It’s that time of year, I guess.

Apparently, it’s sort of obligatory for bloggers to do a Year in Review post or a top ten list of some kind. Given that I’ve made a grand total of two posts here at 79Soul, this sort of thing might be a bit premature, but… what the hell?
I’m going for it.

So, my 2006 Year in Review: the best entertainment media I purchased/consumed this year (I make that very clear, because some of these things are actually not from 2006. My list, my rules).

And I’ll do it all without any major spoilers.
I’m just that kind of guy.

Movies

Let’s get the hardest category out of the way first. It’s the hardest because I easily consume more movies than anything else. I usually watch a couple of movies a week- for awhile, I was watching a DVD almost every day.

I picked up quite a few really interesting DVDs this year, too (thanks, in part, to Gamestop’s rather impressive used DVD section- if you haven’t checked it out, you should. I picked up Band of Brothers for $50 when it was retailing for $100). There were some really great indie and foreign flicks that made their way to my DVD shelf, and so I’m picking two of them as my Year’s Best.

First up, I’m taking Rian Johnson’s Brick. A nod to Mark for getting my interest up about Brick back in June, when he mentioned it in Offbeat Movie Corner 2 (will there be an Offbeat Movie Corner 3?).

If you haven’t seen or heard of Brick yet, go get it.

Now.

We’ll wait.

….

Good, you’re back!

Brick is on this list because it’s exactly what a film experience should be- it’s an engaging and enjoyable movie that does exactly what it sets out to do, and does it well. It’s intelligent without being inaccessable. It’s gorgeously filmed without over-using special effects. The writing is clever without being over-done. The film-noir detective trappings work extremely well in a high-school setting, and the archtypes are easily recongized in the typical high-school crowds, from Brendan as the loner/detective, to Dode as the druggie/low-life thug. It’s definitely the sort of film that lends itself well to repeated viewings; rewatching Brick rewards the viewer with greater understandings of the characters relationships to each other, and to characters that are mentioned but never seen. It’s unusual for a movie to get so much use and miliage out of characters that never appear on camera, but who push the plot in such important directions.

Brick certainly isn’t for everyone, but it’s an amazing debut by a director I hope to see more from soon (who also happens to have directed a Mountain Goats video).

My other pick for the Best Of 2006 DVDs is a foreign film. I actually picked it up in 2005, but didn’t get around to watching it until 2006, so it counts. I’m talking about the Korean horror film, A Tale of Two Sisters. This is another film that sets out to do something, and does it well. I think a lot of people probably dismissed this as another Asian “Ring rip-off” horror movie. If you did, I strongly urge you to reconsider and give it a chance- this Korean masterpiece blows the Ring out of the water (and I liked Ringu!).

While A Tale of Two Sisters is definitely horror, it’s a very different flavor of horror from the typical fare. Like my other pick, Sisters rewards multiple viewings with details that were missed the first time through and with scenes that take on a different flavor and mood with the viewer’s knowledge of the ending. The film is certainly visually stunning as well. Director Kim Ji-Woon makes excellent use of color as well as light and shadow to create a moody, but beautiful setting for his fairy tale (A Tale of Two Sisters owes a lot to fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm sort, and was apparently inspired, in part, by a Korean folktale).

I’ve watched both of these DVDs at least five or six times since purchasing them, which says a lot.

Honorable mentions in ‘06 words or less:
Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (which I’ve pushed on everyone I know)- Stylish, brutal, thought-provoking revenge flick.
Freeze Frame - Low budget, but surprisingly good thriller.
Justice League Unlimited: Season 1- Fantastic writing for kids and adults.

Music

I’m not sure that any of the albums I bought this year were actually released this year. Let’s see- the Clash? Obviously not. Mountain Goats? Nope. The Walkmen? Uh-uh. Deathcab for Cutie? Not quite.
Weird.

Anyway, my top pick from the CDs I purchased this year is the Dresden Dolls self-titled album. Described as “Cabaret punk-rock” by some reviewers (and it’s so true!), the Dresden Dolls are a tough act to put into words. What is it about groups like this that I find so appealing? I just love rock with a twist- like Rasputina or the Ditty Bops, for example. Regardless, this debut by the Dresden Dolls is an always interesting, sometimes disturbing, often disorienting trip through breakups, sex and masturbation, abuse, mental illness and an ex’s jeep, among other things. The Dolls make excellent use of unusual background noises in songs (things like beating hammers, the sound of sawing wood, people talking, things crashing, a rubber duck squeeking) to create a delightful cacophony, while other songs feature singing barely above a whisper that gradually build into booming declarations. The Dresden Dolls are a musical experience the likes of which you won’t soon forget.

Graphic Novels

I’ve read a lot of great stuff this year. The Marvel Team-Up trades were a refreshing look at the glory days of comics, when Spider-Man and the Human Torch would hang out and thwart some crimes, and Fables continues to impress me with the intricate artwork and surprisingly good stories.

As good as some of the current stuff out there is (and let me say, Y: The Last Man, Powers, Planetary, Top Ten, etc = excellent), none of it held a candle to the trade releases of Sandman Mystery Theater.

Yes. I know. This is old stuff. But, they’re finally getting around to releasing all the trades, and I finally bothered to pick it up. I was never a DC reader, and the only Sandman I knew was the Gaiman character. But, the bizarre, almost frightening cover-art caught my eye, as well as the middle-aged, slightly pudgey title character. He’s hardly the typical super-hero, with his glasses and his soft mid-section. Sandman Mystery Theater delivers, though. Dodds is a detective right out of the pulp days- he’s no man of steel, he’s just a man in a mask and fedora, trying to fight crimes that the law can’t seem to stop. His love interest is a more fleshed out and intriguing than almost any woman in comics today (too many of whom end up as little more than window dressing or plot points). I was initially put off by the art style, but, while it still isn’t my favorite, it works for the book.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 at 4:51 pm and is filed under comics, film, music, pop culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.