Publication Date: Friday, January 6, 2006

Heroes and Villains of 2006

by Jeanne Aufmuth and Tyler Hanley

Heroes of the year:

Al Gore -- "An Inconvenient Truth" -- The former vice president has brought new meaning to a phrase usually uttered by Superman or Captain America: "Saving the planet."

Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy Costigan -- "The Departed" -- Another Oscar-worthy performance by DiCaprio punctuated his portrayal of a tragic hero trapped in a world of con men and killers.

Rudy Youngblood as Jaguar Paw -- "Apocalypto" -- Primal heat and instinctive smarts meld with sultry-sweet sensitivity to render Paw an intrepid Mayan champion.

Daniel Craig as James Bond -- "Casino Royale" -- The dark and fallible M16 agent sported an itchy trigger finger and inflated ego but vanquished evil with badass panache.

Koda as Maya -- "Eight Below" -- This courageous canine conquered blizzards and a beastly sea lion to protect the other members of her stranded pack.

Samuel L. Jackson as Neville Flynn -- "Snakes on a Plane" -- FBI Special Agent Flynn delivered his infamously cocky tag line (unprintable in a family newspaper) while serving up a sky-high helping of reptilian stew.

Passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 -- "United 93"-- These fearless travelers reluctantly ushered in an era of rampant global terrorism and became unsuspecting heroes in the process.

Kurt Russell as Robert Ramsey -- "Poseidon"-- Sacrifice is the trademark of a true hero -- even in a shallow action flick.

Shauna Macdonald as Sarah -- "The Descent"-- Greed, betrayal and bloodthirsty nocturnals were all in a day's work for this beleaguered but spelunky heroine.

Clive Owen as Theo Faren -- "Children of Men"-- The unlikely hero of "Men" boldly braved a bloody war zone to rescue an infant and her mother.

Villains of the year:

Sergi Lopez as Capitan Vidal -- "Pan's Labyrinth"-- The tyrannical character delighted in snuffing out brave rebel forces while doling out brutal punishments to his imaginative stepdaughter.

John Hurt as Chancellor Adam Sutler -- "V for Vendetta"-- This wild-eyed megalomaniac ruled a futuristic England through fear tactics and threats of force -- until a masked vigilante ended his tyrannous reign.

Matt Damon as Colin Sullivan -- "The Departed"-- Perhaps the most despicable villains are those who masquerade as heroes. Sullivan's subterfuge led to betrayal, brutality and the murder of innocents.

Rufus Sewell as Crown Prince Leopold -- "The Illusionist"-- This corrupt crown prince personified the villain archetype through arrogance, jealousy and a sinister gaze.

Annette Bening as Deirdre Burroughs -- "Running with Scissors"-- The emotionally unstrung poet dealt with imploding personal issues by abandoning her son to the "care" of her therapist's certifiably insane family.

Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin -- "The Last King of Scotland"-- Uganda's paranoid dictator wielded a notorious mean streak ultimately responsible for more than a quarter of a million deaths by torture. Need we say more?

Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly -- "The Devil Wears Prada"-- The title says it all. Miranda Priestly demonstrated only a temporary twinkle of humanity beneath a callous and grotesquely self-serving exterior.

Aaron Eckhart as Nick Naylor -- "Thank You for Smoking"-- The resourceful chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies defended the rights of smokers by twisting logic with a poisonous mix of anxiety and bluster.

Oliver O'Grady -- "Deliver Us from Evil"-- The Catholic Church's response to O'Grady's incessant abuse of parishioners and their children? Banish him to Ireland instead of hell.

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Owen Davian -- "Mission: Impossible III"-- The cold-as-ice antagonist of "M:I3" killed indiscriminately to achieve his greedy goals.is greedy goals.