Now, I was going to make this a top 10, but I couldn't come up with 10 films that I loved, so instead, here's a top 5 with some trimming at the end.
- The Departed:
There was so much to love about this movie, that I hesitate to mention any one thing. An excellent cast from top to bottom, fine direction, violence galore: this one really did have it all. I feel like it will have to be the Best Picture front runner come February, but who the hell knows at this point. - Children of Men:
In my mind, this film's biggest success was a realistic and chilling vision of the future that seemed entirely plausible. Cuaron created a riveting fiction and then surrounded it with a spectacular script, with some of the year's best suspense. Bonus points for having an agenda but not slamming audiences in the face with it (ahem, Bobby). - Pan's Labyrinth:
Between the brutal conflict of the real world and Ofelia's truly horrifying fantasy excusions, Del Toro wove a tale that cut deep and spared no remorse. Like Cuaron, Del Toro chose a genre that can easily come off hackneyed and silly, and proceeded to turn in a true stunner. - Brick:
This rookie effort is the proud winner of the Genre Matters' "Genre Film of the Year." Bringing a traditional noir storyline to a California high school, writer/director Rian Johnson made perhaps the freshest, most invigorating film of the year. - Half Nelson:
Maybe I'm just out of the loop, but I was pretty sure Ryan Gosling was selling used cars in the Midwest. And then all of a sudden he comes out of nowhere with this gut-punch of a film and looks like the next big thing. Of course Gosling's co-star held her own as well, and for all you Shareeka Epps fans, good news, you can catch her in AVP2 later in 2007!
- The Descent: A pretty creepy little film, and then the mutant, flesh-eating cave dwellers show up.
- Little Miss Sunshine: Favorite comedy of the year.
- Prairie Home Companion: Altman's last hurrah worthy of a mention for its music alone.
- Lucky Number Slevin: Definitely the most pleasent surprise of the year, really came out of nowhere on me.
- Borat: I probably would have responded much more to this film without the ridiculous amount of PR run-up.
- Casino Royale: I don't like Bond films, but Daniel Craig actually has me pretty pumped for another go around (that's number 22 for all of you counting).
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