2008 Woodie Awards
The top 5 movies of 2006.
Kirk Juhasz
Issue date: 12/6/06 Section: Entertainment
First of all this list is subject to change. The reason being this has been a really bad year for movies and there's another five or six weeks for movies to come, especially in Sonoma County. That being said here is the top five so far…
5. Stranger than Fiction
Even though this movie plays like a re-issue of Charlie Kaufman's "Adaptation" from 2002 it is still a really creative and good movie.
Will Farrell gives his best performance as a comedic actor. He pulls off the going-crazy-but-I'm-not-insane character better than anyone else could.
Although, Maggie Gyllenhaal compliments Farrell very well. Her performance is nothing short of magical.
It is also clear that the cast and crew had fun doing this movie, so it is not so hard to have fun watching it. There are little delicacies throughout the movie that make it funny and more detailed at the same time.
This is because of director Marc Forster's attention to detail. He is just coming off the successful "Finding Neverland" and the not so successful "Stay." They are both really good movies but "Stranger than Fiction" just might be the best.
All three movies tamper with the loss of reality without losing the reality of the characters and nobody pulls this off better than director Forster; and with the year being the way it is, he just might get rewarded for it.
Grade: A-
4. Little Miss Sunshine
If there is one person that needs to be remembered from this movie it is Steve Carell. He gets deep inside his character and ends up having fun with it. He also gets a lot of the laughs.
Even though the title tries to fool us "Little Miss Sunshine" is a dark comedy and even tragic at times. There is one thing that it really has going for it - it was the best movie of the summer and sometimes that's all it takes to sneak into getting some nominations.
Screenwriter Michael Arndt doesn't waste a single moment in his play. Everything you can think of to go wrong on a road trip, even a short trip like this, goes wrong. That is one of the reasons for this movies success, it has non-stop laughs.
5. Stranger than Fiction
Even though this movie plays like a re-issue of Charlie Kaufman's "Adaptation" from 2002 it is still a really creative and good movie.
Will Farrell gives his best performance as a comedic actor. He pulls off the going-crazy-but-I'm-not-insane character better than anyone else could.
Although, Maggie Gyllenhaal compliments Farrell very well. Her performance is nothing short of magical.
It is also clear that the cast and crew had fun doing this movie, so it is not so hard to have fun watching it. There are little delicacies throughout the movie that make it funny and more detailed at the same time.
This is because of director Marc Forster's attention to detail. He is just coming off the successful "Finding Neverland" and the not so successful "Stay." They are both really good movies but "Stranger than Fiction" just might be the best.
All three movies tamper with the loss of reality without losing the reality of the characters and nobody pulls this off better than director Forster; and with the year being the way it is, he just might get rewarded for it.
Grade: A-
4. Little Miss Sunshine
If there is one person that needs to be remembered from this movie it is Steve Carell. He gets deep inside his character and ends up having fun with it. He also gets a lot of the laughs.
Even though the title tries to fool us "Little Miss Sunshine" is a dark comedy and even tragic at times. There is one thing that it really has going for it - it was the best movie of the summer and sometimes that's all it takes to sneak into getting some nominations.
Screenwriter Michael Arndt doesn't waste a single moment in his play. Everything you can think of to go wrong on a road trip, even a short trip like this, goes wrong. That is one of the reasons for this movies success, it has non-stop laughs.