2006 Best-of Lists
 

It's that time of year when film critics bring out their best-of-the-year lists, and it's always a good way to check out movies you might have missed during the year. Is there any site that compiles these lists? I thought Rotten Tomatoes would be a good candidate, but couldn't find any there. If not, let's post lists to your local newspaper or any others you can find here.

I'll start with Tom Long's list from The Detroit News (link):

1. United 93
2. The Departed
3. The Descent
4. Borat
5. The Queen
6. Little Children
7. World Trade Center
8. The Painted Veil
9. Hard Candy
10. The Fountain

Honorable Mention:
Heart of Gold
Little Miss Sunshine
Dreamgirls
Stranger Than Fiction
Lucky Number Slevin

I haven't seen any in my paper, but I'll post these two:

Personal Best-of-2006 (as of posting)
<ol><li>V for Vendetta
<li>The Last King of Scotland
<li>The Departed
<li>Over the Hedge
<li>Little Miss Sunshine
<li>The Queen
<li>Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
<li>Clerks II
<li>The Prestige
<li>Inside Man
</ol>

I also catalogued the 2006 Rank Em thread and ammassed a DVDTalk best-of list using a combination of IMDB's methods, ancient Phoenician numerology, and Excel.

DVDTalk's Best of 2006 (as voted by forum members in the Rank Em thread)
01. The Departed
02. United 93
03. V for Vendetta
04. Thank You for Smoking
05. Borat
06. Mission: Impossible III
07. Marie Antoinette
08. Inside Man
09. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
10. Little Miss Sunshine

Did Roger Ebert do a list this year? Anyway, here's four more lists. It's interesting in how different they are.

Here’s David Edelstein’s list (National Public Radio):

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=6627794

1. The Queen
2. Iraq documentaries: Blood of My Brother, Iraq in Fragments, Iraq for Sale, and The War Tapes
3. Our Brand is Crisis
4. Pan's Labyrinth and Children of Men
5. Flag of Our Fathers and Iwo Jima
6. Days of Glory
7 Neil Young: Heart of Gold
8. Religion documentaries: Jonestown, Jesus Camp, Deliver Us From Evil
9. A Prairie Home Companion
10. United 93

and here’s Peter Traver’s list (The Rolling Stone):

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/sto...movies_of_2006

1. The Departed
2. Dreamgirls
3. Letters From Iwo Jima/ Flags of Our Fathers
4. Volver
5. Babel
6. United 93
7. The Queen
8. Borat
9. Little Miss Sunshine
10. Prairie Home Companion

Lisa Kennedy’s list (Denver Post):

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_4881615

1. Stranger Than Fiction
2. Pan's Labyrinth
3. The Queen
4. Volver
5. Babel
6 & 7: “Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima"
8. Inside Man
9. Deliver Us From Evil
10. Nanny McPhee

MANOHLA DARGIS’s list (New York Times):

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/mo....html?ref=arts

1. Army of Shadows
2. Letters from Iwo Jima
3. Inland Empire
4. Our Daily Bread
5. L’Enfant
6. Children of Men
7. Three Times
8. Miami Vice
9. Brand Upon the Brain!
10. Borat

Metacritic has all the critics Top 10 lists.

Thanks. That's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, although it doesn't look too up-to-date quite yet.

The Bus, do you think you'd be able to do something similar with the rankings if we get enough lists posted here?

Adding some from Metacritic:

John Hartl's list (MSNBC)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16317207/

(unordered)

Army of Shadows
Children of Men
Deliver Us from Evil
The Departed
Flags of Our Fathers
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Children
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
United 93


David Ansen's list (Newsweek)
<ol><li>Army of Shadows
<li>Little Miss Sunshine
<li>The Queen
<li>Letters from Iwo Jima
<li>The Departed
<li>Half Nelson
<li>Borat
<li>Dreamgirls
<li>Venus
<li>Volver
</ol>

The thing that sucks about Top 10 movie lists, is that most of the really good movies come out right at the end of the year and in limited release. So maybe by May 2007 I'll be able to decide what the best movies of 2006 were.

What's with listing Army of Shadows as a 2006 film?

18 movies in a top 10?

Los Angeles Times: Kenenth Turan
1 (tie) Letters from Iwo Jima (tie) Flags of our Fathers
2 (tie) The Ground Truth (tie) Iraq in Fragments (tie) My Country, My Country (tie) The War Tapes
3 (tie) Friends with Money (tie) Half Nelson
4 (tie) The Queen (tie) Venus
5 (tie) The Lives of Others (tie) L'Enfant (The Child)
6 (tie) Little Miss Sunshinem (tie) Thank You for Smoking
7 Volver
8 (tie) Pan's Labyrinth (tie) Children of Men
9 Dreamgirls
10 Sweet Land

I don't know, but I hope it gets Bruce Campbell an Oscar nod.

A couple more:

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune movie critic

1. Climates (or “Iklimler”, a Turkish film)
2. United 93
3. Little Children
4. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
5. Letters from Iwo Jima
6. Borat
7. The War Tapes
8. Casino Royale
9. The Queen
10. Hidden (or “Cache”, a French film)

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune movie critic

1, 2. Flags of our Fathers / Letters from Iwo Jima
3. A Prairie Home Companion
4. The Departed
5. Pan’s Labrinth
6. Happy Feet
7. Babel
8. Army of Shadows
9. The Queen
10. Casino Royale

Ive seen alot of these movies and I think The Prestige ranks among the top 5 even if the critics dont agree.

my favorites this year so far The Prestige, Apocalypto, Half Nelson.... i want to see notes on a scandal, looks like a campy premise played out dead seriously lol

How did CACHE make a top 10 when it came out in 2005!?

Not that anyone cares, but here's my top films of 2006;

Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro)
Ghosts of Ctie Soleil (Asger Leth)
Taxidermia (Gyorgy Palfi)
This is England (Shane Meadows)
Cronica de una Fuga (Adrian Caetano)
ILS / Them (David Moreau)
Time (Kim KiDuk)
Container (Lukas Moodyson)
Casino Royale
Babel

Army of Shadows is a '69 French Film. It's first US theatrical debut was in 2006, which is why it can get the nod. It probobly explains why Cache was given a nod also, even though it was released in 2005. I guess I answered the question I just posted above ;)

Sure thing. As long as all the lists are in order and a Top 10, it should be very easy.

Edited to Add: If members want to add their Top 10 list here, I'd be more than happy to do that as well. The Rank Em thread is a nightmare to go through.

Army of Shadows was released in US Theaters for the first time in 2006, so by most standards, it qualifys, despite being a film from 1969.

I've added all the Metacritic lists. For a simple unranked Best-Of, I am giving each movie an equal weight.

So far, here's what we have with 23 critics reporting. Movies with less than 3 mentions are ignored.

Best of 2006
01. Letters from Iwo Jima
02. United 93
03. The Departed
04. Children of Men
05. The Queen
06. Pan's Labyrinth
07. Little Children
08. Army of Shadows (tie)
--. Flags of Our Fathers
--. Borat
11. Volver
12. Iraq in Fragments

Jurgen Fauth, About.com
(is he a well-known critic?)

1) Inland Empire
2) The Queen
3) Pan's Labyrinth
4) Volver
5) Shortbus
6) Children of Men
7) Factotum
8) Lemming
9) Brick
10) Borat

http://worldfilm.about.com/od/toppic...jurgen2006.htm

My Top 10
1.Superman Returns
2.Clerks II
3.Mission:Impossible III
4.007:Casino Royale
5.Night at the Museum
6.V For Vendetta
7.X-Men:Last Stand
8.Snakes on a Plane
9.Lucky Number Slevin
10.Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man's Chest

looks like we've got a weak year... even weaker than last year

Huh?

Any year that can provide superbly crafted and entertaining films such as <b>THE DEPARTED, LITTLE CHILDREN, VOLVER, THE PRESTIGE, NOTES FROM A SCANDAL, THE QUEEN, SHORTBUS</b> and <b>CHILDREN OF MEN</b>, and satisfying pop entertainment like <b>SUPERMAN RETURNS, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, THE PRESTIGE, POTC 2,</b> and <b>X-MEN</b> doesn't seem weak to me (and I have yet to see the Eastwood movies and <i>Pan's Labrynth</i> along with several other highly regarded movies, such as <i>Borat, Apocolypto, Happy Feet, Half Nelson, Dreamgirls</i>).

I suspect that more of this year's crop will retain their popularity over the next 20 years than last year's will.

Here's my list:

1. A Scanner Darkly
2. The Science of Sleep
3. Inland Empire
4. Little Miss Sunshine
5. Inside Man
6. Casino Royale
7. Borat
8. Babel
9. Children of Men
10. The Depahtid

This is one of the better years in recent memory. Sure, there were no huge fanboy guaranteed hits (Star Wars, Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Kill Bill) but if I look at my list, I've got movies like Miami Vice and Casino Royale in the low teens. Other years those spots were taken by Terminator 3 or Jason X. Or take this one: Stranger than Fiction versus Swimfan.

Swimfan!

mine.........

1. Little Miss Sunshine
2. Cars
3. Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest
4. Mission Impossible 3
5. Casino Royale
6. Superman Returns
7. Thank You for Smoking
8. Over the Hedge
9. V for Vendetta
10.The last kiss



but I havent seen many of the ones listed in critics list and I missed the departed :(

It's OK, Over the Hedge is in your top 10. :)

I thought this thread was to post critics 10 best lists (?) But oh well, here are mine :)

1) Superman Returns
2) The Departed
3) Little Miss Sunshine
4) The Illusionist
5) Stranger Than Fiction
6) The Prestige
7) The Queen
8) District B13
9) Volver
10) Slither

Have yet to see Pan's Labyrinth or Curse of the Golden Flower. I'm sure one or both will end up on this list. Or close.

Here's mine, since everyone else is doing it:

1-The Departed
2-The Fountain
3-Pirates 2
4-The Prestige
5-Apocalypto
6-Rocky Balboa
7-V for Vendetta
8-Clerks II
9-Maria Antionette
10-Eight Below

Remember this is a list out of all I've paid to see out of 34 films I went to see. My market is okay, but haven't seen Children of Men, good German, Perfume, Pan's, Letters from Iwo Jima/Flags, ect.

I'd say first half of 06: C year Second half B- year.

Honorable Mentions: Science of Sleep, This Film is Not Yet Rated, and The Descent.

Very well. Here is my Top 10 list (theatrical only, as I had not graded any DVD viewings).

1. PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
2. V FOR VENDETTA
3. UNDERWORLD EVOLUTION
4. APOCALYPTO
5. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3
6. DEJA VU
7. X-MEN 3
8. MIAMI VICE
9. CRANK
10. SAW III

I'm surprised 'Blood Diamond' isn't on my lists! Saw it last night and was blown away by how powerful and strong this film was. The trailer doesn't do it justice.

It's a good film but it pales to last year's political thrillers The Constant Gardener and Syriana. I think the movie could've done better if the trailer wasn't cut so idiotically: I guarantee you they could've sold $1MM more in tickets if they didn't show DiCaprio say "In America it's bling bling, but out here, it's bling bang." Which is actually not even a bad line in the context of the movie (he's trying to act funny to pick up Jennifer Connelly). But in the trailer it reeks of cheese.

Maybe for North America and South Korea, but the rest of the world stepped it up this year.

I don't think I can even do a top 10 with the movies I saw this year:

1) United 93
2) Casino Royale
3) Thank You For Smoking
4) V for Vendetta
5) Rocky Balboa
6) Borat
7) An Inconvienant Truth
8) The Good Shephard

That's about it.

It's been a great year for movies - some really memorable flicks that actually saw theatrical release around me.

1. The Descent (I'm a sucker for this movie)
2. Casino Royale
3. Pan's Labyrinth
4. Little Miss Sunshine
5. Apocalypto
6. The Departed
7. Children of Men
8. The Prestige
9. Superman Returns
10. Severance (It isn't a great movie from a technical standpoint, but I was in a great mood during and after it, so it gets some slight bias.)

Honorable Mention: V for Vendetta, Slither, The Illusionist, Snakes on a Plane (as an overall movie-going experience), Flushed Away, A Scanner Darkly, Borat

There's still numerous movies I've yet to see (Letters from Iwo Jima, Inland Empire, Flags of our Fathers, Thank You For Smoking, Volver, Venus, Curse of the Golden Flower, Dreamgirls, Blood Diamond, Little Children, Babel, Perfume, The Good Shepherd, etc; ) so I've got a lot to look forward to yet.

Now if only I could strike the massive disappointments that were X3 and Pirates 2.

Lots of love for United 93, yet not one Top 10 List included World Trade Center.

I've seen neither, but for those who have - do you agree with loving United 93 and dismissing World Trade Center?

Here are my favorite movies from 2006, but they are not in any order of importance.

1. apocalypto
2. The departed
3. Miami Vice
4. The Hills have Eyes
5. Blood Diamond
6. V for Vendetta
7. Casino Royale
8. Mission Impossible 3
9. The descent
10. Clerks 2

1. Inland Empire
2. Little Children
3. The Fountain tied with Pan's Labyrinth
5. The Prestige
6. A Scanner Darkly
7. The Departed
8. V for Vendetta
9. Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest
10. Rocky Balboa


The rest in order: Little Miss Sunshine, Clerks II, Flushed Away, The Illusionist, Borat, Cars, Stranger Than Fiction, Brick, A Good Year, Slither, Jackass Number Two, Over the Hedge, Miami Vice, Nacho Libre, Da Vinci Code, X-men 3, Hard Candy

The only films I didn't dig so much were X-men and Hard Candy. They both disappointed me greatly. Hard Candy especially because I feel it had a lot going for it, but it ultimately just fell apart. I expected and average film from Da Vinci code and got it.

My list will change once I get a chance to see some of the remaining Indie films. I have a feeling the top 3 will remain the same, however.

1. The Departed
2. The Descent
3. United 93
4. World Trade Center
5. The Fountain
6. The Queen
7. Superman Returns
8. Casino Royale
9. Little Miss Sunshine
10. Inside Man

My list:

1. Pan's Labyrinth
2. The Prestige
3. V for Vendetta
4. Children of Men
5. The Illusionist
6. Flushed Away
7. X-Men 3
8. Underworld Evolution
9. Inside Man
10. Superman Returns

(I haven't seen A Scanner Darkly yet, mostly out of fear. I love PKD but have a love/hate relationship with most film adaptations of his work.)

I finally got around to seeing most of the films I wanted to see and judge before doing a Top 10 List (well, except one, see below), so here is mine. Firstly, however:

Glaring Omission That's Only Missing Because It's Yet To Be Released Here
Letters From Iwo Jima. Clint Eastwood is among my favourite directors and I thought Flags Of Our Fathers was a really good thought provoking war drama, if a little underwhelming. I'd say once I see this there'll be little doubt that it would still not find a place on my Top 10, but it won't see a wide release here until Feb 22, a few days before the Oscars.

Honorable Mentions
Superman Returns, Inside Man, Brick, Little Children, The Queen. All very good films.

Anyway, let's get started:

10. Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glrious Nation of Kazakhstan
A surprise film for me, in the depth and intelligence of satire that can be found within the otherwise toilet humour. Borat at the rodeo is quite possibly the most biting and hilarious scene in movies this year.

9. Children Of Men
A technically brilliant film with the most gorgeously atmospheric cinematography and fully realised art direction of the year, and a substantial, thought provoking story to compliment this. The 10-minute unedited warfare sequence is breathtaking, and Cuaron knows exactly where to end the picture for maximum impact.

8. Cars
Dismissed for being a "lesser" Pixar picture, people tend to forget that even that would be ahead of any other company churning out animated animal comedies. This is seriously underrated - and another in a long line of Pixar films that touch your heart, make you laugh and entertain you, all the while bringing you the most gorgeous computer animation ever comitted to film.

7. Babel
Inarritu's most ambitious and mature work, Babel was the one of the most emotionally complex and moving films of the year. Rinko Kikuchi breaks your heart, and the haunting score is worthy of back-to-back Oscars for composer Gustavo Santaolalla.

6. The Prestige
Another one I thought was quite underrated, the tension, anticipation and excitement that Nolan built throughout the film kept me absolutely spellbound. Bale gives a teriffic performance in this fascinating study of character and vengeance.

5. Little Miss Sunshine
Wonderfully enjoyable indie film that's as funny as it is poignant and emotional. The end of the movie was an unexpected, but very welcome, slap in the face for every pretentious beauty pageant out there and had me in tears. Breslin is a revelation, and the supporting cast all turn in great performances.

4. Casino Royale
It's remarkable how many films on my list are surprises - in that they totally blew away my expectations - and here's yet another one. I loved that the centrepiece was a game of cards - A game of cards! - and one so overblown and stylish, at that, that it became the most compelling aspect of the movie. This is a vastly different Bond driven by character, but not lacking at all in the action department and in subtle humour. Daniel Craig, in my opinion, is the Best Bond Ever - a title also befitting the film itself.

3. Pan's Labyrinth
What an enchanting and beautiful film. Del Toro visualises his ideas like a painter would. The storytelling is compelling, the fantasy aspects filled with wonder, the violence a forceful and brutal counterpoint. The ending was a masterfully accomplished emotional gut-punch, the kind I haven't experienced since I sat through the devastating final 10 minutes of United 93. Speaking of which ...

2. United 93
Breathtaking and intense. This film starts like any other day and I love Greengrass's patience in the way he lets the growing tension play out and create the drama. Everyone knows what's going to happen before they even sit down to watch this, but the film is not about the suspense that that creates. I don't think, even knowing all of that, that anybody could anticipate the feeling of just having the wind sucked out of you at the end. It's that forceful and visceral.

1. The Departed
This was the most enjoyable time I had at the movies all year - a film with masterful direction, a great script and unanimously brilliant performances. Not since Pulp Fiction has a film just kicked so much butt and taken so many names. Psychological depth, brash humour, and dense character development is added to the good, but not great original film. This is my favourite director back at the top of his game, aided by Thelma Schoonmaker with the best essay in the use of film editing to tell stories this year. 150 minutes flew by like an hour. This is the best mesh of popular and critical success, and artistic and technical filmmaking brilliance to be released in 2006, and that's why it's my favourite - and the best - film of the year.