The Queen by Stephen Frears (2006, UK/France/Italy)

Pretty effective character study with some intimate dramatic scenes and wonderful, wonderful acting. The direction was masterful as evident from the film itself. The scene with the queen and the stag was touching and metaphoric of human nature itself. I was never 'into' Princess Diana though, so her death at that time meant next to nothing for me as an 11 year old boy, not to mention I know basically nothing of british politics and culture even today. So in many ways, this film is sort of an eye-opener for me.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

The Proposition by John Hillcoat (2005, Australia/UK)

A moody modern western by John Hillcoat featuring music from Nick Cave. Great cinematography and good acting on all accounts, especially Ray Winstone. He played the troubled cop brilliantly and with conviction. The action and dramatic scenes were equally gripping and they were paced and balanced well too. The violence was beautiful, almost poetic, and the outback setting coupled with Nick Cave's vocal musings was perfect. I hope Cave and Hillcoat continue their collaborations well into the future.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

Flag of our Fathers by Clint Eastwood (2006, USA)

One of the two recent WWII movies by Clint Eastwood on the Battle of Iwo Jima. The story was intriguing enough but the narrative kind of meanders around and didn't really have a firm grounding. It was and felt very much a like a war drama with overtones of anti-war sentiment, but the present day stuff tacked into it was really distracting and didn't really work for me. The war scenes were shot superbly, being no surprise since it was produced by Spielberg himself. It got a bit repetitive with some of the scenes too, and ended up being too long and not entirely rewarding for its duration. I hope Letters from Iwo Jima will be better.

3/5 stars
IMDB

Apocalypto by Mel Gibson (2006, USA)

This works so very well as an action movie, so much so that the historical context it was in is merely secondary to what this film has to offer - the action. The action was superb and paced perfectly, the brooding suspense and the refreshing cinematography totally sucks you into the movie, the music was excellent and complements the action perfectly. The camerawork was magnificent and should be a guide to how most action scenes should be shot, instead of all the shaky cam we've been getting recently. The violence was visceral enough, but not too gory to turn your head away from. In short, it was almost the perfect action movie.

However, it took some time to get to the real core of the action, even though it was worth it. From the opening scene, the film quickly pulls you into its world and brings you along for the rollercoaster journey ahead, toying around with your emotions while making you watch in fascination at the beautiful Mayan world it has created. The journey to the Aztec city was paced too slowly though, it took too long for what is essentially a journey of two or three days, and in the end you don't really care for any of the characters there other than the protagonist Jaguar Paw and maybe the big foolish guy, Blunted. Other than that, the historical inaccuracies don't really bother me though, I wasn't actually expecting Mel Gibson to make a honest documentary anyway.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

Little Children by Todd Field (2006, USA)

As much as I want to like this film, it gets progressively worse as it goes on. What bothered me most was how idealistic this film turned out to be. It started out as a realistic tale of infidelity and 'suburban ennui', then slowly progressed to be a satire of societal prejudice against sex offenders. Then both storylines merged somehow and by the end of the movie, it became some sort of an uplifting story about moral values and how everything turned out fine because somehow everyone gets a dose or reality or a jolt of sense into them finally, when they've been acting morally ambiguous all throughout the film.

The use of narrative voice over, probably as a reference to the title, did more to hurt the film than it actually helped. The dramatic impact of the 'shock ending' is lost when the audience knows everything is gonna be alright in the end. We all know that's not how it is in real life anyway. Still, I can appreciate what commentary this film had, especially on all the discrimination towards the registered sex offender Ronnie, played brilliantly by Jackie Earle Haley. Also I appreciate how they tried to downplay the preachiness of such a film on moral values and societal prejudice, compared to the over-the-top crap like Crash and the like.

3/5 stars
IMDB

Tideland by Terry Gilliam (2005, Canada/UK)

Some people has complained that this film was incoherent and hard to follow. I agree with them, but I think that's why it's such a great film. It was made to be hard to watch at times because of the awkwardness of the situations present in the film and also how sad the life of the child protagonist is. The incoherence of the plot just made me focus more on the story and that's why I found this film to be so engrossing. It is told exclusively from the child's point of view, and that's where all the dutch camera angles, upbeat mood despite the bleak setting, saturated colors and surrealism all come into play. This is some of the best acting by a child actor I've ever seen. Jodelle Ferland, that kid from Silent Hill, has put in one hell of a performance here, and I must credit Terry Gilliam for that. When I say Pan's Labyrinth is one of the best fantasy movies I've seen all year, Tideland is undoubtedly on par with that film as well.

4/5 stars
IMDB

Idiocracy by Mike Judge (2006, USA)

Pretty funny satire from Mike Judge. Kinda sad how long it took him to release this and why Fox has mysteriously decided to let as few people watch this as possible. It had a lot of potential though but I think some of the stuff has been omitted or dumbed down to cater more for the mainstream (case in point - the sappy third act), so I feel the film hasn't been fully realised, if that makes sense. The stuff on dysgenics was really interesting and this film has made me realise how hot Maya Rudolph is.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

The Good Shepherd by Robert De Niro (2006, USA)

Quite possibly the most boring film of 2006. I think De Niro tried to make this film more of what it could or should be, and in the end the film didn't quite achieve what it was supposed to be in the first place. It was a dark spy movie with subtle themes, but a third of the movie is about family drama that I couldn't care less about. Matt Damon wasn't convincing enough as the lead, and the plot is just cryptic for no reason. I think with better editing and some cutting, this film could be a lot more enjoyable.

3/5 stars
IMDB