Over on Gothamist today, Cinecultist finally got around to posting our top 10 for 2006. Honestly, we've been thinking about this list for weeks but the more movies we see in a year, the harder is seems to get to make our definitive picks.
1. The Queen
2. Letters From Iwo Jima
3. Half Nelson
4. Old Joy
5. Volver
6. Shortbus
7. A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints
8. Last King of Scotland
9. Woman on the Beach
10. Iraq in Fragments
Worth An Honorable Mention (in no particular order):
Children of Men, 13 Tzameti, The Puffy Chair, Man Push Cart, Miss Potter, Perfume, Notes on A Scandal, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Holiday, Casino Royale, Babel, Marie Antoinette, The Science of Sleep, Sherrybaby, Talladega Nights, Brothers of the Head, The Devil Wears Prada, The Road to Guantanamo, Lady Vengeance, United 93, Brick, Inside Man, 16 Blocks, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, Tristram Shandy, Tristan & Isolde, Gabrielle, No Restraint
After the jump is the full list of all of the new releases we saw in the last 12 months. CC clocked in at over 100 this year, and remember that doesn't include repertory movies or DVDs. So for all of those critics who've put Army of Shadows at the top of their lists, Cinecultist says to them "Cop out dudes!" American audiences may have not ever seen this Jean-Pierre Melville movie but it was made in 1969 and thus doesn't count.
Casanova
Last Holiday (on the plane)
Tristan and Isolde*
Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story*
16 Blocks*
Dave Chappelle’s Block Party*
Failure to Launch
Inside Man*
Brick*
Friends With Money
Hard Candy
American Dreamz
United 93*
Lady Vengeance (NYFF)*
Mission Impossible III (on a plane)
Art School Confidential
Down in the Valley
Just My Luck
The Da Vinci Code
X-Men 3
The Break Up
Cars
Garfield 2: A Tale of Two Kitties
The Lake House
Wordplay
The Road to Guantanamo *
Superman Returns
The Devil Wears Prada*
The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
A Scanner Darkly
Mini’s First Time
The Oh in Ohio
My Super Ex Girlfriend
Shadowboxer
Little Miss Sunshine
Miami Vice
Brothers of the Head*
The Night Listener
Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby*
Step Up
the Aura
Half Nelson*
Material Girls
Factotum
Invincible
The Wicker Man
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Riding Along for Thousands of Miles
The Covenant
Sherrybaby*
Hollywoodland
The Last Kiss
Al Franken: God Spoke
The Ground Truth
Flyboys
The Science of Sleep*
The Last King of Scotland*
School for Scoundrels
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints*
The Queen*
Employee of the Month
Shortbus*
Infamous
Marie Antoinette*
Babel*
Volver*
A Good Year
Harsh Times
Fuck
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
Casino Royale*
For Your Consideration
Candy
The Fountain
The History Boys
The Architect
10 Items or Less
The Holiday*
Off the Black
The Pursuit of Happyness*
Dreamgirls
Home of the Brave
Letters from Iwo Jima*
The Painted Veil
Curse of the Golden Flower
Notes on a Scandal*
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer*
Miss Potter*
The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes
This Filthy World
Flannel Pajamas
Backstage
What Is It?
Old Joy*
Man Push Cart*
Wrestling With Angels
My Father is 100 Years Old
Bergman’s Island
Mutual Appreciation
Le Petit Lieutenant
The Puffy Chair*
Calvaire
13 Tzameti*
Lunacy
The Good Shepherd
Triad Election
The Host
Woman on the Beach*
Gridiron Gang
Fratricide
Iraq in Fragments*
The Photographer, His Wife and Her Lover
Gabrielle*