Best of 2006

Wow! Bond is back, and cooler, darker and more serious than anything since the Connery-era. Gone are all the silly SFX, and cheesy jokes - back to basics with a sophisticated spy thriller that reveals the plot without halting the action; even the jokes are wittily placed, plus I loved the free running!

Despite not being a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G character, Borat is hilarious, non-stop... even though it's pretty easy to take the piss out of Americans, Borat manages to do it in a very intelligent, revealling manner! :-)

MOSSAD agents on a revenge mission following the murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. A powerful real-life story, intriguing plot, and very unique. It managed to piss off both the Israelis and the Palestinians, so it's got to be both a fair and fairly accurate portrayal of recent history. A great revenge thriller, with realistic action sequences, don't let the fact Spielberg directed this movie put you off.

Fascinating look at the relationship between the British Government (i.e. Tony Blair) and the Monarchy, and an engrossing story with many humorous moments. Great shots of the Scottish countryside too.

A visually stunning action movie with a stylish mixture of Parkour and martial arts. Set in the near future with a sci-fi theme to the storyline, it's reminiscent of a computer game without being cheesy thanks to a great script and plot.

The next stage in the self-development of our cast of characters from "The Spannish Inn" as they continue their lives in the post-University days - every bit as good as the first movie.

A thoroughly entertaining documentary about California's adoption and later assassination of the electric car - it even made me want to buy a Saturn EV1. Seriously it's a worring look a current US politics.

In a future totalitarian Britain the Government controls the people through a media-fed fear of terrorism... which isn't exactly much different from today!

A surprisingly gripping Victorian costume drama about competing magicians, with a great cast and an awesome sci-fi twist, perfectly intertwined with a pseudo-accurate description of the contemporary historical battle between Eddison and Tesla (played by David Bowie!) to supply America's electricity.

The perfect riposte to Munich, showing the humanist side to life in Palestine. Two friends face a conflict in their mind against the struggle of the occupation. It's neither a romantic story of freedom fighters nor a dehumanising take on terrorism.

Both a clever crime caper and an enjoyable thriller with something intelligent to say for a change. Clive Owen is apparently robbing a bank, and NYPD detective Denzel Washington must figure out what's going on...

Another cool and clever gangster revenge flick with an engrossing, entertaining plot. The very strong cast includes Bruce Willis reprising his favourite role of professional assassin.

Classic love triangle tale with a nice tennis twist. Set in upper class London, with great city scenes including Queens Club, the American direction and Rhys-Meyer's wooden acting results in it feeling rather false.

An unapologetically cheesy love story that I won't apologise for enjoying, though perhaps my past-self would have enjoyed it more. It follows a simple sci-fi premise of two people striking up a correspondence despite being separated by time, 2 years, if not space, the Lake House. Thankfully the love story remains the focus of the movie throughout without any other distracting gimmicks other than the central premise, which drives the story really well.

A taut psychological thriller between just two characters and mostly one scene that's not what you expect...

Another moralistic murder mystery in the Silence of the Lambs interview with a serial killer style. Though this movie feels much more sinister throughout with a grittier & gory edge. The plot's central premise is clearly a religious (mis)concept, which is very annoying, but putting that aside it's still a good, clever idea for a story.

A slowly paced documentary-style portrayal of the events of 9/11 that gives it a more real perspective without being at all sensational. Partly centred around the ATC and their inability to prevent the inevitable incredible consequences of the hijackings, as well as the compelling story of the passengers of United 93 who fought the hijackers to foil their mission.

It's a dog-eat-dog world in Venezuela. A story that follows the trials of a group kidnappers as well as their kidnappees, with a nice dose of humour and social commentary.

A graphic novel in movie form that works really quite well in providing a cool, dark, film noir atmosphere. It helps having the new James Bond to provide the lead voice too. The sci-fi story is a fairly good one and quite appropriate to the style of the movie. However, the plot can drag a bit at times.

I'd much rather be told about the importance of climate change from a scientist rather than a politician. That said, irrelevant excerpts from Al Gore's life aside (and jibes about not being elected President) I'm glad at least one policitian is taking climate change seriously and making people hear some important inescapable facts.

A group of Bristol students forming a University Challenge team provides a nostalgic return to university life in the 80s. A pleasant but fairly unremarkable romantic drama.