400 Screens, 400 Blows - Rewinding 2006

I usually don't do this. Once I post or publish my year's ten best list, I try not to tamper with it. But 2006 has been gnawing at me. At the time, it didn't seem like such a good movie year, but the more I think about it, the more I realize there were gems right there in front of my nose. (It certainly seemed like a better bet than 2008.) Some of the films had to blossom a bit, to age a little. Some I had to see again. But now that a couple of years have gone by I feel the need to re-visit 2006 and once again sort through the best films of the year.

If I'm honest with myself, my favorite film from 2006 was Rian Johnson's Brick, which I included all the way down at #10 on my list. I've since seen it three times, and I'm continually astounded by just how delightfully perfect it is, from its language to its tone and plot. It even includes some emotionally devastating performances on top of its twisty crime story. Terry Zwigoff's Art School Confidential is another one I had to see three times, but it keeps getting better. Zwigoff is one of our singular American talents, absolutely incapable of making something impersonal. This was his darkest film, and I think it turned off most viewers upon initial viewings. But I've spoken with people lately who have been re-discovering it, and it may have a second life someday.

Another one that I liked that no one else liked was Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. It received a resounding jeer at Cannes, which makes sense, since there was an upstart American girl taking on one of the most French of stories (in English no less). But though I generally detest costume movies, I loved it. Coppola cleverly filled her frames with ornate, opulent surroundings, and used them to suggest emptiness. On that same note, Sidney Lumet's amazing courtroom drama Find Me Guilty never found the love it deserved. (Should Vin Diesel have earned an Oscar nomination?)

2006 was the year of the "Mexican New Wave," with three major films coming to the forefront, with at least three other smaller, unsung gems (like Battle in Heaven and Duck Season) under the radar. Babel was the most award-ready, and my least favorite of the bunch. I included Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men at #9 on my list, but somehow couldn't find room for Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. In retrospect, I have come to like it more and more and would certainly include both films on the list today.

David Lynch's Inland Empire would have made my list for sure, but for the fact that it didn't screen for San Francisco critics until the middle of January of 2007. (By that time, no one cares about lists anymore.) And Martin Campbell's Casino Royale should have made my list. I second-guessed myself at the time, probably bumping it because it was a "mere" entertainment and not an artistic statement. But it's just a damn good film. (And looking even better compared to the new entry, Quantum of Solace.)

My original #1 choice, Hou Hsiao-hsien's Three Times, would still have made the list, if only for the beauty of the first segment, but it would not be #1 anymore. That makes nine, and so I have only one pick left, plus I have to deal with the films that were actually on my list: Claude Chabrol's The Bridesmaid, Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia, Amos Gitai's Free Zone, Spike Lee's Inside Man and Park Chan-wook's Lady Vengeance. I still like those films, but I found that my enthusiasm for them waned, sometimes after a second viewing, or sometimes after finding myself not interested in a second viewing. So for my final pick, at #10, let's go with Martin Scorsese's The Departed. It's a minor Scoresese, and no one is particularly happy with the ending, but it's beautifully made, fast, energetic and a lot of fun. And we should never count that out.

Ahh. Much better.

Revised List:
Brick (Rian Johnson)
Art School Confidential (Terry Zwigoff)
Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola)
Find Me Guilty (Sidney Lumet)
Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro)
Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron)
Inland Empire (David Lynch)
Casino Royale (Martin Campbell)
Three Times (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
The Departed (Martin Scorsese)