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Dan Owen reviews
2 0 0 6 R e t r o s p e c t i v eP a r t T h r e e
SEPTEMBER
Filmmaker Oliver Stone courted controversy with his movie based on theevents of September 11 2001 in World Trade Center. Told from the perspectiveof the fire-fighters who entered the World Trade Center to rescue people,the movie wasn’t as successful or as well-made as United 93 and dividedaudiences.
The Children Of Men arrived late to stake a claim as one of the year’s bestfilms – a darkly beautiful and haunting dystopia from the mind of AlfonsoCuaron. Clive Owen was great, but it’s the camerawork and production designthat most lingers in your mind, together with the potent politicalcommentary. A classic.
OCTOBER
A glut of sequels kicks off with Jackass 2 — more of the same painfulexploits that’s ideal for a beer-fuelled Friday night DVD. While The Grudge2 also failed dismally at cinemas and should kill the franchise once and forall (or move it into straight-to-video territory).
Barnyard outraged critics and biologists with “male udders”, but primarilyfor being a low-rent computer animation that perfectly encapsulated theproblem this sub-genre faces: just because it’s animated by computer doesn’tmean it’s intrinsically beguiling and hilarious to watch.
One unlikely hit was The Devil Wears Prada, a fashion coming-of-age talestarring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. It amazed everyone by becoming oneof the year’s Top 10 hit movies worldwide and has certainly done wonders forHathaway’s career post-Princess Diaries.
NOVEMBER
Sacha Baron Cohen seemed to be everywhere in November as the release of hissecond movie, Borat, took the world by storm. The docu-comedy was on thelips of everyone as Cohen took his infamous Khazakstani reporter Borat on aroad trip across America, exposing racism along the way. Many claimed thefilm to be the funniest of the decade, although it wasn’t without itsoff-screen controversy – as the hoodwinked saw opportunities to launchlegal battles against the filmmakers.
From Borat to Bond – the British institution faced his most difficultmission in November as he tried to wipe the slate clean and go back tobasics. With Daniel Craig replacing Pierce Brosnan as 007, the backlashagainst his casting had reached ridiculous heights earlier in the year, buthe proved his doubters wrong. Resoundingly so. Casino Royale, the first ofIan Fleming’s books, was universally praised, although a few nitpicked overjust how much of a “Bond Movie” it really was without Q, gadgets, sexualinnuendos, Moneypenny and all the other clichés. Stripped to the bones, themovie made a mint at the box-office and revitalized the franchise yet again.
Will Ferrell’s Stranger Than Fiction was his Truman Show, both in terms ofstorytelling uniqueness and the jump from comedy to drama. It wasn’t theamazing success many insiders expected, but it certainly performed well andshould find a bigger audience on DVD.
DECEMBER
With CGI dominating children’s entertainment in 2006 it was strange to seeAardman Animations get in on the act with Flushed Away. Aardman usual workwith plasticine (they’re the minds behind Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run)so their first foray into CGI was a dangerous step. The film ended up doingpoorly in the US and only slightly better on home turf, which is frustratingbecause it’s actually one of the better CGI animations of 2006.
Jack Black’s bad year continued post-Nacho Libre with Tenacious D In ThePick Of Destiny. It should have been a comedy rock version of The BluesBrothers, but it just failed to take flight. Black seems to work best whenhe’s reigned in by a director (School Of Rock) or circumvents his crazyman-child shtick completely (King Kong).
Happy Feet was the undoubted star of kid’s films this year – a surprise hitfrom the director of Mad Max(!) about singing penguins. It charmed the worldand even kept Bond off the Number 1 spot in the US. The black-and-whiterotters!
Disposable entertainment came along in the shape of Eragon, one ofrelatively few Christmas releases designed to do as much business as Narniaor Harry Potter. It failed simply because it’s not very good – a soulless,pointless, Star Wars retread littered with bad performances.
A slight reprieve came in the form of A Night At The Museum which, despitecoming from Shawn Levy (hack director of Cheaper By The Dozen and theterrible Pink Panther remake) was perhaps the most solid live-action familyrelease for the holidays. Ben Stiller starred as a security man who works ina museum where all the exhibits come to life at night. The movie has itsshare of problems, but it’s mostly a fun yet forgettable diversion perfectto take kids to on Boxing Day.
Overall, the box office chart for 2006 (based on worldwide takings) wasas follows:
- 1. Pirates Of The Caribbean 2
- 2. The Da Vinci Code
- 3. Ice Age 2
- 4. Cars
- 5. X-Men III
- 6. Casino Royale
- 7. Mission Impossible III
- 8. Superman Returns
- 9. Over The Hedge
- 10. The Devil Wears Prada
But 2006 is, like, so last year. What goodies await us in 2007? Well, mypersonal picks of stuff to look out for are in Part Four.
2006 Retrospective Part One –2006 Retrospective Part Two –2006 Retrospective Part FourPage Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2007.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.