Films from 2006

It was hard to whittle down all of my choices to just 15 this year. I added, deleted, added again and deleted again. I found myself liking certain aspects about each film, which made it harder to remove and even harder to try and add on. I'm not entirely sure which one on the following list is my "favorite" because I enjoyed them all on some level. In the end I chose the ones that I truly felt were some of the best films of 2006.

• The Departed
• Little Miss Sunshine
• The Prestige
• Half Nelson
• Monster House
• Casino Royale
• Volver
• Borat
• Superman Returns
• Stranger Than Fiction
• Blood Diamond
• The Proposition
• Thank You For Smoking
• Mission: Impossible III
• Find Me Guilty

I'm a big fan of Vin Diesel. That is, when he does good work. In "Find Me Guilty" he really shines. He brings the charisma as Jackie DiNorscio, a convicted mobster who is true to his word and won't rat on his friends during a trial in which he represents himself. Vin Diesel is excellent in this film and there isn't a better scene that depicts this than when he stands up and gives his testimony. This film is more comical than dramatic but it's in those dramatic moments we see what the actor in Vin Diesel is capable of because he's more than just a guy who can race 10-second cars or the guy who can see in the dark while battling aliens. When given the right material, like in "Find Me Guilty", Vin Diesel can display his talent for acting that the public rarely gets to see.

I'm also a big fan of Pedro Almódvar, and he returned in 2006 with "Volver" a fantastic film starring the always sexy Penélope Cruz. Almódvar is at his best when his stories revolve around women, as most of his films do, and nothing is different here. Penélope Cruz gave what I felt to be one of, if not the, best performance of the year as Raimunda. The colors are vibrant as are the characters Raimunda encounters throughout the film. The audience is taken on a journey through her life and we come to know her and the women who helped shape her life. This is another great film in the long history of Spanish cinema.