I will provide a link to this post on the top of the Looking Closer blog soon. (Currently, there\u2019s a link to the 2005 journal.) This is the post where I\u2019ll catalog every film I see in 2006.<\/p>\n
* = indicates first-time viewing<\/p>\n
2006<\/span> <\/strong>November<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I will provide a link to this post on the top of the Looking Closer blog soon. (Currently, there\u2019s a link to the 2005 journal.) This is the post where I\u2019ll catalog every film I see in 2006. * = indicates first-time viewing 2006 December The Last King of Scotland* (DVD screener)\u2026..B The Secret of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[404],"class_list":["post-13432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-viewing-journal"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nDecember<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nThe Last King of Scotland* (DVD screener)\u2026..B<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe Secret of Roan Innish (VHS) \u2026.. A-<\/span><\/strong>
\nMarie Antoinette*\u2026\u2026B+<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe Holiday*\u2026..C-<\/span><\/strong>
\nChildren of Men (second viewing)\u2026..A<\/span><\/strong>
\nLetters from Iwo Jima*\u2026..A-<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe Devil Wears Prada* (DVD screener)\u2026..C+<\/span><\/strong>
\nJoyeux Noel (DVD)\u2026..B+<\/span><\/strong>
\nNotes on a Scandal* (DVD screener)\u2026..B<\/span><\/strong>
\nWater* (DVD)\u2026..B+<\/span><\/strong>
\n49 Up* (DVD)\u2026..A-<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe Nativity Story*\u2026..C<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nUnited 93* (DVD screener)\u2026..A+<\/span><\/strong>
\nCatch a Fire* (DVD screener)\u2026..B+<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe Double Life of Veronique (Criterion Collection DVD)\u2026..A+<\/span><\/strong>
\nCasino Royale*\u2026..B+<\/span><\/strong>
\nHalf Nelson*\u2026..B+<\/span><\/strong>
\nChildren of Men*\u2026..A<\/span><\/strong>
\nThank You for Smoking* (DVD)\u2026..B<\/span><\/strong>
\nStranger than Fiction*\u2026..B+
\nPan\u2019s Labyrinth*\u2026..A<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe Prestige*\u2026..B+<\/span><\/strong>
\nAkeelah and the Bee* (DVD)\u2026..B+<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe Proposition* (DVD)\u2026..B+<\/span><\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\nOctober<\/span><\/strong>
\nKiss Kiss Bang Bang* (DVD)\u2026..C<\/strong>
\nA Prairie Home Companion (second viewing, DVD)\u2026..B+<\/strong>
\nLittle Children*\u2026..A-<\/strong>
\nThe Queen*\u2026..A<\/strong>
\nThe Fountain*\u2026..B-<\/strong>
\nFlags of Our Fathers*\u2026\u2026A-<\/strong>
\nThe Departed*\u2026..B+<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/span>
\nSeptember<\/span><\/strong>
\nBabel*\u2026..B+<\/strong>
\nThe Science of Sleep*\u2026..B+<\/strong>
\nThe Illusionist*\u2026..B+<\/strong>
\n<\/span>High Fidelity (DVD, second viewing)\u2026..B+<\/span> <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\nAugust<\/span><\/strong>
\nArmy of Shadows*\u2026..A-<\/strong>
\nLassie (2006)*\u2026..B+<\/strong>
\nPromises* (DVD)\u2026\u2026A<\/strong>
\nThe Gospel According to St. Matthew* (dubbed) (DVD)\u2026..B<\/strong>
\nTalladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby\u2026..C+<\/strong> <\/span>
\nBrick* (DVD)\u2026..B+<\/strong> <\/span>
\nNightwatch* (DVD)\u2026..B-
\nLittle Miss Sunshine*\u2026..B<\/strong>
\nHawaii, Oslo* (DVD)\u2026..B+<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/span>
\nJuly <\/span>
\nMiami Vice*\u2026..B<\/span><\/strong>
\nMonster House*\u2026..C<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Lady in the Water*\u2026..B-
\nThe Best of Youth, part 2* (DVD)\u2026..A-
\nTouch the Sound* (DVD)\u2026..A-<\/strong>
\nThree Times*\u2026..(still considering\u2026 probably an A-)<\/strong>
\nMission: Impossible 3*\u2026..B<\/strong>
\nThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (DVD)\u2026..C+<\/strong>
\n2001: A Space Odyssey (DVD)\u2026..A+<\/strong>
\nThe King*\u2026..C-<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man\u2019s Chest (second viewing)\u2026..A-
\n<\/strong>The most satisfying large-scale adventure film since The Fellowship of the Ring<\/em>.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Nightwatch* (DVD) B
\nShopgirl* (DVD)\u2026..B
\n<\/span><\/strong>
\nJune<\/span><\/strong>
\nPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man\u2019s Chest*\u2026..A-<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Superman Returns*\u2026..C+
\n<\/strong>Extremely disappointing. It recycles so many elements from the first film, it\u2019s like a re-make\u2026 but without actors that make me care or believe, and with a supervillain so foolish that he never inspires even a flicker of fear.
\n<\/span>The Best of Youth, part 1 (DVD)\u2026.A-
\nA River Runs Through It (DVD)\u2026\u2026A
\nA Scanner Darkly\u2026..B
\nCars*\u2026..B+ <\/strong>
\n<\/span>
\nMay<\/span>
\nX-Men: The Last Stand*\u2026..C<\/strong>
\nDuma* (DVD)\u2026..B<\/strong>
\nIkiru (VHS)\u2026..A+<\/strong>
\nThe New World (fourth theatrical viewing)\u2026..A+<\/strong>
\nTaxi Driver (DVD)\u2026..A<\/strong>
\nSaved (DVD)\u2026..B<\/strong>
\nThree Colors: Blue (DVD)\u2026..A+<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The Miracle Maker* (VHS)\u2026..A-
\n<\/span><\/strong>
\nApril<\/span>
\nA Prairie Home Companion*\u2026..B<\/strong>
\n<\/span>A Man for All Seasons (DVD)\u2026..A+
\n<\/strong>One of the greatest scripts ever written, with profound, and profoundly quotable, dialogue.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Babette\u2019s Feast (DVD) \u2026.. A+
\n<\/strong>My feelings for this film only grow stronger over time. It\u2019s one of the most beautiful and moving films I know.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nMarch<\/span>
\nL\u2019Enfant*\u2026..A<\/strong>
\nThe Five Obstructions (DVD, second viewing)\u2026.B+<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The Motorcycle Diaries (second viewing)\u2026..A
\n<\/strong>I admire this film more all the time.<\/span>
\nV for Vendetta*\u2026..C+<\/strong>
\nJunebug (DVD) (second viewing)\u2026..A<\/strong>
\nMan, I love this movie. It brought me to tears last night. I think it\u2019d edging its way up toward the top spot on my Best of 2005.<\/span>
\nRaiders of the Lost Ark (DVD) (umpteenth viewing)\u2026..A+<\/strong>
\nDon\u2019t Come Knocking*\u2026..B+\/A-<\/strong>
\nMirrormask* (DVD)\u2026..B+<\/strong>
\n<\/span>
\nFebruary<\/span>
\nT
\nristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story*\u2026..B<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (DVD, second viewing)\u2026..B+
\nThe New World (third viewing)\u2026.A+<\/strong>
\nYes* (DVD)\u2026..B+<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The New World (second viewing)\u2026..A+
\n<\/strong>Even better the second time. I believe this is one of the most profound works of art for the screen I\u2019ve ever seen. Easily the best film of the last few years\u2026 perhaps my favorite since Three Colors: Blue<\/em>. What a fantastic month at the movies I\u2019m enjoying.
\nElizabethtown* (DVD)\u2026..C+<\/strong>
\nSophie Scholl: The Final Days*\u2026.A-<\/strong>
\nJunebug* (DVD)\u2026.A<\/strong>
\nThe 2005 film I most regret misisng during its theatrical run. It would have been in the Top 10 lists I submitted to various magazines, but alas, too late.
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>January<\/span>
\nMystery Men (DVD)\u2026.B-<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a guilty pleasure, but it sure is a lot of fun thanks to the enthusiasm of the actors. Geoffrey Rush alone is reason enough to see it.
\nTsotsi*\u2026..B+<\/strong>
\nThe New World*\u2026..A+<\/strong>
\nAnother Malick masterpiece\u2026 perhaps my favorite of his films.
\nThe 40-Year-Old Virgin* (DVD) (2005)\u2026..D<\/strong>
\nSteve Carrell has proven in Anchorman <\/em>and TV\u2019s The Office <\/em>that he\u2019s one of America\u2019s funniest actors. But here, the material is so relentlessly crass and adolescent, so dependent on cheap locker room antics, that it prevents him from doing the things he does best. I couldn\u2019t make it past the 40-minute mark, I found the company of his neanderthal co-workers so overbearingly unpleasant. I\u2019ve heard it has \u201ca good message\u201d in the end. But it doesn\u2019t matter. It\u2019s disingenuous to praise a film for the good message it has at the end when it spends almost two hours playing to our baser appetites. That\u2019s like giving us a vitamin after shoving a bunch of trash down our throats. The movie will delight the sex-obsessed frat boys it tries to lampoon, and I doubt it will really engage their conscience at all.
\nMillions (DVD) (third viewing) \u2026.. A<\/strong>
\nWatching this film again and introducing it to some friends, I was moved even more deeply, and further impressed by the script, the editing, the music, and the performances. I stand by my decision \u2014 this is now, unquestionably, my favorite film of 2005.
\nHoodwinked!* (2005) \u2026..B<\/strong>+
\nThe year\u2019s first animated feature is fun, fast-paced, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, with another great voice performance by Patrick Warburton as the wolf. An impressive debut for writer\/director Cory Edwards. Review coming soon.
\n<\/span>Strings* (DVD) (2005)\u2026..B
\n<\/strong>Phenomenal puppetry, among the best ever filmed\u2026 but it\u2019s oppressively humorless and parades out a whole library of stale myth-cliches. See it for the astounding imagery.
\nThe Beat My Heart Skipped* (DVD) (2005)\u2026.. B+<\/strong>
\nA great lead performance and a nerve-wracking sense of impending doom make this a memorable thriller, full of unconventionally thoughtful tangents, and elevated by an inventive use of classical music in its soundtrack.<\/span><\/p>\n