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In comedic fashion, Dave Berry wrapped up 2006 with lots of laughs and inside jokes.

Through and through, it reminded me of that old Mark Twain quote, “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”

More from Berry:
One nation, purple or maybe plumb, with goofiness for all
‘The Da Vinci Code’ cracked

Via CoyoteBlog

What better way to start the New Year than to talk about last year?

One of the cheaper bonding activities I do with my siblings is watch movies. My younger sister in particular is a film-oholic, and has introduced me to both lemons and lemonade over the past year.

Here are a few that hit the silver-screen:

Cars: not nearly as funny and innovative as The Incredibles or Toy Story, but it still had that Pixar-level of quality/polish.

X-Men 3: I think they killed off too many of the characters too fast, but it was better than the first one. If nothing else, the special effects and fight scenes are pretty gnarly (in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle kind of way).

Superman Returns: a lot of people complained about the woman cast as Lois Lane, she was not a big turn off for me; though I think Courtney Cox would have been a better fit. Also, the ending seemed to drag on forever and I was expecting the kid to do some more fighting.

Ice Age 2: not as funny as the first, not a fan of Queen Latifah either; still it is good for kids who was their intended audience.

Over the Hedge: hey, stealing is not cool, even if it is done by a bunch of cute woodland creatures. The hyperactive squirrel was somewhat amusing though (especially at the end during “Bullet Time�)

Talladega Nights: had some of the best lines since Anchorman (”If we wanted us some wusses we would have named them Dr. Quinn and Medicine Woman”). It was not as funny as I thought it would be… and the whole gay Frenchman character was dumb/cliché.

Mission Impossible 3: I’m not a huge fan of Tom Cruise (unless he is on South Park), but I thought this was the best of the trilogy. Better plot, and the action was relatively more believable.

Borat: even if you have seen some of the sketches before on his TV show or on YouTube, this was funny from beginning to end. Great one-liners and totally awkward scenes.

Scary Movie 4: funny at times, although not nearly as good as the 3rd one. Still worth watching if you want a parody of horror movies like Saw.

Failure to Launch: to prove that I am versatile and not just a one dimensional moviegoer, I can watch chick flicks too. It was actually good, kind of like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and 40 Days and 40 Nights.

Nacho Libre: if you liked Napoleon Dynamite or enjoy Jack Black, you will like this one. I thought it was good for an entirely different reason: Mexican wrestling is awesome. Awesome, in the sense that it is totally unprofessional, completely unrehearsed, and entirely unchoreographed (sic). Seriously, watch it sometime and you will begin to appreciate the WWE, which is always a hard one to swallow.

V for Vendetta: if you liked Equilibrium, the Matrix, or lots and lots of action, then you’ll enjoy this. Oh, and it also has a pretty good plot (quasi-libertarian even) filled with a few decent twists and turns.

Step Up: can’t say that I watch too many dance/romance movies but I was forced at gun point by a local gang to see this one. At the very least, I learned why you shouldn’t let your brother carjack someone’s SUV. Oh, and that if you own a Mac laptop, it will magically create good autobeats at a party.

The Prestige: the trailers made it look like the typical man-versus-man rivalry, but this was surprisingly good. The plot twisted and turned like a patented Christopher Nolan flick (who also directed Memento). Plus the historically mystical Nikola Tesla makes an appearance or two (his device is kind of nutty though).

Firewall: The plot was not entirely original and the technological abilities of a scanner were bastardized. However, Harrison Ford was much more believable in his role than most of his others this past decade (Hollywood Homicide and K-19 equal no bueno).

Lady in the Water: the first 90 minutes were great. The ending sucked. M. Night Shyamalan should have ironed out more of the closing details with his daughters during their weekly bedtime storytelling sessions. Plus, he might want to add some more color and attitude to his own acting.

Apocalypto: I do not plan on watching this movie again. Not because it was bad, but because it was depressing and extremely gory. Mix the Last of the Mohicans, Dances with Wovles, Apocalypse Now, and RoboCop and that just gets you through the opening credits. The only other minor quibble is that it was not entirely historically accurate which bugs buffs like me.

Strangers with Candy: my younger brother said this was really funny so I watched it the other day. While it had its moments, it was not filled with gut-hurting laughs. Also, I thought the Principal character was much funnier than the teacher portrayed by Stephen Colbert; and Matthew Broderick did a good job playing a total schmuck.

Night At the Museum: totally geared towards kids. It was original and creative, but not nearly as funny as I though it could have been considering the cast: Robin Williams’ character was very dull.

Fearless: this was supposedly Jet Li’s last action film and he went out with a bang. Decent plot (which is even historically sorta-accurate) with lots of back-breaking kicks, punches, and Judo-chops. Don’t make the mistake I did though, turn off the English dubbing.

Ultraviolet: way too similar to Aeon Flux (which was filmed after it). Some good action and interesting environment, but unsurprising plot revelations.

The Good Shepherd: if you enjoy history or like slowly developing drama’s, you might like this. Matt Damon does a great job playing the most boring, “by-the-book” character imaginable. One wonders if Damon has a part-time job as a tax accountant or had a lobotomy.

American Dreamz: Mandy Moore really knows how to play a stuck-up little priss, because she also did a great job as one in Saved! If you are tired of all the superficial razzle-dazzle surrounding the popular TV show, American Idol, then you will like this satire. Oh, and the combo of Dennis Quaid and Willem Defoe is good too (although Will Ferrell did the best Dubya impersonation with this ad).

Grandma’s Boy: The trailer made this movie look pretty dumb, which it was. But, the main character works for a video game company as a product tester. This of course, is every geeks dream. In fact, the writers do a pretty good job poking fun of all the stereotypical behaviors that many nerds have (like weird ticks/voices).

El Done

Anyways, that’s a wrap for now. WordPress ate the rest of my post, so you will have to settle for the aggregated reviews over at Rotten Tomatoes for more.

Oh, and even though they didn’t come out in 2006: Sin City, Lord of War, and Syriana were pretty good, original even.

See also, Movie Review Extravaganza 2004