2006 In Movies

[Jacob Orlove]

After all the hype, I was extremely disappointed. I was expecting complexity and depth, and instead it was horror and gore. There was no room for thinking or growth due to everyone being murdered.

Wait, what movie are you talking about?

[diopter]

After all the hype, I was extremely disappointed. I was expecting complexity and depth, and instead it was horror and gore. There was no room for thinking or growth due to everyone being murdered.

Wait, what movie are you talking about?

Children of Men, I think.

I thought Children of Men was good - for me, the violence didn't detract from the movie's plot, in fact it added a visceral, base feeling to the movie.

[Jacob Orlove]

Oh, I was confused because I didn't really think Children of Men had "horror and gore". It had violence, and death, but not all that much, and always to serve a purpose, not as its own purpose (which is how I would define "horror and gore").

[EnialisLiadon]

Oh, I was confused because I didn't really think Children of Men had "horror and gore". It had violence, and death, but not all that much, and always to serve a purpose, not as its own purpose (which is how I would define "horror and gore").

I agree with this.  Aside from the occasional head shot (and that one part where the guy gets his face smashed), the violence wasn't all that graphic--mostly just gunshots and people falling down.  I thought it was an excellent movie.

I haven't seen The Departed or The Good Shepherd, though.  Are they still in theaters, or will I have to wait until they hit DVD?

[Disburden]

The Departed is having a rerelease Academy Award run starting tomorrow in theatres. Good Sheperd is still out. I ran it tonight at my theatre.

[Klep]

Oh, I was confused because I didn't really think Children of Men had "horror and gore". It had violence, and death, but not all that much, and always to serve a purpose, not as its own purpose (which is how I would define "horror and gore").

I agree. Yes, the violence could be jarring in the film, but I thought it served to highlight the intense emotion and desperation the circumstances of the characters engendered.  They were thrust into shocking circumstances and had to do and see shocking things.  At no point did I think the violence was gratuitous or even unimportant.

[LotusHead]

UltraViolet: Hated it Worst Ever!
 Noob!

Like I said, I enjoyed this movie when I rented it (I had never heard about it's theatrical release).

I saw the unrated version.

Has anyone else seen both versions? 

I caught a bit of Ultraviolet while Channel Surfing and what I saw was good (as I remembered), I just had to cut it off to make way for Papa Bear visiting the Colbert Report, WHOOT!

[Vegeta2711]

If Pan's Labyrinth is showing anywhere near you, do yourself a favor and go see it. It's quite amazing, reminds me of a darker adult version of Alice in Wonderland. What surprised me more is that my local theatre was full. o_o

[JACO]

I always enjoy these annual end of year movie threads, and I thought I'd do something a little different instead. I'll list all the movies I've seen from 2006, in what I view as their quality or the enjoyment they provided me, with the first being the best and the last being the worst, and also some additional commentary if I have anything to add. I'll also end with a short list of movies from 2006 that I want to see but haven't yet gotten to see.

2006 Movies I Saw, Rated From 1 To X:
1) Thank You For Smoking - if this was a Magic card, it would be broken
2) V For Vendetta - funny, good pace, good plot, and good dialogue
3) The Good Shepherd - good acting, good plot, but about 40 minutes too long (thanks DeNiro)
4) Casino Royale - I've seen all the Bond films, most quite a few times, and this is the best one in ages; enjoyably low tech and more realistic than most; Daniel Craig is a much better bond than Pierce Brosnan or Timothy Dalton
5) A Scanner Darkly - I'm not a fan of Linklater's directed films at all, but this was good, which is typically what happens when a Philip K. Dick novel is translated to the screen
6) Art School Confidential - funny movie about emo art types at an art school; super accurate and funny
7) The Illusionist - average plot, but Edward Norton does a great job with this role
8) Nacho Libre - only a few redeeming parts of this movie prevented it from being the worst I saw this year
9) The Fountain - I was a huge fan of Aronofsky's PI, and this film was mediocre at best; easily the biggest letdown of all the movies I saw in 2006; I guess I should have seen this coming after Requiem For a Dream was so weak

2006 Movies I'm Still Planning On Seeing:
Pilates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Apocalypto
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Blood Diamond
Catch A Fire
Brothers Of The Head
The Departed
Duck Season
Jesus Camp
In Ascolto (The Listening)
National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj
The Prestige
Renaissance
Taepung (Typhoon)

It appears I've done a good job of not watching awful movies that were released this year. As you might be able to infer, I don't place a lot of emphasis on seeing new movies as soon as they come out, unless it's something I'm really looking forward to. I'm not wild about and typically stay away from crappy sci-fi movies (BloodRayne, Eragon), Disney or Pixar animated type shit and movies for kids in general (The Ant Bully, Barnyard: The Original Party Animals, Doogal, Happy Feet, How to Eat Fried Worms, et al.), horror and supernatural influenced movies (you know who the offenders are, and the whole genre typically sucks), chick flick or feel good stories (for the love of Allah, way too many to list), pretty much anything about the dance or entertainment industry (American Dreamz, Backstage, Step Up), natural disaster type films (Poseidon), bad sports related movies (Goal! The Dream Begins, The Benchwarmers, The Heart of the Game, Crossover Gridiron Gang, Invincible, Stick It; pretty much every one ever made, which is unfortunate because I'm a sports fan), or anything with Nicholas Cage, Steve Martin, Kevin Costner, Harrison Ford, or Lindsay Lohan in it (The Wicker Man, The Pink Panther, The Guardian, Firewall, Bobby, Just My Luck). Years of watching bad movies has taught me these general guidelines for initial movie selection. If my friends tell me something is really good or they want me to go see something with them, I'll probably go without any fuss (examples: Nacho Libre, A Scanner Darkly). I tend to enjoy suspense, political, historical, interesting comedy, or spy related movies most it would seem.

For those of you who were dissapointed by Black Dahlia, shame on you. Have you ever looked at what Josh Hartnett has played in?! He's sucked in pretty much every role he's ever had, and is just a pretty face who would be better off being replaced in every movie by a lesser 'name actor' with true talent.

And finally, if Jesus Camp doesn't look funny to you, I don't know what to say. If everyone saw this the world would be a better place (assuming it shatters the uninentional comedy scale, previously defined by The Transporter and redefined by The Transporter 2, as I hope it will).

[nataz]

mmm, I had totaly forgotten about catch a fire. I really wanted to see that, I wonder when it will be out on DVD.

[JACO]

mmm, I had totaly forgotten about catch a fire. I really wanted to see that, I wonder when it will be out on DVD.

It comes out on January 30, 2007.

[Mr. Nightmare]

If Pan's Labyrinth is showing anywhere near you, do yourself a favor and go see it. It's quite amazing, reminds me of a darker adult version of Alice in Wonderland. What surprised me more is that my local theatre was full. o_o

I just caught this this weekend.  Excellent film, not what I expected at all (well, superficially I expected a fantasy theme, but the surroundings and outlying plot were much different).  I also caught a matinee of Babel, which lived up to its Oscar buzz.

[nataz]

I just saw children of men, and was not impressed. Not that it was *bad*, rather it didn't live up to the hype. Out of curiosity, did anyone feel like they were playing halflife 2 while making that movie?

[Machinus]

I just saw children of men, and was not impressed. Not that it was *bad*, rather it didn't live up to the hype. Out of curiosity, did anyone feel like they were playing halflife 2 while making that movie?

I had this exact feeling while watching War of the Worlds.