Without a Doubt, The Movie of the Year in 2006

Rating: 9/10 (20 October 2006)

I saw The Departed last night, and already expecting a great movie I got even more: the BEST movie. I officially declare this the best movie of 2006, without a doubt.
Jack Nicholson plays an Irish mafia boss, who is hunted by a rat in his mob. He also has a gang member who is a rat in the police department. The two rats do not know about each others' double identities. With Matt Damon, Leo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg and more...
What is great is not just the great double embedded story, but the way the two chase each other without knowing who to target. And the acting is phenomenal.
Jack Nicholson returns as a villain and is the most evil and ruthless he's ever been (compare to "Batman" or "The Shining"). DiCaprio is intense, and delivers some of the best fight scenes captured on film. You will believe assault can be an art form. Matt Damon is in top form. Wahlberg is the most Irish you'll ever see him. And Martin Sheen is the father figure he obviously wasn't in real life.
I want to pay special attention to the music. Twice, they use the Dropkick Murphys' cover of Woody Guthrie's "I'm Shipping Off to Boston". Once when Leo goes to jail and again later when the mafia marches into battle. This tune is loud, intense and violent... pure perfection. Scorsese could have just used incidental music, but he knows when to get a modern rock song and this was one of those times.
Go see this movie and love every minute of it, just like I did.