Favorites of 2006: Movies
01-26-2007
by Aaron Dicer

For my own records and amusement I have been doing annual "favorites" lists for about 6 years now. Most of these lists can be found at my listology.com account (username: pastordice).

Couple things:

This is not a recommendation list. To recommend a movie is a very personal thing. There are certainly movies on this list that I would recommend to anyone, anytime, but there are also movies on here that I would need to know your personal tastes and standards before I could recommend (The most caution should be given to the movies marked with an *). It's also important to note that these are commentaries directed at adults not teens or kids. I would offer even more caution to younger viewers for many of these films.

I judge films on not only how well done they are technically but also what they say (the message). A movie that has something amazing to say, but doesn't say it very well, might get a similar grade to a movie that doesn't have much to say, but says it very well.

In that way this is a personal resonance list. These are the films that resonated with me the most this year.

Also, these movies were not necessarily released in 2006, only that I saw them for the first time this past calendar year.

10. Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story

This is a pretty straight forward, against all odds, tug the heartstrings kind of Disney movie. What made it great, though, was the amazing performance of Dakota Fanning (I'm more and more convinced that she is actually some sort of freaky child/adult clone hybrid where she only looks 10 but is actually 36 years old), and the wonderful look into the Father/Daughter dynamic.

9. Cinderella Man

I honestly don't know if I've seen a Russel Crowe performance that disappointed me. The guy's got it down. His portrayal of Braddock (yes, yet another "true story") was extremely moving and I found myself openly cheering for this man whose roller coaster or a life never threw off his moral compass. Also, Ron Howard's touch is felt throughout, giving the entire film a real sense of weight. Well done, Opie, well done.

8. Monster House

A horror movie for kids? A kids movie for adults? What is this thing? All I know is that it was genuinely funny and touching, and absolutely gorgeous. There is a reason it was nominated for both the Globe and the Oscar for animation. It is a beautiful movie, and well executed both in plot and pace. My recommendation? Put the kids to bed and watch it with your local spouse.

7. Lady In the Water

I should have known better than to trust the critical bashing this took. M. Night has never let me down before, yet somehow as more and more critics trashed this, I became more convinced the streak was over. Maybe my low expectations had me thinking this was better than it was, maybe I'm just a Shammy fanboy, but I thought this movie was great. I loved the characters, loved the storybook feel to it, and most of all loved what it had to say about purpose and plan. A solid double to the gap for Night who is now 6 for 6 as far as I'm concerned.

6. Match Point *

Woody Allen made this? Seriously? This movie owned me. I wasn't expecting much of anything from this, but a friend whose cinema opinion I really respect told me I just HAD to see it. He was right, and I'll try and tell you why without giving too much away. It's all right there in the first opening minutes of the film, I mean all of it. The power of seemingly random things, the beauty of the tennis analogy, the pace and feel, all of it. Arriving at the end of this movie was a stunning experience, and I felt like the movie had me where it wanted me the entire time.

5. The Prestige

This is one of those movies that lingers. So amazing in it's execution and resolution that you can't help but talk about it for days afterwards. The movie itself is the perfect magic trick, with deft sleight of hand by Christopher Nolan (Momento, Batman Begins) who is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman are amazing (nice to see Batman and Wolverine in the same film, eh?) and the audacity of what this movie does is made completely acceptable by the metaphor that it resides in.

4. The Pursuit of Happyness

Will Smith has proven he can make a mediocre film good (Hitch) but with Happyness he (and his child prodigy offspring, Jaden) make an already good movie great. This is a great story of perseverance and integrity already (a lot of shadows and echoes of Cinderella Man), but the performances of this father/son combo blew me away. Really, it's a pretty straightforward tale and you know exactly where it is going, but Mr. Smith and son pull you into these characters to the point that my sister in law was actually praying in the theater for them (anyone for a prayer/predestination/freewill/omniscience discussion?). Powerful stuff.

3. March of the Penguins

Best documentary I've ever seen. Engaging, gorgeous, compelling, entertaining, educational, and funny. These are penguins, PENGUINS I tell you, yet somehow I was completely engrossed in every second of the amazing story of how these creatures make their living. Skip "Happy Feet" (and it's environmentalist overtones) and watch this instead. You will get a much better appreciation of the world we are caretakers of, and they don't even need Robin Williams to make funny voices to do it.

2. Cars

It says something about Pixar that this is probably the fifth best movie they've made and yet it's still the second best film I saw all year. Cars follows the well tested Pixar formula of putting story and character first and letting message rule the day over gimmick and crassness. An amazing allegory on stopping and smelling the roses and the importance of community and teamwork. As always Pixar backs up the substance with the style, as some of the animation in this film is incredible. I thought Pixar might be in for a miss with this one, but nope, they nailed it again.

1. United 93

The most powerfully moving movie I've seen since "The Passion". Every decision director Paul Greengrass made in this was the right one. Not casting known actors, casting people in their own real life roles, developing the terrorists as real people and not caricatures, letting the events unfold without gratuitous commentary, not creating back story for the passengers (thus allowing us to get to know them just as they got to know each other) It all adds up to a movie that feels like they stumbled upon actual footage. It puts you directly in the seats of these honorable, brave, and heroic people and leaves you devastated at what evil looks like when laid bare. It would have been very easy to exaggerate or embellish the action points of that day. Todd Beamer saying "Let's Roll" is a perfect example of a moment Greengrass could have highlighted for dramatic effect, but instead he chooses to downplay it, because that's probably a more accurate look at how it happened. These aren't action stars, they are you and me in a situation you and me (and they) could never imagine being in. Somehow, the simplicity and honesty of this film leave a deeper impact and more completely honors these people and the choices they made September 11th, 2001.

To see and comment on all 25 movies that made Dice's full list, visit: http://blog.myspace.com/aarondicer