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.

Top Ten List: Things to Be Thankful For...

Well, it's Thanksgiving. I'm done stuffing myself with food. I'm a little bored waiting for The Birds to come on AMC (that movie scares the hell out of me), so the list lover in me decided to make a Top Ten List. This time around, it's the things to be thankful for this year. It's been a pretty good year for movies, I think. Sure, there have been some disasters (I'm talking to you Captivity and Evan Almighty) but this post is meant to focus on the positive, not the negative. So, here's my list:

10. Low Budget Horror Movies - You can take your Saw IV and your Halloween remake and shove them somewhere. I'll take a couple more low key film releases this year. First, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon was a unique take on the tired horror genre. It was interesting, compelling, funny and just plain well done. Then there was David Arquette's funny, quirky The Tripper which wasn't so much a new look at a tired genre. But at least it felt more fresh than the exhausted Saw series.

09. The Return of Michelle Pfeiffer - Miss Michelle simply does NOT make enough movies. She's been absent from the screen for far too long. But this summer we were treated to not one, but two wonderful Michelle roles! First she was delightfully evil as a former beauty pageant winner in Hairspray. Next she was... delightfully evil as a former pretty witch in Stardust.

08. The Affleck Brothers - First, Casey Affleck was pretty much the best thing about Ocean's Thirteen (although, I guess, that's not saying much since that movie just plain was awful). Next, The Assassination of Jesse James came out in which he is rumored to be Oscar worthy. Then there was Gone Baby Gone. Directed by Ben Affleck, who is a better director than actor, Casey starred and gave a truly riveting, heartbreaking, ballsy performance.

07. Michael Cera - Little George Michael Bluth is all grown up and guess what? He's easily the funniest young man in show business. Not only did he have a hilarious internet who called Clark and Michael, but also he starred in the funniest movie of the year - Superbad. Plus, did I mention ever this little movie coming out next month called Juno?

06. The Cast of Hairspray - I already mentioned my love for Michelle. But let's not forget about one of the best ensemble casts in recent memories: Newcomer Nikki Blonsky might get a Golden Globe nomination, John Travolta dresses as a woman, Christopher Walken is just plain cool, James Marsden and Zac Efron steal hearts, Queen Latifah belts it out like few others can, Amanda Bynes is hilarious and adorable all at the same time, and then there's the unsung hero of the movie: Allison Janney. Homegirl has the least amount of screentime and yet steals the show. Whoever had the brilliant idea to put her in this movie deserves some sort of award.

05. Upcoming December Releases - While this year has been great, let's not forget that some of the possible best movies of the year still haven't come out yet. I probably won't get to see No Country For Old Men or I'm Not There until December. Other December releases include: Juno, Atonement, Grace is Gone, I Am Legend, Youth Without Youth, Sweeney Todd, Walk Hard, Charlie Wilson's War, There Will Be Blood, and Cassandra's Dream.

04. Ben Foster - No one else this year has portrayed crazy characters quite like Ben Foster. First, he played a Meth junkie who does karate and shits on floors in Alpha Dog. Next, he played a crazy bad ass cowboy in 3:10 to Yuma. Finally, he stole the show with his subtle yet over the top Stranger in 30 Days of Night. He's possibly the most exciting young actor working today.

03. Into the Wild - Easily my favorite film of the year so far; it's damn near perfect. Sean Penn directed a beautiful, epic, intimate, heartbreaking, inspiring piece of art. He compiled a damn near perfect cast (Emile Hirsch, Catherine Keener, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Stewart, Hal Holbrook, Jena Malone). I just simply love this movie.

02. Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon in Bug - I know they probably won't get any love once the awards start pouring out... but they should. Judd and Shannon give two of the gutsiest, ballsiest, fiercest performances of the year. They don't do anything safe in this movie. They shed inhabitions and just simply go for it. They take huge chances. This movie surely isn't for everyone, but the people who like it, will really love it. And most of the reason for loving this movie lies in the performances from Judd and Shannon.

01. The Women of 2007 - Last year was pretty unexciting as far as female performances go. The same five women (Cruz, Dench, Mirren, Streep, Winslet) pretty much ruled the awards circuit with Mirren cleaning up. This year... might not be quite as much of a lock. There are a lot of women giving some truly great performances. If you really wanted to, you could have a Best Actress list full of performances that came out BEFORE summer: Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan, Ashley Judd in Bug, Keri Russell in Waitress, Julie Christie in Away From Her, Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose (more on that movie coming soon). If the Academy was feeling cheeky, they could fill up the Best Supporting category with women just from Grindhouse. Then there's the performances that I haven't even seen yet: Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There, Ellen Page in Juno, Kiera Knightley and Romola Garai in Atonement, Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Margot at the Wedding, Laura Linney in The Savages, Amy Adams in Enchanted. I'm sure I'm missing quite a few. My point is this: it's been a great year for actresses!

30 Days of Night, Into the Wild, Across the Universe

30 Days of Night - File this under - 'What took them so long to come up with this brilliant idea?' The setting is Barrow, Alaska - the northernmost town in the United States. It's isolated for miles and miles on all sides. It snows all the time. Once a year, the small town is plunged into darkness for an entire month. This year, a mysterious Stranger (the electrifying, as always, Ben Foster) has arrived. He's destroyed all their cell phones. He cut off all their power. He killed all the sled dogs. He's burned many of the cars. Those that chose to stay (the last airplane leaves at sundown and a plane won't be back until dawn) are effectively cut off from the outside world. Being plunged into darkness for a month sounds creepy enough but when you throw a gang of supernatural vampires into the mix it's downright scary. A small band of survivors unite to try to last through the darkness and make it to daylight. They are led by Sherriff Eben (Josh Hartnett) and his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George). When I told my mom this movie was a love story, I wasn't joking. It kind of is. Stella and Eben have a lot of issues and, really, when is it a better time to realize how much you love someone than when you are being stalked by bloodthirsty vampires? (See, there's something for everyone here). The movie is directed by David Slade who last directed the fantastic film Hard Candy and he does an equally impressive job here. There's a lot of quick cuts. There's a lot of fast action. And, there's a lot of blood! His overhead shots of vampires ransacking the small town are glorious. The movie isn't exactly scary but I've seen a million horror movies and so I'm a bit jaded by now. It actually plays a little more like a Western to me (maybe I like Westerns now?). It's definitely got the swagger and attitude down. The acting is solid but nothing spectacular (it is a horror movie, after all). Hartnett particularly impressed me because I'm so used to him feeling so rigid and stiff in his roles. He actually shows quite a bit of emotion here, especially in the last act of the movie. George is the weakest link here. At times, her performance is strong but there's something about her that just annoys me (Sorry but it's true). Of course, Ben Foster steals all the scenes he is in. This is pretty much the perfect role for him. He's a great character actor who seems to love characters who are a little bit strange, to say the least. Maybe his mantra is: 'The crazier the better.' And he's great at it. Here's hoping he keeps making movies like this and keeps playing such complicated, crazy, wonderful characters. The movie starts with a hectic, gritty intensity and it doesn't let up. The movie is definitely sinister, violent and unrelentingly violent. I'm over zombies, let's return to the vampire genre! And this is a great way to start that trend!
Grade: B

Into the Wild - There are movies that you instantly forget you ever saw. There are many of those. There are movies that are enjoyable or even thought-provoking that stick with you for a few days or a few weeks, sometimes months and years. There are many of those as well. Then, there is the rarest of films - the kind that burrows into your soul. The kind that you just know will live with you forever. The kind that is absolutely unforgetable. Into the Wild is the latter. Honestly, I'm not sure how to even review this movie. In a way, it's beyond words. There's too much beauty, too much tragedy, too much unexplainable perfect-ness to try to capture in a paragraph or two of clumsy words. But I'll try. Into the Wild follows recent college graduate Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch in a performance so powerful and astonishing, it's really hard to see how he can't be Oscar nominated in January) who burns his social security card, cuts up his credit cards and gives away his life savings to Oxfam. He leaves behind his family (Dad William Hurt, Mom Marcia Gay Harden, sister Jena Malone), gets in his car and just hits the road. We follow him on a series of life changing / life altering experiences and adventures. He meets a lot of great characters played by a lot of great actors (Holy Kristen Stewart! I was right, I was right. She can act!). He takes the name Alexander Supertramp and sets off to see it all. He does rapids from the desert into Mexico (without the permit that would require him to wait 12 years!). He works in a wheat field with Vince Vaughn. He forms a kind of tramp family with the lovely Catherine Keener. He has a moment of true clarity with an apple. All of these adventures, with hippies and nude colonies, Reno and the dirty streets of Los Angeles, moutains and deserts and sweet young love left unconsummated, his true goal is to go North - to Alaska. When he gets there he lives in a Magic Bus for over three months. He hunts (killing a moose which he writes is the biggest tragedy of his life), he pretends he's a bus driver having conversations with his imaginary passengers, he reads, he just lives. And then, well, nature has its funny ways. It's, perhaps, the biggest tragedy of all that the earth that he so worshipped and adored ultimately destroys him. To look at Emile Hirsch in those final few scenes is utterly painful. He looks so pained, to gaunt (you know, the Academy loves when actors lose a lot of weight for roles!!!). The cinematography is stunning. Sean Penn's rebellious direction is superb. The acting is downright brilliant. Hirsch, like I said, deserves to be nominated for an Oscar. I've been a fan of his for years but this is the performance that will cross him over into the mainstream - if he wants to. He gives his all to this role and the result is beyond words. The supporting cast is great as well especially turns from Hal Holbrook, Catherine Keener and Kristen Stewart. The bottom line is that this movie is just plain amazing. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best movie of the year and I can't forsee anything beating it. I'm sure some people out there might find the main character to be a pompous, stubborn asshole, but I see him (as does Penn) as some sort of martyr. His story is inspirational. If I had the guts, I would love to do the same thing. Is there anything wrong with this movie? I could say I didn't love Jena Malone's wise-beyond-her-years narration but that would just be nitpicking. As far as I'm concerned, this movie is as close as you can get to perfect.
Grade: A+

Across the Universe - Sometimes being visually daring doesn't exactly pay off. Sure, this movie looks great. It's got style by the truckload but that doesn't help a boring cliche filled script and loads of mediocre performances. The movie, of course, is set to Beatles music. And the songs are mostly great. The actors are up to the challenge of singing them. But sometimes it's overload. I'm pretty sure the only reason the character of Prudence is even in the movie is so they have an excuse to sing 'Dear Prudence' at one point. She's absolutely the most unnecessary character in recent memory. A few other characters show up just so they can randomly sing songs as well. In a way, the movie is an acheivement in art, design, style and dance. However, it's still a movie and as a movie it suffers from not having a strong script. It suffers from using every 60s era cliche it can possibly find. It suffers from being a little too strange for it's own good. It suffers from being about 40 minutes too long. (It's called editing Julie Taymor, please embrace it next time). There's no character development. No character arcs. No lessons learned. Nothing. But let's ignore the fact that the characters never learn or develop and remain completely one-dimensional because the movie looks great! No, I'm not that easy and you shouldn't be satisfied that easily either. Maybe what irked me the most was that it didn't follow the one very simple rule of musicals. You can pretty much get away with murder in a musical as long as you follow this one simple rule: All songs must advance the plot. This movie fails miserably at that. Jim Sturgess does a fine job playing the main character Jude, a man who leaves Liverpool to find his father in America and instead finds and falls in love with Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Wood... annoys me sometimes. In some movies I love her and in some movies I don't. I loved her in Pretty Persuasion and Down in the Valley. I didn't like her here. Dana Fuchs pretty much steals the show as Sadie, a very Janis Joplin type singer. Her rendition of Helter Skelter is easily the best part of the film. The movie isn't so bad, however. There are some great scenes. I particularly loved the bowling alley scene, the 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' scene and the 'Let it Be' scene (eventhough, again, random characters who only serve a function to sing and then disappear). It's not the best movie of the year (nowhere near it) but its not the worst either. It's more or less a two hour long glorified music video.
Grade: C-