Annual Movie Redux!

Whee! Another year, another painfully reconstructed and ranked list of the best films I actually saw that were released in the year 2006.

Honestly, as I write this minor intro I cannot think of a single thing that will go on this list. I think it was an indifferent year for movies. I might do better to write down the top 13 worst films of ’06. I can think of two right away and know Pink Panther would be number 1.

Top 13 Flicks of 2006

13. A Prairie Home Companion – The Cowboy Song. Kevin Kline. John C. Reilly. ’nuff said.

12. Little Miss Sunshine – This was a tough one. I’m not the biggest fan of Steve Carrel’s comedy stylings. Nor, for that matter, of Greg Kinnear’s. On the other hand, I’ve done family road trips frighteningly similar to this one (sans corpses) and have definitely been in similar situations. Right in the heartstrings man. Yes, I do have ’em, I just don’t use them very much.

11. Superman Returns – Bloody damned deconstructionists. I wish to Christ you could leave at least one of my childhood heroes alone. The next thing you know Luke Skywalker will have killed the “blackest brother in the galaxy in order to make the galaxy ‘safe’ for white people.” Oh, wait.

10. Casino Royale – The only Bond movie that stuck with me after I left the theatre. I can’t say I remember any specific lines but I damned certainly remember scenes, situations and the emotional power of the whole thing.

9. Flushed Away – Wallace and Gromit as rats? Now with 100% less cheese! Still it was funny and included a World Cup joke.

8. Thank You for Smoking – Aside from remembering that I liked this flick intensely I can’t recall very much about it. But I know I’d jump at the chance to see it again. The feel good death merchant movie of the year.

7. Rocky Balboa – This was a good year for Philly movies. Rocky came back, and made exactly the same movie as Rocky I, but it made me happy. Plus lots of good Philly scenes and a hilarious credit sequence on the fabled steps of the Art Museum.

6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – This was probably my most anticipated movie of the summer and I was mildly pissed when I finally got to see it. Pissed enough that I only bothered to see it once in the theatre and dawdled when the opportunity came to pick it up on DVD. Since then, with multiple viewings, it’s beginning to grow on me and I’m almost as stoked for At World’s End as I was for this one.

5. United 93 – Two September 11 movies on the fifth anniversary. This minute by minute reconstruction of the fate of flight 93 was by far the best. And it convinced me to learn to say my daily prayers in Latin because obviously saying prayers repeatedly in a strange language gives you the strength to overcome the security procedures of the greatest nation on Earth. Look out for me.

4. The Departed – Sucky ending. But man, what a hell of a lot of fun getting to that point. And Martin Sheen took a nosedive. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

3. The Queen – A brilliant, brilliant look at the discombobulation of the Royal Family and Prime Minister at the time of Diana’s death. Without saying too many rude things about the “People’s Princess” the film manages to make perfectly noble the Queen’s actions and in the process demonstrate the character and sense of duty which is so notoriously lacking in modern public persons.

2. Invincible – Da Iggles, in souf Philly circa 1977. How is that not the perfect movie for me?

1. V for Vendetta – Ohhhh, how good was this flick? Theocratic distopia, genetic engineering, eloquent killers with happy masks. Thomas Jefferson would have enjoyed it. But coming from me that’s less than a rousing endorsement. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Amen brother. Speak truth to power!

Wow. That was a lot harder than I thought. My initial rundown, even being picky, left me with twenty-one films. Whittling that down and ranking them was damned difficult. I always end up with a purely subjective list. But Number 1 was easy.

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