Best of 2006

Wow.I mean just...wow.I expected this to be good,but what I got was the best damn movie I've seen in a long time and easily the best movie I've seen this year.I've never been a big Dicaprio fan but he won me over with his performance here.He did a terrific job,in fact the cast was excellent across the board with Jack Nicholson being a standout of course.The movie is 2 and a half hours but it barrels along,I didn't feel the time at all.It was nice to see a movie where I didn't know where it was going.Movies have gotten awfully predictable lately it seems.Welcome back Martin Scorsese,great to see you in the crime genre again.The best film of 2006.

Very cool movie about rival magicians in the late 19th century.Very well made and acted,with two very good performances from Bale and Jackman and it even has David Bowie in a small but important role.This may not be for everyone as it does go off into some far out places by the end and the two lead characters are pretty damaged people.But for those who are game you'll be rewarded.One of the best films of 2006.

Really cool flick about a freedom fighter(terrorist?)going against a totalitarian government in 2020 London.An interesting story punctuated by kickass action scenes(particularly the ending)and the best vocal performance since Darth Vader.V is a very cool character(although he does look a bit like Zorro by way of the Phantom of the Opera)

Dutch madman Paul Verhoeven returns to the screen after a seven year absence following the mediocre Hollow Man,with this film,his best in ages.The film is set in Verhoeven's native country,Holland,and is all in dutch like his early films.It stars Carice van Houten as a jewish woman who joins the Resistance during WW2 and goes undercover into Nazi society.The film has the usual Verhoeven sex and violence(and one quite disgusting moment)and it's an engrossing,well told yarn.Van Houten is very good,this is a star making role and she has that old school movie star quality to her,like she stepped right out of the 40's.

Suprisingly good action film,very good actually.I wasn't expecting much from this but I shouldn't be suprised as JJ Abrams co-wrote and directed it and he brings the feel of the tv show Alias(which I dug),which he created,to this.(albeit on a huge budget)The plot was unpredictable at points,which is almost unheard of in action films these days.There's some very cool action sequences here,the film moves at a fast pace and the storyline kept me interested.My only complaint would be a miscast Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the villain,he's very dull and looks like he'd rather be somewhere else.Clearly a just for the paycheck job.Otherwise,worth checking out for action fans.