Crank (2006)

2006 | USA | Neveldine & Taylor | ★★★

Starring Jason Statham and Amy Smart, Neveldine & Taylor's exhaustingly paced Crank is a wild and exhilarating if somewhat soulless action thriller, buoyed by its outré plotting, full-blooded performances, and imaginative set-pieces.

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"Action thriller starring Jason Statham as ace hitman Chev Chelios, who learns that he has been injected with a poison that will kill him if his heart rate drops below a certain point. Racing against time and against his own body, Chev must keep up the pressure as he tracks down the men responsible and exact his violent revenge." Universal Pictures

Monty Python's Personal Best (2006)

2006 | UK / USA | Monty Python | ★★★★

Presented by John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, Monty Python's Personal Best is a predictably, hugely entertaining though perhaps somewhat misguided recontextualisation of classic Monty Python's Flying Circus sketches.

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"Six one-hour specials showcasing the groundbreaking comedians with new footage and original clips. Each episode includes members of the original Monty Python troupe performing in favourite clips from Monty Python's Flying Circus along with exclusive new material. Each of the five living Pythons - John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin - produced and wrote his own episode, and collaborated to create the sixth special in honour of deceased member Graham Chapman." Sony Pictures

The Art of Negative Thinking (2006)

Kunsten å tenke negativt

2006 | Norway | Bård Breien | ★★★★

Bård Breien's thoroughly entertaining The Art of Negative Thinking is an outlandishly hilarious yet surprisingly thoughtful outré black comedy, featuring a raft of notable performances from Fridtjov Såheim, Marian Saastad Ottesen, et al.

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"The local disability support group visits an involuntary member, not realizing that it will bring them to a critical mass." TMDb

See also: 

Stotty's Norwegian Favourites

The Bothersome Man (2006)

Den brysomme mannen

2006 | Norway | Jens Lien | ★★★★★

Jens Lien's exquisitely crafted The Bothersome Man is an enigmatic, thoughtfully bonkers black comedy, boasting a brilliantly deadpan central performance from Trond Fausa Aurvåg and some rather grey yet decidedly striking photography.

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"Nightmarish, surreal black comedy from Norway. When Andreas (Trond Fausa Aurvåg) steps off a bus in a strange city, he has no memory of how he got there. Everything seems quite normal: the people are polite, hold down jobs, socialise and have sex with each other but no-one seems to connect or take any pleasure from anything. After Andreas gets married to Anne-Britt (Petronella Barker) and starts to settle into a comfortable but emotionally void routine, he begins to question why everything and everyone seems so superficial. 'The Caretakers' who watch over the city take notice that the newcomer just isn't fitting in..." Drakes Avenue Pictures


See also:

Stotty's Norwegian Favourites
Stotty's 2000s Favourites