Indecision 2006

I've thought about this long and hard. Every year I try to come up with a list of the best movies I had seen that previous year. I always have to remind my readers that these are of movies I have SEEN. I can't comment on the ones I have not. Going into the making of this year's list I was thinking there weren't that many good movies this year. When it came down to it, I ended up having to turn this into a longer list than I had thought. So here you have it - my favorite 21 movies of the year.

21. SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS - Okay. If you've seen this movie I know what you're thinking. On paper, its a crappy movie. Job Heder and Billy Bob Thornton saved it for me. It doesn't deserve an Oscar, but I was entertained. And they actually had me fooled in the end too so I have to give the writer props for that.

20. X-MEN: THE LAST STAND - Dude. It's X-Men. I can't not put it on my list. I can't resist friggin' awesome mutants. It was basically a visual overload for me. I didn't completely love what they did with the storyline, but that's not esssetial for a movie to hook me. Obviously.

19. TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY - I know. This movie should probably not belong on a good top list of any kind. It is on mine though. Will Ferrell is a genius. The movie wasn't funny the WHOLE way through but there were parts where I just could not stop laughing. Help me Jesus! Help me Jewish guy! Help me Tom Cruise! Use your witchcraft to get this fire off of me!

18. ACCEPTED - I have some odd taste in movies, don't I? Justin Long is one of my favorite actors. I don't think I've seen a movie he was in that I didn't like. Sure this was a recycled Animal House/PCU type deal, but the concept hasn't gotten old for me yet. Plus, Lewis Black is in the movie who is a political comedic genius.

17. CLERKS II - Two words. Donkey. Show. I watched the movie twice to make sure it was really that funny and it was. The part where Jeff Anderson is making fun of Lord of The Rings is hysterical and you can't go wrong with Jay and Silent Bob.

16. THE GUARDIAN - Go on. Laugh. Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher in a dramatic movie. It was a pretty darn good movie. Predictible, but good nonetheless. I'm not Punking you. I swear.

15. THE PRESTIGE - I've heard others didn't like this movie. I thought it was fabulous. Looking back I should have had it figured out from the very beginning, but I was deceived until the very end. Christian Bale is a great actor. That was evident in Batman Begins.

14. SNAKES ON A PLANE - I actually expected more out of the movie than I actually got, but what I got was still oodles of fun. I will never go on a plane to begin with, so this reenforced my whole theory there. I love snakes though. And I love Samuel L. Jackson. Therefore I loved this movie.

13. INSIDE MAN - Clive Owen is one of my favorite actors. I love the man. This could have been a better movie, but I didn't like Jodie Foster's role at all. It just didn't fit with everything else. It reminded me a lot of another movie - Runaway Jury which incidentally was one of my favorite movies the year it came out.

12. THE SENTINEL - Another thriller. Hey. It kept me on the edge of my seat. That's what it was designed to do, so it gets my vote. God Michael Douglas is getting old though.

11. MONSTER HOUSE - My favorite children's movie of the year. It was really cute and I think the fact that I couldn't figure out the big mystery in a CHILDREN's movie was wonderful.

10. STAY ALIVE - This was my surprise top ten pick of the year. I just thought it was so clever. I used to have a fear when I was younger that if my character died in the video game that so would I. Apparently someone else thought of that and here we have this movie. Frankie Muniz is better than he ever was on Malcolm In The Middle.

9. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: III - It pains me to put this in my top ten just because Tom Cruise is weird. Eh, he'd probably think I was weird too. For me, it was the best movie in the series. I loved Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the villian. He was scary enough to have nightmares about. Two thumbs up.

8. STRANGER THAN FICTION - Again, I have to give props to a clever script. Also, clever casting with Will Ferrell as Harold Crick and Maggie Gyllenhaal as his love interest. As a writer, I was just in love with this movie.

7. WORLD TRADE CENTER - Now I did not see United 93. I did see this however. It didn't make me cry. I was amazed. I did think that the acting was tremendous and it made me feel as if I was there too. I liked that it stayed away form politics and focused on what was the most important that day - helping each other.

6. THE DA VINCI CODE - I basically knew the background on this movie very well due to watching a lot of specials on TV about the theories brought out in the movie itself. Love Tom Hanks. Always have. And Miss Audrey wasn't shabby herself. Paul Bettany was great in the movie too. Hope he really didn't have to beat himself.

5. CASINO ROYALE - I regret every poor thing I said about Daniel Craig. I was just so distraught because Pierce Brosnan was the Bond I knew the best and here's this blonde fellow taking his place. I was so wrong. The movie was great from top to bottom although there was a bit of a lag towards the end. Otherwise - brilliant.

4. V FOR VENDETTA - I'm not that big of a Natalie Portman fan, but this was her best movie of those I've seen. The film was wonderful at making you feel torn between looking down on 'V' as a terrorist but also falling in love with him. I could watch it again and again.

3. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MANS CHEST - I am and will always be madly in love with Captain Jack Sparrow. I have not been so in love with a fictional character since Wesley in The Princess Bride. They could make an 8 hour long movie of this and I would watch it. I'm pitiful, I know.

2. LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN - I didn't go to the theatres to see this although I wanted to. I ended up renting it and loved it. Josh Hartnett was perfectly cast. I love clever movies so this one really hit the spot.

And...... *drumroll*

1. HARD CANDY - Hard Candy may be one of my favorite movies ever. No its not because of the castration scene, or, at least why you would think a woman would enjoy that scene. The girl was psycho. Completely psycho. And it was so entertaining. Ellen Page deserves an Oscar for that movie.

Tom Foolery

Man those editors at The Amazing Race really had me. Of course I realized this shortly into the finale when Rob and Kimberly basically proclaimed they were going to win. I knew at that moment they would not. And I had been pretty sure for a while that the girls would not win. So imagine my delight when I realized that indeed my favorite team - Tyler and James were the winners. My favorites never win so it just made my day.

I decided in the end that I definitely didn't want Rob and Kim to win. This is because several times in the past (i.e. Flo & Zach and Freddy & Kendra) bickering couples have won the Race. I mainly dislike this because it doesn't seem fair that a team who fights more than they concentrate on the "game" ends up beating out those who it seems to mean more to. I think R & K are really nice people, but I just am glad they didn't win.

I wouldn't have minded if Lyn and Karlyn won, but I still like Tyler and James more. I'm happy for them.

Now I get to look forward to 2 things. American Idol. Amazing Race All Stars.