The 2006 Critics' Choice Awards
Our third annual Critics' Choice Awards pick the Top 10 Films of 2006—a list that somewhat resembles others in the mainstream, with a few surprises thrown in.
directed by Todd Field | posted 2/06/2007
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Last week, we posted our Top 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2006. And this week, we present our Critics' Choice Awards for the Top 10 Films of 2006.
What's the difference between the lists? The "redeeming" list speaks for itself—films that told a story of redemption (something or somebody bad turned good, an uplifting story that celebrates truth, goodness and/or biblical values, etc.).
Our Critics' Choice list, on the other hand, consists of the 10 films that our panel believes were the most excellent films of 2006, whether they carried a "redeeming" message or not—though four of our top 10 choices also appeared on our Most Redeeming list. But all of the movies here are films of excellence, and many are up for various honors at the upcoming Academy Awards.
Our list resembles some top 10 lists you've seen in the mainstream, but we've got a few off-the-beaten-path picks as well. We also let each of our panelists choose "One That Got Away"—a single film they wish had made our Top Ten list. Think of those extra films as sort of our "honorable mentions."
And so, in reverse order, our Critics' Choice list for 2006:
10. Little Children
directed by Todd Field
This movie could have just as easily been titled "Adults Behaving Badly" or even "The Wages of Sin." The main characters in Todd Field's brilliantly directed film are self-absorbed adults who indeed act like little children, giving in to their impulses and desires with little thought (except of themselves), and sometimes with reckless abandon. But unlike many other Hollywood films, Little Children actually shows that sin has consequences, sometimes devastating ones. And while various immoral acts are depicted (sometimes too graphically), they're done so within that moral worldview framework—that sin indeed does have its wages. Phenomenal performances by Kate Winslet and Jackie Earle Hayley.(Our review.)
9. Tsotsi
directed by Gavin Hood
Tsotsi won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but most Americans (including our panelists) didn't get to see it till early '06. An incredibly powerful movie about a Soweto street thug whose life—and perspective—is dramatically changed from the unlikeliest of sources: A baby. After stealing a car, the title character is stunned to find an infant in the back seat. What will he do with the helpless child? Anyone who has become a first-time parent can attest how a newborn can change their lives, but how would it affect this aimless, violent young man? Put it this way: Tsotsi was also named one of our Most Redeeming Films of 2006, so that might give you a hint.
8. Little Miss Sunshine
directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Little Miss Sunshine was 2006's Napoleon Dynamite—an independently made film that released with little fanfare, till word-of-mouth caught fire about this quirky-but-charming gem. At the heart of the movie is an over-the-top dysfunctional family (including a suicidal gay uncle, a drug-and-porn-addicted grandfather, and a morose teen boy who has taken a vow of silence) whose lone link to "normalcy" seems to be Olive, a pudgy, bespectacled, and effervescent 7-year-old who dreams of winning a beauty pageant. Ten-year-old Abigail Breslin was nominated for an Academy Award in the film, which, despite the messy behavior of its characters, wraps up with a redemptive note of family love and togetherness.(Our review.)
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