If there's something that can be said about 2006 and the movies, perhaps it should be that this year was definitely interesting. We've seen the first movies dealing with 9/11. Comedy became both entertaining and artistic again. This year Superman and Bond returned (neither did much for me, though) while Rocky finally said goodbye (just 20 years too late). I found ten great movies worthy of being called the best. I hope you'll give them a look.

1. United 93: Paul Greengrass has made a film so poignant that there will be no other like it. It recreates realistically the moments before and during the terrorist takeover of Flight 93 on 9/11. We see the events from inside the plane and from Ground Control as they try to piece together what’s going on. This is the kind of films that need to be made about terrorism.
2. Dreamgirls: Isn’t it great to find a musical that bring you not only worthy music but a decent story as well? Top it off with career-making Oscar-worthy performances from Eddie Murphy and ex-American Idol Jennifer Hudson and you have Bill Condon’s Dreamgirls, a musical about music and the corrupting agent of pop-culture.
3. The Queen: Helen Mirren gives the performance of her career as Queen Elizabeth II just after the death of Princess Diana, but it’s Michael Sheen’s performance that steals the show as he plays newly minted Prime Minister Tony Blair. Director Stephen Frears has never shied away from films that re-examine archetypes and here he really tries to dig into these two people and really see who they are.
4. Children of Men: Now THIS is science fiction as it should be. Alfonso Cuaron’s dark tale of a future without children pulls no punches and yet provides a deeply hopeful message about what humanity is capable of in it’s darkest hour. Clive Owen deserves recognition as a mid-level bureaucrat caught in the task of transporting the only pregnant woman through hell in hopes to protect her unborn child.
5. The Departed: When Martin Scorsese remakes a modern noir film from Hong Kong, you better believe that he has something up his sleeve. And this time, he pulls out a doozy with amazing performances from Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, and Mark Wahlberg. This is a deep, dark morality tale about the fine line between good and evil.
6. Little Miss Sunshine: One of the best ensemble comedies to come down the pipe in a decade with a well-rounded cast and a brilliant screenplay by Michael Arndt. Expect Oscar nominations for Steve Carrell and Alan Arkin.
7. Apocalypto: This was the last thing I was expecting from Mel Gibson; a genuinely great film using the backdrop of the fall of Mayan race to create an effective thriller. One could say that the likes of George Miller and Richard Donner are proud.
8. Thank You For Smoking: Satire doesn’t get much better and Jason Reitman is now one of the most promising young filmmakers to come out of independent cinema. Aaron Eckhart deserves a nomination for his conscience-challenged tobacco lobbyist as he tries to manage his possible downfall.
9. Jesus Camp: This documentary scared the living crap out of me. We follow several sets of kids and the councelors of a youth camp for fundamentalist Christians. Between hammering sin out of ceramic cups with a real hammer and praying to a cutout of President Bush , I kept wondering to myself who but the most extreme types would allow such people to teach their children and what will happen when these children start thinking for themselves?
10. Akeelah and the Bee: This is one of the most enduring and rich family films I have seen in a long time. Newcomer Keke Palmer is going to be a big start because she has a natural allure. Just catch yourself before you start spelling alongside the kids.