2006

Best Picture Nominees:

Babel
The Departed *
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

***

Babel - A confusing movie with multiple plot lines taking places in multiple places in the world.  I think the title refers to everything happening that no one understands.  First Best Director nomination for Inarritu.  Good musical score and nice acting by Rinko Kikuchi.

The Departed - Based upon a Chinese film, this stars Mark Wahlberg as a cop, and Leonardo diCaprio as a criminal who are actually in reversed roles (good is bad, and bad is good).  Dramatic and enjoyable.

Letters from Iwo Jima - Excellent Japanese-language film from Clint Eastwood about Iwo Jima from the Japanese point of view.  Companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers (the American version).

Little Miss Sunshine - A fun comedy with an all-star cast about an average girl in beauty pageants and her quirky family.  This movie was so different from the rest of the nominees and probably why I enjoyed it.  Not too serious.

The Queen - Fictionalized account of how the royal family deals with the death of Lady Diana.  Tour-de-force for Helen Mirren, who won the Best Actress Oscar.

***

My rankings of the Best Picture nominees:

1.  Little Miss Sunshine
2.  Letters from Iwo Jima
3.  The Departed
4.  Babel
5.  The Queen