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THE BEST OF 2006

#1 Inland Empire Directed by David Lynch One may be accused of tossing about the word masterpiece as if it were the most abundant word in the English language if one is not careful. It certainly is one of the most overused words in movie reviewing - especially by those quote whores hoping to see their name in all the Oscar ads come December and January every year. It is certainly one of those words that should be used as sparingly as is humanly possible - instead being locked away in critic's memory vaults only to be brought out on the most unique and deserving of moments. David Lynch, once again, has forced my hand and made me break into that dusty little vault of mine. Incomprehensibly bewildering, Lynch's first film since Mulholland Dr., is even more of a brain twister than that star screwer was. But one is not to overthink Lynch. One is not even supposed to question Lynch. One needs only watch and immerse oneself in him and in all his paradoxically puzzling set pieces, and one must unlock one's vault and dig out that one obvious, yet essential, word. Masterpiece.

#2 Marie Antoinette Directed by Sofia Coppola From the opening moment, when Kirsten Dunst as the young Marie Antoinette, winks directly at the camera, even before that when we first saw the trailer and New Order's blantantly 1980's pop music came blaring across the cinema speakers as men and women dressed to the nines in pre-revolution French costumes, and on through the whole post-modern shabang, we knew that we were in for a very bumby ride - cinematically speaking that is. Both pretentious and shallow to the nth degree and having fun with that fact the entire way through, Sofia Coppola's third feature plays out just like the piece of pop eye candy it is meant to be. Not "gotten" by many critics and audiences alike, Coppola's film, again, like her previous works (The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation) is the story of a young girl lost in the mire of society and of society's will upon her. But even with this deeper, much more sinister backbone, the film is indeed frivolous and flippant and full of fribble. Easily, Marie Antoinette is not only the most audaciously glamourous film of 2006, but the best piece of cinema for cinema's sake.

#3 United 93 Directed by Paul Greengrass

#4 Gabrielle Directed by Patrice Chéreau Never mind that Isabelle Huppert is one of the most striking presences ever to grace the silver screen - both physically and emotionally. This film is more than just that. A deconstructionist free-for-all with shades of Godard and Truffaut as well as Ginsberg and Kerouac - all jammed into a story adapted from one of the greatest story-tellers in the English language, Joseph Conrad. Originally a story about a woman who leaves her husband and the note she leaves behind (originally titled "The Letter"), Chéreau has metamorphosed it into a star vehicle for the brilliantly beautiful Huppert (the woman is absent save for her words in the letter in the original story). Quickly paced yet languid in style, with flashes of the fourth wall being broken down, Gabrielle, which even had it's name changed to highlight Huppert's character, was indeed the highlight of the 2005 New York Film Festival and again a highlight once it finally made it's US premiere in 2006.

#5 Miami Vice Directed by Michael Mann Who the Hell would have ever thought that I would be placing Miami Vice on my top 10 list when all was said and done? Not me for sure. The only reason I even went to see it (other than perhaps a campy nostalgia) was to laugh at how bad it was going to be. Wasn't I surprised when the film was over and I actually liked it. I was stunned I tell you, stunned. I sat there, even after the credits had evaporated from sight, totally bewildered. Sure, I knew Michael Mann was directing and I have always liked his work, but still... In fact I am still surprised today as I write these words that you are now reading. The mere thought of being able to turn the pastel Mtv aged camp classic that gave rise to Don Johnson and the music (and acting) of a solo Phil Collins, into an edgy 21st century film noir-ish, thinking man's action romp is simply staggering to even contemplate. But again, it is Michael Mann (one of the creators of the original Miami Vice btw) and Mann knows how to make a movie. A slick, glossy movie, Mann's Miami Vice plays like velvet on ice, in the middle of a heat wave.

#6 The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Directed by Cristi Puiu A Romanian film (the only one I have ever seen) that paints from the same "cinema of endurance" canvas that Tarkovsky, Akerman, Sokurov and Tarr paint from - replete with despair and anguish and possibly some frustration. The somewhat allegorical tale of an old man who falls ill and spends the rest of the film being shuffled to and fro throughout the Romanian health care service (not unlike our own) and from hospital to hospital, never quite being treated due to red tape or lack of interest or ego, all the time growing sicker and sicker and sicker, until at last he...well, the title says it all...or does it? Loosely based on Dante's Divine Comedy, complete with his own Virgil to lead the way in the dark, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is sort of an anti-ER. An anti-Grey's Anatomy. Never glib, never snide, Puiu's film is a purposefully tiring opera of sufferance. I sincerely believe that when someone rents a mainstream movie from Blockbuster or any of the other mainstream rental houses, they should be made to watch a more artistically-minded companion piece. Perhaps the next time someone watches Grey's Anatomy on TV, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu should play immediately afterward and viewers should be forced to watch through some sort of Clockwork Orangeish fashion of restraint. Just a thought.

#7 Letters From Iwo Jima Directed by Clint Eastwood

#8 Room Directed by Kyle Henry A film that answers the burning question of what experimental masterpiece Wavelength would look like if it had been a narrative film. Okay, perhaps that question isn't exactly burning upon everyone's lips, but hey, Room, the first feature from Kyle Henry, is just that. A woman, played superbly by Cyndi Williams (no, not that Cyndi Williams), is haunted by blackout nightmares of a mysterious room. She becomes obsessed with these visions and eventually abandons her life of sub-suburban dreariness and flies to New York to find her "room". A mystery worthy of Lynch, Henry's Room takes twists and turns in and out of bizarre alleys and darkened corridors until finally, miraculously, the woman, well not quite finds what she is searching for, but something else entirely. With visions of Michael Snow's aforementioned experimental masterpiece (parts could easily have been filmed in the same damned room), this film plays at everything, from middle America diorama of despair to full-out Proustian quest, all the time being haunted by the possessed Cyndi Williams giving what may well be the single greatest performance of 2006.

#9 Three Times Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien

#10 Battle in Heaven Directed by Carlos Reygadas

#11 The Descent Directed by Neil Marshall

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