Club 50 Wrap-Up: 2006

Years Completed:
1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1995 | 1996 | 1998 | 1999 | 2001 
2002 | 2003 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

I briefly considered changing the parameters of this project to the top 80 each year instead of the top 50 so I could find an excuse to bring up Stranger Than Fiction and how much I love that movie. I settled for this unneeded first paragraph instead. Go see Stranger Than Fiction. Only tell me about it if you loved it.

I don't know if it's my age at the time, or maybe just a weird chasm in my movie preferences, but that period between 2003 and 2007 has always felt like an odd fallow period in movie industry. The late 90's and early 00's had the return of Star Wars, the beginning of The Matrix, Shrek, Marvel's rise, and Pirates of the Caribbean, not to mention the Lord of the Rings as the through line. 2007 sort of marks the beginning of the current age of sequels, with so many trilogies wrapping up, Transformers just getting started, Apatow productions really taking over in comedy, and Disney showing signs of creative vigor again in Enchanted and Meet the Robinsons.

2004-06 weren't as sexy. 2006 in particular. Superman Returned with a real dud. Dead Man's Chest and X-Men: The Last Stand didn't follow through on the promise of their previous installments. Cars is still an oddity in the Pixar catalog. Night at the Museum was the second highest grossing movie of the year (Sit with that for a minute). With Tokyo Drift, the Fast and Furious producers didn't know where they were going with the franchise. Was Eragon anything more than a watered down Lord of the Rings? Is "Will Ferrell as crazy character X" really a renewable resource? I could pick at any year to some extent. But 2006 is from a series of years where there didn't seem to be a direction for anything. You could wipe away all the movies from #26-50 and only miss maybe one of them (for me, V for Vendetta).

Or maybe the movies that people saw just weren't that good. It's hard to say.

The Oscars that year (and really several years before that) certainly reflect disinterest. Only one of the five Best Picture nominees (eventual winner The Departed) made the top 50 in the box office. That's a low mark over the last 30 years.

The sequel load was pretty standard for the year. There were nearly as many movies that were sequels (13) or remakes (3) as there have been sequels (17) or reboots (1) made since of movies from that year.

To wind down each year as I complete them, I'm going to hand out a few superlatives or anecdotal awards to highlight some of the highs and lows of the year's top 50 box office earners.

First Seen: The Pink Panther (2006)

For some reason, this was something that my entirely family decided to see. Maybe it was a love of Steve Martin. Maybe we were curious to see if Beyonce had range beyond Foxy Cleopatra. Maybe we had to be sure the movie wasn't 90 minutes of Martin saying "am-bur-ger" in funny ways. I don't know.

Last Seen: Open Season

Still better than Barnyard.

Happiest Surprise: V for Vendetta

There really weren't any good surprises in this group. I was prepared for all the ones that ended up being pretty good. I was afraid at the time that V wouldn't be as cool as the previews made it look. I'm told that it's toned down from the source material. What's there is pretty good though. I still don't know how I feel about bald Natalie Portman.

Biggest Disappointment: Bryan Singer

I'm crediting him for two movies that disappointed in 2006. You know, he was killing it with his work on the first two X-Men movies. Then he left them to make Superman Returns. That wasn't very good. The X-Men movie they made without him - The Last Stand - also disappointing.His fault, twice.

Looked Better Then: Rocky Balboa

Before 2015, we thought this was going to have to suffice as the redeeming Rocky movie.

Looks Better Now: The Departed

There was a lot of backlash at the time about this being an undeserved win and a make-up call for Scorsese. While the latter part may be true, what was lost for years is that this is a damn good movie.

Favorite: The Departed

It's looking like this will go down as Jack Nicholson's last great role and the movie that allows me to say "Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg" for the rest of my life.

2nd Favorite: V for Vendetta

Wait, the Wachowski's didn't direct this?

3rd Favorite: The Devil Wears Prada

There's something special about an actress making a great performance. Sure, Sophie's Choice is going to get an Oscar nomination. Miranda Priestly isn't an Oscar performance on the page. That's what makes Streep in this or Johnny Depp in the first Pirates or Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids so impressive. That Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt - two of my other favorite working actresses - are both in it is somehow almost beside the point.

Honorable Mention:

Casino Royale

What a comeback from the dismal Die Another Day.

The Pursuit of Happyness

If you honestly think that Will Smith isn't a talented actor, you need to take a seat.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Not my favorite Will Ferrell movie of the year, but it's the best one that made money.

Least Favorite: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

2006 is overflowing with bad movies. I'm yet to encounter a Tyler Petty movie that I actually enjoy. The Scary Movie franchise has long been one of my least favorite things. I hated Eragon as a book and the movie matched the quality. Miami Vice was a stylish mess. Barnyard and Happy Feet are two of my least favorite animated features in years. This was Borat's to lose though, because it's the only movie that actually angered me. I just hate that kind of comedy. I don't see the skill in getting laughs from people who aren't in on the joke. This is an awful movie.