The Chris Moeller Archives

The 10th Annual Chris Moeller Film Awards

The trees, so eager to break free from their dormancy during the height of Oscar season last year, now drink the last drops of their chlorophyll for the season and threaten to turn their leaves to flames of vibrant color. I pray that it cannot yet be too late to reflect upon the Year in Film 2006.

The studios didn't send any tapes again this year and so I shelled out time and time again at Blockbuster and at the window of my favorite neighborhood cinematheque to catch the features that seemed to have caught the fancy of the culture at large. Friends graciously shared from their highly-individualized Netflix queues, though I can't remember a single one of them paying my way into the movie house.

I've given up on trying to summarize the year in film as a whole. It simply can't be done. There's just simply not a conspiracy of consciousness in the film community beyond the executives' attempts to sucker us into dark make-out rooms with their well-financed franchise flicks and adaptations of their predecessors' successes. Instead, I'll just coronate the winners, as I do each year, while laying waste to the losers, and if a couple of you Elizabeth Hasslebeck types out there get offended, then so be it...


CMFA Top 5 2006

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Larry Charles, dir

Children of Men
Alfonso Cuaron, dir

Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro, dir

Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby
Adam McKay, dir

And the 2006 Best Picture/Director:
Half Nelson
Ryan Fleck, dir

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Best Actress
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal

Best Actor
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson

Best Supporting Actress
Shareeka Epps, Half Nelson

Best Supporting Actor
Michael Caine, Children of Men

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Children of Men

Best Original Screenplay
Pedro Almodovar, Volver


Thus begins my official advocation for the little-seen gem, "Half Nelson." Gosling is a revelation as an inner-city school teacher trying to steer a vulnerable young student away from negative influences even as his own drug addiction threatens to undo his effort. It sounds like a cliche, because it is, but "Half Nelson" is uncompromising. Epps, in her debut performance as said student, is completely restrained, as affecting as any child actor in recent years. Her snub for a Teen Choice nomination this summer stupefies.

You all know and already love that fabulously improvised comedy explosion, "Borat," but I hope you'll also consider-- or perhaps re-consider-- Sacha Baron Cohen's other great film of '06, "Talladega Nights". "Pan's Labyrinth" was a visual delight, a bedtime story of both fright and wonder that blends to perfection reality and fable; "Notes on a Scandal," a suspenseful delight with Dench and past CMFA winner, Cate Blanchett, as sparring partners; and "Volver" gets a nod for Almodovar's script. No writer or director in America can match Spain's Almodovar in consistently delivering fully-formed female characters to the big screen. "Children of Men" was just a fascinating concept, riveting in its execution.

Other 2006 viewings and musings, a la Perez Hilton:

I missed the point of "Thank You For Smoking."

"Friends With Money" was a rather tedious follow-up to director Nicole Holofcener's brilliant "Lovely and Amazing" (2002 CMFA Best Picture/Director).

"An Inconvenient Truth" was, and will continue to be, sadly, much ado about nothing, both in film and in the culture.

One of my favorite Saturday afternoons of the year was spent at a screening of "A Prairie Home Companion." (When did this post turn into a Larry King newspaper column?)

The trophy for most-overpraised movie of the year, awarded in recent years to such stinkbombs as "Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby," goes to "Little Miss Sunshine," a schlocky road picture about a dysfunctional family that contained a nonsensical, curdled ending, and that was ultimately as rickety as the vehicle at the center of its narrative. There's absolutely nothing new in these people, and once again, Mom's role is an afterthought. "Self-absorbed," "suicidal," and "crotchety-but-lovable" are all character traits played more richly on the comedies and dramas of your favorite premium cable channel.

With nary an Almodovar in sight, and plenty of films like "The Black Dahlia," is it any wonder we race to spill the blood of our enemies all over the world?

Oh, how I loved "Idlewild," despite its uneven direction. The OutKast musical was the last film cut from the Top 5. The visuals were imaginative and completely unexpected. The music and dance numbers were possibly the best to come out of Hollywood in over half a century.

"The Notorious Bettie Page" was sexy and strangely sweet. Cable movies do too count!

You can keep "The Departed," except for the scene in which Nicholson snorts like a pig. I got the sense we were supposed to have forgotten about Mark Wahlberg's character by the end of the feature, but I could see that payoff coming right down Broadway. Scorsese should take his Oscar to an engraver, and have him carve in the words "Taxi Driver."

I liked "United 93" for everything it wasn't. It was respectful, frightening, and honest, without a whiff of either sensationalism or pretention.

I often go in for dry, but Christopher Guest's films are just too pedestrian and middlebrow to hit their targets of satire with any strength. "For Your Consideration" was no different. Give me a Ricky Bobby running on the racetrack in his underwear any day of the week. Will Ferrell leaves it all on the field of play, sometimes quite literally.

Dixie Chicks rock! Check out "Shut Up and Sing" at your local Blockbuster, and tell country music radio where to shove it.

"Babel" was too "Crash"-like for my taste. Time to simplify, Hollywood screenwriters. How about a return to honest, linear storytelling? This trend of impossibly-intersecting plotlines reeks of effort.

"Stranger than Fiction" works much better. I can have a little fun at the movies trying to wrap my brain around one central conceit. This one's in the tradition of "Groundhog Day" and "Being John Malkovich." Not quite to their level, but I'm sure you'll agree that's high praise.

I would have probably liked "Marie Antoinette" better if I understood the point of punk music.

I think I do understand lesbians. Imagine yourself renting "Imagine Me & You." (Oh no, Larry King is back!)

"The Illusionist" was just on in the background when I was staying at Rob's. (Not the whole time, just a portion of one evening.) That flick probably deserves a do-over.

This is harsh, but I just didn't care about any of the "Dreamgirls." What's left to grab hold of after that?

"The Last King of Scotland" is worth a look. Do not piss off Idi Amin.

I learned a lot about the circumstances surrounding Princess Diana's death and memorial in "The Queen." Media overkill caused me to tune out completely in real time.

If you see one documentary this year starring an evangelical leader later revealed to be a hypocrite and fraud, make it "Jesus Camp," starring the Reverend Ted Haggard in his pre-disgrace days, relatively speaking. Next year, hope for lightening in a bottle again with Senator Larry Craig.

Until then, the balcony is closed. I'm sure your parents will be here soon to pick you up. Please wait out on the sidewalk while we clean up.

posted by CM @ 5:44 PM