For my own benefit

I've been thinking about that end of the year "best of" that I feel obliged to do every year and how scarce the list is so far (when X-Men: The Last Stand is sitting in your top ten for the year, you know something is the matter). So, for my own benefit, I'm going to make a list of notable 2006 releases that might (or might not) affect the list this year (this year's "best of" list will mark one year that I have been blogging on here, so it feels kind of special). So, without further adieu (and in no particular order)...

Little Miss Sunshine - dir. Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Volver - dir. Pedro Almodóvar
Babel - dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu
Changing Times (Le Temps qui changent) - dir. André Téchiné
Marie Antoinette - dir. Sofia Coppola
The Notorious Bettie Page - dir. Mary Harron
The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing - dir. Barbara Kopple, Cecilia Peck (I know this sounds like something I wouldn't normally be interested in, but one of my most trusted film professors sang its praise to me last night, and as long as Kopple isn't making a narrative, I'm game)
Factotum - dir. Bent Hamer


Old Joy - dir. Kelly Reichardt
Heading South (Vers le sud) - dir. Laurent Cantet
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus - dir. Steven Shainberg
Jesus Camp - dir. Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
Gabrielle - dir. Patrice Chéreau
Half Nelson - dir. Ryan Fleck
Infamous - dir. Douglas McGrath


Little Children - dir. Todd Field
The Queen - dir. Stephen Frears
Wild Blue Yonder - dir. Werner Herzog
Rescue Dawn - dir. Werner Herzog
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - dir. Larry Charles
This Film Is Not Yet Rated - dir. Kirby Dick
Tideland - dir. Terry Gilliam


Inland Empire - dir. David Lynch
The Science of Sleep (La Science des rêves) - dir. Michel Gondry
Deliver Us from Evil - dir. Amy Berg
L'Enfant - dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
The Departed - dir. Martin Scorsese
For Your Consideration - dir. Christopher Guest
Candy - dir. Neil Armfield


Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - dir. Tom Tykwer
Venus - dir. Roger Michell
Children of Men - dir. Alfonso Cuarón
Dreamgirls - dir. Bill Condon
Pan's Labyrinth (El Labertino del Fauno) - dir. Guillermo del Toro
Factory Girl - dir. George Hickenlooper
3 Needles - dir. Thom Fitzgerald


Time to Leave (Le Temps qui reste) - dir. François Ozon
The King - dir. James Marsh
A Prairie Home Companion - dir. Robert Altman
United 93 - dir. Paul Greengrass
The Host - dir. Joon-ho Bong
The Bridesmaid (La Demoiselle d'honneur) - dir. Claude Chabrol
The Devil Wears Prada - dir. David Frankel


The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes - dir. Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - dir. Dito Montiel
Conversations with Other Women - dir. Hans Canosa
Drawing Restraint 9 - dir. Matthew Barney
Edmond - dir. Stuart Gordon
Idlewild - dir. Brian Barber
Lady Vengeance - dir. Park Chan-wook
Miami Vice - dir. Michael Mann


The Proposition - dir. John Hillcoat
Scoop - dir. Woody Allen
A Scanner Darkly - dir. Richard Linklater
Sorry, Haters - dir. Jeff Stanzler
Three Times - dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien
Wassup Rockers - dir. Larry Clark
Thank You for Smoking - dir. Jason Reitman
Quinceañera - dir. Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland

I realize I won't see all of these films, and definitely not before the new year, but I found it helpful to make this list for myself. And, yeah, I know some films have a better shot at making the best of list than others. This is all I could think of though, any suggestions? Send 'em my way. I also focused mainly on fall titles, so if I missed something at the beginning of the year, please let me know.