My Favorite Movies of 2006

Last year we discovered Netflix largely because friends such as Blubber Boy vouched for it. We haven’t looked back since. KC and I still enjoy the experience of going out to see a big movie on a big canvas in a darkened auditorium surrounded by people, but in a town that doesn’t get a lot of the documentaries, foreign and independent films that we find most satisfying, Netflix has been a lifeline. This year the list of “Didn’t Show in Jax” includes Half Nelson, Little Children, Fur, Volver and Who Killed the Electric Car; but we’ll see them on Netflix in 2007. Here are a few that we enjoyed this year that you might want to put in your “Queue:”

1) When the Levees Broke – Spike Lee’s scathing critique of the Bush response to Katrina. It's four hours long and best seen over several sittings.
2) Cache (Hidden) – Peter Hoeneke asks whether a young boy is culpable for French colonialism in Algeria. The kind of movie that has you talking about it for hours after you've seen it.
3) Little Miss Sunshine – The comedy of the year, with a great cast including the comic genius of Alan Arkin. A road picture with a heart.
4) The Silence of Sleep – Michel Gondry’s electrifying flight of fancy with a sweet romantic comedy inside. Charlie Kaufman’s influence has been palpable.
5) The Edukators - Teenage German anarchists break into bourgeois homes in the middle of the night to play pranks on their inhabitants. High jinks ensue.
6) Catch a Fire – Unlike earlier movies about apartheid, this one puts the focus where it should be – on the activism of the townships.
7) Fast Food Nation – Richard Linklater interprets Eric Schlosser’s book on the fast food industry with remarkable agility.
8) Babel – Alejandro Innaritu’s latest multi-narrative is messy at times, but his message that we aren’t talking to each other rings true.
9) Prairie Home Companion – Robert Altman’s swan song is a sweetly nostalgic look at old timey music hall.
10) Thank You For Smoking – A smart satire about marketing deadly products. It reminds us of the cynical black heart of corporate America.
11) The Good Shepherd – Robert DeNiro’s epic (it’s more than three hours long!) look at the formation of the CIA.
12) Don’t Come Knocking – Wim Wenders dives into the American West again, with Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard along for the ride.

Others You Might Like:
Factotum – Matt Dillon plays Charles Bukowski
Kinky Boots – British comedy about a shoe factory saved by making boots for drag queens
The Proposition – A unique and bloody look at 19th century Australian outback life, with Guy Pearce, Emily Watson and Ray Winstone
Quincenera – A pregnant Latina awaits her fifteenth birthday celebration
Hollywoodland – Ben Affleck has never been better than he is as George
the original Superman
The Matador – Newly liberated from the Bond mantel, Pierce Brosnan has a ball as a hit man in Mexico
Accepted – On the face it’s a teen exploitation movie, but underneath is a paean to progressive education
The Inside Man – Spike Lee takes a break from the agit-prop to make a good old fashioned heist movie with Denzel Washington
Friends with Money – Nicole Holefcener’s latest comedy of female manners hits home with some truths about friends and....money
The Devil Wears Prada – Meryl Streeps munches the scenery as Vogue’s Anna Wintour
Tsotsi – A bleak look at life in South Africa’s shantytowns.

Lifetime Achievement Award – “49 Up” – The latest installment of Michael Apted’s epic “7 Up” series of documentaries arrived in the midst of my putting together this list. It’s still one of the most electrifying film moments to see those seven year old kids growing up in front of your eyes. See it now.

Disappointments:
The Black Dahlia – Da Palma’s pale imitation of noir
The Departed – Marty Scorcese’s latest bloodfest
The Night Listener – A dud thriller that goes nowhere
United 93 – A 9/11 movie with “history” stitched out of cellphone calls
Art School Confidential – a satire that is dark rather than funny

Worst Movie of 2006:
Marie Antoinette – Sofia Coppola’s lame attempt to resuscitate the Bourbon monarchy – off with her head!