Crank
The
Year in Review
2006 was a great
year.
No, really.
The number of great
films in 2006 was a
little astounding,
especially since so
many have gone to
great lengths to
trash this year as
being one of the
worst in recent
memory.
Sure, things started
off slowly. For
about six months,
“United 93” was the
only great film of
the year. Then,
suddenly, the great
films came out of
nowhere and started
to pile up, so many
that I haven’t even
had a chance to see
them all!
This list may change
when I see more, but
for the time being,
here are the winners
of the imaginary
Jacob Hall awards.
BEST FILM:
“The Fountain”
Astounding. Simply
astounding. Not an
easy film to watch,
but quite possibly
the most spiritually
cleansing films I
have seen in the
past few years.
RUNNER-UP:
“United 93”
This film reduced me
to the weeping shell
of a human being.
It’s THAT powerful.
I wish it could
share the number one
spot.
BEST ACTOR:
Sacha Baron Cohen in
“Borat”
Okay, so Forrest
Whitaker’s
performance in “The
Last King of
Scotland” is going
to win the Oscar,
and deservedly so,
but Sacha Baron
Cohen gave the best
performance of the
year, hands down.
Here is a man who
not only stays in
character while he
makes a mockery of
everyone and
everything around
him, but also
manages to make us
laugh…loudly, and
quite often.
RUNNER-UP:
Hugh Jackman in “The
Fountain”
Okay, so Forrest
Whitaker’s
performance in “The
Last King of
Scotland” is going
to win the Oscar,
and deservedly so,
but Hugh Jackman’s
brave and intense
work in “The
Fountain” is a gem
of acting.
BEST ACTRESS:
Kate Winslet in
“Little Children”
So I didn’t care for
the film…so what?
Winslet gave an
astounding
performance in a
flawed film. She is
the film’s life
raft. She keeps it
above water.
RUNNER-UP:
Eva Green in “Casino
Royale”
Just as Daniel Craig
proved that James
Bond could be an
intense and
challenging
character, Green
proves that the role
of the Bond girl can
be heartbreaking,
romantic and tragic.
BEST SUPP ACTOR:
Ray Winstone in “The
Proposition”
In quite possibly
the darkest and
bleakest film of the
year, Winstone
creates a character
who tries to
overcome the evil
around him and in
the process crafts a
subtle and painful
portrait of a man in
a world of evil who
only wants to do
good.
RUNNER-UP:
Steve Carell in
“Little Miss
Sunshine”
I’ve loved Carell
since “The Daily
Show,” but who knew
he had this kind of
work in him?
BEST SUPPORTING
ACTRESS:
Rinko Kikuchi in
“Babel”
Look at the facts.
She has no spoken
dialogue, yet she
creates an extreme
emotional
connection. She
learned sign
language for the
part. She has a
brave scene in which
she is completely
nude. Great acting
by an actress I look
forward to seeing
again.
RUNNER-UP:
Rachel Weisz in “The
Fountain”
Okay, so she didn’t
deserve the Oscar
for “The Constant
Gardener.” But she
deserves it here.
BEST SCREENPLAY:
“Little Miss
Sunshine”
Hilarious,
heartwarming and
somehow, almost
completely original.
RUNNER-UP:
“The Departed”
In addition to a
clever plot filled
with twists and
turns, the script to
“The Departed”
boasts some of the
wittiest dialogue
since “Pulp
Fiction.”
BEST DIRECTOR:
Martin Scorsese for
“The Departed”
Why? Because he’s
earned it. Why not
Darren Aronofsky,
the director of my
favorite film of the
year? Because
Scorsese has proven
that time is nothing
and after decades of
work, he still
churns out
masterpieces.
RUNNER-UP:
Darren Aronofsky for
“The Fountain”
Because he directed
the best film of the
year.
