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Edition · 2006
The Year in Film · 2006

Best of 2006

The films that defined 2006 — ranked by IMDb score.


These films defined 2006 — the year's highest-rated releases, ranked by IMDb score. Some are awards bait, some are popcorn fare, some quietly snuck in under the radar. All earned their place on the list.

  1. 01.
    The Prestige

    The Prestige

    2006·Dir. Christopher Nolan·130 min·8.5

    A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.

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  2. 02.
    The Departed

    The Departed

    2006·Dir. Martin Scorsese·151 min·8.5

    To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

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  3. 03.
    The Lives of Others

    The Lives of Others

    2006·Dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck·137 min·8.4

    In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.

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  4. 04.
    Pudhupettai

    Pudhupettai

    2006·Dir. Selvaraghavan·179 min·8.4

    The story of ‘Kokki’ Kumar, a carefree teenager from a Chennai slum who runs away from home in the wake of his mother’s death, gets recruited into a local gang and quickly evolves into the dreaded, psychotic right-hand man of a dirty politician.

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  5. 05.
    Bommarillu

    Bommarillu

    2006·Dir. Bhaskar·168 min·8.2

    Siddu is the son of an over-protective business man. Every decision of his is made by his father, which leads him into frustration. He half-heartedly agrees to become engaged to a rich man's daughter, but then falls for a middle-class man's daughter called Haasini. The film focuses on his realization that he has to stand on his own and come out of his father's protective shell - and try to succeed in love.

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  6. 06.
    Khosla Ka Ghosla!

    Khosla Ka Ghosla!

    2006·Dir. Dibakar Banerjee·135 min·8.2

    Kamal Khosla's land is grabbed by a land shark named Khurana. In a bid to retrieve their land, Khosla's elder son hatches a clever plan to con the crook and enlists the help of his friends and his dysfunctional family.

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  7. 07.
    Pan's Labyrinth

    Pan's Labyrinth

    2006·Dir. Guillermo del Toro·118 min·8.2

    In post–civil war Spain, 10-year-old Ofelia moves with her pregnant mother to live under the control of her cruel stepfather. Drawn into a mysterious labyrinth, she meets a faun who reveals that she may be a lost princess from an underground kingdom. To return to her true father, she must complete a series of surreal and perilous tasks that blur the line between reality and fantasy.

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  8. 08.
    V for Vendetta

    V for Vendetta

    2006·Dir. James McTeigue·132 min·8.1

    In a world in which Great Britain has become a fascist state, a masked vigilante known only as “V” conducts guerrilla warfare against the oppressive British government. When V rescues a young woman from the secret police, he finds in her an ally with whom he can continue his fight to free the people of Britain.

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  9. 09.
    Rang De Basanti

    Rang De Basanti

    2006·Dir. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra·157 min·8.1

    After a group of friends graduate from Delhi University, they listlessly haunt their old campus, until a British filmmaker casts them in a film she's making about freedom fighters under British rule. Although the group is largely apolitical, the tragic death of a friend owing to local government corruption awakens their patriotism. Inspired by the freedom fighters they represent in the film, the friends collectively decide to avenge the killing.

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  10. 10.
    Pokiri

    Pokiri

    2006·Dir. Puri Jagannadh·163 min·8.0

    Pandu is a contract killer and will accept any contract provided the amount is right. The police want him for questioning, while the underworld needs him to silence their opponents. No one really knows this assassin's background. It is only Pandu who knows his real identity, and he has no intention of sharing it with anyone.

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  11. 11.
    Blood Diamond

    Blood Diamond

    2006·Dir. Edward Zwick·143 min·8.0

    An ex-mercenary turned smuggler. A Mende fisherman. Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed countrywide.

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  12. 12.
    The Pursuit of Happyness

    The Pursuit of Happyness

    2006·Dir. Gabriele Muccino·117 min·8.0

    A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.

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  13. 13.
    Lage Raho Munna Bhai

    Lage Raho Munna Bhai

    2006·Dir. Rajkumar Hirani·144 min·8.0

    Lovable goon Munna falls for a morning radio host by the name of Jahnvi, who also runs an elders' home which an unscrupulous builder seeks to attain. In order to gain Jahnvi’s attention, he cheats his way to winning a Mahatma Gandhi radio quiz. When Jahnvi consequently expresses interest in Munna, he and his best friend Circuit attempt to keep up the facade.

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  14. 14.
    Casino Royale

    Casino Royale

    2006·Dir. Martin Campbell·144 min·8.0

    Le Chiffre, a banker to the world's terrorists, is scheduled to participate in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro, where he intends to use his winnings to establish his financial grip on the terrorist market. M sends Bond—on his maiden mission as a 00 Agent—to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. With the help of Vesper Lynd and Felix Leiter, Bond enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career.

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  15. 15.
    Omkara

    Omkara

    2006·Dir. Vishal Bhardwaj·155 min·8.0

    Half-caste bandit Omkara Shukla abducts his lady love, Dolly Mishra, from her family. Thanks to his cleverness, he gets away with the kidnapping. A conspiracy, however, forms against him when he denies his right-hand man, Langda Tyagi, a promotion. Ultimately, this plot threatens not only his relationship with Dolly, but their lives and those of their associates as well.

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  16. 16.
    Kiwi!

    Kiwi!

    2006·Dir. Dony Permedi·4 min·7.9

    The story of a Kiwi who spends his whole life working towards achieving his dream.

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  17. 17.
    Deliver Us from Evil

    Deliver Us from Evil

    2006·Dir. Amy J. Berg·101 min·7.9

    Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. Victims' stories and a disturbing interview with O'Grady offer a view into the troubled mind of the spiritual leader who moved from parish to parish gaining trust ... all the while betraying so many.

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  18. 18.
    Dor

    Dor

    2006·Dir. Nagesh Kukunoor·124 min·7.9

    Shankar Singh and his wife, Meera, live in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India along with widowed paternal grandmother, Laxmibai, his mom, Gowri, and dad, Randhir. The family feel that they are blessed after Meera's entry in this family. Shankar must go and abroad in Saudi Arabia and bids farewell to Meera, promising to keep in touch, which he does, and also sends them a large portion of his earnings, which is used to pay off the family's debts. Then when no word is received from him, a worried Meera phones, and is devastated to learn that Shankar has been killed by being thrown off a 10th floor balcony. Her status quickly changes, her jewelery, ornaments, fancy clothes are taken off, and she is told to remain indoors. wear dark clothes, and is only allowed to pray at a Mandir.

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  19. 19.
    Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu

    Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu

    2006·Dir. Gautham Vasudev Menon·160 min·7.9

    DCP Raghavan sets off on the trail of the killers of Rani, the daughter of a police officer. Following this, many more murders take place, leading him to New York to capture the maniac killer.

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  20. 20.
    Children of Men

    Children of Men

    2006·Dir. Alfonso Cuarón·109 min·7.9

    In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

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  21. 21.
    The Devil and Daniel Johnston

    The Devil and Daniel Johnston

    2006·Dir. Jeff Feuerzeig·110 min·7.9

    This 2005 documentary film chronicles the life of Daniel Johnston, a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his mental illness and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession.

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  22. 22.
    Apocalypto

    Apocalypto

    2006·Dir. Mel Gibson·138 min·7.9

    Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

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  23. 23.
    Seven and a Half

    Seven and a Half

    2006·Dir. Miroslav Momčilović·106 min·7.8

    A collection of seven stories "from the block," linked by the theme of the seven deadly sins, humorously portrays the everyday life of New Belgrade's inhabitants, who are consumed by their minor foibles and guided by their passions. While pride, sloth, envy, wrath, greed, lust, and gluttony are biblical sins, they seem almost ridiculous in contemporary times when set against the backdrop of civilization's far more severe challenges.

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  24. 24.
    The Fall

    The Fall

    2006·Dir. Tarsem Singh·117 min·7.8

    In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances.

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  25. 25.
    The Little Matchgirl

    The Little Matchgirl

    2006·Dir. Roger Allers·7 min·7.8

    An animated short based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a poor young girl with a burning desire to find comfort and happiness in her life. Desperate to keep warm, the girl lights the matches she sells, and envisions a very different life for herself in the fiery flames filled with images of loving relatives, bountiful food, and a place to call home.

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  26. 26.
    Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple

    Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple

    2006·Dir. Stanley Nelson·86 min·7.8

    Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch.

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  27. 27.
    Letters from Iwo Jima

    Letters from Iwo Jima

    2006·Dir. Clint Eastwood·141 min·7.8

    The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

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  28. 28.
    Little Miss Sunshine

    Little Miss Sunshine

    2006·Dir. Valerie Faris·102 min·7.8

    A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.

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  29. 29.
    The Island

    The Island

    2006·Dir. Pavel Lungin·112 min·7.8

    Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives an unusual man whose bizarre conduct confuses his fellow monks, while others who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future.

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  30. 30.
    Sharkwater

    Sharkwater

    2006·Dir. Rob Stewart·89 min·7.8

    Driven by passion fed from a life-long fascination with sharks, Rob Stewart debunks historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas.

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  31. 31.
    The Pervert's Guide to Cinema

    The Pervert's Guide to Cinema

    2006·Dir. Sophie Fiennes·151 min·7.8

    A hilarious introduction, using as examples some of the best films ever made, to some of Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek's most exciting ideas on personal subjectivity, fantasy and reality, desire and sexuality.

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  32. 32.
    Memories of Matsuko

    Memories of Matsuko

    2006·Dir. Tetsuya Nakashima·130 min·7.8

    While combing through the belongings of his recently deceased aunt, Matsuko, nephew Sho pieces together the crucial events that sank Matsuko's life into a despairing tragedy.

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  33. 33.
    Lucky Number Slevin

    Lucky Number Slevin

    2006·Dir. Paul McGuigan·110 min·7.7

    Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma.

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  34. 34.
    Black Book

    Black Book

    2006·Dir. Paul Verhoeven·145 min·7.7

    Israel, 1956: Jewish teacher Rachel Stein rather unexpectedly meets an old friend at the kibbutz. It brings back memories of her experiences in the Netherlands during the war, memories of betrayal. In September 1944, Rachel's hiding place is bombed by Allied troops; she makes contact with a resistance member and joins a group of Jews to be smuggled across the Biesbosch to the freed South Netherlands. Only Rachel escapes a massacre by patrol Germans, and is rescued by a resistance group under the leadership of Gerben Kuipers, whose son is captured trying to smuggle weapons. Kuipers asks Rachel to seduce SS-hauptsturmführer Ludwig Müntze, a mission that she will soon learn that the boat attack wasn't a coincidence.

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  35. 35.
    Vikramarkudu

    Vikramarkudu

    2006·Dir. S. S. Rajamouli·161 min·7.7

    A thief's life changes after he discovers a little girl who claims he is her father, and what follows is violence after a gang hunting for his lookalike closes in on him.

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  36. 36.
    Cocaine Cowboys

    Cocaine Cowboys

    2006·Dir. Billy Corben·118 min·7.7

    In the 1980s, ruthless Colombian cocaine barons invaded Miami with a brand of violence unseen in this country since Prohibition-era Chicago - and it put the city on the map. "Cocaine Cowboys" is the true story of how Miami became the drug, murder and cash capital of the United States, told by the people who made it all happen.

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  37. 37.
    Paprika

    Paprika

    2006·Dir. Satoshi Kon·90 min·7.7

    When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patient's dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist can stop it and recover it before damage is done: Paprika.

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  38. 38.
    Lifted

    Lifted

    2006·Dir. Gary Rydstrom·5 min·7.7

    When an overconfident teen alien gets behind the controls of a spaceship, he must attempt to abduct a slumbering farmer under the watchful eye of a critical instructor. But abducting humans requires precision and a gentle touch, and within a few missteps it's painfully clear why more humans don't go missing every year.

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  39. 39.
    Volver

    Volver

    2006·Dir. Pedro Almodóvar·121 min·7.6

    Three generations of women deal with family secrets while surviving the east wind, fire, insanity, superstition, lies and even death.

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  40. 40.
    Doctor Who: The Runaway Bride

    Doctor Who: The Runaway Bride

    2006·Dir. Euros Lyn·60 min·7.6

    A young bride in the midst of her wedding finds herself mysteriously transported to the TARDIS. The Doctor must discover what her connection is with the Empress of the Racnoss's plan to destroy the world.

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— End of Chapter —