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Top Ten for 2006

'Truth' wins out with nods to Spike, Scorsese and 007

By Lori Hoffman
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jul. 15, 2009

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An Inconvenient Truth

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It has become redundant to note that movies are not as good as they once were. Regular readers of this column are aware that my feeling is that poor screenwriting is the main problem. The latest generation of film writers apparently learned their craft from reading comic books rather than great literature. There was only one movie that really blew me away in 2006 and it was a documentary (An Inconvenient Truth). Documentaries are one of the stronger categories in the current movie world since they don't rely on screenwriting.

Here are the 10 movies that didn't stink in 2006, plus a few more that are worthy of DVD rentals.

1) An Inconvenient Truth

2) Inside Man

3) Casino Royale

4) The Departed

5) District B13

6) United 93/World Trade Center

7) Dreamgirls

8) Shortbus

9) Over the Hedge

10) Who Killed The Electric Car?

World Trade Center
As noted, documentaries were dynamic this year. Who Killed the Electric Car? asked and answered that question in an entertaining fashion. Making my second 10 was the Dixie Chick's concert film and more, Shut Up and Sing, and topping my list as the best movie of the year is An Inconvenient Truth. Beyond the fact that the Jersey coast is vulnerable according to the global warming scenario, the truth hits you like a Category 5 hurricane as you watch Al Gore give his thoughtful and engaging presentation. If the former presidential nominee had shown this passionate side of himself during his presidential campaign in 2000, those hanging chads would not have mattered.

Spike Lee's Inside Man is an intelligent heist film that made my top 10 runner-up spot after a second viewing on DVD. Lee took a heist movie plot and infused it with the racial tensions and political edginess that have characterized his films since Do The Right Thing.

Casino Royale brought back the dark side of James Bond, harking back to both the original Ian Fleming novels and the early Sean Connery years. Minus the gadgets, and with Daniel Craig assuming the mantle, this was a successful reboot.

Snakes on a Plane
Another action movie that skipped the overblown FX was the French film District B13. With more than a passing nod to John Carpenter's Escape From New York blended with the urgency of TV's 24, this film rarely slowed down.

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