Little Children is a somewhat misleading name for a movie that doesn’t have much to do with children or anyone physically small. While a couple of kids are in this movie, they are non-descript and serve as props more than anything else. The leads are all middle-aged adults, though their undisciplined and erratic behavior suggests they are anything but. The protagonists act as entitled brats, while the antagonists are fundamentally flawed. It becomes apparent that we are on a collision course between all involved in a film whose setting is present-day New England, but that very well could be in any town in America.
Category Archives: Top 10 Movie of 2006
Babel (2006)
More than a decade before earning back-to-back Best Director Oscars (Birdman, The Revenant), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu directed a series of unrelated hyperlink films. The idea behind hyperlink movies is that you have a movie that tells completely different stories in completely different settings but connected or influenced in ways unknown to the characters (and for periods of time the audience as well). These films started gaining popularity with the success of Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic in the year 2000. When done correctly, hyperlink films can be incredibly memorable. Traffic won four Academy Awards and was a favorite for Best Picture in 2000. Four years later, Crash maxed out on the hyperlinked film method, earning six Oscar nominations and taking home three awards, including Best Picture. Inarritu’s first hyperlink (and first feature-length) film, Amores Perros, wasn’t really marketed and was missed by many. While receiving high marks from critics, it earned less than $5 million at the box office and hasn’t been a movie that many people have gone back and seen, despite the success of his two Oscar-winning movies. I did actually watch Amores Perros after it was recommended by a friend and did not love it. Inarritu’s second endeavor, 21 Grams, was loaded with Hollywood A-listers (Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Melissa Leo, Benicio Del Toro). It also resonated with critics (80%) and audiences (86%) but earned just $16 million domestically. I also saw 21 Grams and found it to be incredibly boring. His third movie, 2007’s Babel, is easily his best hyperlink movie and, in my opinion, his second-best overall (behind The Revenant, which just happens to be my favorite movie of all time). While just 69% of critics gave it a favorable rating (77% audience), it earned seven Academy Award nominations (winning one), including Best Picture and Best Director. For those who see this movie and don’t like it because of its pace or its length (or for whatever other reason), I won’t try to talk you out of it. It’s certainly not for everyone. And while the overall story and the arching angle wasn’t the most complex or even the most interesting, the acting was absolutely top-notch, with some of the biggest Hollywood heavyweights bringing their A-game while unknown actors taking center stage and making a name for themselves.
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The Painted Veil (2006)
I will mark The Painted Veil as the best movie I may have *never* seen. A friend and I talked about how much we each love (500 Days) of Summer, and she said I needed to see The Painted Veil, her second favorite movie. She and I have very similar tastes in pop culture, so I told her I would give it a chance. I remember seeing the preview back in 2006 and thinking it was just another typical romantic period piece that I would probably find boring. I was more than pleasantly surprised. This movie was incredible, and I’m so grateful my friend and I had the conversation we had, and she encouraged me to see it.
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Half Nelson (2006)
Ryan Gosling is quickly earning a reputation for playing characters with seemingly good hearts, but with deep flaws that prohibit his characters from achieving greatness. Whether it be his quick Ryan Gosling is quickly earning a reputation for playing characters with seemingly good hearts but with deep flaws that prohibit these characters from achieving greatness. Whether it be his quick temper, drinking, or lack of ambition in Blue Valentine, his unbelievably extreme case of social anxiety in Lars and the Real Girl, or his much too overly confident posture in Fracture, Gosling plays characters that you root for at one moment and sympathize with the next. At the same time, you are trying to figure out how he gets so entrenched in each of his roles. If you have not seen any of the movies mentioned above, do so. You’ll be in for a treat. If you want to see his best performance to date, check out Ryan Fleck’s (Sugar, It’s Kind of a Funny Story) highly under-appreciated Half Nelson. Now, I say highly under-appreciated loosely. Half Nelson has received a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes but only $2.6 million at the box office, a somewhat disappointing number.