Top 10 Movies of 2007

10. Gone Baby Gone

A few months ago I wrote a one Mr. Ben Affleck (the director) an apology of sorts, discussing the unkind feelings I've built up over the years for a one Mr. Ben Affleck (the actor/grinning doofus). I did this because he made an amazingly gritty and emotionally honest detective picture, something I didn't know existed in this hipster world of noir and fascinating-but-benign Law and Order reruns. In the same year I also experienced The Wire for the first time, and as blue collar street vs. authorities America became more than my vague recollections for the soap opera dramatics of NYPD Blue, I found something in Gone Baby Gone's protagonist Patrick Kenzie that connected me to the world of putting things right in a world gone wrong. Only further laughing in my face by casting his little brother Casey in the role, he is a young (possibly too young) man desperately holding onto truth, justice, and innocence - as if the latter could possibly neatly coincide with the former two. His performance, with his brother's sad look at a beloved Boston, resonated in me in a way that brought me to tears and yearned for a chance to go back into the world with a clearer and still youthfully fervent vision. -Chris

9. Zodiac

This film came out last March and I can't totally remember why it was awesome. I know it had a strong cast and cool 70's fashions. And it used computer graphics to make some rockin' overhead shots. But what was so strong? I guess the film found a tone or mood or whatever and just went with it. The story wasn't hyped up or over-fictionalized. The police work was routine. And the tension and fear come from very simple scenes. How can they let that dude get away??? Is this old man with the movie posters going to kill someone? Just watching the film puts the viewer on edge and they adopt the paranoia of the main guy. It's great stuff. I just read on IMDB that Donovan's daughter has a cameo in the film. How crazy is that? (He wrote the Hurdy Gurdy Man song over the credits, you know, that really creepy folk song that starts with the humming). If you missed this one in theaters, give it a check. It's a solid film. -Sean

8. Death Proof

I could have some serious fun making a graph of the general public's waxing and waning interest with Quentin Tarantino, but that would take away time I could spend trying to convince you that Death Proof is his best movie since Pulp Fiction. Split into two halves and consisting of mostly insanely fast dialogue, a lot of people got uppity waiting for the violence to happen (it was after all part a failed attempt to bring back the grindhouse genre - hilariously bad and overly grotesque action/horror pictures). But this was the beauty of the film: you go into it with expectations, only to start shaking with anticipation, waiting for the more-sinister-than-ever Snake Plissken to kill off some unsuspecting females. But if you force yourself to wait and become intertwined in the two sets of women's lives and friendships, the more attached to them you become and the tired horror trope of "murderer kills off dumb girls and audience hoots and hollers" becomes switched on its head. Stick around for the ending and it will be the most satisfying conclusion you'll have ever "waited" for at a supposed horror flick, whether you're a feminist or not. -Chris

7. Ratatouille

Yes, it's Disney, and yes, it's about a rat who can cook in France (really, who didn't see that coming?) but it also has a wisdom about friendship and dedication that is mature, socially-relevant, and not stuck in the '50's like many animated films. While the frozen food stereotypes were annoying, and there's no way a plounger could afford an apartment in Paris with Eiffel Tower views, the questioning of media critique was on point and necessary in today's critical, review-driven culture. And I finally realized that the my favorite dish of my grandma's, with two-colored squash, tomatoes, and cheese is ratatouille. I'm more cultured than I knew. -Nicole

6. I'm Not There

I've always been a fan of the biopic (even the less than brilliant ones like The Buddy Holly StoryLa Bamba), but this film was so much more! Most of the hype surrounded the several different actors cast to play Dylan (whose name was never mentioned), but these actors really represent not one, real man's biography but different fictional characters and personas. Interestingly, Cate Blanchett (whose performance was highly anticipated and praised by critics) played "Bob Dylan" at a time period when his persona seemed the most removed from being either man or woman. Her portrayal, and all the other actors and characters, highlight the almost split personalities of the performer and work together to say something not only about one man's "life" but about the formation of the self and the lack of a core which seems to haunt too much of modern America, and is (in this case) the plague of the artist/man/woman/human being. It really surpassed all my expectations, and even if you aren't a Bob Dylan fan this is worth seeing, as even on the level of script/plot/direction it is one of the most innovative and interesting movies of the year. All that combined with terrific acting and a great score made I'm Not There one of the top films of 2007. -Brigitte

5. Hot Fuzz

The most fun I've had at the theater in a long time. The reason I think more people didn't love it is because they didn't know what to expect. This is satire, mixed with homage (to crap like Bad Boys II), mixed with real movie-making, and you've just got to be up for it. Don't worry about the story, if you don't like it. Worry about the storytelling. The first half is mindful, clever jokes, and the second half brings those jokes back around for some mindless violence. I've watched Shaun of the Dead more than any other recent movie (despite a weak ending, not echoed in Hot Fuzz), and I've watched this acting troupe's English TV series "Spaced" twice, so yes I am a biased fan. I am a biased fan for a reason. I think these are smart people who have suffered under the same pop culture we have, loved rolling in this mud as much as we have, and are now transforming their useless memories into pure, cinematic fun. -DoktorPeace

4. Juno

I think Juno is not only one of the greatest films of 2007 but one of the best comedies I've seen in a very long time. It employs all of the wittiness and sarcasm that I love in shows like Arrested Development (in addition to employing some actors from the show) but is also sweet and sentimental at the same time. I even saw Brigitte crying at the end. Most of the criticisms of the movie that I've heard were that it was too witty, and while the dialogue may be slightly unrealistic in that respect I never found myself thinking that it interrupted my enjoyment of the film. My favorite line was, "I don't really know what kind of girl I am," because I think it really captures the uniqueness of Juno's character. Ellen Paige pulls off the cynically sarcastic teenager perfectly but not in the "I hate other girls because they are so pretty and fake" kind of way that I feel is typical in most films with characters similar to hers. Not to mention Cut Chemist as the chemistry teacher! That's an automatic two thumbs up in my book. -Lady Amy

3. No Country for Old Men

Any more praise for this movie just seems like excess at this point. Fact of the matter is, though, this is the one drama on the countdown that I absolutely cannot wait to come out on DVD so I can watch it again, alone in the dark, with a distant howling wind outside, underneath various blankets. Never have the adjectives "quiet" and "haunting" gone together so well until this film, which after much thought, I dare to call the Coen Brothers' best. People have justly gushed over the creepier-than-thou performance by Javier Bardem as a grim reaper with a bad haircut, but for me the highlights come from elsewhere: 1) Tommy Lee Jones as an aging sheriff aching for both more screen time and closure to an eternally open existence. 2) Josh Brolin as a man seemingly done with life when he's yet to form a wrinkle on his face, but underneath bursting with love and hope, like a student pretending he doesn't care about the rules when in fact he just wants the teacher's attention. -Chris

2. There Will Be Blood

At first, it was nearly impossible for me to separate the film There Will Be Blood from the filmmaker without totally distorting my movie experience. After all, writer / director Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed two of my favorite movies of all time, Boogie Nights and Magnolia, both of which featured some of the most memorable characters and dialogue ever – two characteristics that were noticeably absent here. But Daniel Day-Lewis's intense, terrifyingly good performance has officially burrowed into my head as the stuff of nightmares. Anderson went into the making of this film intending to make his first horror film, and, like its "romantic-comedy" predecessor Punch-Drunk Love, the film manages to both inhabit and defy genre rules. Although I did indeed laugh and swoon through Punch-Drunk Love , the film managed to be completely free of any conventions normally seen in the genre. Although I did indeed laugh and swoon through Punch-Drunk Love , the film managed to be completely free of any conventions normally seen in the genre. Same goes for There Will Be Blood -- although I was horrified by the violence and descent of man, there is little for the actions that occurred. Any way you look at it, P.T . Anderson convincingly proved to me that his career will be widely varied, and his films will be as incredible as this one for a long time. -Qualler

1. Once

A busker who fixes hoovers in his spare time and a poor immigrant who supports her daughter by selling flowers on the street meet, make beautiful music together, and fall in love...in a way that is true-to-life and without a Hollywood ending. The long-lens camera work and elegantly simple scenes made many audiences feel like they were watching a documentary. I desperately wanted to buy the music they recorded during the studio sessions, only to remember that it's fiction, they're not really a band, and I have to buy a soundtrack. Oh, well. My favorite part is on the hill by the ocean, when he asks her, in broken Czech, if she loves her husband, and she responds in Czech, but without translation. Most romantic trivia ever: she actually says "No, I love you," but he, and we, are never meant to know. -Nicole

This entry was posted by chris, on Thursday, January 10, 2008. You can leave your response.