The Captain's Top Ten Movies of 2006
Feb 01 '07 (Updated May 11 '08)
The Bottom Line Some great animated movies, but few really impressive live action ones. Plenty more I haven't seen though so this list may be changing...
Since there were so many good animated releases last year, and so few life-action movies that really grabbed me, the first three of my Top Ten Movies of 2006 are animated ones. I make no apologies, I’m just explaining why.
CaptainD’s Top Ten Movies of 2006
1. Flushed Away
Dreamworks teamed up with British animation company Aardman (creators of Wallace an Grommitt) to produce this wonderful animated movie that was had a very British sense of humour, superb animation, great voice acting, and singing slugs! Roddy, a mouse living in rodent luxury, ends up discovering that there’s a whole new world underneath the city after being flushed down the toilet… The visuals were excellent and had a quite unique look, with a hint of Aardman’s characteristic claymation in it, especially in the character’s faces.
2. Cars
PIXAR’s effort this year certainly didn’t disappoint, with the story of a racing car who comes to learn that there is more to life than winning is a beautifully told tale full of warmth and humour. Great voice acting by a cast including Owen Wilson and Bonnie Hunt, with top notch animation as always. Features one of the best ending sequences of any animation of any type ever.
3. The Wild
This was Disney’s effort and initially seemed reminiscent of last year’s Madagascar, but in the end The Wild turned out to be the far superior movie. It features the traditional storyline of a father-son relationship, father having to go off to rescue son an re-earn his respect (the plot is almost a carbon copy of Finding Nemo in some ways, I guess) – but doing so with enough vigour, vim, originality, and attention to detail to make it an extremely endearing film in its own right.
4. Last Holiday
Not a great film really, but this very loose remake of an Alec Guniess classic was enjoyable enough for me to give it 5 stars in my review. When Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) finds out that she hasn’t got long to live, she decides to blow all her money doing the things she’s always wanted to do. In the process she learns a lot about herself, and teaches a few others about life. It’s a real feel-good movie and even with the rather predictable plot twists and silliness, it’s just plain good old-fashioned escapism.
5. Take the Lead
Pierre Dulaine (Antionio Banderas) decides to help a bunch of delinquents (and near-delinquents) by teaching them ballroom dancing. Understandably they don’t like the idea at first, but as he begins to get through to them and fuse ballroom dancing with the music they favour, hip-hop, there seems hope that he might help some of them turn their lives around. Based on a true story, and it seemed to have a lot more heart than most of the films from 2006.
NEW ENTRY: at joint no.5, I give you Starter For Ten - a fine British comedy based around the quiz show "University Challenge", starring James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch. Great fun and quite moving in places.
6. Ice Age 2 – The Meltdown
I didn’t like it quite as much as the first Ice Age film, but the second has a lot to enjoy with some loveable characters, is often very funny, looks and sounds great, and… well, what more do you want? A very satisfactory
sequel to a great animated movie.
7. The Lake House
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves find themselves separated in time but not space in this love story. It had its fair share of critics, but I really liked this film and was amazed by Reeves’ performance – yes, he actually is capable of showing emotion realistically!
8. Night at the Museum
Easily Shawn Levy’s best film to date (of those I’ve seen, anyway), Night at the Museum stars Ben Stiller as the newly appointed Night Security Guard at the Museum of Natural History. He soon discovers though that this isn’t an ordinary museum as the exhibits start coming to life – and, in the case of many of them, trying to end his. Too many loose ends stopped this from being a 5 star movie but overall it’s extremely enjoyable family entertainment with good performances by Stiller, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, and Dick Van Dyke sans unconvincing cockney accent.
9. The Devil Wears Prada
Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is swept up in the world of glamour – but at what cost? As she works for demanding boss Miranda (Meryl Streep), tries to form a friendship with the practically Satanic Emily (Emily Blunt, who gives a terrific performance) and receives sage advice from old hand Nigel (the excellent Stanley Tucci), she realises that she is becoming something that she used to loath – and that others close to her still do. Will the lure of the fashion world overcome her other sensibilities? A smart and enjoyable comedy.
10. Happy Feet
Animated musicals are pretty rare these days, and ones starring penguins even more so, but that’s what we have here. Elijah Wood voices Mumble, the only penguin on the glacier who can’t sing – and the only one who can tap-dance. Scores bonus points for being quite unique. Brittany Murphy proves that she can sing pretty darn well and Robin Williams proves that he can still crack jokes (he's in far better form here than he was in Robots.
Other good ones that just missed out on the top ten:
Miss Potter - Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor star in this film based on the life of best-selling children’s books authoress Beatrix Potter. Only had a limited release outside the UK, it seems.
The Pursuit of Happyness - Will Smith and his real-life son play the father-son team battling for survival in this film based on a true story. The first half lags a bit but once it gets going it's quite absorbing.
The Ant Bully - a boy who is bullies and takes it out on the ants in his garden is transformed into an ant himself, and ends up
having to save the colony.
Failure to Launch - a pleasing romantic comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker, who is hired by his parents to make him start to accept responsibility and move out of their home. Trouble is, they fall in love… (yeah so it’s predictable, who cares?!!?)
Monster House - an animated comedy-horror, not a genre I really would have chosen myself but to my surprise I found it highly enjoyable.
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest - the sequel didn’t quite live up to the first film (but then did anyone really expect it to?!), but it was still a very watchable action-adventure, with Captain Jack Sparrow getting himself and everyone around him into even more trouble as he tries to rob Davy Jones’ Locker (well, sort of…) Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keirra Knightley.
Other Top Ten Movies Lists by year
Top Ten Movies of 2001
Top Ten Movies of 2002
Top Ten Movies of 2003
Top Ten Movies of 2004
Top Ten Movies of 2005
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