STRANGER THAN FICTION: The Truth Is, this is My Best Picture of 2006!!!

First off,
FINALLY!!!

My deepest congratulations
to my favorite Paisan,
MARTIN SCORSESE,
for finally bagging the top Oscars yesterday.

It's long overdue,
and the fact that his 1970s batchmates--
Spielberg, Coppola, and Lucas,
who, collectively, along with Scorsese
changed our moviegoing experience forever---
presented him with the Academy Awards' Golden Boy.


That being said,
and despite my protestations to the contrary,
after seeing STRANGER THAN FICTION this past weekend,
I'm convinced that not only is it my Best Picture of 2006,
it's one of the best pictures I've seen.

Period.


There's a very special feeling when you finish watching
a movie and you come to the realization that you've
just seen one of the finest motion pictures,
something pretty much perfect,
in your life.

It's a feeling tinged with slight regret,
despite the fact that even if you know that
you'll probably watch the movie
again and again over the coming years,

you'll never have that same feeling of awe and discovery
as you did the first time you experienced it.

You know...
that movie that leaves you with a big silly grin
on your face as you watch it all the way to the
end of the closing credits?


Let me see...
offhand, in recent years,
I can recall LOVE ACTUALLY,
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND,
and NANNY McPHEE.


Movies that made me go
WOOOOHOOOOO!!!,
clap wildly,
and surreptitiously dab at my eyes.


Okay, fine.
I'm a sucker for very happy endings.

JERRY MAGUIRE,
after all,
is my favorite movie of all time!




Okay,
how best to describe STRANGER THAN FICTION?

Hmmm....
cross LOST IN TRANSLATION
with ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND!!!


Will Ferrell,
like his fellow comedians Bill Murray and Jim Carrey
before him,

shows unexpected depth
and utmost realism in his acting in this film,

without his trademark tics and schtick,

perfectly playing off
an amazing supporting cast that includes
Maggie Gyllenhaal,
Emma Thompson,
Queen Latifah,
Dustin Hoffman,
and best of all,
that dorky mama's boy from Arrested Development!


YOU HAVE TO WATCH THE MOVIE.

Then you'll know what the image below really means.....