Monday, March 17, 2008

Top 10 Movies of 2007

I wanted to put this list out before the Oscars, but oh well. It must be noted that this list only contains movies I actually saw. So if you are wondering where "There Will be Blood," "Juno" or "the Diving Bell and the Butterfly" are, I have not yet had the opportunity to see them yet (and there's no way "Juno" is funnier than "Superbad.")

2007 was definitely the year of suspense thriller, low-brow comedy, and low budget indie inspiration. This year I at least agree with the Academy on "No Country for Old Men." That film is the most complete film I've seen in a long time. It's screenplay is sharply well-written, it's acted perfectly, and it was shot beautifully with brilliant composition making great use of scale, silhouette, and scenery.

I disagree with the Academy whole-heartedly with completely snubbing Fincher's suspense masterpiece, Zodiac (and nominating the yawn-fest, "Michael Clayton" instead). This is by far Fincher's crowning achievement in what has already been a brilliant career. Zodiac surely suffered from it's March release date. It fell off of the radar having been released in film's no man's land. The Academy also goofed big time but not giving The King of Kong a best documentary nomination. This is without a doubt the best documentary I have ever seen. It is engaging and universal. It's a shame that just because it doesn't some left wing agenda, it can't be nominated for best documentary.

1.
No Country for Old Men
J. Cohen/E. Cohen


2.
Zodiac
D. Fincher



3.
The King of Kong
S. Gordon


4.
Once
J. Carney



5.
Away From Her
S. Polley


6.
Sunshine
D. Boyle


7.
Superbad
G. Mottola



8.
Rescue Dawn
W. Herzog


9.
Eastern Promises
D. Cronenberg
Read my review


10.
Gone Baby Gone
B. Affleck

1 comment:

Heath said...

Gotta tell you, Patrick...

While I loved SUNSHINE and GONE BABY GONE was good, I have to disagree on how good NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was. Sure, the cinematography was great. Everything you spoke of in a VISUAL sense, I agree with. However, I didn't find that the story [or lack thereof] was interesting what so ever. You spoke of MICHAEL CLAYTON being a "yawn-fest", but this film damn-near put me in a coma.

Hahaha... you're great at this movie-review thing. Pure poetry and prose, old friend. I guess you and I just still disagree on film choices.

;)

-H