1. Casino Royale: The best James Bond movie in more than 40 years.
Not to dismiss the last forty years of Bond -- there are some great ones in there, including Roger Moore's The Spy Who Loved Me, Timothy Dalton's The Living Daylights, George Lazenby's On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and Pierce Brosnan's Tomorrow Never Dies. But the series was at its peak with the first four Sean Connery movies, and Casino Royale harkens back to those glorious days. Daniel Craig proved his critics wrong as effortlessly as Bond would land his hat on Moneypenny's coat rack. The film's tone is closest to From Russia With Love, the best of the bunch, and is a serious spy drama that is not without it's levity and humor. For resurrecting greatness and for making these types of films relevant to modern audiences -- and for being a hell of a lot of fun in the process -- Casino Royale is the best picture of the year. (On DVD March 13.)2. The Queen: An engrossing look at the life of Queen Elizabeth II following the death of Princess Diana. The film's strength is in taking an event that we all know very well - Diana's surprising death at age 36 - and showing us the turmoil behind the scenes with the British royal family. Helen Mirren gives the year's best performance, and if she doesn't win the Oscar for best actress, they should just disband the Academy, because it will have become irrelevant. (On DVD April 24.)
3. The Departed: Much has been written about Martin Scorcese and gangster movies, but the way violence can suddenly erupt, seemingly out of nowhere, is never more shocking than in his movies. The great cast has outstanding performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Walberg, Martin Sheen and more. Only Jack Nicholson's performance varies from being emotionally intense to being a parody of himself. Nicholson has been playing a variation on himself in too many movies for the last twenty years. (Obviously not including such stand-out performances as About Schmidt.) It is Scorcese's best film since GoodFellas, and is even better than Gangs of New York, which is saying something. (On DVD now.)4. V For Vendetta: Based on a graphic novel written in the '80s, but never more relevant to our culture, this is as exciting and thought-provoking as movies get these days.
Hugo Weaving is charming as "V," a revolutionary to some and a terrorist to others. Natalie Portman displays a maturity beyond her role as Star Wars' Padme, as the innocent whose education and transformation are the center of the film. "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments," the film's tagline read, "Governments should be afraid of their people." It's not many advertising campaigns that paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, and it demonstrates how the movie's head is in the right place. (On DVD now.)5. An Inconvenient Truth: The most important film of the year. It's easy to dismiss the attention the film has gotten under the guise of politics, since it stars former Vice President Al Gore, but it's essential that we not do that. The film has an urgent message that has been endorsed by every serious scientist in the world (the only studies that deny global warming's impact have been funded by industry, and thus, are not true studies; we touch on this more here), and besides, the film is more frightening than any horror movie and will inspire you to action more than any other film, perhaps ever. (On DVD now.)
6. Superman Returns: In the nearly 30 years since Richard Donner's excellent Superman: The Movie, film hasn't been kind to the Man of Steel. The movie series became parody with installments III and IV and this film languished in production hell for about 15 years, going through more writers and directors than Lois Lane's typewriter ribbons. But Bryan Singer truly made Superman return, to the greatness that is the character's legacy and to the high standards of Donner's film. This is mythology as metaphor and with meaning. As said in our review of the box set, this, finally, is a film worthy of the Superman legend. (On DVD now.)
7. Children of Men: The future may not look very good in this film, but the movie is as great a production as such other futuristic epics as Blade Runner, Planet of the Apes and this year's V For Vendetta (see above). Great work by Clive Owen and Michael Caine will keep you invested in the story, which is ultimately about the fight for hope in a world that hasn't had any in a generation. (On DVD March 27.)8. Cars: If John Lasseter and the folks at Pixar can make a bad movie, they haven't shown it yet. Cars is their follow-up to The Incredibles, perhaps the best of the Pixar line.
The movie invests in old-fashioned style and some would even say old-fashioned values, set in the high speed modern world of auto racing. The character designs are clever, colorful and, in many cases, hilarious. These cars will be taking their place along other children's favorites, such as Buzz and Woody, Simba, and maybe even Donald and Mickey. (On DVD now.)9. Borat: Some comedies just make you laugh (like Talladega Nights, one of the year's funniest films) and others, like Borat, force you to think a bit too. Sasha Baron Cohen's hilarious trip through America exposes some of its ugly side, and has a ball poking fun at it. The film may end up keeping people on their toes too -- everyone won't necessarily be so quick to yell and scream the next time someone lets a chicken out of their suitcase on the subway, will they? (On DVD March 6.)
10. Hollywoodland: Essentially the same movie as Brian DePalma's The Black Dahlia, as both films take place in post-war Los Angeles and concern a real-life murder (or suicide?) mystery. Only director Allen Coulter (of The Sopranos fame) presents a much more involving story of the death of actor George Reeves than Dahlia's forced and fake noir. Hollywoodland also has the stronger cast, with Adrian Brody, Diane Lane, and (yes) Ben Affleck turning in great performances. As mysteries go, it's also one of the best in years, and doesn't offer a tidy ending, which are mostly unsatisfying anyway. The mystery behind Hollywoodland leaves you with the possibilities, and you have to decide for yourself which you find plausible. (On DVD now.)More info: Rolling Stone: The 10 Best Movies of 2006
