Top 10 reasons why 2006 was a better year for movies...

I’m not saying this year is bad, because it truly isn’t, but right now, the lack of Oscar contenders (heck, even 5 star movies), great performances, memorable scenes, great twists and surprising buzz is really boring me. Here are my Top 10 reasons why 2006 was a better year for movies…

1. “The Departed”
- Must I say more? This movie was amazing, fantastic, overwhelming, witty, fast-paced and totally deserved the Best Picture win. Bravo!

2. The wide variety of amazing movies
- Who could complain about last years really, really good variety of films. We had criminals chasing each other, soul singers chasing their dreams, a diamond smuggler looking for something very delicate, a lesbian teacher tormenting the woman she has a “crush” on, a teenage queen swept off her feet with power, brother-sister war films, dysfunctional families, evil bosses. How wonderful! This year? We’ve seen it all before…

3. Martin Scorsese finally wins the Oscar!
- We were all waiting. Even the people who weren’t his fans. Thank goodness.

4. They get Best Actor and Best Actress right
-Wow, they actually gave the Oscars to the two who really deserved it: Forest Whitaker for “The Last King of Scotland” and Helen Mirren for “The Queen”. I don’t know what I’m going to do if they even nominated Angelina for “Mighty Heart” and NOT Amy Adams for “Enchanted”. Rebellion!

5. The Oscar race was very, very interesting
-We had an unpredictable Best Picture category, we were eagerly waiting if the statuses of all “frontrunners” would remain there on Oscar night (everyone did except Murphy who lost to Arkin), we go plenty of surprise attacks (“Little Miss Sunshine” and “Letters from Iwo Jima”), the Oscars weren’t listening to anyone and the show was fantastic! Unlike this years dragging race…uh….

6. Films looked absolutely amazing!
-One thing I noticed about last years films is that they (like the actors, art direction, set decoration, costumes, cinematography etc.) looked fantastic! Total eye candy! Remember “Dreamgirls” and the Motown sets and costumes, “Letters from Iwo Jima” and their dusty-grainy beautiful war-torn time, “The Prestige” and the old English magic and suits, “Children of Men” and the lighting of the future, “The Painted Veil” and the 1920’s old China styling, “Marie Antoinette” and the bright palaces and gowns? They were really beautiful.

7. We actually get some pretty good comedies
-Finally, we get some really funny, decent, none-3-stars type of comedies. Like: “Little Miss Sunshine,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “The Holiday,” “Borat,” “Running with Scissors,” “Thank You for Smoking,” “She’s the Man,” and “Click”.

8. The Academy didn’t listen to what the critics and other award shows said
-One of the many rare times where we don’t have the same Best Picture as the Golden Globes (choosing “Babel” was disgusting btw). It’s great to see that the Academy didn’t follow the crowds and voted/nominated their own winners. Examples: “The Departed” won Best Picture, “Dreamgirls” wasn’t nominated for Best Picture, Eddie Murphy looses, “Marie Antoinette” wins Costume Design. Some I really disagree with, but at least we now know that the Academy has a mind of their own.

9. Best Actress was ALMOST perfect
-This years Best Actress race was really perfect. We get a brilliant winner which is Helen Mirren for “The Queen”. The rest of the nominees were spectacular: Kate Winslet (“Little Children”), Judi Dench (“Notes on a Scandal”), Penelope Cruz (“Volver”) and Meryl Streep (“The Devil Wears Prada”). To tell you the truth, I’m fine with this lineup, but I’d trade Streep with Annette Bening for her wonderful work in “Running with Scissors”. At least it was almost perfect (unlike this year’s rather weak/annoying race).

10. NOT MUCH POLITICS
-If there is something in the world of movies that bore me more, is films (actually, more of rants) about politics. Yada, yada, yada, politics this and that, wow what a bore. I mean, not all political films are bad (like the “The Constant Gardner”), but we definitely have had enough. Thank god the only major one that they made in 2006 (“Blood Diamond”) wasn’t boring. I mean, I would have killed myself if we have another “George-wins-for-Syriana” repeat…and this year is so damn preachy and political (“Michael Clayton,” “Rendition,” “Lions for Lambs”).

Don’t get me wrong guys, the year hasn’t ended and the Oscar race isn’t truly final, but at this point, 2007 has been a truly, total BORE.