My Best of 2006

I finally put together my best of 2006 list. It wasn't easy because there were so many good films. And I am sure that some very good films, performance, etc. were left out. But I am trying to simplify things as much as possible and that is bound to happen. Anyway, here are my picks for the cream of the crop for 2006.

Best Picture

The Lives of Others
Pan's Labyrinth
Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
House of Sand
The Aura
The Secret Life of Words
L'Enfant
Volver
The Queen
Notes on a Scandal
Children of Men
Half Nelson
Water
The Death of Mr. Lazerescu
Princessas
Sweet Land
Time to Leave
The Proposition
Heading South
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Venus
Fateless
Days of Glory
Bon Bon - El Perro
V for Vendetta

Best Actor

Ulrich Muhe - The Lives of Others
Ricardo Darin - The Aura
Peter O'Toole - Venus
Tim Robbins - The Secret Life of Words
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
Jeremie Renier - L'Enfant
Kazuriari Ninomiya - Letters from Iwo Jima
Melvil Poupaud - Time to Leave
Derek Luke - Catch a Fire
Gael Garcia Bernal and William Hurt - The King
Ion Fiscuteanu - The Death of Mr. Lazerescu
Toby Jones - Infamous
Edward Norton - The Painted Veil

Best Actress

Helen Mirren - The Queen
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Fernanda Montenegro and Fernanda Torres - House of Sand
Ivana Baquero - Pan's Labyrinth
Maggie Cheung - Clean
Sarah Polley - The Secret Life of Words
Penelope Cruz - Volver
Charlotte Rampling and Karen Young - Heading South
Kate Winslet - Little Children
Naomi Watts - The Painted Veil
Laura Dern - Inland Empire
Annette Bening - Running with Scissors
Candela Pena and Michaela Nevarez - Princessas
Elizabeth Reaser - Sweet Land

Best Supporting Actor

Sergi Lopez - Pan's Labyrinth
Jackie Earle Haley - Little Children
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Bill Nighy - Notes on a Scandal
Michael Sheen - The Queen
Brad Pitt - Babel
Djimon Honsou - Blood Diamond
Daniel Craig - Infamous
Michael Caine - Children of Men
Stanley Tucci - The Devil Wears Prada

Best Supporting Actress

Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barraza - Babel
Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas and Blanca Portillo - Volver
Maribel Verdu and Ariadna Gil - Pan's Labyrinth
Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada (Meryl's role was really supporting)
Shareeka Epps - Half Nelson
Sandra Bullock - Infamous
Luminita Gherghiu - The Death of Mr. Lazerescu
Catherine O' Hara - For Your Consideration

Best Director

Guillermo del Toro - Pan's Labyrinth
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Babel
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck - The Lives of Others
Clint Eastwood - Letters from Iwo Jima
Alfonso Cuaron - Children of Men
Stephen Frears - The Queen
Richard Eyre - Notes on a Scandal
Pedro Almodovar - Volver
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne - L'Enfant
Fabian Bielinsky - The Aura
Andrucha Waddington - House of Sand
Todd Field - Little Children

Best Original Screenplay

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck - The Lives of Others
Guillermo Arriaga - Babel
Guillermo del Toro - Pan's Labyrinth
Iris Yamishita - Letters from Iwo Jima (story with Paul Haggis)
Peter Morgan - The Queen
Pedro Almodovar - Volver

Best Adapted Screenplay

Patrick Marber - Notes on a Scandal
Ron Nyswaner - The Painted Veil
Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus & Hawk Otsby- Children of Men
Todd Field and Tom Perrotta - Little Children
William Monahan - The Departed

And now for this year's Woody Award. This time around the winner is Helen Mirren. Dame Helen had three outstanding roles in 2006. Two of them were as queens - Elizabeth I on the HBO mini series and Elizabeth II in the feature film. She also played Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison in her last Prime Suspect. So she is truly a queen in the world of acting and very much deserves this award.