On the Weisman scale of 3 to 30, 30 being best...

Not "best." :)

The only movie on the list that I've seen is "Thank You For Not Smoking." I thought it had a lot of potential, but ultimately fell flat.

But does anyone remember the first film that got a "10" on the Franklin scale of "onetoten,tenbeingbest."

I liked "Little Children" a lot, but I didn't think "Letters from Iwo Jima" was anywhere near as good as advertised. It was good, but not good.

Nice list Jon, fun to read! I missed a few of the ones you had high on your list but hope to get to them soon (thanks to the fact that a lot of Oscar-nominated films are getting released to DVD now or soon).

My own list, if you're curious, is up here:
http://tinyurl.com/2b5f25

I thought Half Nelson was interesting and Gosling was amazing, though it was pretty downbeat and the story wasn't super engaging. Still thought it was well-done, though. Lots of really good movies this year, if few I would categorize as clearly "great."

Jon, can you please give some examples of movies that might rate a 7 in ambition. It seems that you are very strict in this category.

I was hoping to see a rating from you for Pan's Labyrinth, which is neck and neck with Little Miss Sunshine for my favorite film of 2006 (still have lots to see, hope to catch The Departed, and Babel before the Oscar broadcast). Using your scale, I would give Pan's a 5,8.5,11.5=25.0 rating.

Really? I thought Letters from Iwo Jima was pretty perfect myself, but maybe that was just compared to Flags of Fathers (which had some great parts, too, but was also narratively more of a mess than Iwo Jima). Still, as I said in my list, the best film I saw last year was 30 years old (but hadn't been released here in the States until then).

Pan's was terrific. That and Children of Men would have gone near the top of my list had I seen them before I had to make it.

I usually do a better job of seeing "everything," but this was an of year for me. Using Jon's and Craig's lists (that's underdog a.k.a. Craig Phillips, not Craig's List) to remind me what came out in 2006 I'd put Pan's Labrynth and the Queen at the top of my list, and I completely share Craig's opinion that the Queen shouldn't have been as entertaining or compelling as it was, credit to all involved with that film that I found it riviting and almost perfectly made.

Two other things:

1) I enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine, but I don't understand why it's getting so much "best (or favorite) of the year" recognition. It was a charming little disposible indie comedy. I've seen a million other's just like it. Alan Arkin and Steve Carrell were great, but otherwise there was nothing that distinguished this film from the rest of its kind.

2) Nothing I've seen or read about Dreamgirls, Blood Diamond, or the Pursuit of Happiness has made me want to see any of those three films. Can someone explain to me why (other than relenting to my wife) I should bother with these films, which look trite, cliched and, frankly, just plain bad based on the trailers (and not for nothing, but I'm usually a pretty good judge of films based on their trailers).

9 Oh, and Jennifer Conneley might have been enough reason to see Blood Diamond, but Leo DiCaprio and what sounds like an atrociously awful South African accent neutralize that entirely.

Thanks for that, Cliff, and glad to get your contributions, too! I totally agree about Sunshine - I was actually annoyed by how contrived the plotting was, though I have to admit I also laughed out loud a lot during it, and was caught up by the ending despite myself.

Haven't seen those three films, either, but wanted to see Happyness (sic) because of all the San Francisco locations and because a friend of mine has a small speaking part in it. (But those weren't reason enough to see it in the theater.) Dreamgirls seems like it has a good soundtrack and performances but doesn't really interest me as a story (and I remember thinking Chicago was totally overrated). I wonder why DiCaprio got a best actor nom for Blood Diamond instead of The Departed, in which I thought he was terrific.

Hey, accents aren't everything - Edward Norton had two bad accents this year, in The Illusionist and Painted Veil, but he was still good in both! I still think Sacha B Cohen should have rec'd a best actor nod, too.

6 - Actually, I've never given a 7 in ambition. I've held out for some reason.

Films that I've given 6s in ambition: Schindler's List, Casablanca, The Godfather, Citizen Kane.

Cliff, all I can tell you is that I liked all three of those films. None are trite. Pursuit comes closest to being so, but it is so sincere, that I think it works. Dreamgirls and Pursuit are arguably formulaic, but the performances and the messages just worked for me. Blood Diamond is neither trite nor formulaic. I went based on others' recommendations, and was not disappointed. Connelly's character actually is the most annoying. DiCaprio's accent didn't bother me - I might just be someone who doesn't get upset of accents. I thought the dilemma of the story was very compelling.

Your life will go on if you miss these movies, but I wouldn't fight your wife not to see them. There are far worse things out there.

11 - My doctor actually has a small speaking part in Happyness. He is one of the doctors that Chris tries to sell to.

As long as I'm commenting, I think Little Miss Sunshine's success is a combo of a) a well-executed marketing campaign to voters, b) a lack of clearly superior movies with wide appeal and c) a feeling that comedies have gone too long without getting honors.

11 By all acounts I've heard (save the Oscar noms), the songs in Dreamgirls are all unexceptional.

13 Thanks, Jon. Now I can just blame you if they suck rather than my wife. It's a lot easier on the marriage that way.

16 - Happy to be a punching bag. And yes, the songs are unexceptional, but the singing isn't.

I liked "Dreamgirls" a lot. And I assumed I would hate it. I just went to it to be a nice guy.

Just saw The Departed tonight and it was darn fine entertainment. Using your scale it wouldn't rate that high because - like your grade reflects - it doesn't have a lot of emotional resonance, but isn't there something to be said for pure entertainment? Goodfellas didn't have much emotional resonance either, but I consider it a top-flight film.

Anywho, here are my favorites from this year:
1. Little Children
2. The Departed
3. Little Miss Sunshine
4. Thank You For Smoking
5. United 93
6. Inside Man
7. Borat
8. Brick
9. V for Vendetta
10. The Prestige

Haven't seen anything else from your list Jon, though are many I'm planning to.

Also, I thought I remembered you liking the Borat movie? Is it simply a victim of the scoring system or did you truly not like it?

Why did you downgrade Borat? I thought it was original, unique and hilarious.

Interesting scale and interesting list, Jon. I fear that my own standards aren't quite as well defined. But, that being said, here's my top ten of '06.

01. The House of Sand - (Brilliant, unpredictable Brazilian drama)

02. 49 Up - (Maybe the best entry in the long running documentary series)

03. United 93 - (Incredibly gripping and strong)

04. The Prestige - (Dazzling, challenging, and much smarter than anyone seems to have given it credit for)

05. The Departed - (Fine performances, and thrilling filmmaking)

06. Sympathy For Lady Vengeance - (A violent but very fun Korean thriller from the same director as my favorite film of '05, "Old Boy.")

07. Little Miss Sunshine - (Those broad crowdpleasers rarely live up to their hype. This one did.)

08. Pan's Labyrinth - (Fresh and legitimately creepy.)

09. Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story (Dazzling postmodernism with the always funny Steve Coogen.)

10. Idiocracy (Admittedly very clumsy, but full of frighteningly adept social satire.)

i just saw pan's labyrinth the other week and felt it was brilliant.

Borat was fine and made me laugh in places, and some scenes were truly out of this world, but I didn't think it was consistently good. Some of the jokes weren't anything I hadn't seen in say, Vacation.

Movies I wanted to see most that I didn't get to: Pan's Labyrinth, Volver, The Lives of Others.

To bad you didn't see Pan. Sergi Lopez should have gotten some award buzz as well as Meribel Verdu. Just finished watching a video where Sergi plays another bad guy in "Dirty Pretty Things" with Chiwetel Ejiofor from Children of Men and "Kinky Boots".

"Children of Men" and "United 93" would have topped my list. I had to be dragged to see both of those movies, and ended up being completely blown away by them. Two of the most intense movies I've ever seen. I can't believe they didn't get more love from the Academy.

And I agree with the "Little Miss Sunshine" comments in 9.

I finally saw Dreamgirls last night, so I have now seen these Oscar nominees: The Departed, Dreamgirls, The Queen, Little Miss Sunshine, Pan's Labrynth, Volver, Little Children, Children of Men, Letters from Iowa Jima, Cars, Flags of Our Fathers and Borat.

My favorites were: Pan's Labrynth, Children of Men, The Departed and The Queen, with Letters from Iowa Jima somewhere in the picture. The most enjoyable to watch were Borat, and The Departed (both of which I saw twice), and overall the best was Children of Men. That movie blew me away.

P.S. The best song from Dreamgirls, You're Gonna Love Me, isn't nominated! Apparently they only nominated the diagetic record songs, as opposed to the musical plot songs. The two songs were people really rocked, I thought, were Jennifer Hudson's song (SPOILER)as she was kicked out of the group (people started clapping in the theater), and Beyonce's song when she betrayed Jamie Foxx. Yet, I don't think either of those are nominated. Weird.

24 Those are all great Jon. Lives of Others is amazing and could make my 07 list. Pan's - don't take the kiddies. ;-) Scary as heck in a few places, and I agree with 25 Sergei Lopez was frightening(ly good).

13 Funny, my actor friend plays a doctor in the film, too (but he doesn't, I'm pretty sure, play your doctor in real life). Now I really do have to see it.

21 Lotta overlap with my list - Tristram Shandy was great, never thought anyone could do that book any justice but they did. Lady Vengeance is my favorite of Park's Vengeance trilogy. Great film.

did anyone catch The Host? i saw it at the Santa Barbara film fest and totally dug it. Silly, scary, and fun. Any monster movie that can START OFF with the monster in full view must be good. hehe

also, how about some of the Best Forgein nominees? Lives of Others has been mentioned (which i thought was good but wasnt blown away by) but what about Days of Glory, After the Wedding, and Water?

After the Wedding felt a bit like a bad Lost flashback to me but Days of Glory, while a little too Saving Private Ryan, i thought was very well made and very engaging. I've yet to see Pan's or Water, but Days of Glory is my fav of the 3 i've seen.

"Letters from Iowa Jima" - the war hits Des Moines :)

Interesting note (and by interesting, I mean completely trivial, stupid note): for all the debate we had over Children of Men, it still made your top ten. Funny how when we debate the flaw of the movie it makes it sound as though we dislike the movie altogether, even if we loved it completely. I'm guessing that what happened with Children of Men, even though you obviously enjoyed it more than just about every movie of the past year.

Off to see Venus tonight and Children of Men tomorrow night. My wife has decided that this week will be academy week and we'll be hitting alot of movies though I've drawn the line at "The Queen".

My favorites:

1 Pan's Labyrith - Loved this movie. I don't know if I get it, or if there's just less to get than I think, but I thought about this movie for at least a week after I saw it.
2 The Departed - When I walked out of the theater I wanted to buy a gun. I was beyond pumped. I think I'd drop it lower in the "Ambition" category, then create a "Had My Absolute, Undivided Attention the Entire Time" category and give it a 10/10.
3 Bobby - Don't really get why most critics hated this movie. I heavily recommend it. If I would've ranked my 2006 favs right after I got home from this movie, it would've been #1.
4 Little Miss Sunshine - I was in a good mood for a long time after seeing this movie.
5 Borat - I think there's far more social relevance to Borat than anyone who doesn't enjoy this type of humor wants to admit.
6 Pursuit of Happyness - Very motivational story.
7 Babel - Dug it, but I guess I was a little dissapointed. Although, I did feel like I was going to jump out of my seat and scream when the Nanny was trying to find help.
8 Last Kiss - It was good, glad I watched it.
9 Snakes on a Plane - I saw this movie as a joke, I guess, and was totally blown away. Sounds stupid, but this movie is underrated and actually smart. Maybe not smart, but it knows exactly how stupid it is and was meant to be.
10 Scanner Darkly - Dissapointed as a huge Philip Dick fan. I wanted this movie to be so great, maybe it's my fault. It was still enjoyable, and if you have netflix, it wouldn't hurt to check it out.
11 World Trade Center - I couldn't wait till the end with the exception of a great scene where Cage - who I cannot stand - is remembering his wife.
12 Jackass 2 - Glad I didn't pay to see this in the theatre. The last skit is great, the rest are what you'd expect.

I can't remember if I saw any others, or if all of these are in fact from 2006.

Movies I'm dying to see that came out this past year: Children of Men, Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamond

Movies like Jackass 2 are extremely hard to objectively rate. On one hand, I never laughed harder during any movie of 2006 than I did during Jackass 2. On the other hand, one of the skits was someone farting into a tube that led to a space helmet over someone's head which resulted in him vomiting.

This is another way to rate a movie. I've always had to divide the movies into category, comedy or drama.

I absolutely dislike the Departed, it annoyed me. A bloated movie that fell far from its ambition. All the talk about Jack Nicholson was a big hooey. He was the Joker in a drama. Watch the original Infernal Affairs that was superior to this. I do enjoy seeing Leo in this more than in Blood Diamond.

Jennifer Connelly was annoying in Blood Diamond. She was much better in Little Children.

I've been avoiding United 93, but having read how much Jon and other people here like it, I may just go and rent it.

I saw the Last King of Scotland again and still think it's a great movie. So that and Letters from Iwo Jima are the two top movies on my list. The Queen and Litte Children probably comes next with Pan's Labyrinth and Children of Men following them.

I still don't see how Litte Miss Sunshine being praised so widely. It was good but so was Inside Man and Babel, and in the end not quite as good as the expectations heaped on them.

You should catch "The Illusionist".
Its probably the best film from 2006 not on your list IMO.
Great cinematography.
Great performances from Paul Giamatti and Ed Norton.
Just a really enjoyable film.

Made the trip over from DT. First time poster, first time viewer.

I saw The Departed over the weekend and really enjoyed it.

Given my German-English ancestral roots, suburban Texas and LA up bringing, lack of experience with shrinks (hot ones at that), and having never shot someone in the face, I give the movie a 12 on the resonance scale. The connection was just that strong!

Hmm, just finished watching "The Departed."

This was actually less violent than a lot of other Scorsese films. Not so subtle ending I thought.

38 You didn't like the rat? That cracked me up.

Speaking of The Host (delayed response), that Korean film is awesome, I highly recommend checking it out when it hits theaters next month. I have a screener here but would get in trouble if I sent y'all a copy, never mind the logistics.

Off subject: Tim Goodman has a spot-on piece about Studio 60, if anyone wants to check it out. Not a lot that the rest of us here didn't say already, but still pretty accurate.
http://tinyurl.com/245p22

I watched the final "Studio 60" tonight. I kept thinking the whole time, "Who cares about these people?"

I'm no lawyer, but I believe if an attorney comes to talk to you about giving a deposition in a case and instead asks you out on a date, that it is grossly unethical.

Then again in "The Departed", the psychiatrist was also violating ethical standards by going out with Leonardo DiCaprio. Even though she had stopped seeing him in a professional capacity, you have to wait a period of time before you start a personal relationship with a former patient.

Of course, I believe the sentiment of Screen Jam is very much pro-Vera Farmiga.

40 - That was a pretty minor transgression for that movie. Also, it seemed as though she simply got caught up in the moment when she and Leo hooked up. It is tough to turn off the hormones in the heat of passion.

Jack's performance was the only part of the Departed that I didn't like. He was embarassingly big. Still a minor flaw, and I will be happy if The Departed wins Best Picture.

Can someone explain to me how Babel is getting some hype as the darkhorse Best Picture candidate. By my count it isn't expected to win a single other major award (It has six nominations: two in best supporting actress, where Jennifer Hudson is the favorite, one for direction, which Scorcese has locked up, one for orginal screenplay, which Little Miss Sunshine is favored to win and one for editing which will probably be its consolation prize). It won a directing award at Cannes and it won the Golden Globe for Best Picture, but the Globes are insane and arbitrary and in the meantime, Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed have absolutely swept the SAG, WG and Director's Guild awards. I don't think Babel has a chance, but I keep reading that it is a favorite? Someone please explain?

Perhaps OT but I read (okay speed reading more accurate) The DaVinci Code over the weekend and frankly while I understand that it works very well as far as getting the plot going and providing subtle twists and turns, overall, I just don't get all the hype and though I have not seen the movie, I can certainly understand why Tom Hanks and Ron Howard do not have any Academy Award nominations for this project.

Basically some eccentric rich English guy decides that he is going to expose the greatest lie in the history of mankind and he dupes everyone in the process. And if only the museum curator could have told his grandchild that her grandmother and brother lived in England and her entire life had been a lie to protect her from secret Vatican plot, blah blah blah.

Frankly the greatest literary question that remains unanswered is Snape good or evil?

I saw a screener of The Departed last weekend. I liked it, but was not overwhelmed. But I thought Decaprio mopped the floor with Matt Damon. Damon is one of the most wooden actors I've seen in awhile.

Since this is the only nominated movies I've seen this year, it's my pick for best picture!

I knew "Children of Men" was going to be intense but my wife had to leave after they killed off one of the 3 decent human beings in the movie. I didn't find it as depressing as her as the end of humankind is only befitting the species. Being an Athiest I must say that if everyone in the world stopped being able to have babies at the same time instead of a gradual degradation over generations I would take that as a sign as devine intervention and while it wouldn't get me on my knee's at least I'd know that the age old question had been answered.

42 I'm sure it's happened before, that a film took the, or a, top prize but didn't take many or any other awards but it's escaping me as to when. But there have been years recently where there was a lot of diversity to the winners - last year even? Babel could win for editing, yeah. Probably not the others. It may be too Crash-like in ambition and in multi-character structure to win the year after Crash, but then again that may be what voters are looking for. I think it's better than Crash, but still flawed. I thought Children of Men was better.