Ulukai on 1/1/2007 at 18:42
Your pick of the 2006 crop of movie-going fun then.
Favourites
* Casino Royale - We've had a whole thread on this so I'm not going to elaborate here. Saw it, loved it, new Bond is the way forwards and I would see it again. Shame they wrecked that beautiful, beautiful car.
* Deja-Vu - Denzel Washington's latest. Didn't have high expectations when I saw it, but it stood out as an entertaining, pacy action thriller with sci-fi elements and a unique and hugely enjoyable take on the classic movie car chase.
* Pan's Labyrinth (Laberinto del Fauno, El) - This I only ended up seeing because Casino Royale was full up on every screen in the theatre that it was playing on. It's a period drama / fantasy set in Spain and directed by Guillermo del Toro (it's in Spanish with English subtitles.) If you can get past that it's very good indeed. Apart from the whole exploding Toad thing
Honorable Mentions
* Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest - No where near as fun as Curse of the Black Pearl, but vastly entertaining none the less. Wasn't impressed with the ending because Shit is Unresolved until the next instalment. Looking forwards to seeing Davy Jones vs. Barbossa, though.
* Click - Seeing an Adam Sandler chick-flick is not normally my idea of fun. Tailed off towards the end but this was surprisingly entertaining, not least due to Christopher Walken's performance as Morty/ The Angel of Death.
* Snakes on a Plane - Don't get me wrong, it's utter shit. But just, y'know - Samuel L Jackson and SNAKES on a mutherfucking PLANE!
Disappointments
* The Da Vinci Code - Casting my mind back we probably had a thread on this back at the start of the year. I remember it less than fondly as being over-long and pedestrian. And that was just the thread >:|
* The Sentinel - Action Thriller, apparently, featuring Michael Douglas as a Secret Service agent (lol?). Oh, and Kiefer Sutherland as someone else. Like watching an episode of 24, only not as interesting.
Shakey-Lo on 1/1/2007 at 19:09
Favourite would have to be Children Of Men, a really beautiful and well crafted film that gave me a bit more hope about the current state of the film industry (an industry I hope to enter into).
Worst would probably be Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest, I was pleasantly surprised by the first film but this was just crap :tsktsk:
David on 1/1/2007 at 19:20
I didn't see that many films last year, although I plan on changing that now that the cinema chain here has started unlimited cinema tickets that cost less than seeing two films a month. \o/
The YAY section
Anyway, as with a lot of people I expect Casino Royale to be high on the list.
I saw DeJa Vu a couple of days ago and thought it was pretty neat. It's never going to win an Oscar or be on any Greatest Film Ever lists, but it's a novel twist on the action genre.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is a fantastic title for a film. I knew pretty much what the film was going to be like before stepping foot in the cinema but damn was it funny. And cringeworthy.
The MEH section
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
I saw this when I was in London for the TTLG meet. I don't have many criteria for a film, but actually having an end is one of them.
When you make two films from one overarching story at the same time you can't just pick a seemingly arbitrary point to split them. And it felt like it was about six hours long.
Haegan on 1/1/2007 at 20:06
Quote Posted by David
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
I agree. Meh.
Fafhrd on 1/1/2007 at 23:22
No particular order:
Pan's Labyrinth: great great brutal, sad, and at the same time incredibly uplifting not for kids fairy tale. and pistols at dawn re: exploding toad, Ulu
The Fountain: I lack the words, but it's phenomenal.
Brick: hard-boiled noir in a Southern California high school, and it works tremendously
Renaissance: Probably the closest we'll ever see to a Deus Ex movie, and the most stylishly rendered CG ever. This is the direction, production design wise, I'd like to see more CG movies go.
The Departed: Great, funny, shockingly brutal, and the first movie that I actually liked Leonardo DiCaprio in. Fuck everyone who doesn't like it because it actually fucking ADAPTED Infernal Affairs instead of carbon copying it to Boston.
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance: released last year everywhere but the States, I know. A more straightforward revenge flick than Oldboy, but it still brings a cool twist to the genre, and incredibly funny.
I'm going to see Children of Men later today, and everything I've read and heard says it's fantastic, so consider it on the list.
Scots Taffer on 1/1/2007 at 23:55
This was once my mainstay, the movie thread for the end of year - sad to say that I've seen so little movies this year that I barely qualify to even comment.
In the cinema I've seen:
- Casino Royale
Bloody brilliant. Craig more than managed the role, which effectively reboots the franchise and tooks it in an interestingly hard-edged direction. Goodbye villains with sharks and hello international terrorist funding organisation - I'm keen to see if they keep this real-life SPECTRE around for the sequels. The only disappointment of this movie was the lack of ladies in the title sequence and that dreadful song.
- Pirates of the Carribean 2
Good but not excellent sequel, a really dry opening hampered this movie from the get-go but it managed to pick up and from about thirty or so minutes in this movie was a riot. Lots of good slapstick action, some good lines, one or two moments of tension too... an interesting couple of semi-twists towards the end kept me entertained enough not to mind the abrupt halt.
- Munich
Another excellent movie, Speilberg isn't the only one on top form here, Bana and the supporting cast (including Bond and Caesar from Rome) are all perfect as the Israeli assassins seeking out the Palestinian terrorists. There is tension, horror, violence and reflection mixed together in a piece that's pretty much all great.
- Syriana
A branching storyline flick that mostly works, a very slow moving portrait of how the world works and how big business leads to small wars. Clooney is highly effective and his story is the most interesting, Damon isn't bad, but I found the lawyer's story to be trite and nearly unnecessary.
Movies from this year I caught elsewhere:
- Borat
This worked on a lot of levels, however I agree with the article that offered the view that this movie actually shows the two levels of America, the bigoted and aggressive side as well as the tolerant and highly compassionate side - sure there may be a bit of hypocrisy mixed into both of them but ultimately, this movie wasn't so much scathing expose of cultural attitudes as it was a bit of a hypocritical mickey-take that was hit or miss.
- The Da Vinci Code
I actually think this was better than the book, as it offered a more reasoned and balanced approach to the whole conspiracy idea that's basically worshipped in the novel. Unfortunately, that doesn't make it a good movie, the book was fucking awful, so the movie is merely watchable. Hanks is mailing it in. Tatou is miscast. The only person that works is Gandalf and even he is nearly rolling his eyes at some of the lines.
Others I'll remember as people say them, I'm sure.
Jackablade on 2/1/2007 at 01:32
I had a sneaking suspicion that Munich and Syriana were released in 2005, and a quick check on IMDB proves it correct. Sorry Scots.
Aerothorn on 2/1/2007 at 05:40
I don't believe I saw ANY films in a theatre this year. Yay me!
I'm sure I saw some stuff that came out this year on DVD, but yeah, I can't remember what.
Children of Men does look good, but my newspaper wouldn't let me put it in the upcoming movies section because they thought it looked "too weird". Pfft.
Renegen on 2/1/2007 at 05:53
Hey Scots you watch Rome? That's my favourite movie for 2006 right there. Also partly because I don't remember shit of what happened earlier than a month ago.
Printer's Devil on 2/1/2007 at 06:49
Ye Yan (The Banquet): Something of a successor to Kurosawa's Ran, Xiogang Feng's volatile blend of Shakespeare and martial arts was stunning. The visuals alone could have carried it--and I watched it on a 26" television from a low quality DVD. Shown at the TIIF in 2006, it should receive wider release this year. See it.
Sympathy For Lady Vengeance*: Although I wouldn't call it funny per se, SFLV is steeped in VERY black humour. How black? I laughed while squirming at certain points. Nonetheless, it's clear that Chan-wook Park knows his craft--this movie is very well produced on all levels.
*produced in 2005, released 2006 in Canada.
