Some books and films which impressed me in 2006

Films:

Borat (V funny, not least for thumbing its nose at political correctness)

Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman excellent but whole movie more than just a party piece for him)

Flags Of Our Fathers (Gritty depiction of war and some of the home front implications)

Hidden (Perplexing, though not as bloody as some of Haneke's other work: have bought DVD to scrutinise key scenes)

Kenny (Earthy homespun comedy)

Ten Canoes (Slice of traditional Aboriginal Australian life pre white contact)

Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Converging/ parallel plots on contemporary themes: similar to Amores Perros and 21 Grams, which were written by same writer)

The Squid and the Whale (Simply told tale of growing up in1980s New York)

Walk The Line (Well crafted and acted and surprisingly well sung - by the actors - country music biopic)


Novels (I didn't read many):

Theft: A love story (Peter Carey's recreation of the world he lives in and the world he has left; also notable for excellent depiction of two brothers)

Snow (Complex Orhan Pamuk exploration of aspects of late C20 Turkey)

Non-fiction books:

Frontier Justice (Eye opening depiction of how the northern Australian frontier was won: I've yet to read any criticism of the author's findings))

The Great War for Civilisation (Robert Fisk's weighty tome - in both senses of the word - which I've not yet finished).