As always when looking back at so-called favourite films of the year,
the interminable list of movies not yet seen makes the exercise seem
even more pointless that it already feels. And yet, there is a rather
sad compulsion to go through with the process, since it provides a short
lived, if insubstantial, satisfaction. So, having completely undermined
the whole justification for this yearly movie sugar-rush, here it
goes...

(All films have been released in the UK in 2006 - films only shown at
festivals have been excluded)

For me, there have been three top films in 2006:-

Hidden [Michael Haneke]: powerful, perfectly formed; one of Haneke's
best.
Volver [Pedro Almodovar]: another great director on top form.
Tony Takitani [Jun Ichikawa]: first seen at the Cambridge Film Festival
in 2005, this was at last released this year; a beautiful, precise but
lyrical tone poem.

Other excellent films were:-
The Death of Mr Lazarescu [Cristi Puiu]
L'Enfant [Dardenne Brothers]
Extrano (Strange) [Santiago Loza]: first shown at the Cambridge Film
Festival in 2003!
Happy Feet [George Miller]
Krisana (Fallen) [Fred Kellerman]
Junebug [Phil Morrison]
Mon Ange (My Angel) [Serge Frydman]
Lady Vengeance [Chan-wook Park]
Pusher III [Nicholas Winding Refn]

Mention must also be made of these impressive films:-
Be With Me [Eric Khoo]
A Cock and Bull Story [Michael Winterbottom]
Good Night, and Good Luck [George Clooney]
Little Fish [Rowan Woods]
Lost Embrace [Daniel Burman]
Syriana [George Clooney]

These were pretty good too:-
Capote [Bennett Miller]
The Departed [Martin Scorsese]
The Forest For The Trees [Maren Ade]
Grizzly Man [Werner Herzog]
Gypo [Jan Dunn]
Heading South [Laurent Cantet]
The History Boys [Nicholas Hytner]
The New World [Terrence Malick]
Shanghai Dreams [Xiaoshuai Wang]
Shortbus [John Cameron Mitchell]
Thank You For Smoking [Jason Reitman]
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada [Tommy Lee Jones]
Three Times [Hsiao-hsien Hou]
Unknown White Male [Rupert Murray]

Worst film I've seen this year was: The Roost [Ti West]: just plain
dull.



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