The year that was 2006

When it comes down to the endless stream of movies that came my way in 2006, I have to admit that I was not overly impressed. I only gave two movies 10 stars (my highest rating), "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Departed." Both of these films were released before the usual award-worthy movie release season, which starts in November and trickles all the way into January, where movies with limited distribution in 2006 finally make it into more cities and theaters. Of the major contenders this awards season, I've seen "Babel," "Dreamgirls," "The Queen," "Blood Diamond," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Little Children," and while they were all pretty good films, certainly worthy of praise, none of them managed to have that spark I expect to get from having a truly glorious movie-watching experience. A few other movies have almost "sparked" for me, but they aren't really receiving much acknowledgement from the people handing out the awards. They include "Marie Antoinette," "Stranger Than Fiction," "The Science of Sleep," "Volver," "Thank You for Smoking," "The Prestige" and "This Film Is Not Yet Rated." I also loved the romantic comedy "The Holiday," but I wasn't really expecting that to be up for anything to begin with. Broken down, these are my top 10 movies of the year:
1. "Little Miss Sunshine"
2. "The Departed"
3. "The Holiday"
4. "Stranger Than Fiction"
5. "Marie Antoinette"
6. "The Science of Sleep"
7. "Volver"
8. "The Prestige"
9. "This Film Is Not Yet Rated"
10. "Thank You for Smoking"
As far as performances go, I have not seen many standout performances on the female side of the spectrum. Kirsten Dunst was good in "Marie Antoinette," but I don't know that I would necessarily consider her performance award-worthy. Helen Mirren does a terrific job in "The Queen," but it still didn't manage to make me instantly think "Best Actress" when I saw the film. Penelope Cruz usually does her best work for filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, and she did not disappoint in "Volver." If I had to choose a Best Actress, she would most likely be it. Meryl Streep may be a great actress, but "The Devil Wears Prada" was not a great movie and she definitely was not the lead in the movie, so if she wins or is even nominated for an Oscar, it would come as a great shock to me, just as her Golden Globe win did. Jennifer Hudson gives by far the strongest female performance of the year in her supporting role in "Dreamgirls." She'll be nominated for the Oscar tomorrow, she'll win on Feb. 25, and I really won't have a problem with that.
The 2006 male performances, on the other hand, get a little crowded. Leonardo DiCaprio is outstanding in both "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond." I haven't seen "The Last King of Scotland" yet, but Forest Whitaker's Golden Globe-winning performance is supposed to be incredible. Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin all help DiCaprio along in "The Departed" by not hitting even the slightest wrong note in their performances. Djimon Hounsou also gives DiCaprio outstanding support in "Blood Diamond." Brad Pitt also comes to the table with his strong supporting performance in "Babel." Will Ferrell's lead performance in "Stranger Than Fiction," which was nominated for a Golden Globe, is also terrific, but he doesn't seem to be getting much attention for it. Aaron Eckhart's performance in "Thank You for Smoking," which came out towards the beginning of the year and also won him a Globe nomination, is also only getting the occasional mention here and there. Eddie Murphy won the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe for his performance in "Dreamgirls," and his performance is also very good, but he will face some steep competition from Nicholson, who is an Oscar favorite and my personal choice for the award.
If the Best Director trophy goes to anyone other than Martin Scorsese, it will be a great disappointment. Scorsese won his second Golden Globe for directing "The Departed," and this would be his first Oscar.
The Academy Award nominations will be announced tomorrow morning, Jan. 23, at 7:30 a.m. (central time).