2006 Film Wrap-up

I admit, I forgot about this blog in the last quarter of 2006. Doesn't mean I stopped going to films, I just didn't think to share my verdict. So I'm trying to make up for my oversight by giving out personal awards to films that I believe should get some credit.

Here's a list of films I saw in 2006 (* = recommended):
Broken Flowers
The Producers
Brokeback Mountain *
Jarhead
Kinky Boots
Imagine Me & You
V for Vendetta
Tristan & Isolde
The White Massai
X-Men 3
Thank You for Smoking *
Friends with Money
An Inconvenient Truth *
Little Miss Sunshine *
Macbeth
The Devil Wears Prada
The Departed *
The Prestige *
A Scanner Darkly *
Casino Royale *
Happy Feet

Award for the most hyped movie to disappoint:
The Producers

Award for the most hyped movie to live up to hype:
Brokeback Mountain
Honourable mention to Casino Royale

Award for the most serendipitous movie:
The Departed
Both Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio put in excellent performances, supported by classic Jack Nicholson (who I don't like but I think suited his role well).

Best Actor in any role:
Hugo Weaving as V in V for Vendetta
Honourable mention to Robert Downey Jr in A Scanner Darkly

Best Actress in any role:
Abigail Breslin as Olive in Little Miss Sunshine
Honourable mention to Anne Hathaway as Lureen in Brokeback Mountain (NOT as Andy in Devil Wears Prada)

Best movie based on another text:
The Prestige, based on a novel by Christopher Priest
Honourable mention to A Scanner Darkly, based on a novel by Philip K Dick

Best Comedy:
Little Miss Sunshine

Best Drama:
The Prestige

BEST MOVIE OF 2006:
The Prestige
A hard one, due to the outstanding performances and narratives in all the recommended films. However, The Prestige was well cast (Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine) and Christopher Nolan's superb direction deserves the accolade.The audience should benefit from repeat viewings of this film on DVD, which may not be true of all of the recommendations here.