Five by Five:
The Essential Films and Albums of 2006
By Douglas Hickey
February 2007
Five Essential Films
Casino Royale – Who cares what color his hair is? Thanks to a killer screen play by Paul Haggis and a much needed infusion of new blood, the latest James Bond flick kicks ass! Eva Green’s smart new take on the signature Bond girl role is a breath of fresh air, but really this is Daniel Craig’s picture to carry, a mission he accomplishes with swagger and ease. And that opening chase sequence…well, if you haven’t already seen it, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Without a doubt, Casino Royale is the most fun I had at the movies all year.
Children of Men – Having conquered G-rated family fare, unrated art-house erotica, and Harry Potter, Cuaron tries his hand at speculative dystopianism and walks away with the most visually stunning picture of the year. Some might argue that Children falls prey to a constrictive topicality, but in fact the film’s nightmarish mash-up of post 9-11 psychosexual angst and xenophobia with the “reluctant action-hero” mythos yields a cinematic experience that transcends contemporary politics and taps into the fundamental hopes and fears of humanity.
The Departed – In the hands of a lesser director, this might have been a tedious and unnecessary remake of the Hong Kong breakout hit Infernal Affairs. Instead, it’s Martin Scorsese’s best film since Goodfellas. At 149 minutes, The Departed is 2 ½ hours of cinematic crack cocaine with more twists than a dancehall full of jitterbugs, and it witnesses a long overdue changing of the guard among Hollywood’s elite male performers as seasoned veterans Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin surrender the floor to up-and-comers Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Mark Wahlberg.
Pan's Labyrinth – In his latest film and first true masterpiece, Mexican horrormeister and auteur Guillermo Del Toro has crafted a sublimely violent fantasy and a heartbreakingly romantic fairy tale. Pan’s Labyrinth, which follows a young girl negotiating the porous boundary between the fantastic terrors of her childhood and the monstrous realities of adult life in Franco Spain, is the only genuinely terrifying film I’ve seen all year. There are images here that will keep you up nights.
A Prairie Home Companion – Watching Robert Altman’s final film, I can’t help but wonder if subconsciously the iconoclastic director knew this charmingly accessible picture would be his last. Intentionally or not, A Prairie Home Companion serves admirably as Altman’s swan song. It’s an elegiac meditation on show-business and death and the end of an era. That’s a lot for any film to carry, but Companion never gets weighed down, thanks to Altman’s generous spirit and readiness to laugh in the face of tragedy.
Five Essential Albums
Boys and Girls in America by The Hold Steady – Classic rock or punk rock? In this brilliant follow-up to 2005’s Separation Sunday, front-man Craig Finn sends up another dozen songs about Hallelujah, Charlemagne, and their merry band of strung-out miscreants to the sounds of dueling guitar/organ solos and Finn’s signature vocals. Lyrically, the album is as attuned to the emotional center of its protagonists as any of Finn’s previous efforts: “She was golden with floorlight and beer / On that first night, she slept like she’d never been scared.” Musically, it’s the Hold Steady’s most joyful album to date.
Fishscale by Ghostface Killah – The first of two 2006 releases from former Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ghostface Killah, Fishscale is a jaw-dropping assemblage of ghetto and noir tropes, replete with drugs, sex, corruption, and violence…which is to say, it’s a helluva good time. Ghostface throws off ridiculously improbable rhymes, “Kangol hat slanted coconut bounce to Morocco / Guerilla medallions like Flavor Flav clock yo,” with so much panache and gusto that you’d have to be my mom not to enjoy it.
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case – More Patsy Cline than New Pornographers, Neko Case’s latest alt. country solo effort might display occasional bursts of intimacy, “You’re gone / The trees are so quiet / When your hand was in my pocket / How they swayed from side to side,” but really this is about showcasing Neko’s siren vocals. And what vocals they are! Case’s voice travels across octaves with so little effort and affectation that you’ll be tempted to sing along—a fool’s errand I would strongly discourage for anyone who hasn’t had professional voice coaching.
Return to Cookie Mountain by TV On the Radio – Imagine that Prince, David Bowie, Brian Wilson, and Thom Yorke formed a super group. Now imagine that they made it work. Return to Cookie Mountain is undoubtedly the artistic achievement of the year in popular music. And if tracks like “Playhouses” are so virtuosic they leave you feeling exhausted afterward, others like “Wolf Like Me” are so exuberant they make you wonder if you’ll ever bother taking your stereo off repeat.
St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley – When Cee-Lo questioned his own sanity, “I remember when I lost my mind,” America was happy to reciprocate. Now, less than a year later “Crazy” has been covered by everyone from Billy Idol to Charlotte Church, from Cat Power to Paris Hilton. I suppose you could blame the Gnarls Barkley phenomenon on Clear Channel, but then you’d just be a jerk. The truth is that anything DJ Danger Mouse touches turns to gold. St. Elsewhere is no exception, so be happy you can own “Crash” as one great track among many on an album that sports the hit-single of the decade and contains absolutely no filler.
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