2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

The 10 Best Movies of 2006:

1. Apocalypto - Mel Gibson + Best Epic of the Year + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Adventure Movie of the Year + Best Chase Movie of the Year

2. The Art of Crying/Kunsten at Græde i Kor - Peter Schønau Fog + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Drama of the Year + Best Adaptation of the Year

3. Black Snake Moan - Craig Brewer + Most Undeserved Flop of the Year + Best Music Movie of the Year + Best Mississippi Movie of the Year

4. The Departed - Martin Scorsese + Best Boston Movie of the Year + Best Gangster Movie of the Year + Best Comeback Actor of the Year: Matt Damon + Best Remake of the Year + Best Ensemble of the Year: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, Alex Baldwin, Kevin Corrigan, James Badge Dale

5. The Boss of It All/Direktøren for Det Hele - Lars Von Trier + Best Comedy of the Year + Best Experimental Movie of the Year + Most Under-appreciated Movie of the Year

6. Flags of Our Fathers - Clint Eastwood + Best War Movie of the Year + Best Period Movie of the Year + Best True-Story Movie of the Year + Best Big Flop Movie of the Year

7. Children of Men - Alfonso Cuarón + Best Sci-fi Movie of the Year

8. Inland Empire - David Lynch + Best Art Film of the Year + Best Character Study of the Year + Best Poster of the Year + Best Comeback Actress of the Year: Laura Dern

9. Babel - Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu

10. Little Miss Sunshine - Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris + Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year + Best Independent Movie of the Year + Best Road Movie of the Year

Other great movies of 2006 (in alphabetical order):

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - Dito Montiel + Best Debut Movie of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Channing Tatum + Best New York Movie of the Year + Best Autobiographical Movie of the Year

A Soap/En Soap - Pernille Fischer Christensen + Best Copenhagen Movie of the Year + Best LGBT Movie of the Year + Best Melodrama of the Year

Crank - Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor + Best Action Movie of the Year + Best Los Angeles Movie of the Year

Déjà Vu - Tony Scott + Best New Orleans Movie of the Year + Best Car Chase of the Year (chase in the past scene)

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, documentary - Stanley Nelson

The Last King of Scotland - Kevin Macdonald + Best Thriller of the Year + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year

Other good, recommendable movies and TV-series of 2006 (in alphabetical order):

30 Rock - season 1 - Tina Fey + Best New TV-series of the Year + Best Sitcom of the Year

A Scanner Darkly - Richard Linklater + Most Unconventional Movie of the Year + Best Adult Animation Movie of the Year + Best Drug Movie of the Year

The Abandoned/Los Abandonados - Nacho Cerdà + Best Horror Movie of the Year + Best Spanish Movie of the Year + Best Haunted House Movie of the Year

Art School Confidential - Terry Zwigoff + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year

The Da Vinci Code - Ron Howard + Best Paris Movie of the Year

Deadwood - season 3 - David Milch + Best Western Title of the Year + Best TV-series of the Year + Best Fight Scene of the Year (fight in the mud scene, episode 5: A Two-Headed Beast)

The Devil Wears Prada - Dave Frankel

Dexter - season 1 - James Manos Jr. + Best Miami Title of the Year

Diggers - Katherine Dieckmann

The Fountain - Darren Aronofsky + Best Psychedelic Movie of the Year + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year

Friends with Money - Nicole Holofcener + Best Dramedy of the Year

Lucky Number Slevin - Paul McGuigan 

We Shall Overcome/Drømmen - Niels Arden Oplev

The 10 Worst Movies of 2006:

1. Are You Scared- Andy Hurst

2. Ira & Abby - Robert Cary

3. Automaton Transfusion - Steven C. Miller

4. A Good Year - Ridley Scott + Worst Poster of the Year + Most Deserved Flop of the Year

5. Fay Grim - Hal Hartley

6. Fair Haired Child, TV movie - William Malone

7. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon - Scott Glosserman

8. Dragon Tiger Gate/Lóng Hǔ Mén/龍虎門/龙虎门/Lung4 Fu2 Mun4 - Wilson Yip + Most Ridiculous Movie of the Year

9. Cars - John Lasseter, Joe Ranft + Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

10. Blood Diamond - Edward Zwick 
 
Other poor, failed and/or mediocre movies of 2006 (in alphabetical order):

16 Blocks - Richard Donner
A Real Friend/Adivina Quién Soy, TV movie - Enrique Urbizu
Bandidas - Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg + Silliest Movie of the Year
Blame/La Culpa, TV movie - Narciso Ibáñez Serrador
The Caiman/Il Caimano - Nanni Moretti
Dreamgirls - Bill Condon + Most Overrated Movie of the Year
The Illusionist - Neil Burger

[46 titles in total]

Notes:

2006's Top 10 is capped with 3 masterpieces: Mel Gibson's sensational, Mayan-era chase adventure Apocalypto takes the cake; Peter Schønau Fog's wry, Jutland-set incest adaptation drama The Art of Crying takes silver, and Craig Brewer's electric blues sex-drama Black Snake Moan is the year's 3rd best film.
These tall orders are met by Martin Scorsese's grand gangster epos The Departed, Lars Von Trier's strangely composited absurd comedy The Boss of It All, Clint Eastwood's riveting WWII hero (and nation) examination Flags of Our Father, Alfonso Cuarón's spectacular sci-fi achievement Children of Men, David Lynch's fiercely unsettling, digital mystery epic Inland Empire, Alejandro González Iñnáritu's ambitious fate-crossing masterpiece Babel and finally Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' uplifting road comedy Little Miss Sunshine.
Among the other great films of the year are Dito Montiel's electric, New York-set debut A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Pernille Fischer Christensen's transvestite romance A Soap, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's power-charged Crank and Kevin Macdonald's terrific Idi Amin-thriller The Last King of Scotland. Other noteworthy good movies of the year include Richard Linklater's Philip K. Dick adaptation A Scanner Darkly, Nacho Cerdá's bone-chilling ghost horror The Abandoned and the 3rd and last season of David Milch's Deadwood.
The Worst 10 list is so far remarkably low on big studio fare, and the worst 3 are all low-budget trash: Andy Hurst's gory torture horror Are You Scared is the year's absolute worst, with Robert Cary's marriage-hating Ira & Abby taking silver and Steven C. Miller's amateurish zombie rubbish Automaton Transfusion bronze.
These poor attempts at entertainment and film are met by Ridley Scott's grating, hollow Provence-lauding A Good Year, Hal Hartley's tedious indie thriller Fay Grim, William Malone's Masters of Horror TV movie Fair Haired Child, Scott Glosserman's similarly low-flying, cheap horror Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, Wilson Yip's ridiculous Hong Kong kung fu flick Dragon Tiger Gate, John Lasseter and Joe Ranft's generally poor, major animation Cars and finally Edward Zwick's morally dubious Africa actioner Blood Diamond.
Among the other great filmmakers who made below-par output in 2006 are Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg with their debut Bandidas.

Biggest Hits of the Year (reviewed so far):

[The profit is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account] 

1. The Da Vinci Code: 178.28 mil. $
2. The Devil Wears Prada: 95.6 mil. $
3. Cars: 64.76 mil. $
4. Babel: 29.12 mil. $
5. The Departed: 25.92 mil. $
6. The Illusionist: 18.62 mil. $
7. The Last King of Scotland: 13.32 mil. $
8. Apocalypto: 8.24 mil. $
9. Crank: 5.16 mil. $
    Total: 439.02 mil. $

Biggest Flop of the Year (reviewed so far):

[The loss is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account] 

1. Children of Men: 48.04 mil. $
2. Blood Diamond: 31.44 mil. $
3. Flags of Our Fathers: 28.64 mil. $
4. The Fountain: 28.6 mil. $
5. Bandidas: 27.68 mil. $
6. 16 Blocks: 26.36 mil. $
7. A Good Year: 18.2 mil. $
8. Dreamgirls: 18.08 mil. $
9. Black Snake Moan: 10.64 mil. $
10. A Scanner Darkly: 5.66 mil. $ 
    Total: 243.34 mil. $

2006 titles still on the watchlist:

The Fall, The Blue Elephant, Pelts, The History Boys

Previous annual lists:
 
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2016 in films - according to Film Excess
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess    

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess 

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess 

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess    

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2008 in films - according to Film Excess

2007 in films - according to Film Excess

What do you think of the 2006 lists?
What films of the year are your favorites and least favorites?
Is any essential title/s missing on the watchlist? 

Lucky Number Slevin/The Wrong Man (2006) - Hartnett and Co. are enjoyable in McGuigan's mischievous revenge story

♥♥♥♥

Bruce Willis' silencers seem to protrude right out of this cool-looking poster for Paul McGuigan's Lucky Number Slevin

"It all begins with a horse" Slevin's father bet all his money in 1979 on a horse, which underperformed, and the whole family were summarily executed. Except for Slevin. - Now he will take his revenge!

Lucky Number Slevin is written by Jason Smilovic (Karen Sisco (2003), TV-series)) and directed by Paul McGuigan (Wicker Park (2004)).
The film starts us out in its third act, without us realizing it straight away due to its virtuoso and entertaining narrative structure. It is well-written if a bit introverted at times.
The stars here are a scoop for Slevin: From hunky, down-to-earth Josh Hartnett (O (2001)), who wears only a towel for what in retrospect seems like half the film, over sweet Lucy Liu (Play It to the Bone (1999)) and raw Bruce Willis (Cop Out (2010)) to the mighty, dramatic cannons and gangster bosses here; Morgan Freeman (The Bucket List (2007)) and Ben Kingsley (Turtle Diary (1985)), who share one of the film's strongest scenes.
Lucky Number Slevin is a sly and good-looking piece of entertainment.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 27 mil. $
Box office: 56.3 mil. $ 
= Flop (returned 2.08 times the cost)
[Lucky Number Slevin premiered 24 February (UK, Ireland and Malta) and runs 110 minutes. Shooting took place in Montreal, Québec and in New York from December 2004 - ?. The film opened #5, behind holdover hit Ice Age: The Meltdown, fellow new releases The Benchwarmers and Take the Lead and holdover hit Inside Man to a 7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed too small 22.4 mil. $ (39.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.9 mil. $ (14 %) and Spain with 4.5 mil. $ (8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to two notches harder than this review. McGuigan returned with Thief (2006, TV-series) and theatrically with Push (2009). Hartnett returned in The Black Dahlia (2006), also co-starring Willis; Liu in Maya & Miguel (2004-06) and theatrically in Code Name: The Cleaner (2007). Lucky Number Slevin is rotten at 51 % with a 5.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Lucky Number Slevin?

The Last King of Scotland (2006) - Macdonald's Idi Amin thriller debut is an electric accomplishment

♥♥♥♥♥ 

 
+ Best Thriller of the Year + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year

Looming ominously above the white X and defining this poster for Kevin Macdonald's The Last King of Scotland is the interesting face of Forest Whitaker as the title character

Young Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan comes to Uganda on an idealistic mission in the early 1970s and befriends the country's new president Idi Amin, developing into a personal doctor and adviser for Amin, whose reign comes to evolve into a murderous regime.

The Last King of Scotland is written by Peter Morgan (The Queen (2006)) and Jeremy Brock (Mrs Brown (1997)), adapting the same-titled 1998 novel by Giles Foden (Ladysmith (1999)), and directed by great Scottish filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (Black Sea (2014)), whose fiction feature debut it is, and who mainly was a documentarian before it. The film serves as a very successful portrait of Uganda's late president Amin in 1970s Africa, which doesn't seem so much different from the way the continent often appears today.
The Last King of Scotland distinguishes itself with a beginning that's laced with welcome humor and high spirits, only to then change over into becoming a high-octane thriller.
James McAvoy (White Teeth (2002), miniseries) is cute as naive doctor Garrigan; Gillian Anderson (Crisis (2014), TV-series) dazzles in a supporting part, and Forest Whitaker (Ripple Effect (2007)) deserved his Oscar for his portrayal of the psychotic, unpredictable manipulator Amin.

Related post:

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 6 mil. $
Box office: 48.3 mil. $
= Huge hit (8.05 times the cost)
[The Last King of Scotland premiered 1 September (Telluride Film Festival, Colorado) and runs 123 minutes. Shooting took place in Uganda from June 2005 - ?. The Garrigan character is fictional, and the film changes some details in Ugandan history and Amin's reign but was reportedly well-received in the country. It opened #37 to a terrific 142k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #17 and in 517 theaters, playing a long 34 weekends, grossing 17.6 mil. $ (36.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 11.1 mil. $ (23 %) and France with 2.9 mil. $ (6 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar for Best Actor (Whitaker), which it won. It also won a Golden Globe, 3/5 BAFTA nominations, 2/6 British Independent Spirit awards, was nominated for 6 European Film awards, won a National Board of Review award and many other honors. Macdonald returned with My Enemy's Enemy (2007, documentary) and fictionally with State of Play (2009). Whitaker returned with a voice performance in Everyone's Hero (2006), ER (2006-07) and The Shield (2006-07) and theatrically in the flesh in The Air I Breathe (2007). McAvoy returned in Penelope (2006). The Last King of Scotland is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Last King of Scotland?