just can't be because he hides a terrible secret (he's a crack addict). Shareeka Epps as the student he befriends and tries to help is really good too. Heartbreaking movie.

10. Volver

Think Penelope Cruz can't act? Think again, she delivers a stunning, soulful performance here as a headstrong daughter doing what she can to make ends meet while dealing with her crazy sister who thinks their dead mother has returned ("volver" means "to return"). Carmen Maura, who you might remember from Almodovar's '80s classic Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, is great too as the mother.

Honorable mentions: Children of Men (includes two thrilling single-take action sequences not to be missed), Notes on a Scandal (Judi Dench delivers the best lines of the year), Blood Diamond (thrilling drama and Leonardo DiCaprio's other brilliant performance), The Devil Wears Prada (Meryl Streep can do so much with just a look, can't she?), and The Last King of Scotland (Forest Whitaker was totally scary, and James McAvoy was underrated).