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Number five takes us back to South Africa and into the realm of the thoroughly depressing. Tsotsi was the very deserving winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, which sadly didn't give it much help in getting noticed by American audiences. Tsotsi is a gang leader in South Africa who has become hardened and cruel. He kills a woman and steals her car, only to find her baby in the back seat, and he decides to raise the child himself. Presley Chweneyagae gives a phenomenal debut performance as the title character in this heartbreaking film that shows the hardships faced by orphans in South Africa. How Gavin Hood went from making this to X-Men Origins: Wolverine I'll never know.

Inland Empire, my number four film, isn't so much depressing as it is a baffling mind trip. Of course, I could have just told you that it was directed by David Lynch and you would have figured that out for yourself. Lynch completely departed from reality with this film, a three-hour experimental, surreal exploration of where dreams and reality converge in movies. Laura Dern is phenomenal in the lead, playing both Nikki Grace and Susan Blue (it's difficult to tell who she is at any given moment), an actress who loses herself in her character. Lynch's films tend to be difficult to watch and even harder to understand, but this might be his opus. There's also a few breaks from the plot for a sitcom involving people in rabbit costumes but, you know, what do you expect? It's David freaking Lynch.

My number three film might be the most brutal film on this list (but number one is certainly the most disturbing). The Proposition is an Australian western written by musician Nick Cave, and is both beautiful to look at and an emotional assault on the viewer. Guy Pearce stars as an outlaw who makes a deal with a lawman to turn in his dangerous brother in exchange for his own freedom. The film questions conventional notions of loyalty and family, in addition to featuring some horrifying violence. But mostly it is a beautifully shot, beautifully scored film with great supporting performances by Danny Huston, Emily Watson and John Hurt. It is no surprise that this is the film that got director John Hillcoat the job of directing The Road.

Night Watch, coming in at number two, is the most entertaining film on this list, and the one that I'm most disappointed about not getting more attention from American moviegoers. Who needs Lord of the Rings when you have this epic fantasy film, set in modern day Russia, about the ultimate battle between the forces of good and evil? Konstantin Khabenskly stars as Anton, a member of the Night Watch, one of the good guys who is entrusted with keeping the forces of darkness in check. He discovers that his son is the chosen one who will decide in which direction the battle for humanity will sway, and is being chased by a guy who can literally pull his spine out of his back and use it as a sword. Night Watch is one of the most visually inventive films I've ever seen, and is a total trip to watch, featuring outrageous action sequences. The first Russian blockbuster since the fall of the Soviet Union, Night Watch is an incredible film experience.

And what was the best overlooked film of 2006? I have no doubt that I would cast my vote for Hard Candy. An extremely controversial film, and one of the most disturbing movies of the decade (along with a few other films that I'll get to in the next couple of week), you might know Hard Candy as the movie in which Juno cuts of Nite Owl's balls. Really though, it's so much more than that. Patrick Wilson plays Jeff, a photographer with a habit of meeting young girls in chatrooms and bringing them to his apartment for what I can only assume are marathon backgammon tournaments (just kidding, he probably rapes and kills them). Things get complicated when one girl turns the tables. Hayley (Ellen Page giving one of the most gripping performances of the decade) drugs Jeff and ties him up, psychologically torturing him - in addition to the aforementioned testicle removal - and making him pay for his crimes. Hard Candy is a fascinating and horrifying film, and while it's certainly not fun for the whole family (except maybe the Manson family), such a brilliant movie deserves so much more attention than it got.


1) Hard Candy
2) Night Watch
3) The Proposition
4) Inland Empire
5) Tsotsi
6) Shortbus
7) Catch a Fire
8) Brick
9) L'Enfant
10) The Dead Girl

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