In general, I thought 2007 was a much stronger year than 2006. Coen Bros, Paul Thomas Anderson, Cronenberg (so terribly underrated) all at the top of their game. Little gems like This Is England and Once, with pitch perfect performances and soundtracks that provided me much comfort and joy through the ups and downs of the year, contributed to a solid solid 2007.
1) No Country For Old Men – Bravo Javier, bravo friendo. Coen Bros really outdid themselves with this one. Every aspect of filmmaking, every detail – from editing, to direction, to cinematography, to performances, and on and on down the line – perfection achieved.
2) Once – I laughed, I cried, I sang along. One of my all-time faves, an instant classic.
3) This Is
4) Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead – Intense, draining..marvelous.
5) Eastern Promises – Viggo was incredible. The bathhouse scene was siiiiiiiiiiick.
6) There Will Be Blood – DDL’s performance: crazy good. One of the best EVER in film history. There is 0% chance he doesn’t get the Oscar. It’s a lock.
7) Into the Wild – as good as the book.
8) Juno – warms the heart and puts a smile on the face. Noble achievements in my book.
9) Starting Out in the Evening – it’s unfortunate no one sees movies like this one, that’s why they don’t make enough of them. Frank Langella is an acting genius.
10) Control – awesome Joy Division/Ian Curtis biopic.
Charlie Wilson’s War – I really really enjoyed this movie far more than I anticipated. Phillip Seymour-Hoffman is the best character actor of our time. Almost made the top 10.
Michael Clayton – ok ok, it was good, but simmah down. Not worthy of all the attention it’s getting.
American Gangster – didn’t have that epic feel it could’ve. Denzel kind of sleepwalked through this one. Russel was quite good.
Margot at the Wedding – like nails on a chalkboard in many respects, but kudos for being able to evoke such strong emotions.
The Savages – Linney and Phillip quite good, but the subject matter was mediocre.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – I really admire Schnabel, but I didn’t think this one was anywhere near as good as Basquiat (an all-time favorite). Plus, I don’t really like thinking about the main dude’s predicament, very depressing (although ultimately uplifting in a way…) Melancholy, delicious soundtrack.
The Bourne Ultimatum – great espionage thriller. I wish there were more of these, like a good cheeseburger, I can never get enough.
Knocked Up – Hilarious and endearing.
Across the Universe - come on, it’s The Beatles, Evan Rachel-Wood is gorgeous, and I had a good time with it all.
Gone Baby Gone – I know what you’re thinking, directed by Ben Affleck? But it’s engrossing, Casey Affleck has the acting chops, and it’s actually a pretty tight crime drama.
I Am Legend – why did everyone hate this movie? I thoroughly enjoyed it, a great popcorn flick (to borrow a cliché.) If you can’t suspend disbelief for a fantasy movie like this, then your curmudgeonly ass shouldn’t be going to see a Will Smith vehicle about zombies. Simple as that.
Dan in Real Life – I really like Steve Carell.
After the Wedding – interesting foreign drama. Intense performances.
Superbad – funny as all get out, but I did prefer Knocked Up.
Hot Fuzz – hysterical also, but a bit too long.
Sicko – I get the feeling that his documentaries are all “preaching to the choir”. i.e. the people who need to see his films..don’t. Frustrating.
Black Book – WWII epic by the guy who made Total Recall and Basic Instinct. Wildly entertaining.
No End in Sight – if you didn’t see this movie, you’re not allowed to vote in November. End of story.
The Namesake – my year started with a trip to
3:10 to
Ratatouille – I enjoyed this movie for all the foodie and cooking motifs. It was a nice cartoon, but should not be making top ten lists.
Lars and the Real Girl – I absolutely loathed this movie. ‘Nuff said.
I’m Not There – pretentious drivel that the critics eat up but is actually garbage.
2 Days in
Grindhouse – I was sort of amused by bits and pieces, but ultimately..nah. Quentin, come back please.
Shoot ‘Em Up – oh come on.
Transformers – what a tremendous tremendous disappointment. Movies don’t get much worse than this. It wasn’t even bad in a campily (is that a word?) good way. Just terrible.
Spiderman 3 – three letters: WTF???
300 – Look, I’m sorry, having “totally awesome visuals” is not reason enough for a movie to be considered good. Without getting too granular, let me just say that this movie was simply poor.
Breach – meh.
The Darjeeling Limited – Attention Wes: dude, stop already, it’s enough.
Zodiac – just didn’t do it for me. Not terrible, but not great either.
Beowulf – saw this in 3D IMAX. Exciting for the first 10 minutes, but then it got old real quick. I think if I saw this when I was 12 I would’ve loved it.
Waitress – I feel bad about the filmmaker being murdered. This was a cute flick, nothing more, nothing less.
Sweeney Todd – I love Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, but this was no Edward Scissorhands. Heavy on style, but not much in substance. I think I can do without these kind of film musicals to be honest.
La Vie En Rose – mediocre biopic. The main performance by Marion Cotillard was awesome, but I haven’t seen much historic Edith Piaf footage to comment on its veracity.
Black Snake Moan – pretty ludicrous, but daaaaaaaamn Christina Ricci, you go girl!
In the
Atonement – you gotta be kidding me with all the accolades this movie is getting. The first twenty minutes or so were decent, but as soon as he gets shipped off to war, I wanted to rip the hair from my head. Total snooze fest. A bad movie disguised as a quality film. I am sure the academy will be fooled by this nonsense and eat it up (ala Crash a few years ago, gimme a break).
No comments:
Post a Comment