TOP 10 FILMS OF 2006...ACCORDING TO THE JAMES

First, let me just say that this was incredibly difficult. While my friend Eric might say that I "just like every movie," he's far from right. I love CINEMA as a whole to be sure, but I'll do a "Worst Of" list just for his benefit as well. These films include all those I saw in theaters last year, one I had to see on DVD since it was foreign, and 1 I just saw yesterday that only just came to Jacksonville...because it's the "cultural butthole of the world." Anyway, on with the 10 in descending order...

10. Lucky Number Slevin: This film was a complete surprise to me, since I was ready to hate anything with Josh (Pearl Harbor, 40 Days & Nights, etc...) Hartnett, and I hadn't heard of Paul McGuigan's directing work either. (Ironically I rented his Gangster #1 before, and never got around to watching it...I will now.) So, it was on a friend's recommendation that I checked this flick out, and I admit to being completely BLOWN AWAY by it. Don't you love it when you find an unexpected gem, like a surprise present for you when you're sure everything is awful. Hartnett truly evolved, and I admit to liking his past few choices (Black Dahlia, Sin City) so I will not be averse to what he puts out in the future. Bruce Willis makes the smart play here with a fine ensemble piece instead of another gaudy starring action role of questionable merit (Die Hard 4, anyone?), and of course you can't go wrong with Morgan Freeman or Sir Ben Kingsley who graciously allow others to coexist in the scene they happen to be stealing. Lucy Liu...sigh...amazing, cute, sexy...the usual. You can check out the film, but Lucy Liu is mine...

9. Lady Vengeance: Wook-Park Chan is one amazing filmmaker. True, he happened to finish a trilogy of films on vengeance, a thematic issue close to my own heart. However, it's what he managed to "say" about vengeance that makes him special. His view goes back to Ancient Greece, and the warnings of the gods against those who would dispense their own form of retribution. It's true that Lady Vengeance does come after what many consider his magnum opus thus far, Oldboy, and perhaps to many it might seem a little anticlimactic. I think though, that it's getting the Jackie Brown beating, or the same treatment Tarantino's follow-up to Pulp Fiction received. Years later, everyone realizes how awesome that film is, and I believe it will be the same with Lady Vengeance. Check it out...and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Oldboy.

8. Apocalypto: Man, that Mel Gibson. What a year this guy had...but he finished it with a fantastic film that thrilled and moved simultaneously. While many are focusing on his powerful thematic statements, or rather indictments, of our cultural era, people forget that besides these allusions, it's a pretty kick-ass action flick also. I was blown away at how easily Gibson made these completely foreign people familiar in a few short minutes, necessarily creating the bond with the audience to create empathy for all the struggles to come. While the parallels to current events are obvious, I was surprised to get a real anti-organized religion vibe off this one as well. Curious, considering everything he's been through lately. Anyway, people should remember that everyone in Hollywood is probably nuts and you wouldn't want them for pals...but I damn sure want some more Gibson films like Braveheart and Apocalypto.

7. Casino Royale: Remember all that B/S about "Blonde, James Blonde," and all the reports about what a sissy this guy was during filming, and he couldn't even drive a stick-shift, and etc...Folks, Bond is back and better than everyone since Connery. This film brought it all back to basics (not surprising since the two Bourne films have created the anti-technology spy genre) and it worked...brilliantly. While I wasn't really impressed with anyone besides Daniel Craig and of course Judi Dench, it was an intense film with incredible action and humor (what you need in a James Bond film) and even some emotion...used as perhaps an explanation for the heartless bastard he will become. I look forward to the next one, and hope the usual idiotic producers get a director as good as Martin Campbell.

6. The Prestige: I reviewed this one already, but it still stands in my mind as powerfully as it did the day I saw it. Chris Nolan is a true genius, and he knows how important it is to cast the right people (See Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins.) Bale, Jackman, and Caine make this film a classic, and Nolan stays true to enigmatical form, taking the audience through the twists and turns to its ultimate satisfying conclusion. I never saw The Illusionist, but can't wait to compare the two. However, I find it very hard to believe that someone could rival Chris Nolan.

5. The Proposition: Many people have commented on Nick Cave's brilliant script about a bloody western set in Australia, and others have commented on how visceral and gritty Guy Pearce and the incredible Ray Winstone are, but I was in awe of John Hillcoat's direction. Check out how truly UGLY and gritty this film is...(the flies, alone.) I used to think the Spaghetti Westerns of Leone and Corbucci were gritty, but this one could top them. The issues of family are complex, along with civilization v/s savagery, and while they are touched on in the film, none are resolved...like life. Life is a messy bunch of contradictory elements that one must navigate on their path through it...much like Guy Pearce's character Charlie in this flick.

4. Brick: A modern film noir set in a high school. Sounds like B/S, but it actually worked, and worked well. Using mostly a cast of unknowns (the kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun was the lead) director Rian Johnson brings back the spirit of Chandler and Hamnett in his tale of murder, vice, and intricate deceptions. While enjoying all the noirish elements on display, I found myself casting it with my own Imagination Players Troupe regulars, and it made it even more hilarious. If you get to watch it...Lazenby would play The Pin. I am eagerly awaiting Johnson's next flick, which supposedly has Rachel Wiesz attached.

3. V for Vendetta: Truly, any of the top 5 films on this list could be swapped around and be #1 to me, but this one perhaps most especially for sentimental reasons. I read this book many years ago as a teenager, and it was a profoundly moving and even consciousness-altering experience for a guy who lives primarily inside his own head. We have all suffered while watching Alan Moore's creations ruined onscreen time after time (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Constantine, From Hell) and this one seemed likely to end up the same way, and very well could have except for...the Wachowski Brothers. Forget how bad Matrix 2 & 3 were...and yes, they were bad, but go back to Bound and The Matrix. These guys get film and how to use it to make a person think and feel. While their protege James McTeigue might have directed, their influence was felt all over this flick. You ask me what my politics are...I'd answer "Watch this film." Meeting David Lloyd, the original artist of the book, was another incredible thrill on the otherwise amazing "YOTJ."

2. Children of Men: Just saw this one Saturday with Jess and Jamin, but it has to go on here. Alfonso Cuaron has created a masterpiece...it's that simple. His vision of the nihilistic remnants of a world where the human race is infertile and dying out is grotesque, tragic, and completely believable. While Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Peter Mullan turn in great performances, it's what Cuaron does with the camera...focusing equally on both humanity's grievous faults and unbelievably selfless actions...that make this visual tapestry of wonder resonate so deeply within. I admit to being..."moved" at least 4 or 5 times. This film should be nominated and win Oscars...but should implies justice, and that's in short supply.

1. The Fountain: I saw this one on a sneak preview deal, and was overcome with its power and scope. I love a film that I "get," but find it hard to explain. "What's it about," people say to me, and the only thing I can think to tell them is "Life and Death and what's important." The movie is a psychedilic allegory, or mediation on life and death and the connection between them both with everything in the universe. It's Hugh Jackman's opus performance thus far, another fine role for the incomparable Rachel Weisz, and a masterpiece for director Darren Aaronofsky (PI, Requiem for a Dream.) I am so glad Chris Nolan is directing Batman, since I can't think of anyone else I wouldn't be wondering "what if" with, since Aaronofsky left the project. Not everyone will appreciate The Fountain, many will simply fail to understand or appreciate its magnitude...since they lack the same qualities about the rest of life. It opens up to those who actually care to speculate on the meanings of things, and not the instinctually-inclined who merely slumph along between sensory-heightening activities. Magnolia was my favorite touchstone film to watch whenever I felt too detached and needed to reconnect with something "human" in humanity, but now I can add Children of Men, and The Fountain.

That's it...and it was rough. Honorable Mentions include: Borat, Beerfest, Running Scared, Talledega Nights, Miami Vice, A Prairie Home Companion, The Matador, and Rocky Balboa. Films I didn't get to see, but wanted to desperately were: Inland Empire, The Science of Sleep, Pan's Labyrinth, Bubble, Thank You For Smoking, The Illusionist, Black Dahlia, and United 93. Until next time...The James is out.