An American Film Geek’s Top 5 Movies for 2006

2. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

I laughed so hard my ribcage hurt.  Some have it in for this movie since Sacha Cohen and company saw fit to essentially deceive a bunch of well-meaning individuals into humiliating themselves on film. They may have a point, but I laughed regardless. I have to wonder if the gags & punch lines carried off in “Borat” would’ve been equally effective if the whole thing would’ve been done Christopher Guest style, with actors playing out the mockumentary. Would the effect of the anti-semantic gun shop owner have been as jarring if it were scripted & staged? I doubt it, and plus, who would’ve believed it? In any case, with all the hype, publicity, and success this film has received, this was probably Cohen’s last attempt at mining his “Ali G” stable on the big screen in this particularly underhanded meta-manner. It will be very interesting to see how he follows this up.

3. Cars

Even though I always love Pixar films (granted, some more than others – “Incredibles”, Toy Story” - YES! “Finding Nemo”, “Monsters, Inc” - not so much,) I wasn’t expecting “Cars” to be anything. Before I saw it, I found myself buying into the early conspiracy theory that Pixar deliberately made a blah movie in order to sever their Disney ties with a big “screw you”! Of course, that theory barely makes any sense, and in the end, it certainly proved false. Even the foundation premise itself proved false, since the Pixar guys are now essentially running Disney animation. Anyhow, “Cars”, as goofy as it looked with its Nascar-baiting angle and Owen Wilson casting, proved to be an unexpectedly moving look at the price we pay for living our lives in the fast lane. The wave of nostalgia for Route 66 is overwhelming. It all brought a tear to my eye, I tell ya.

4. A Prairie Home Companion

This isn’t just because Altman died this year. I came out of “Prairie Home Companion” saying that it may just be my favorite Altman film. The director’s trademark sensibilities blended well with those of humorist Garrison Keillor, someone who sometimes cracks me up, and other times leaves me wanting to gut-punch the smugness out of him. This adaptation of Keillor’s long-running radio show could’ve very easily gone quite wrong, but thanks to its light-handed pre-occupation with death (quite fitting, eh?), it gathered and maintained a unique resonance that is still with me. Ordinarily I don’t go for movies with such a heavy Buddhist worldview (“Star Wars” withstanding, of course), but no one made movies like Altman, and he sure scored with this one.

5. Clerks II

Another one that very easily could’ve run off the rails and into crapville. But Kevin Smith had something to prove, and he made darn sure that this sequel was justified. A near-perfect blend of the raunchy buddy comedy of “Clerks” combined with the heart of “Chasing Amy”, this could be Smith’s best film to date. He can’t seem to leave his View Askew universe behind, and at this point, maybe he shouldn’t. He is obviously quite comfortable there, and so are his fans. I’ve never really counted myself among them, but I have to admit I am awfully tempted to buy the “Clerks II” DVD in that exclusive overpriced Happy Meal packaging.

Honorable mentions: “Casino Royale”, “Superman Returns”, “The Inside Man”, and “Slither”. And “Saving Shiloh” is a pretty great kids movie, too. Seriously.

Have a solid 2007!

Jim Tudor (Set Decorator,”Saving Shiloh”)