Post your top ten of 2007
 

EDIT: Ok, I have now seen There Will Be Blood. My list has been modified accordingly.

This was, in my opinion, a fantastic year for movies. Here is my top ten:


10. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - An emotional drama spewing with intensity. I was glued to this movie. One of Phillip Seymour Hoffman's best performances.

9. Ratatouille - Pretty much a perfect movie. The story was tight and interesting. It was mature and intriguing, and didn't sink to the level of purely kiddy stuff. The characters were three demensional, and the animation was truly stunning. My favorite animated movie of all time.

8. Eastern Promises - I loved how muted and underplayed this movie was. We get the sense of evil deeds more than actually seeing them. Mature, restrained directing by Cronenberg makes this one of his best movies. Also a great performance by Mortenson. And oh God, that fight scene...

7. Sweeney Todd - This is the first musical I've seen that I truly "loved." The strange juxtaposition of gore and macabre with amazing music was quite new and refreshing to me. I've never seen anything like it, and it turned out being one of the year's most enjoyable movies. This is one of Burton's greatest movies, second only to Ed Wood.

6. Rescue Dawn - This is all about Christian Bale for me. He's truly a brilliant actor. Yes, he can make startling physical transformations, but it's not just that. He makes me believe that what he's going through is actually happening. I'm such a sucker for stories of survival too. Add to that a great supporting performance by Steve Zahn and some really tense moments, and this turned out to be one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

5. Gone Baby Gone - Casey Affleck was so awesome here. He did such a great job of conveying an everyday neighborhood guy walking into a really messed up situation. But what I loved about this movie was the balls it had. It made me actually THINK about the moral dilemmas that it presents, not hand me easy answers. I walked out of this movie more satisfied than I have from any movie in a long time.

4. Michael Clayton - This is the kind of movie I wish they made more of - Intense character studies that rely on real people acting in realistic ways. The dread comes not from overdone music or stylish directing, but from the fear of danger approaching real people. It's the performances, I feel, that make this work so well.

3. No Country for Old Men - I've seen this movie twice now, and on the second viewing it got kicked up quite a few notches. On the second viewing I began to appreciate the subtleties to the writing, and I loved it even more. Truly some of the most nerve-racking scenes I've ever witnessed in the theaters. And one of the most chilling villians ever put on film. If this doesn't win tons of Oscars, I'm going to be surprised and angered.

2. Into the Wild - Most of the time my movie opinions are formed from a combination of technical factors and gut instincts. In this case, it was purely gut instinct. Yes, the acting was superb and the cinematography was gorgeous, but what makes this movie so amazing for me is that when I walked out of the theater, I actually felt like a slightly different person than I was when I walked in. It hit close to home for me, and was an emotionally profound movie going experience. I know many people complain about changes from the book, or overglorification of the lead character (which I disagree with, by the way), but none of that matters as to why I loved this movie so much. I loved it because it actually made me think about my own life. Not many movies do that.

And now, the best movie of 2007:

1. There Will Be Blood - I've been anticipating this movie for what seems like forever. Since its limited release a month or so ago, people have been gushing about it. So needless to say, my expectations were through the roof. And in what is very uncommon in my experience, the movie lived up to, if not surpassed, my expectations. The movie had this underlying sense of dread that was palpable. The dissonant, off-kilter music did most of the work. But it was also the strange pacing and editing that provided this movie with a crescendo of intensity unlike any I've ever seen. Like a heavy-weight boxer standing in front of me, fist clinched in punching position, about to explode at any moment and unleash incredible pain. The anticipation is what hurts. As does the violent payoff. But the greatness of this movie goes beyond simply mood. The story was fantastic. Citizen Kane-esque, only without the silver lining. The themes presented were as accurate and pertenant to humanity as one can expect from a motion picture. Greed, religion (or rather, the facade of religion in the form of zealotry), and what happens to men who live for money and nothing else. And this all worked because of what can only be called one of the best performances of the last ten years. Daniel Day-Lewis' acting really is as amazing as everyone is saying. Everything about this movie was perfect. Profound, jarring, otherworldly. It was fucking brilliant.


Ok, that's it. Let's see your lists.

In my opinion, anyway, December is usually the month packed with Oscar calibre releases -- in terms of quality films we're going to get, we can expect about a third of the very best in the last 12th of the year. Any list made now is going to be really premature and bound to change. And even so, these lists really shouldn't be made until the end of January 08 when all the limited releases at the end of 2007 have gone wide.

Here is mine.

~Best~
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8. http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/phot...72295_8043.jpg

9. http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/phot...72296_3504.jpg

10. http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/phot...72297_7288.jpg

11. http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/phot...072298_427.jpg

12. http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/phot...72299_3019.jpg

13. http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/phot...72300_2345.jpg

14. http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/phot...72301_1079.jpg

15. http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/phot...72302_9001.jpg

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~Runner-ups (in order)~
The Man From Earth
Control
This Is England
Away From Her
Hairspray
Michael Clayton
King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters
Planet Terror
Breach
2 Days in Paris
The Kite Runner
Ghosts of Cite Soliel

~Still have to see~
There Will Be Blood
Margot at The Wedding
Across The Universe
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Lars and the Real Girl
The Savages
Southland Tales
I Am Legend
Sweeney Todd
Walk Hard
Atonement
Charlie Wilson's War

~The Worst~
1. The Astronaut Farmer
2. Evan Almighty
3. License to Wed
4. Death Proof
5. Good Luck Chuck
6. I Know Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. Pirates 3: At World's End
9. Spiderman 3
10. In the Valley of Elah

~Awesomely Bad~
1. Transformers
2. 300
3. Shoot 'Em Up
4. Smokin' Aces
5. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
6. Black Sheep
7. Hot Rod
8. Fantastic Four: ROTSS
9. Balls of Fury
10. Vacancy

Well first I better actually see 10 movies that came out this year. :)

like the others have said, I still need to see many more films but if I had to rank right this second...

1. No Country for Old Men
2. Grindhouse
3. Black Snake Moan
4. Knocked Up
5. Hot Fuzz
6. Zodiac
7. Bourne Ultimatum
8. Gone Baby Gone
9. The Ten
10. 3:10 to Yuma

Can't wait to see some titles yet to be released but here's my Top Ten with an asterisk:

10-Control
9-Waitress
8-Ratatouille
7-The Devil Came on Horseback
6- Rescue dawn
5-Gone Baby Gone
4-King of Kong
3-Assassination of Jesse James
2-Once
1-No Country for Old Men

10-Zodiac
9-Zodiac
8-Zodiac
7-Zodiac
6-Zodiac
5-Zodiac
4-Zodiac
3-Zodiac
2-Zodiac
1-Zodiac

Favorite Movies So Far

No Country For Old Men
Knocked Up
Bourne Ultimatium
American Gangster
Harry Potter and Order of Phoenix

Can't do this until end of next month.

2007 Theatrical Releases Only
<ol><li> Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)
<li> Grindhouse *
<li> Juno
<li> The Darjeeling Limited
<li> Gwoemul (The Host)
<li> The Namesake
<li> Black Snake Moan
<li> No Country for Old Men
<li> Gone Baby Gone
<li> Eastern Promises<br></ol>

As of today.

List is expected to change: (a top 20 because I liked A LOT of movies this year)

1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Zodiac
Grindhouse
Knocked Up/Superbad (tie)
Into The Wild
Juno
American Gangster
Atonement
Gone Baby Gone
The Bourne Ultimatum
3:10 to Yuma
Rescue Dawn
Hairspray
Black Snake Moan
Hot Fuzz
Enchanted
The Lookout
Eastern Promises


honourable mention to: Sweeney Todd, The Mist, Waitress, Stardust, The Hoax, Paris Je T'aime, The Hunting Party, Charlie Wilson's War, The Kingdom

Top 10 for now

10 - Hot Fuzz
9 - Sicko
8 - Ratatouile
7 - I'm Not There
6 - Zodiac
5 - Grindhouse
4 - Juno
3 - There Will Be Blood
2 - No Country for Old Men
1 - Into The Wild

Honorable Mentions:
Breach
Before the Devil...
Knocked Up
3:10 to Yuma
Eastern Promises
Superbad

Edit to add There Will Be Blood and Juno

Temp. List (of the 10 best films I've seen so far this year. Still need to see many more including Atonement and about a few others...)


1. THERE WILL BE BLOOD
2. Grindhouse (Or just the extended Death Proof)
3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
4. Southland Tales
5. Stardust
6. Knocked Up (Extended and Unrated Edition)
7. Zodiac
8. Into The Wild
9. Across The Universe
10. Rescue Dawn
11. Hot Fuzz


Runners Up:
Sicko
No Country for Old Men
28 Weeks Later
The Darjeeling Limited




*Worst of 2007 (That I've seen):Ghost Rider, Dead Silence, Hills Have Eyes 2, Transformers, Perfect Stranger, Vacancy, Hitman

1. The Bourne Ultimatum
2. Breach
3. Zodiac
4. Sicko
5. Michael Clayton
6. Live Free Or Die Hard
7. American Gangster
8. The Simpsons
9. Music & Lyrics
10. Spider-Man 3

Actually, I've only seen about 15 to 20 movies in the theater this year, which is why the second half of my list gets so weak. :)

I still have an absolute ton of movies to see from this year, but based off what I've seen so far:

1. The Darjeeling Limited
2. Zodiac
3. Superbad
4. The Simpsons Movie
5. Hot Fuzz
6. Stardust
7. 300
8. Bug
9. Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
10. 1408

Top 10
1. Zodiac
2. Tekkonkinkreet
3. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
4. Eastern Promises
5. Death at a Funeral
6. Reign Over Me
7. Ratatouille
8. The Hoax
9. The Lives of Others
10. 300

Bottom 10
1. Elf Bowling: The Movie
2. Thr3e
3. DOA: Dead or Alive
4. Inland Empire
5. Ten 'til Noon
6. Delta Farce
7. Blood & Chocolate
8. Dragon Wars
9. Ghost Rider
10. Closing Escrow

So far:

1.No Country for Old Men
2.Knocked Up
3.Grind House
4.Bourne Ultimatum
5.Hot Fuzz
6.Ratatouille
7.Live Free or Die Hard
8.Transformers
9.Super Bad
10.Across the Universe

Killer of Sheep
Sharkwater
Chalk
In the Shadow of the Moon
You the Living (Du levande)
Once
Zodiac
Persepolis
The Silly Age
Ratatouille

I can only think of three movies that I thought truly sucked:

Tales from Earthsea
Rendition
David & Layla

It's been a good year.

1. The Darjeeling Limited
2. No Country For Old Men
3. Grindhouse
4. Stardust
5. Across The Universe
6. 300
7. Ratatouille
8. 3:10 To Yuma
9. Hot Fuzz
10. Zodiac

Off to a slow start, but IMO this was a phenomenal year for film, maybe the best this decade.

My top 10 so far. . .

10. Waitress

9. I'm Not There

8. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

7. Black Snake Moan

6. Eastern Promises

5. The Lives of Others (was that this year? can't remember)

4. Stardust

3. Once - One of those films that I just had a huge grin on at the end & immediately wanted to see again.

2. Hott Fuzz - I'm gay for Simon Pegg, I have no problem as a hetero-man admitting that, like Shaun, this just embraces what being a film geek is all about.

1. No Country for Old Men - This is probably going to end up being the "cliche" top pick for a lot of people, but the film is just that damn good, & I've always hated Tommy Lee Jones. This is all about the power of cinema, the wonders of a story telling through a great script & brilliant, brilliant acting, with Josh Brolin giving maybe my favorite performance of 2007)

I know I'm forgetting something, & there are still some movies that I'm sure will crack my top 10 that I haven't seen yet & there were some movies that I loved that could easily make the top 10 (Yuma, Lust Caution, Ratatoiulle, Grindhouse, Zodiac, Knocked Up, Superbad, Bourne & more)

1. The Bourne Ultimatum
2. Grindhouse
3. Hot Rod (I absolutely loved this movie, my favorite comedy of the year, it's just so goddamn random and dumb. I hope more people discover it now that it's out on DVD.)
4. Ratatouille
5. Superbad
6. Hot Fuzz
7. Knocked Up
8. Shoot 'Em Up
9. 300
10.The Simpsons Movie

I've only seen like 18-20 movies this year so my list will probably change as I see more movies in theaters or on DVD. Movies I have yet to see but plan on seeing include:

Zodiac
Reign Over Me
Eastern Promises
Into the Wild
The Darjeeling Limited
Dan in Real Life
No Country For Old Men
Southland Tales
The Mist
Juno
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Last year I saw 3 of my 4 top films of the year in December....so I may just wait a bit before I commit.

So far...
 

1. Black Snake Moan
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Superbad/Knocked Up (might change this to everything Apatow if Walk Hard kicks ass)
4. Death Proof
5. Into the Wild
6. American Gangster
7. The Darjeeling Limited
8. Zodiac
9. Planet Terror
10 (tie). Shoot 'Em Up/Gone Baby Gone

Honorable Mentions:
The Bourne Ultimatum
3:10 to Yuma
Black Book

Worst:
1. Halloween
2. Hannibal Rising
3. TMNT

Still have to see many, many others.

I haven't seen enough of the films mentioned to put together a top 10, but I'd have Zodiac #1. Seeing so many movies thrown out as being better than that one has me putting together a 'must see soon' list.

1. American Gangster
2. 3:10 to Yuma
3. Eastern Promises
4. Zodiac
5. The Lookout
6. Bourne Ultimatum
7. Superbad
8. 28 Weeks Later
9. Ocean's 13
10. Transformers