Dan Owen reviews

DAN'S   MOVIE   DIGEST

2 0 0 6   R e t r o s p e c t i v e

P a r t   O n e

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JANUARY

As we head into a brand new year of films, let's take a look at some of the most prominent and interesting releases of 2006, in the annual DMD retrospective look. As usual there were plenty of sequels and some remakes along the way, although 2006 is perhaps most notable for having a huge number of CGI cartoons. However, studios should take note that quantity did not equal quality, with even Pixar coming under fire from some critics.
The year began with Sam Mendes' excellent Jarhead, cementing Jake Gyllenhaal as a movie star of some clout following his Donnie Darko debut and awards for Brokeback Mountain.
Awards were something US rapper 50 Cent could only dream of after his biopic Get Rich Of Die Tryin', an attempt to emulate Eminem's success with 8 Mile. What he didn't comprehend is that Eminem has some acting talent (only some, mind) and director Curtis Hanson, whereas "Fiddy" is content to mumble through a trashy rags-to-riches tale.
The first of many sequels arrived with Underworld: Evolution, an unexpected return for Kate Beckinsale in an overblown movie that provides enough no-brain entertainment and fury to justify itself. Mind you, if director (and husband) Len Wiseman ever suggests a Part III, don't be so quick to slip into the cat-suit, eh Kate?
It was left to Steven Spielberg to provide some real class in New Year with Munich, a brilliant true story about the 1974 Olympic games that saw the director, post-War Of The World, return to more serious themes.

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FEBRUARY
An unofficial sequel to Jumanji arrived with Zathura, a decent sci-fi adventure that didn't really connect with audiences. Somebody was obviously impressed with Jon Favreau's first foray into special-effects, though, as he's now the guy behind summer 2008 tent-pole Iron Man.
Audiences were more forgiving to Chicken Little, the first of many (too many) CGI animations this past year. Little did big business, but also attracted critical disdain from people overfed on computer animations with little emphasis on characters and story.
Final Destination 3 continues to slaughter teens in protracted circumstances, never really bettering either predecessor despite coming from the creative minds that started the ball rolling with the first instalment.
Charlize Theron starred in a post-Oscar turkey with Aeon Flux � an overblown 1984-alike with a music-video attention span. Does Theron share the same agent as Halle Berry? Philip Seymour Hoffman showed how best to juggle serious and fun movies, starring in Oscar-magnet Capote and May's Mission Impossible III.
Meanwhile, Tom Welling (TV's Superman) had a notable miss with the poor remake of John Carpenter's spooky classic The Fog.

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MARCH

The Hills Have Eyes provided the first real horror hit, an effective remake of Wes Craven's original that pleased most fans.
The horror genre was also played for laughs the same month with B-movie Slither, a black comedy alien invasion that proved popular, although didn't really branch out from its inbuilt cult crowd.
Steve Martin's decline continued with the loathsome Pink Panther remake, a critically-panned comedy that had Peter Sellers spinning in his grave.
V For Vendetta did the unthinkable and provided audiences with a half-decent Alan Moore adaptation, becoming one of the most intriguing mainstream movies of the year. Sharon Stone could only dream for such an accolade with her ill-advised sequel to Basic Instinct, meanwhile...

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APRIL

Ice Age 2 became a huge hit for animated sequels, helping to add to the glut of kid's films this year. It actually became the best-selling CGI cartoon of the year, even trumping Pixar's Cars.
TV presenters Ant and Dec also tried their hand at film with Alien Autopsy, an amiable comedy about two lads trying to remake a real extra-terrestrial autopsy tape they saw. The film wasn't bad, just undercooked, mostly surviving through Ant and Dec's dependable chemistry together.
Lindsay Lohan became more famous for her hedonism in 2006 than her film output, which is a shame because the star quality she showed in Freaky Friday and Mean Girls is fast dissipating as a result. One misjudged turkey she did release was Just My Luck, a trite comedy about luck that is most notable for co-starring McFly!
Cabin Fever's Eli Roth returned with another horror smash, the glib and torturous Hostel. There's no denying Roth has some talent with this kind of stuff, but Hostel wasn't anywhere near as gruelling and x-rated as it hyped. Still not for kids, though!
On the opposite side of the scary spectrum came Scary Movie 4, another unwanted sequel to the poor original. What makes this sadder is how much once-great talent is involved -� Leslie Nielsen and director David Zucker worked on Airplane together, so what went wrong guys?
United 93 caused a stir for being the first mainstream movie based on the events of September 11 2001. British director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy) took charge of an incredibly emotional and effective portrayal of United 93, the plane where the terrorists were apparently overpowered by the passengers. While many debated the sensitivity of the movie's release, most were satisfied that the movie didn't glorify the tragedy and deserved its release.