If you see only one period drama involving magicians, see The Prestige. This is one of those films you need to see early before someone spoils it for you by revealing the secret.

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. The Departed
7. Crash
8. Uzumaki
9. The Prestige
10. The Chronicles of Riddick

Tags: Top Ten Movies

I had to think about this one for a few days, whether or not it made the list. But I think the fact that it has gripped my mind for so long tells me something. I ordinarily do not like straight out horror films, but there is something about Japanese horror films which lure me. They never try to pretty them up. Sometimes, as in Ju-On (The Grudge), they are a straightforward account of inevitable doom. There is no mystery to be solved, no way to fight the darkness, no way to win. *That* is horror.

That’s what Uzumaki is. But it also manages to throw in humor, imagination, and a puzzling entity that engages the mind like a David Lynch creation. If I had to pick a favorite horror movie, it would be Uzumaki.

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. The Departed
7. Crash
8. Uzumaki
9. The Chronicles of Riddick
10. The Illusionist

Tags: Top Ten Movies

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. The Departed
7. Crash
8. The Chronicles of Riddick
9. The Illusionist
10. Lady in the Water

Tags: Top Ten Movies

Too sleepy to say anything other than The Illusionist was beautiful and clever.

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. The Chronicles of Riddick
7. The Illusionist
8. Lady in the Water
9. Superman Returns
10. A Scanner Darkly

Tags: Top Ten Movies

I’m fairly unobjective when it comes to M. Night’s films. I love the layers of his films, the meta elements, the unconventional approach and often disregard of movie-making conventions.

I have only seen negative reviews of this movie. I wonder what has happened in those reviewers’ lives to prevent them from feeling joy from this film. Or was it his blatant on-screen chastisement of movie critics for missing the point of stories as a primal part of being human which our society has forgotten?

M. Night is a genius. If you’ve never tried to write a story, there’s parts of this film you just won’t get. If you are quick to critique the final act, you didn’t listen to the narrator at the beginning.

I don’t care what anyone else says. This film was beautiful and my heart exploded with joy.

Drey’s Top 10 Movies seen in 2006

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. The Chronicles of Riddick
7. Lady in the Water
8. Superman Returns
9. A Scanner Darkly
10. Cars

Tags: Top Ten Movies

Scanner Darkly is my favorite Philip K. Dick book and consequently I had very high hopes for this movie. It is the best adaptation of a PKD book thusfar, sticking very close to the source material, unlike Blade Runner and Total Recall. But the majority of my favorite scenes were absent from the film. Strangely, many of the scenes in the book which are mentioned in passing are explored in greater detail while the more fleshed out scenes were completely ignored. The scene with Freck and the being from between dimensions is the only scene in the film that is exactly like the book, word for word.

The most important part of Bob Arctor’s character development was rushed and requires you to have read the book to really understand what happened. The ending comes too quickly so it lacks dramatic punch.

Overall, it captures the ideas and the essence of the book: layers of drug-induced paranoia and psychosis, drug addled conversations, and inevitable despair. I was happy to see they retained Dick’s cautionary epilogue and the list of his friends lost to drugs. Robert Downey Jr. shines as Barris and Keanu Reeves is the old school Keanu, darker, free of the demands of having to be a blockbuster movie star.

Drey’s Top 10 Movies seen in 2006

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. The Chronicles of Riddick
7. Superman Returns
8. Scanner Darkly
9. Cars
10. Mission Impossible 3

Tags: Top Ten Movies

The more times I see The Chronicles of Riddick, the more I appreciate it. The story is imaginative and quickly establishes its unique mythology. The visual design is incredible, sort of what Star Wars might have looked like had Weta done the sets. Ordinarily, Vin Diesel is decent, but here he completely embodies Riddick in the way that Jackman embodies Wolverine. I don;t know if there are plans to continue the series, but that last scene just kills me and I demand to know what happens after.

Drey’s Top 10 Movies seen in 2006

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. The Chronicles of Riddick
7. Superman Returns
8. Cars
9. Mission Impossible 3
10. V for Vendetta

Tags: Top Ten Movies

I saw Superman Returns Tuesday night. I expected a packed theater with a line out the door, but I guess everyone was at the Rio. Juan, Jeremy and Rob had been waiting there for three hours and they were the first in line.

I had watched the original Donner film just before heading to the theater. I hadn’t seen this extended cut (2.5 hours!) before and it had a lot of interesting additions which I guess they extracted from unused footage from filming Superman 1 and 2. Anyhow, the film was fresh in my mind, so the homage Superman Returns makes to the original was very obvious. For the most part it worked, but I thought there was a big continuity problem because of this. Superman Returns is supposed to be a sequel to Superman 2, yet a big plot element is basically identical to one in the first film. I was thinking “Wait a minute, didn’t he try this stunt before?”

Other than that, I really enjoyed the movie and found Brandon Routh convincing as both Superman and Clark Kent, though he does seem to be mimicking Reeve’s Kent rather closely. Kevin Spacey does the same thing with his Lex Luthor, following Hackman very closely. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just that in recent years I have become used to Clancy Brown’s more serious portrayal on Justice League.

The effects are superb and you can see the money up there on the screen. I love how they did the opening titles just like the original films, only with astonishing outer space scenes instead of sparklers and weird glowing goo. The opening credit sequence is a film in itself, like the intro to Star Trek Voyager on acid.

Drey’s Top 10 Movies seen in 2006

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. Superman Returns
7. Cars
8. Mission Impossible 3
9. V for Vendetta
10. Layer Cake

Tags: Top Ten Movies

Because of my fascination with lists, I’ve decided to start a little experiment. Rather than trying to enumarate my top favorite of any particular thing of all time, I will keep track of these things in real time, updating the lists as things change. This will be completely unscientific and subjective, based on mood and gut instinct.

Drey’s Top 10 Movies Seen in 2006

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. Cars
7. Mission Impossible 3
8. V for Vendetta
9. Layer Cake
10. Dirty Pretty Things

Tags: Top Ten Movies