Publication Date: Friday, January 6, 2006

Reel world
The Weekly critics spotlight the best and worst movies of 2006

by Rebecca Wallace

Movies may sometimes be an escape from the everyday, but real-world drama proved particularly compelling on the big screen in 2006.

When choosing their Top Ten movies of the year, all the Weekly's film critics -- Jeanne Aufmuth, Tyler Hanley and Susan Tavernetti -- singled out two films based on real events. In "United 93," a group of no-name actors became airline passenger heroes on 9/11. In "The Queen," Helen Mirren's performance as Queen Elizabeth II proved as mesmerizing as the real royal's struggles after Princess Diana's death.

The third movie that made it on all three Top Ten lists, "Babel," was a web of storylines, the characters woven together by one stray bullet. The storylines may have been fictional, but the film was packed with very real -- and weighty -- topics. In her write-up, Tavernetti listed off several: cultural imperialism, globalization, violence, immigration and isolation.

"'Babel' allows viewers to linger and fill in the blanks, thinking, talking and arguing," she said.

In this issue, the Weekly three also tick off their Worst Five films from 2006, a list of the best film heroes and villains from 2006, and a rundown of the year's most memorable documentaries.