Average Matt's Five Best Movies of 2006

Hehehehe. Why not? Especially since I only saw about 10 movies in 2006. So, the list shouldn't be too difficult to put together. :-)


1. Over the Hedge
2. Cars

I may ultimately change the order of these two. I just watched the Cars DVD and thought the movie was so much better than when I saw it in the theater (on a day when I wasn't feeling too well). I haven't seen Over the Hedge on DVD yet, but loved it when we saw it at the theater.

So I'll give OTH the nod for now, based largely on one scene: It happens near the beginning of the movie, when the main character RJ (the raccoon) is showing the other animals all about humans, and he goes off on an awesome speech -- with great animation to match -- about Americans and food, and how we love food and our lives revolve around food. Very funny and a pretty effective jab at the culture, too. Maybe the smartest bit of adult humor I've seen in a kids' movie.

3. King Kong (2005 version; I didn't see it until this year)

The movie-making was excellent. Loved the opening scenes and how they seemed to really capture that era perfectly -- the vaudeville, the Great Depression, etc. Very cool. The island scenes were great -- more cool special effects -- and the aborigines were utterly frightening. Yikes!!! The blond chick is a babe, it had the guy from the TV show Homefront that I like (as an actor), and I eventually came to accept Jack Black as an eccentric, visionary filmmaker. The movie as a whole was really good, but ...

It was just a bit too unbelievable at times... like how on earth does a group of 10-20 humans race down a thin valley with a half-dozen Brontosauruses and another half-dozen Velociraptors, and survive?? No way. They should've all died. Please.

Most of all -- do you have to be a kid to believe it's possible for a beautiful blond to fall for a 100-foot tall gorilla? I think you do. That part of the movie just wasn't believable, and so the stuff at the end when she's climbing up to be with him as he fights the planes -- that all seemed too contrived to me. I don't think Peter Jackson did a good enough job selling that relationship.

4. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

This was funny in a stupid way, like some of the movies I remember liking in my teens. And I'm sure it was made much better because I saw it immediately after watching that Woody Allen tripe that not even Scarlett Johansson could rescue.

5. The Wild

I told you I watch a lot of animated movies, didn't I? This was good, but not great like Nos. 1 and 2 on this list. It had some really funny moments and a pretty nice story, but nothing exceptional overall.

So ... what were YOUR top five movies of 2006?