For me, the film of the year was Andrew Bujalski's sophomore effort Mutual Appreciation. Its carefully-observed scenes and avant-garde editing won me over right away, something Bujalski's first film, 2003's Funny Ha Ha, failed to do. Essentially, this film is a mixture of Cassavetes and Rohmer. What more could you want?
Hou Hsiao-hsien's latest film Three Times is basically three different films, with the first of the segments being the best. It's an impossibly gorgeous and romantic account of a series of encounters between the two lead actors, Shu Qi and Chang Chen. The rest of the film doesn't quite live up to its lovely opening, but it hardly falters either.
I did not get to see Richard Linklater's other 2006 movie, Fast Food Nation, but it's not hard to call his Phillip K. Dick adaptation his best film since, well, the last one (give the guy a break, it's Before Sunset). A Scanner Darkly employs the same animation style as Linklater's own Waking Life, but to very different results. Both heartfelt and critical, Scanner shows how much its director has grown since Dazed and Confused.
Pedro Almodovar's latest doesn't quite live up to the formal rigor of The Bad Education, but Volver is a wonderful film on its own right. Almodovar's Volver is an undeniably moving and endlessly enjoyable melodrama in the style of Sirk or Fassbinder.
Brick, Rian Johnson's take on neo-noir, revisits the genre in a high school setting, and his inventive and stylized world is never less than fascinating. I look forward to watching it again.
L'enfant, the winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, is yet another rigorous experiment by the guys who brought us 1999's Rosetta. In essence, this film is quite simple, but the Dardennes' Bressonian approach to cinema is as refreshing as anything else I encountered this year.
Spike Lee's pseudo-heist movie Inside Man may very well be the comedy of 2006, as well as a throwback to old crime genre films. Not as powerful as his last notable film 25th Hour, but Inside Man could not have been more entertaining.
Quintessential Altman and a fitting swan song to one of the greatest of all filmmakers. R.I.P. Bob.
I feel like I am underrating Sofia Coppola's historical drama Marie Antoinette. It's certainly a ravishing film, but throughout my viewing I felt something was missing. In any case, it was one of the best looking films of the year.
Having not seen Carlos Reynaga's debut feature, Japon, I had no idea what to expect from Battle in Heaven. His unique brand of cinematic metaphors closely resemble those of French auteur Bruno Dumont, whose detachment from his subjects allow his films to work on multiple levels. Battle in Heaven is worth watching if only for its breathtaking photography of Mexico City.
