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Julia Jentsch may be the best actress you've never heard of. In this movie, another Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, Jentsch will steal your heart and win your admiration in her role as the title character—a young German woman whose strong Christian faith gave her the courage to stand up to the Nazi regime, denouncing Hitler's policies even at the risk of arrest … or even execution. Indeed, Scholl is picked up by the Gestapo for distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets to university students, and hauled in for questioning by a cool-but-ruthless interrogator. Would Sophie's convictions result in a conviction? See for yourself in this riveting film, a compelling look at a genuine heroine of the Christian faith—and also a choice in our Most Redeeming list. (Our review.)

As the time we posted this list, Helen Mirren was the favorite for winning the Academy Award for Best Actress, and deservedly so. Mirren is so brilliant and convincing in the title role—playing Queen Elizabeth in the days immediately following the 1997 death of Princess Diana—that you'll forget you're watching an actress and think you're watching Her Majesty herself. Director Stephen Frears does a magnificent job of portraying not only what was happening within the Royal Family during those tragic days, but with the monarchy's interactions with the new prime minister, Tony Blair. (BTW, Michael Sheen is a spot-on Blair look-alike who is also terrific in his role.) A riveting film, brilliantly acted and directed.(Our review.)

Some of our panelists didn't want to watch this film, as the frightening memories of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were still too fresh. But as we heard critics across North America calling it one of the year's best movies, we felt obligated to see it. Indeed, it is one of the year's finest, an on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller—yes, "thriller," even though we know the ending—that brings the events of that horrific day back in all of its terrifying vividness … but without being exploitative or derivative. Greengrass has directed a masterful picture that almost feels like a documentary, showing what likely might have happened on that doomed flight, where passengers fought back against the hijackers on a plane that ultimately crashed into a Pennsylvania field—rather than its intended target in Washington, D.C. (Our review.)

Terrence Malick's film—a retelling of the Jamestown story of John Smith, John Rolfe, and Pocahontas—is bound to bore and frustrate moviegoers who prefer a traditional narrative. But those who set aside expectations and surrender to Malick's unique style may discover an extraordinary, unique moviegoing experience. Where other filmmakers employ elements of plot and image and dialogue to make points of their own, Malick is more interested in exploring, receiving, and capturing light, scenery, and expression—and thus, there is a sense of mystery and majesty in the film that defies paraphrase. The grass, the wind, and the trees have as much to say as the characters do, demonstrating that, as Scripture says, creation "pours forth speech." (Our review.)

The Dardennes brothers are compiling a library of memorable stories about ethical challenges and characters who awaken to conscience. L'Enfant gives us a lost boy who sees the world as a marketplace in which everything—even his own newborn child—is a commodity which can be bought or sold. But when his fiancé e—the mother of the child—gets in the way, the young man is ultimately awakened to his own conscience, and the emptiness of a self-centered, materialistic worldview. With this awakening, he resolves to right his wrongs, and his valiant efforts to do so are portrayed with palpable emotion. Stellar performances from two Belgian actors you've probably never heard of, but are well worth watching. (Our review.)

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The 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2006	Printer view
What do a shy-but-brilliant speller, a dead Mexican guy, a street thug from Soweto, a compassionate spider, an anti-Nazi young woman, and the baby Jesus have in common? They're all in movies that we've just voted the ten most redeeming films of 2006.

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Ahoy! Readers Pick Pirates	Printer view
We asked our readers to pick their favorite movies of 2006, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest rose to the top. Captain Jack Sparrow rules, savvy?