Whoo hooo!
Yep, I know, I'm a little late. Sue me!
Anyway, now that most every critics circle, list or year end report has already been released, I may sound a little like white noise but the following are my ten favorite theatrically released films of 2007.
10:Judd Apatow- Okay, he's not a movie. But he is a force to consider! This was his year and he made me enjoy comedy again. With Knocked Up, Superbad and Walk Hard, he mixed with crude comedy what so many others sadly miss: Heartfelt emotion. These movies were absolutely hilarious. My favorite of the three has to be Superbad, even upon second veiwing on DVD I can't stop ROTFLMAO, as the kids would say on the internets. Sure it's vulgar and crass and immature but to qoute the wise sage Homer Simpson, it's funny cuz it's true. Knocked Up and the Christmas counter-programming Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story are equally comical and heartfelt but it's the teen ruanch-comedy that makes me laugh.
9:Lars and the Real Girl- Not too many movies move me to tears. They don't make me stand up and feel better or sadder in the end. Lars and the Real Girl and Ryan Gosling did it. This is a sweet and simple film about dealing with loss and overcoming anxiety. Worth catching on DVD.
8:Gone Baby Gone- Ben Affleck redeems his poor choice in recent film roles with this impecable first outing behind the camera. It didn't hurt that the source material came from the solid and proven writing of Dennis Lehane. Affleck brings his hometown observations to this film that depicts tragedy in the bleak streets of a Boston neighborhood.
7:Death Proof (Quentin Tarantino's half of Grindhouse)- This film is wicked! Sure the Grindhouse film as a whole bombed at the box office (due in no small part to the weinstein company idiotically releasing the 3 hour plus film over easter weekend), but Death Proof is pure Tarantino and pure gold. Every time I hear the man talk I want to just knock his big, moon shaped face off, but then he goes and floors me with another well executed, intelligently crafted film.
6:Once- I missed this film in theaters but caught it on DVD. Man am I glad! This film is a gem of low-budget, digital filmmaking that never discards the true emotion of it's story. An Irish Busker "Boy" (street musician) and the Czech immigrant "Girl"join together for a whirlwind week of writing and recording music that beats anything you'll catch on the radio. It's the joy of writing, the sparkle of creation in each characters eyes as they make something memorable together that made me love this film. Anybody in love with music and artistic creation, rush out and see this film.
5:Juno- I recently reviewed this and I'll say it again. This film is disarmingly funny, full of as much honesty and truth as it does sarcasm and humor. The sign of any great comedy is it's equal measure of drama and this film has both in spades.
4:The Diving Bell and The Butterfly- This film hasn't been released in Tulsa yet but when it does, please, please go see this film about a former Parisian magazine editor who suffers a debilitating stroke leaving him with control of only one eye. His journey of coping with his affliction is heartbreaking and uplifting and it's almost all told through his one-eyed point of view. Masterful!
3:Zodiac- David Fincher's technically proficient examination of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper during the reign of terror by the Zodiac Killer shows just how exhausting a decades long case can be on all that's involved. From the Reporters to the Detectives to the small town local officials everyone is left tired, worn out and weary, even us.
2:No Country For Old Men- Joel and Ethan Coen bring to Cormac McCarthy's novel the same ink black view of the world that has made other films like Blood Simple and Fargo masterpieces. With No Country For Old Men the occasional optimism in those films is eschewed with downright bleak pessimism. It's all in the ending and it's why so many viewers continue to voice concern. That of a character who can't understand the world as it's become. People want sweet, soy wrapped perfect endings that explain the drama and subtext and when a film forces them, bluntly, to figure it out themselves, then it's the scary, glaring reflection of the mirror being pointed back at us. Like so many of their other films, the Coens' knew just what they were doing.
1:There Will Be Blood- This film isn't out yet either so a more in-depth review is in store. However, PT Anderson's newest film is a stark, emotionally bare drama that is as sharp of u-turn from his previous work as one could make. The story of a driven, emotionally violent man whose blood very well may be replaced with the very oil he's driven to prospect. It's an American masterpiece in the finest sense. It's out January 18th and you should see it!
There you have it, my top ten. There were a ton of films that were worthy of this list -We Own the Night, Eastern Promises etc.- and still others that I missed -No End in Sight, The Orphanage- that I wanted to see to be considered. But these ten are what it came down to.
I'm sure you've got your own and I'm happy to hear them. So, what's on your top ten?
I've also got a top ten worst coming up. I'm just trying to sift through the steaming, heaping pile of dreck that we were bombarded with this year. If I can climb for air, I'll be lucky.
Till next time,
Chaz