2006

Okay, so this is what I consider to be a slow, very slow, movie-going year. Most of these being seen second-run I didn't review them here (and as I said, some of them are retro screenings as well), especially since I've been so lax about keeping the postings current. But some of them I loved, some I hated, most were somewhere in between. This is the entirety of what I saw in movie theatres during calendar year 2006.

JANUARY... 8
1. Just Friends
2. Rent
3. The Family Stone
4. Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World
5. The World's Fastest Indian
6. Bubble
7. Aeon Flux
8. Grizzly Man
FEBRUARY... 6
9. When A Stranger Calls
10. Pride And Prejudice
11. The Three Burials Of Melquidas Estrada
12. Cache
13. Date Movie
14. Why We Fight
MARCH... 10
15. Gilaneh
16. Hustle And Flow
17. Tristram Shandy
18. One Night
19. Mary Ryan, Detective
20. Tsotsi
21. The Locket
22. Last Holiday
23. Underworld: Evolution
24. Nanny McPhee
APRIL... 18 (MSPIFF Month)
25. Match Point
26. Hoodwinked
27. Find Me Guilty
28. Freedomland
29. Firewall
30. The Pink Panther
31. American Dreamz
32. Wah-Wah
33. John And Jane Toll Free
34. Shanghai Dreams
35. A World Without Thieves
36. The Hidden Blade
37. The Milk Woman
38. Street Fight
39. The Shutka Book Of Records
40. Love
41. My Dad Is 100 Years Old/Uso Justo/Ashaman (program of 3 shorts)
42. Thank You For Smoking
MAY... 15
43. Friends With Money
44. 16 Blocks
45. The Promise
46. Inside Man
47. Mrs. Henderson Presents
48. Failure To Launch
49. Slither
50. She's The Man
51. United 93
52. Lucky Number Slevin
53. The Da Vinci Code
54. Just My Luck
55. V For Vendetta
56. Mission: Impossible III
57. The Benchwarmers
JUNE... 10
58. X-Men: The Last Stand
59. The Sentinel
60. Hoot
61. The Break-Up
62. Over The Hedge
63. Ice Age: The Meltdown
64. Silent Hill
65. The Wild
66. Scary Movie 4
67. Akeelah And The Bee
JULY... 12
68. RV
69. The Road To Guantanamo
70. The Omen
71. Little Miss Sunshine
72. Poseidon
73. Sullivan's Travels
74. Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
75. Loverboy
76. Lady In The Water
77. Young Frankenstein
78. Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties
79. Nacho Libre
AUGUST... 12
80. Bringing Up Baby
81. The Night Listener
82. The Great New Wonderful
83. The Lake House
84. Adam's Rib
85. World Trade Center
86. Clerks II
87. Cars
88. A Prairie Home Companion
89. The Illusionist
90. Edmond
91. An Inconvenient Truth
SEPTEMBER... 16
92. Factotum
93. Trust The Man
94. You, Me And Dupree
95. Mini's First Time
96. Miami Vice
97. The Last Kiss
98. A Scanner Darkly
99. Three Times
100. Scoop
101. The New One-Armed Swordsman
102. The Boxer From Shantung
103. Al Franken: God Spoke
104. The Magic Blade
105. The Devil Wears Prada
106. The Jade Tiger
107. The Clans Of Intrigue
OCTOBER... 13
108. Superman Returns
109. Jesus Camp
110. The Departed
111. Idlewild
112. Alambrista!
113. Hester Street
114. The Grudge 2
115. My Young Auntie
116. Monster House
117. Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
118. Accepted
119. The Wicker Man
120. The Covenant
NOVEMBER... 10
121. Hollywoodland
122. The Black Dahlia
123. (Jet Li's) Fearless
124. The Fountain
125. Happy Feet
126. Man Of The Year
127. Flags Of Our Fathers
128. School For Scoundrels
129. Stranger Than Fiction
130. The Architect
DECEMBER... 11
131. Who Killed The Electric Car?
132. The Science Of Sleep
133. Flyboys
134. Flushed Away
135. The Holiday
136. A Good Year
137. The Prestige
138. Marie Antoinette
139. Dreamgirls
140. The Pursuit Of Happyness
141. Blood Diamond

Yes, that's what I call a slow year. I am truly a very sick individual.

Top Tens

Even though I've stated that I don't see much purpose in reviewing films I see second-run, I've still seen enough new releases (through free previews and such) since I last posted on this site back in the stone age to have filled a few more columns. And I do hope to get back to doing that soon (I also hope to bring permanent peace on earth and a cure for all diseases, but I suspect my chances are slightly better with the movie review thing... just slightly). In the meantime: a few years ago, I was one of several movie fanatics profiled in a Pioneer Press article called "Movie Addicts" where you learned that in calendar 2001 I saw a total of 391 movies, more than one for each day of the year. In 2006, I will have seen 141 films... down 250, and closer to one for every 2 1/2 days of the year. And that's including a certain amount of retro titles that can't be counted as 2006 releases. I wondered whether there was even a point to doing the usual top ten lists (one for commercial theatres and one for art houses), especially the art house list, since I've only been able to see a small fraction of 2006's local art house releases. But I figured that if there actually is anyone who still keeps coming to this site after all this time, eagerly anticipating not finding any new postings and breathing a huge sigh of relief at their narrow escape once again, well, I don't want them to get too complacent. Once in a while they should have to suffer a little, so they can appreciate the good things in life. Therefore, I present the Joe Bunce list of favorite films seen in commercial theatres and in art houses during 2006. If there's some really great movie you think should be on this list but isn't... it's entirely possible that I didn't see it.

COMMERCIAL THEATRES

10. The Prestige (Riverview)
9. Inside Man (Har Mar)
8. Flags Of Our Fathers (Riverview)
7. Akeelah And The Bee (Riverview)
6. Hollywoodland (Hopkins)
5. A Prairie Home Companion (Hopkins)
4. A Scanner Darkly (Riverview)
3. V For Vendetta (Roseville Four)
2. Thank You For Smoking (Southdale)
1. The Departed (Highland)

ART HOUSES

10. Street Fight (USA) (Mpls./St. Paul International
Film Festival, MSPIFF)
9. The Illusionist (USA) (Uptown)
8. Gilaneh (Iran) (Walker Art Center)
7. Cache (France) (Edina)
6. Jesus Camp (USA) (Lagoon)
5. An Inconvenient Truth (USA) (Lagoon)
4. The Great New Wonderful (USA) (Parkway)
3. The Shutka Book Of Records (Serbia) (MSPIFF)
2. Tristram Shandy (England) (Lagoon)
1. The Hidden Blade (Japan) (MSPIFF)

Watch this site for news about the exciting return of ongoing movie reviews to this very spot! After all, you'll want to know when to avoid it!

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