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YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "Aside from penguins, low-budget horror movies and Johnny Depp, there were few sure things at the movies in 2006.Clint Eastwood made a powerful World War II movie, “Flags of Our Fathers,” but audiences who supported “Saving Private Ryan” and “Pearl Harbor” stayed away. Tom Cruise delivered his least popular “Mission Impossible” movie, while Nicole Kidman, reportedly the highest-paid actress in the business, couldn’t make even an art-house success of “Fur.” The late-summer release, “Snakes on a Plane,” utterly failed to deliver on blockbuster promises.
A few pleasant surprises turned up. Meryl Streep made an unexpected box-office smash of “The Devil Wears Prada,” and Martin Scorsese drew huge audiences to “The Departed.” James Bond, freshened considerably by Daniel Craig, made a thrilling comeback with “Casino Royale.”
Although 2006 often seemed like a meager year for quality, especially during the doldrums of January and August, it wasn’t difficult to put together a 10-best or even a 20-best list. These were my favorites (in alphabetical order).";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","“Army of Shadows” ","","http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/061214_armyofshadows_hmed_530a.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Rialto Pictures", "196", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
(directed by Jean-Pierre Melville)
Produced in 1969 but never before released theatrically in the United States, Melville’s extraordinarily involving thriller is based on the lives of several French Resistance fighters who ended up making the ultimate sacrifice. Lino Ventura expertly plays the agent at the center of the story. Simone Signoret is heartbreaking as a selfless assistant.";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","“Children of Men”","","http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/z_Projects_in_progress/_Ent/Fall_Movieguide_06/fallmovie_guide_Children%20of%20Men.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Universal", "194", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
(Alfonso Cuaron)
The last weeks of 2006 produced several terrific chase movies (“Apocalypto,” “Blood Diamond”), but this British-based film by “Y Tu Mama Tambien’s\" Mexican director turned out to be the scariest and the most exciting. Cuaron’s vision of the future suggests a world descending into Baghdad-style chaos, with terrorist bombings becoming the norm in the life of an edgy bureaucrat (Clive Owen). The astonishingly mobile camerawork breaks new ground.";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","“Deliver Us From Evil”","","http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/061214_deliver_hmed_530a.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Lionsgate", "200", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
(Amy Berg)
A devastating documentary about the sexual abuse of children and a series of church coverups, Berg’s film focuses on interviews with one very guilty priest and the still-vulnerable families he admits to destroying. In the most shocking episode, he suggests they get together for a reunion, and Berg films their astonished reactions. ";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","“The Departed”","","http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061004/061004_departed_hmed_3p.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Warner Bros.", "195", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
(Martin Scorsese)
Scorsese’s vivid remake of a four-year-old Hong Kong gangster thriller, “Infernal Affairs,” improves on the original film, moving the action to Boston and letting Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon loose to play the conflicted heroes. Excellent as they are, they’re consistently matched by a supporting cast that includes Mark Wahlberg in a career-turnaround performance.";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","“Flags of Our Fathers”","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/z_Projects_in_progress/_Ent/Fall_Movieguide_06/fallmovie_guide_Flags.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Dreamworks", "214", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
(Clint Eastwood)
The first of Eastwood’s two first-rate films about the battle for Iwo Jima focuses on three survivors. Brought home to convince weary Americans that the war is worth the tremendous cost and the lives lost (it’s February 1945), they find the mission necessary but troubling.";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","“Letters From Iwo Jima”","","http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/ap/ny14012062041.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Dreamworks", "199", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
(Clint Eastwood)
Eastwood’s attempt to tell the Japanese side of the story deals more with the tactics used to defend the island — and with the growing realization that the soldiers assigned to defend it have been sent on a suicide mission. One of the saddest war movies ever made, it may be Eastwood’s finest achievement. ";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","“Little Children”","","http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061004/061004_littlechildren_hlarge_2p.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "New Line Cinema", "125", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
(Todd Field)
Field’s followup to his directorial debut, “In the Bedroom,” demonstrates once more how good he is with actors (he once was one). Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson freshen what could have been stock roles as suburban adulterers, but the revelations are Jackie Earle Haley as a convicted sex offender and Noah Emmerich as a disturbed ex-cop.";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","“Little Miss Sunshine”","","http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Art/ENTERTAINMENT/Projects/06_SummerMovieGuide/Movies/LittleMissSunshine.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Fox Searchlight", "191", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
(Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris)
In the year’s sharpest comedy, a sweetly dysfunctional family, led by a failing motivational speaker (Greg Kinnear) and his seen-everything wife (Toni Collette), ends up on the road to nowhere. Michael Arndt’s script has been interpreted as a commentary on the state of the nation; it’s also a lesson in how to create comic characters who transcend stereotypes.";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","“The Queen” ","","http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/z_Projects_in_progress/_Ent/Fall_Movieguide_06/fallmovie_guide_thequeen.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Miramax", "199", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
(Stephen Frears)
Helen Mirren’s remarkably sympathetic portrayal of the current Queen Elizabeth may be the key to Frears’ evenhanded account of the Royals’ response to Princess Diana’s death, but it’s her relationship with Michael Sheen’s Tony Blair that makes the film so vital. Indeed, screenwriter Peter Morgan claims to have suffered from writer’s block until he put more of Blair into the script.";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","“United 93”","","http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Art/ENTERTAINMENT/Projects/06_SpringMovieGuide/springmovies_united93_hmed.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Universal Pictures", "199", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
(Paul Greengrass)
To date, this is the best film about 9/11, far superior to several TV movies and Oliver Stone’s tritely inspirational “World Trade Center.” Focusing on the only hijacked plane that didn’t fly into a building, Greengrass sticks close to the known facts — and the air-traffic controllers and doomed passengers who pieced together the puzzle in time to thwart al-Qaeda.";
YIR_BestFilms[i++] = new Array("","A second top 10","","http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060313/060313_smoking_hmed_1p.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Fox Searchlight", "196", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
YIR_BestFilms[i-1].body = "
“Babel,” “Casino Royale,” “Half Nelson,” “The History Boys,” “Hollywoodland,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Puffy Chair,” “The Road to Guantanamo,” “Thank You For Smoking” (pictured), “Venus.”";
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// END editorial data