I might as well title this the “movies I saw (and remembered) from 2007 and wasn’t embarrassed to list”…

1. Children of Men
If this doesn’t count that is fine, but I think it’s so good that it deserves to carry over (yes it was released in 2006, but on December 25th – c’mon, who goes to theaters then?). This dystopian film is bleak but ultimately hopeful. Most of all it is an enthralling and intelligent work of art. The movie is full of gripping and suspenseful moments, such as when Theo and Kee try to flee the Fishes farm in a stalling car. Granted as a sci-fi thriller it sometimes stretches too far, but I still think it stays true to its nightmarish themes that resonate in our current society.
4 stars

2. There Will Be Blood
Well, there was blood. Does the fact that I thought Daniel Day-Lewis’ character was the film’s hero reveal that I’m a tad bit misanthropic? Really though, this was a brilliant and quirky movie that was all about epic staging and dramatic scenery. It was also chocked full of parallelism – not to reveal too much – such as the two main characters strained father-son and brother relationships and the toll that their soul consuming cut-throat ambitions for success took on them. Also, is it me or does anyone else think that Jonny Greenwood watched 2001: A Space Odyssey before composing the score? In more than a few places it seems all too familiar (ie. the opening shot in the canyons and the clanking noises during the oil fire). I’m not complaining as I think the movie does have a stylistic parallel to 2001.
3 1/2 stars

3. Juno

quote:

Originally posted by EricG75:
2. Juno - Haters can say what they want about the "too-cleaver" dialog. No other movie packed such an emotional punch while making me laugh my ass off.

Nailed it! As others have said, in a year dominated by dark, violent, and sometimes despairing movies I’m glad that a mature, uplifting, and heartfelt comedy can still contend with the best of them. Also, Jason Bateman’s character was an idiot. I would give up any ambitions of being a rock star (if I had any), actually, I’d give up music in a heartbeat for Jennifer Garner.
3 1/2 stars

4. Hot Fuzz
I completely forgot this was released in 07 until I saw it on others lists. It wasn’t as memorable, sentimental, or funny as Shawn of the Dead. However, there was enough parody and wit to keep it fresh.
3 stars

5. Ratatoullie
As a Pixar film I thought this was a disappointment. Not to say that it wasn’t a decent movie, but I don’t think it has as much of an adult appeal as movies like Toy Story or The Incredibles. Then again it might just be that I was disappointed to hear Patton Oswalts voice NOT delivering a twisted and perverse joke. If you can find it, interview Patton did on Conan O’Brien in support of this film was one of the most hilarious guest interviews I’ve ever seen.
2 1/2 stars

6. Bourne Ultimatum
Alright, now I’m really stretching for movies. I enjoy seeing Jason Bourne devastate his enemies in creative hit man ways but watching the arduous unraveling of the confusing storyline was almost more than I could stand. The slow first half was compensated for by the action packed pace of the rest of the movie.
2 1/2 stars

7. Knocked Up
A respectable comedy that was hit and miss. It was weighed down by the whiney see-saw drama and unsatisfying ending. Am I alone in thinking that Jonah Hill (or at least the characters he portrays) is a poisonous douche? The filthy one liners he spews in this movie and in Superbad are rarely funny even in shock value.
2 stars

8. I Am Legend
To be honest, I think Will Smith is one of the worst big screen actors currently in the business, right up there with Keanu Reeves in a polar opposite way. His monotone cocky fresh Prince of Bel-Air character is what he almost exclusively relies on. Despite my hatred for big Willy, brainless over-wrought zombie movies, and CGI, this film delivered what it had hyped up - thrills. There were times when I was admittedly frightened and kept in suspense. Primarily this is because the first half or more took a minimalist approach requiring the viewer to use his or her imagination to create the terror. Hell, there were even glimpses of Mr. Smith stretching his acting chops during some of the movies climax dramatic moments.
2 stars

Well, from what I’ve seen it wasn’t a very good year in movies but I haven’t seen very many yet. Chief among my anticipated viewing list are: No Country for Old Men, Persepolis, No End In Sight, Michael Clayton, Charlie Wilson’s War, the King of Kong, and Across the Universe.

Updated: No changes to the titles or the order, but I added a scoring system (out of 4 stars - with half stars because the paper does it!) for added perspective.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: La La Love Pixies,

quote:

Pixies Know-It-All
Posted 21 February 2008 04:31 PM

I might as well title this the “movies I saw (and remembered) from 2007 and wasn’t embarrassed to list”…

2. There Will Be Blood

Also, is it me or does anyone else think that Jonny Greenwood watched 2001: A Space Odyssey before composing the score? In more than a few places it seems all too familiar (ie. the opening shot in the canyons and the clanking noises during the oil fire). I’m not complaining as I think the movie does have a stylistic parallel to 2001.

You are on fire! Yes.

Sorry but I've watched two movies in the last week that ended up in my top ten list (or twelve list). So I needed to change my original list:

1. Atonement (2007). A brilliant piece of cinematic art incorporating an exciting, compelling blend of sound effects, set design, along with the creative weaving of alterative realities in this presentation a romantic drama set during World War II. Ten of out Ten Stars. Reviewed 1/5/07. [Number 3 on my all time list][Golden Globe Best Drama, Oscar Nominee for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress (Saoirse Ronan) Cinematography, Art Direction, Original Score Oscar Nominations].

2. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007). A "Lost in Translation" of the West, with a powerfully visceral depiction of the old West along with brilliant performances by Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck. 9/10. [Reviewed 10/21/07]. [Number 7 on my all time list]. [Casey Affleck, Best Supporting Actor, Cinematography Oscar Nominations].

3. He Was a Quiet Man (2007). A compelling and visually fascinating look at a deranged corporate man played by Christian Slater in one of the best performances in years who befriends a female employee who is serious injured in a tragic accident at work. This reveals some of the best inner workings of the terrible experiences and emotions that compel people to inhuman actions. 9/10. Reviewed 2/21/08.

4. Nanny Diaries (2007). Scarlett Johansson stars as a recent bachelor graduate in business with a minor in anthropology and voice overs her experience as a nanny in what is one of the best general audience movies that exposes the darker and richer themes of family drama. Even though marketed as a family comedy, this movie really is a compelling look at family dynamics with a real ending. 9/10. [Reviewed 9/1/07]. [Number 26 on my all time list].

5. 1408 (2007). One of the best horror thrillers in years, setting a new standard for this genre. John Cusack is a father who lost his daughter to cancer and is now staying in and writing about haunted places and he gets attempt to survive room 1408 in an hotel. 9/10. [Reviewed 6/23/07]. [Number 30 on my all time list].

6. Gone Baby Gone (2007). One of the top ten movies of the year, this mystery-thriller written and directed by Ben Affleck, starring Casey Affleck is a blunt, hard-talking movie about a private investigator looking for a missing child and eventually evolves into twists and turns with tension filled drama and unsettling emotions with no really definitive answers except as to what happened. An easy Oscar nomination and perhaps win for Ben Affleck for best screenplay. 9/10. [Reviewed 11/11/07]. [Number 34 on my all time list]. [Amy Ryan for Best Supporting Actress Oscar].

7. Moliere (2007). A French produced period comedy drama that provides laugh at in a layered movie about the comedy actor who must disguise himself at a rich man's estate and deal with a love interest at the same time. A strongly emotive movie with is both sophisticated and funny as well as seriously sad and happy. 9/10. Reviewed 2/19/08.

8. Breach (2007). Chris Cooper offers up a fantastic performance in the role of FBI traitor Robert Hanssen in a complex, subtle role that may be the best espionage drama to have been directed and produced. 9/10. [Reviewed 6/21/07]. [Number 40 on my all time list].

9. Across The Universe (2007). A brilliant, exhilarating fusion of Beatles music and lyrics that is enhanced by the romance and political statement of the sixties and cross-cultural perspectives. An exciting musical, art, and solid script that allows the Beatles to resurrect themselves to a new generation. 9/10. [Reviewed 10/12/07]. [Number 41 on my all time list]. [Best Musical Golden Globes Nominee, Best Costume Design Oscar Nomination].

10. Spiderman 3 (2007). A powerful sequel incorporating important, contemporary, mainstream issues dealing with revenge, hate, love and relationships, forgiveness. One of the best mainstream movies to come out since Titanic (1997) and Jaws (1975). 9/10. [Reviewed 5/4/07]. [Number 43 on my all time list].

11. Invasion (2007). Nicole Kidman stars in this third remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in an emotional as well as thinking version of the classic movie. Great direction, great acting, great script full of tension, gripping fear, and doubt, along with a solid ending. 9/10. [Reviewed 9/19/07].

12. Premonition (2007). Sandra Bullock stars in this eerie mystery thriller where she told that her husband has died but then later wakes up to find him alive. This an emotional sensitive and excellent look at death and life and family relations. 8/10. [Reviewed 3/17/07].

tabuno, I like your list. I hadn't heard of He Was a Quiet Man, but it sounds right up my alley. I agree with your description about Spiderman 3, though I wouldn't put it in my top 10 (er 8). However I thought it was interesting that some of my family members, who would very much be considered the mainstream movie audience, thought it was the 'worst' Spider-man movie in the series. They found it to be to 'weird' and didn't like the 'emo' version Peter Parker (dark Spider-man), whereas I thought the inclusion of dark Spiderman (Peter Parker with an attitude) and Venom made this the only redeemable "movie" in the series.

I was wondering why you had a bracketed 'reviewed date' and some of them numbered on an all time list? Is this something you keep up with on a blog or are you referring to a specific publication?

quote:

Pixies Know-It-All
Posted 23 February 2008 05:44 PM

I was wondering why you had a bracketed 'reviewed date' and some of them numbered on an all time list? Is this something you keep up with on a blog or are you referring to a specific publication?

I like to keep track of all the movies I've watched on a separate document, those that I've liked the most. So I've been keeping track also of the date I saw the movie because sometimes I come across a movie that came out years ago, but only saw recently versus getting a chance to see the movie when it is first released. So far I've been able to maintain a list of my top 250 movies that I've seen in my life so that the numbers on my best list reflect where the 2007 movies stack up against my all of my top movies.

If you get a chance to see He Was A Quiet Man, there are two alternate endings that make the movie even more fascinating and even more similar to Brazil.

My list:

1. Grindhouse
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Ratatouille
4. Once
5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
6. Shoot 'Em Up
7. Stardust
8. Enchanted
9. Superbad
10. Zodiac
11. The Lookout
12. The Host

quote:

crazed "Forum Moderator"
Super Bad-Ass Jedi
Posted 23 February 2008 06:38 PM

My list:

1. Grindhouse
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Ratatouille
4. Once
5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
6. Shoot 'Em Up
7. Stardust
8. Enchanted
9. Superbad
10. Zodiac
11. The Lookout
12. The Host

This is a fascinating list because it includes a representative sample of everybody's list - some movies that everyone would like, very inclusive. This is a populist list of great movies that has room for everyone. It's like somebody was able to just incorporate everybody else's list and then summarize a list that reflects everyone.

It may seem like that, but crazed lives and breathes movies just as much as he does his beloved music.

1. Ratatouille
2. Grindhouse
3. Hairspray
4. The Bourne Ultimatum
5. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
6. Zodiac
7. 3:10 To Yuma
8. There Will Be Blood
9. No Country For Old Men
10. Juno
11. SiCKO
12. Gone Baby Gone

A List

Ratatouille
Zodiac
3.10 to Yuma
Bourne Ultimatum, The
Superbad
The Lookout
Bee Movie
Michael Clayton
Shooter
The Lives of Others
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 3 Days
Rescue Dawn
Eastern Promises

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Ratatouille
3. Grindhouse
4. Once
5. Michael Clayton
6. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
7. Atonement
8. Superbad
9. No Country for Old Men
10. Eastern Promises
11. Juno
12. Knocked Up

Here are the final results. A very tight finish between the 1-2 and 3-5 spots. Thanks to everyone that contributed, I did include everyone's modifications and updates. Hopefully we can get even more participation next year.

FINAL RESULTS:

1. There Will Be Blood – 101 points, 10 ballots, 4 first-place votes
2. No Country for Old Men – 99 points, 13 ballots, 2 first-place votes
3. Juno – 86 points, 12 ballots
4. Once – 84 points, 9 ballots, 2 first-place votes
5. Ratatouille – 83 points, 10 ballots, 3 first-place votes
6. Superbad – 69 points, 10 ballots
7. Zodiac – 59 points, 8 ballots
8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – 55 points, 7 ballots, 1 first-place vote
9. Grindhouse – 53 points, 5 ballots, 1 first-place vote
10. 3:10 to Yuma – 42 points, 5 ballots

11. The Bourne Ultimatum – 37 points, 5 ballots
12. Atonement – 34 points, 5 ballots, 1 first-place vote
13. Eastern Promises – 33 points, 5 ballots
14. Knocked Up – 32 points, 8 ballots
15. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – 32 points, 6 ballots
16. The Lives of Others – 32 points, 4 ballots, 1 first-place vote
17. Into the Wild – 30 points, 4 ballots, 1 first-place vote
18. Michael Clayton – 29 points, 5 ballots
19. Gone Baby Gone – 27 points, 4 ballots, 1 first-place vote
20. Hot Fuzz – 27 points, 4 ballots

21. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days – 25 points, 3 ballots, 1 first-place vote
22. Paprika – 21 points, 3 ballots
23. Before the Devil Knows Your Dead – 20 points, 3 ballots
24. Across the Universe – 19 points, 5 ballots
25. The Diving and the Butterfly – 19 points, 3 ballots
26. Moliere – 17 points, 2 ballots
27. The Darjeeling Limited – 16 points, 3 ballots
28. Away from Her – 13 points, 2 ballots
29. Charlie Wilson’s War – 13 points, 2 ballots
30. Sunshine – 13 points, 2 ballots

31. Stardust – 12 points, 3 ballots
32. I Am Legend – 12 points, 2 ballots
33. Shoot ‘Em Up – 12 points, 2 ballots
34. Black Snake Moan – 12 points, 1 ballots, 1 first-place vote
35. Waitress – 11 points, 2 ballots
36. American Gangster – 11 points, 1 ballots
37. The Host – 10 points, 3 ballots
38. 28 Weeks Later – 10 points, 2 ballots
39. SiCKO – 10 points, 2 ballots
40. Four others with 10 points and 1 ballot

Highest Average per vote (Minimum, 3 votes):

1. Grindhouse – 10.6
2. There Will Be Blood – 10.1
3. Once – 9.33
4. 3:10 to Yuma – 8.4
5. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days – 8.33
6. Ratatouille – 8.3
7. The Lives of Others – 8
8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – 7.86
9. No Country for Old Men – 7.62
10. Into the Wild – 7.5

The People’s Champion (20 lists):

1. No Country for Old Men – 13
2. Juno – 12
3. Ratatouille – 10
4. Superbad – 10
5. There Will Be Blood – 10
6. Once – 9
7. Knocked Up – 8
8. Zodiac – 8
9. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – 7
10. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – 6

Contributors:
Everyoneanindividual● twinsdad● acorvey● tabuno● Liberalkid● besttasteinmusicever● juanboy● TheGunslinger● hudson● unKeMPt● lovedones● EricG75● Monkey_Boy● JJGemini● blueskyoas● La La Love Pixies● crazed● mark f● Ish● FragileKidA

hm, I donnu why I thought the deadline was today. Anyway, here's my (late) list:

1: There Will Be Blood
2: Into the Wild
3: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
4: No Country For Old Men
5: Eastern Promises
6: Sweeney Todd
7: Michael Clayton
8: Knocked Up
9: American Gangster
10: Gone Baby Gone
11: Superbad
12: Atonement
13: Juno
14: I'm Not There
15: Bug
16: Black Snake Moan
17: Zodiac
18: Transformers
19: Margot at the Wedding
20: Charlie Wilson's War
21: The Simpsons Movie
22: Assassination of Jesse James
23: Beowulf
24: 3:10 To Yuma
25: Reign Over Me

A very nice, concise, readable presentation of film ratings by FragileKidA. Great job.

Nanny Diaries got f#cking robbed!

Glad to see "There Will Be Blood" on top. A nice counterpoint to the "No Country For Old Men" Oscar win.

I just wanted to let you all know that our consensus list is now on the 2007 Critics' Top Ten Lists page, on the main Metacritic site. Just scroll all the way down to see.

My list is months late, but I thought I'd post a list of my favorite 20 movies from 2007. Dear gawd, what a year. I didn't focus on music as much last year, (I thought 2007 was pretty lackluster, but I'm in the minority) so with so much hype around the 2007 movies, I started to focus on them much more. Completely worth it.

1. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
2. No Country For Old Men
3. Once
4. Into the Wild
5. Persepolis
6. There Will Be Blood
7. Atonement
8. Ratatouille
9. The Darjeeling Limited
10. There Will Be Blood
11. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
12. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
13. Juno
14. The Band's Visit
15. Taxi to the Dark Side
16. Away From Her
17. Waitress
18. Live Free, Die Hard
19. SiCKO
20. The Assassination of Jesses James by the Coward Robert Ford

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Eckle,

Good list, but what's up with 4. and 9. being the same movie?

1 and 6 are the same also