This is the 6th in a series of 12 posts discussing the 12 top films of each year. These are not necessarily the most profitable or the best, but the ones that will stick with you for years to come. Unlike 2007, 2006 was full of quality films, and the top 6 on this list alone are among my favorite movies.
10. Half Nelson- Ryan Gosling used to only do under the radar Indie films, this was his best. A gripping performance as a good teacher who is also a crack head, he walks the line between caring and strung out with expert precision. The performance was Oscar nominated and was well deserved.
9. The DaVinci Code- Memorable for some for its gripping edge of your seat plot, memorable for others for the amazing Hans Zimmer score, remembered yet by some for Tom Hanks' hair..... It may not have been as good as the book, but Ron Howard made a very good film out of a book that seemed unable to be put to the screen.
8. Apocalypto- Mel Gibson's film about a peaceful tribe of a Mayan like people who are stumbled upon by a larger, and more brutal culture. The film is completely in subtitles, but gripping and strikingly violent. It was not as big as Gibson's first subtitled film (Passion of the Christ) but it still made a huge impact.
7. Borat- Sasha Baren Cohen's first and only successful full length film turning one of his characters into a way to get hilarious reactions out of people. Everything that made Borat great failed in Bruno, but that doesn't take away how truly hilarious Borat is the first time you see it. The amount of people who sued the film later are just a testament to how successful it was.
6. Blood Diamond- Leonardo DiCaprio makes movies in 2's, he won't do one for a few years, then two will come out the next year, and 2006 was one of his double years. Blood Diamond was the more overlooked of the two that year, but DiCaprio's performance is the stuff acting is made of. He nails the South African accent in a way where it is spot on without being stereotypical. The film is brutal and taxing but amazing none the less. Great supporting performances from Jennifer Connelly and Djimou Hounsou.
5. 300- Like the Matrix, 300 spawned a whole new breed of action movies. Stylized and over the top, but epic in every sense of the word. Gerard Butler, Lena Headley, and Michael Fassbender owe their current A list status to this film, and its one that is still amazing 6 years later.
4. The Prestige- Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale go head to head in this nearly perfect film by Christopher Nolan about two rival magicians who cannot put their hatred for each other aside. The film pulls no punches and keeps you guessing right up until its shocking end.
3. The Departed- 2006's Best Picture winner and the film that finally got Martin Scorsese his Oscar. Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, James Badge Dale, Anthony Anderson, Vera Farminga, and Jack Nicholson lead an amazing cast in a more amazing film that shows Scorsese will kill any character, at any time.
2. Casino Royale- A whole website was dedicated to not having a blond Bond, but when the film finally came out, it brought James Bond back as a force to be reckoned with. The series was grounded after the increasing ridiculous films starring Pierce Brosnan. Daniel Craig showed he was exactly what the franchise needed, and while it kept its signature humor, the new films are more Bourne than Mission Impossible, and focus on human reactions instead of gadgets.
1. Pans Labyrinth- A Foreign Language film directed by the amazing Guillermo Del Toro about a young girl who enters a dream land to escape her Nazi stepfather. Whether or not its actually a dream land though is the bigger question. The film is part horror, part war, part drama, part fantasy, part children's, but all amazing.
Honorable Mentions- Mission Impossible 3, Once, Miami Vice.
-Maximus
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