Sledge's 2006 Top Ten List

If you have come here from the Reeler piece, please note the mistakes made in their comments regarding this post. For one thing, they seem to believe that Sledge, who did indeed write the below top 10 list, is me, Brendon Connelly. He is not. This blog is mine, but the list below belongs to Sledge. I make it very clear in my edits - in this colour of text, whereas Sledge's are in blue, as always - that Sledge's opinions do not match my own, but who am I to censor Sledge? He helps out around here, he contributes in all manner of ways, and I asked him to give his top 10. And I respect his choices.

If you do know the author of the Reeler piece - or indeed are yourself the author - then please note the following: Sledge is from Wales and he is not Brendon Connelly; My (Brendon Connelly's) Top 10 is still coming in the next couple of days; and that née is the feminine form of the French word for born, where né, the masculine form, is what would have been called for - so sic yourself.

Now - on to my previous edits, then Sledge's own, personal choice of 10 films he enjoyed most of all this year, and his own, personal reasons for enjoying them. I'm pleased that he shared them. Let he who is without his own unfashionable tastes or honest reasons throw the first stone...

[EDIT: This is the first of the top tens from film ick's writers for the year 2006. We'll all be chipping in with our own over the coming days, and you are specifically invited to leave your own in the comments section]

Well, we come to that time of year where we reminisce about the good, the bad and the ugly films we've seen over the last twelve months. Everyone has an opinion of the top 10 films of the year and you've probably made your own list. It's wrong. My list is the one worth reading.

Here are the films of 2006 in a particular order, that order being from the best film to the tenth best...

Little Miss Sunshine
This is a lovely off-beat film which took me by surprise as I didn't know what to expect as I sat in my cinema seat. It's a little dark, edgy, lighthearted and dysfunctional. The performances from the ensemble cast are excellent (especially Alan Arkin) and the characters they play are likable all the way through. I hope to high heaven this'll clean up come awards night.

Borat : Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan
We all know about Borat. In this we see him taken out of his TV world and placed in a simple road trip movie. It is one of the funniest films I've seen in ages. It near enough offends everyone and it's not the easiest film to watch. The image of the naked fight with his obese producer will never leave me, but I was laughing too hard to care.

Children Of Men
This film scared me the most as it paints a pretty grim (and realistic) picture of a world where all humans are infertile and the youngest person on earth has just died. London has never looked so grim. People are on about Alfonso Cuarón being the next Kubrick. I dunno about that, but film is very, very good indeed.

Snakes On A Plane
Samuel L. Jackson drops f-bombs and shoots airplane windows all over the place in this big budget B-flick which is basically about...well, you know. This fun and pointless film has it all. Stereotyped supporting cast. Masses of internet hype. Samuel L. Jackson. And snakes. What more do you need ?

[EDIT: A plane?]

The Departed
Scorsese won't get his Oscar for this but I enjoyed this Internal Affairs remake because it's in your face, surprising and suspenseful. It could have done with shaving off about twenty mintues, but this movie shows that Martin Scorsese is back to his best.

Dave Chapelle's Block Party
US comic Dave Chappelle presents a Brooklyn neighbourhood with it's own free party. It stars Kanye West, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and The Fugees who are reunited for their first performance in over seven years. A truly inspiring film. It shows the good hip-hop can produce.

Monster House
The dark and demented animation has slight Tim Burton influences. and it's funny and pretty scary. I think there's too many computer animated features nowadays but Monster House is one of the good ones. It's slick, clever, funny and occasionally thrilling. A serious contender for an Oscar nomination.

Brick
Rian Johnson's directorial debut is witty and it's meshes the boring, over populated high school plot with film noir. Brick shows me that Johnson maybe a director to watch in the future. The film was a little odd in places which I like. It's this year's Donnie Darko.

A Cock And Bull Story
I'm a huge fan of both Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, so I was very excited in seeing this. A Cock And Bull Story is an adaptation of a book which is unadaptable. It's very funny to see both the leads fighting each other for attention.

Zidane : A 21st Century Portrait
This film is a work of art. For 92 minutes we watch the second best player in the world (Stevie G being the first) playing an entire game against Villareal. We see him, and no one else. Genius, and music is provided by Mogwai, a band who I love.

There you go. The list. You know I'm right.

[EDIT: You can't possibly be, because I am. And because you included The Departed and A Cock and Bull Story]