Movies of 2006

Besides having an all-star cast, this Scorsese film completely delivers everything you could possibly want, music, editing, etc.. Honestly there's not one thing wrong about this film that I can point out. Jack in this movie is the reason why De Niro and Pacino have no reason for sucking in their old age.

Quiet frankly, Once is one of the best movies I've seen in a long while. Yes, I've seen movies like There Will Be Blood, Raging Bull, and Schindler's List in the last few months, but this my friends, tops it in terms of sheer enlightenment. I will very quickly go out and buy this, along with the soundtrack. It is the best musical I have ever seen.

For the most part, I can find nothing wrong with this movie. The soundtrack is one of the most important things to mention, considering this is a musical. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are musical geniuses and deliver some of the best music I've heard from the 21st century. I still have bands I need to listen to more fully, i.e. Radiohead, but these two musicians but soul into their songs. You feel the pain and suffering they are experiencing or the happiness they experience when writing music together. It's a remarkable feat and one that should not be taken lightly. If you don't feel for these characters by the end of this movie, not even once, then you probably don't have a soul. And yeah, I'm serious. Music nowadays doesn't seem to get what made the 19th and 20th century so wonderful when it came to musical pieces. The classical music, i.e. Bach, Beethoven, and rock classics, i.e. Guns 'N Roses, Journey, had a charm to them that no other bands held. I'm ranting now about the state of music, but there is nothing wrong with any of the music in this movie so that's why I get so pissed at generic rock band #1000.

Anyways, the acting is pretty great too, surprisingly. Especially since neither of them had ever acted before, and Marketa even said she didn't know how she could cry during that one scene (you'll know which one), but she did and very convincingly. The relationship between the two protagonists becomes stronger and stronger as the story moves along and can be seen with the intensity of the lyrics increasing more and more. It's all very awe-inspiring.

Now in a musical, you wouldn't expect the story to be something to extravagant, and in this case its not. But that's the beauty of it! The story is so simple, yet so elegant and sincere. It never tries to be sappy or preachy, and instead shows how life goes on in reality all the way to the ending. And speaking of the ending, wow. So masterfully done. Most movies ruin themselves with their endings (I'm looking at you Sunshine), but (POTENTIAL SPOILER) the ambiguous and open ended ending fit perfectly into the mood of the rest of the flick. And at a short run time of about 86 minutes, I never once wondered when it was gonna end. Only feared it ending cause it's so amazing.

This is an indie picture though, and gets hampered by some shoddy camera work. But hey, that's the budget Carney had, so you can't blame him. He did really well with what he was given. Sure some of it may look amateurish like a home video, almost, but you can't take away from the fact that the action going on in the background is far more important.

The movie could basically be called the anti-August Rush as my friend Riley has said before. Never overly sentimental or sappy, I would think most people would fall in love with it. I could be entirely wrong however, that really doesn't matter to me because I loved the film and will continue to watch it because its one of the most enjoyable experiences of the 21st century, in terms of movies, thus far.

This was hilarious. Period.

This is so brilliant, that no matter what you thought about the Japanese in WW2, you will forever be changed.

Stunning piece of art.