The 2006 film year has gone by so fast and so furiously that we've already drifted to the last day of June (unless you're reading from Tokyo and it's already July 1). Many films that debuted early on in the year have the unique distinction of being on DVD already - which was unheard-of when I was a kid! - although I attest to having seen more movies theatrically this year so far than any other year, all-inclusive. It feels like I've seen a full year's worth of films already, and the year ahead promises many more that I plan on going to.

For now, though, let's slow down and reflect on the first half of 2006. I have a tentative Top Ten that no doubt will look vastly different come 2007, followed by a list of everything else I've seen this year parcelled into one of two categories: Honourable Mentions and Common Trash. Each film comes accompanied with a rating out of 10 points.

My list of Blind Spots is much too huge, especially considering that some films that have played elsewhere in the world have yet to find their way to Atlantic Canada. So, if a favourite film of yours is missing, post a comment below and hopefully it'll make an appearance on my year-end list in January.

Directed by Martyn Burke
Written by Martyn Burke; James Frielberger, Michael Swain (book Fire In The Valley
Starring Anthony Michael Hall, Noah Wyle, Joey Slotnick, John Di Maggio, Josh Hopkins, Gema Zamprogna
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Runtime: 97 minutes
MPAA Rating: No MPAA Rating

Evaluation: 6/10
by Greg Ferguson






At one point in Pirates Of Silicon Valley, a made-for-cable film based on the novel Fire In The Valley by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine, the audience is addressed in an aside by Steve Ballmer (John Di Maggio) and told that what we are witnessing is history and that it ought to be in taught in schools and shown in museums. If only the film itself believed that and went in some direction with it. Here is the story, well summarized and competently spun, of the modern-age computer revolution, spearheaded by Steve Jobs (Noah Wyle) and his initially anti-establishment band of Apple Computers wizards, and by conservative ninny Bill Gates (Anthony Michael Hall) with his silver-tongued Microsoft pals (of which Ballmer numbers among). As we know, these men would go on to change the world with their innovations, but director Martyn Burke and his crew appear to have nothing of worth to say. This isn't an homage to great men of great deeds, nor is it a criticism of the alleged piracy of Silicon Valley. All this film aspires to is getting actors who look their parts to re-enact key scenes from the source material and hitch a ride on the popularity of both computer giants.

Perhaps I'm being unfairly harsh on account of great expectations, though. To be sure, the performances are the film's main attraction, especially Noah Wyle as the miserable egomaniac Jobs, lending an uncommon amount of intensity and fervour to his role, and Joey Slotnik as his amiable yet exasperated partner Steve "Woz" Wozniak. They seem to get more screen time than Gates and Microsoft, though Pirates oscillates between both parties and dutifully documents both men's respective backgrounds and their rise to fame and canonization as patron saints of electronic technology from their scraggly beginnings as university geeks. Of that I have no complaints, and certainly audiences with a lack of knowledge about the origins of both present-day mega-corporations will be treated by the efficient and compelling run-down the film provides. I confess having held a certain ignorance about Apple and Microsoft beforehand and feel wiser knowing better how each came to be. What I was left wanting at the end, however, was a level of depth and intuitiveness about its arguably contentious subject matter. These guys and their cohorts are among the few who can rightly lay claim to having made a lasting imprint on the course of humankind, yet this sentiment amounts to little more here than a glorified cinematic encyclopaedia reference.

(Pirates Of Silicon Valley is available on DVD.)