Best of 2007 - Ten (Fifteen) Best Films of 2007

Wow! 2007 was a great year for movies!! I tried my best to make this a top ten list. However, I just had to break down and extend it to fifteen (plus, there is a tie so I guess, technically, it's sixteen). I know there are a few strange choices on here but guess what? I love strange movies. So, here's my list...

15. Away From Her
What a lovely, beautiful, pleasure of a movie! Actress turned director Sarah Polley shows wonderful restraint and promise as a director. There are great supporting performances from Olympia Dukakis and Gordon Pinsent. Of course, it's the beautiful Julie Christie who steals the entire show. She's just breathless to watch. This film is a little bit tragic, a lot heartbreaking, but ultimately beautiful.

14. I'm Not There
This film is downright amazing. It's a vision in black and white and color and drenched with Bob Dylan music. The movie is like a dream, lots of random images and scenes that all are somehow cohesive in a way that is impossible to explain. The movie surely isn't for everyone but there wasn't a movie all year that was more unique, more stylish, more ballsy than I'm Not There. Cate Blanchett is perfection times ten.

13. TIE: Waitress and Juno
Two of the sweetest movies of the year - without being corny or cheesy in the least. Waitress is a little more romantic and old school. Juno is a little more hilarious and hipster cool. Both feature fantastic performances from young women - Keri Russell knocks it out of the park as a small town Southern waitress at a pie shop who gets pregnant and isn't so happy about it. Ellen Page is the titular Juno, a smart ass fast talking hilarious sixteen year old who finds herself with child. Both come to the perfect conclusions - neither of which are cheesy in the least. These movies don't settle. In the end, you can't resist their unique charm.

12. Superbad
Superbad is, for sure, the funniest movie of the year. The cast is perfect - Michael Cera (who had a GREAT year), Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (no one will forget McLovin for a long time), Bill Hader and Seth Rogen. It's not the best directed film. It's not particularly ground-breaking or thought provoking or whatever. But, it is a cult classic. It's hilarious and enjoyable. It's bonafide bad ass.

11. Black Snake Moan
Craig Brewer was responsible for my absolute favorite movie of 2005 (Hustle and Flow - HOLLA!) but this year he just missed the top 10. Still, Black Snake Moan is terribly original and terribly interesting. Where else can you see Christina Ricci chained to a radiator for most of the movie wearing little more than a half shirt and a pair of undies? If that doesn't strike your interest, I'm not sure what else will. Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson are fearless in their roles. In an industry where everything is predictable, this movie is a breath of fresh air.

10. Zodiac
When this David Fincher helmed film is at its best, it's reminscent of The Silence of the Lambs and other classic thrillers. When it's at it's worst, it's still interesting, well acted, well directed and better than half the stuff that came out this year. Sure it's long but it's worth the journey. There's really not much that could have been cut from the story. So the long running time is justified (plus, I just love a good three hour + film). Zodiac is really the kind of movie that sticks with you. It has the perfect combination of police procedural and nerve-racking suspense.

09. Gone Baby Gone
Attention Ben Affleck - All is forgiven! I forgive you for all the brainless action films you've done. I forgive you for the whole JLo debacle. He's created a really solid, well done film with performances that are simply great. Ben's little brother Casey (who is a better actor - I've always liked him more anyway) stars and we more or less watch him grow up in front of our eyes. At the beginning, he's all baby faced and pure. By the end, he seems harder. Amy Ryan is, of course, getting all the praise and awards. I loved her performance - but really not THAT much. Still, this movie is emotional, heart wrenching, haunting and intense.

08. Grindhouse
Seeing Grindhouse in theaters was like attending an event. It wasn't just a movie. There was so much more to the experience. I hated that they released them seperately on DVD but whatever. Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have created the perfect double feature. Rodriguez' Planet Terror is typical Rodriguez: Explosions and sex, tons of humor and men (and women) jumping over things while shooting multiple guns at bad guys. Rose McGowan has a machine gun for a leg!!! (Brilliant). But it's Marley Shelton and, especially, Freddy Rodriguez who steal the show with their ultra bad ass coolness! Planet Terror was my personal favorite of the two. However, Death Proof was great as well! Sure, the first half hour or so is completely indulgent. (And Tarantino is an IDIOT for deleting the lap dance scene with Vanessa Ferlito and Kurt Russell from the theatrical version). But once Tracie Thoms, Zoe Bell and Rosario Dawson take the screen, the movie becomes downright awesome. Even if you didn't see it in theaters, netflix both and watch it as a double feature!

07. Alpha Dog
There's a mood and energy that director Nick Cassavettes easily captures and portrays that makes this movie so far removed from any cliched studio product geared toward the teenybopper set. The film is honest and genuine and has a lot of unexpected heart and soul. To say these kids (a great young cast including Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Anton Yelchin, Justin Timberlake, Shawn Hatosy, Christopher Marquette etc) are stupid is a huge understatement. But that's the point. This is a story about a bunch of people who make one bad decision after another until it spirals so far out of control that these kids have no idea how to get out of the mess they created. It's really the kind of movie that sucks you in, entrances you and then hits you over the head with a baseball bat.

06. Bug
Bug is a slow-burning, calculating, deliberate movie that sets a steady pace and includes wonderful dialogue and performances from Ashley Judd and, especially, Michael Shannon. The final act is intense and creepy and really makes you think. This movie definitely isn't for everyone and it's hard to talk about without giving something away (which I refuse to do), but Bug is totally worth the crazy, tripped out journey.

05. Once
This film is honest and beautiful, spectacular and full of great, great music! It's really just a simply and lovely little film that is impossible, yes, IMPOSSIBLE to not love! It doesn't disappoint in any way, shape or form. Glen Hansard and Marketa Iraglova are ADORABLE, talented, lovely people. The movie is filmed beautifully and it's just a feel-good movie that is not mushy in any way. The comedic moments are realistic and relatable. It's not too sentimental but it is simply a great story about unconsummated love and a beautiful friendship.

04. Eastern Promises
David Cronenberg's work always makes you feel uncomfortable. It's that thin line between what is the necessary amount of violence and what is just a bit too much that he walks perfectly. Eastern Promises is subtle, almost subliminal, so you find yourself thinking about it months later without even realizing it. Cronenberg's storytelling technique is clinical, almost. Nothing in a Cronenberg film appears on-screen without a reason. He's the film equivalent to Hemingway - his stories are deceptively simple with an unflinching eye. They have a calm surface that hints at the labyrinth that rests beneath the surface. And Viggo Mortensen! My Lord. What a fantastic performance. He's a bad ass if there ever was one. That naked knife fight just seals the deal.

03. Atonement
Atonement is really a film that begins only after it ends. So, after you finish watching it, you sort of have to relive it all over again and replay everything to understand exactly what just happened. I'm not sure the storytelling is completely coherent (I had some minor problems with the ending) but it almost doesn't even matter. It's an epic, beautiful, well told love story. The music is fantastic (pianos and typewriters). The plot is so perfectly mapped out. The story is based on a perfect, masterpiece of a book and the script doesn't stray too far from that basic outline. The direction is great. The performances are all top notch - Knightley, the three Briony's, and, especially, James McAvoy. But, really, what makes this film, for me, is that 5 minute shot. That perfect, beautiful, mesmerizing, jaw dropping shot that roams and searches the Dunkirk beach. In those 5 minutes this film goes from being solid and great to becoming a masterpiece.

02. No Country For Old Men
Joel and Ethan Coen have crafted a masterpiece. It's almost more than a movie. It's more like art work. It's a beautiful and violent western drama. It's slow-moving and character driven. It's violent and bloody and absolutely beautiful. There's humor aplenty but it's tough and gritty, for sure. This is a thriller that doesn't skimp on the thrills. The three leads are all perfect - Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem. Bardem steals every single second of the movie. He has created one of the best villains ever put on the screen and he gives the best performance of his career and of the year. His portrayal is one of unrelenting evil. There are moments in this film that are so perfect. The film as a whole, as well, is close to perfection. One of the two films I gave an A+ to this year.

01. Into the Wild
This was the other. It was difficult deciding between the two. Like No Country, Into the Wild is a beatuifully shot film with stunning performances (Emile Hirsch, Hal Holbrook, Catherine Keener). Like No Country, I call it a masterpiece. Unlike No Country, Into the Wild INSPIRES ME! This is the absolute rarest of films - it burrows into your soul. This is the kind of film that you just know will live with you forever. There is no forgetting this story, this film. The film is almost beyond words for me. There is almost too much beauty, too much tragedy, too much unexplainable perfection to try to capture in a paragraph or two of clumsy words. Hirsch's performance is so powerful and astonishing and all encompassing that I will be PISSED OFF if he isn't at least nominated for an Oscar. To look at him in his final few moments on screen is painful. This story is inspirational and the movie is perfection. Thank you, Sean Penn.

Alpha Dog

This movie was supposed to come out last year at this time. I remember reading a story about it a year before that, so, more or less, I have been waiting to see this movie for two years. This movie could very easily have let me down because I had it so built up in my head. However, it did not in the least. It was well worth the wait. It's the sort of movie that sucks you in, entrances you, and then hits you over the head with a baseball bat. It's full of characters who are not too likeable, yet we somehow feel for most of them because they are free in ways that most people are not. Nick Cassavetes (who follows up The Notebook with this movie!) really does a wonderful job capturing the essence of this true story. The way he puts you into the prospective of what happened, the way you see what happened as though you are actually experiencing it yourself, is absolutely brilliant.
The story is true, as most people know by now. In an interview, Cassavetes said that this is as true to what happened as could possibly be. The only thing that he changed were the names. So, instead of Jesse James Hollywood, Emile Hirsch plays Johnny Truelove, a young drug dealer who sells various drugs to most of his teenage friends in the sunny, barren wasteland of San Gabriel, California. He's got a group of drug addicted, tough guy friends including Justin Timberlake as Frankie and Shawn Hatosy as Elvis. Ben Foster and his character of Jake Mazursky is sort of the catalyst for everything that happens in this film. It seems Jake owes Johnny money and after a few days of back and forth retaliation between the two (breaking windows, stealing televisions, using the living room carpet as a toilet...) things really spiral out of control when Johnny decides it would be a good idea to kidnap Jake's innocent and sweet little brother Zack (Anton Yelchin) who they happen upon en route to Palm Springs for Fiesta Weekend. They bring little Zack along for the ride and he doesn't mind so much because he gets to play video games, drink and smoke, have sex with two girls and all around feel like one of the crowd. If you've read anything about the true story, then you know what is going to happen next. Still, even if you see it coming a mile away, it still knocks you out of your seat. The relationship between Timberlake's Frankie and Yelchin's Zack is really the backbone of the film. They genuinely become almost friends and that final scene with the two of them will easily break your heart.
There's a mood and energy, a style that Cassavettes so easily captures and portrays that makes this film so far removed from any cliched studio product geared toward the teenybopper set. The film feels honest and genuine and has a lot of unexpected heart and soul, and that makes all the difference in the world. Cassavettes also does a lot of creative things in the movie including interviews to make it feel more like a documentary than a drama, split screen camera tricks, a run down of the dates and times that everything went down, and the part I loved the most, a running count of all the witnesses who saw the kidnapped boy over the three day period. To say that these kids are stupid is a huge understatement. But that's the point. They are a bunch of drugged out, tripping young kids who think they rule the world, because in a strange sort of way, they do. They think they can do anything they want and get away with it. This is, essentially, a story about a group of people who make one bad decision after another until it spirals so far out of control they have no idea how to get out of the mess they created. And, of course, they choose the worst possible way to try to get out of the situation.
The performances are really most impressive. This is a sprawling cast with a ton of wonderful performances. It's nearly impossible to pinpoint any one person specifically because I don't really think there was a star of the movie. This is ensemble casting at it's best. There are wonderful performances from Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Chris Marquette, Sharon Stone, Dominique Swain, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Willis, and Anton Yelchin (whose last few moments on-screen are gut wrenching). Everyone just really does a great job. Justin Timberlake is the most surprising, of course. Surprise, surprise: the guy can act! Forget everything you think about him, all your preconceived notions of the boy bander or whatever. He crackles whenever he's on screen and he has all the right ingredients for a stellar acting career: charisma, screen presence and natural acting talent. But, the standout performance, for me anyway, was from Ben Foster. I remember watching a documentary a few years back about meth addicts and Ben Foster just nails it. He's so on spot in every single scene. He's almost frightening to watch. He's stunning and terrifying. I never thought that little Tucker James from Flash Forward would scare me so much but he does. He's just simply wonderful. He gives one of those rare performances that you won't soon forget.
Grade: A