Top Ten of 2007 by Orpheus

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Orpheus

Top Ten of 2007
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

It's that time of year again! 2007 was full of movies that I really, really liked, but few (if any) that I can actually say I loved. Mostly lame sequels, few good 'indie' sleeper hits (where was this year's Little Miss Sunshine?), and pretty staid political dramas. Blah blah blah, but there was some really cool stuff this year. I think people will look back at this year and remember three movies: 300, Transformers, and No Country For Old Men . If you want to hear me defend my choices, check out this week's episode of Front Row Center (frontrowcenter.podbean.com)! Here are my top 20:

20. TMNT
19. Shoot Em Up
18. 28 Weeks Later...
17. Juno
16. Superbad
15. 300
14. 3:10 to Yuma
13. Eastern Promises
12. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
11. Lars and the Real Girl

10. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Not that he's done a whole lot since 2003, but this is Burton's best work since Big Fish. I honestly can't think of a good reason to hate this movie, and this coming from someone who expected to hate it. It's just a lot of fun. Johnny Depp wasn't all that great, but everyone else more than made up for it.

9. Grindhouse - Seperate, Planet Terror and Death Proof are pretty fun little horror flicks. But crammed together with a bunch of fake trailers, Grindhouse is cinematic bliss of the highest order. Tarantino's name was all over this project, but Robert Rodriguez once again proves himself to be the real star. As long as he wants to give in to his sleazier excesses, I'll watch his movies. 'Cause damn.

8. The Darjeeling Limited - While I still think Anderson's best work is The Royal Tenenbaums, Darjeeling is a film of zany adventure and disarming humanity. Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson sell their characters very well, and way the film comes to a grinding halt actually works in it's favor.

7. Live Free or Die Hard - Of all the big summer sequels, this is really the only one that managed to still come across as a genuine film in it's own right, and stands toe-to-toe with the best entries in the series. Bruce Willis proves he can still bring it as John McClane, and the entire supporting cast steps up to help make this a Die Hard worth remembering. This gets the "Rocky Balboa" award for being old but still being awesome.

6. Sunshine - The only good hard sci-fi film of 2007, and one of the best of the decade. I really don't have much to say about Sunshine other than that it's endlessly fascinating, right down to the bizarre hard-left that the plot takes in the third act. This film will in turns leave you in awe and hold you in utter suspense. Wow.

5. Knocked Up - 2007 was truly the year of Judd Apatow, and his cast of players staked a huge claim on the comedy landscape. Superbad, Walk Hard, even to some extent Juno, all of these films are hilarious in their own way. But the best of the bunch is the one Apatow actually directed. It's the one that comes closest to becoming an actual movie, and the cast is excellent together, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann in particular.

4. Hot Fuzz - Quite simply, Hot Fuzz is the parody of the decade. It's not better than Shaun of the Dead by any means, but as a finely-crafted rip-off of cop movies, there is nothing greater. The story, the characters, even down to camera movement and editing technique, everything about Hot Fuzz shows you just how much Edgar Wright loves cop movies. Maybe not as funny as it could have been, but it's got more wit than all of these movies combined.

3. The Mist - Best horror movie of the year in a year full of great horror movies. It's also the second most frightening film of the year. Psychological, survivalist horror is just plain better than gore-for-gore's-sake splatter porn, and Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's novella is note perfect in it's execution. Go for the monsters, stay for the tension. The Mist is as emotionally draining as it is thrilling and fun to watch.

2. Ratatouille - Thank God Ratatouille came along this year, because after the lamefest that was Cars, I was really feeling let down and just disappointed in Pixar. But this is one of the most visually stunning animated features to date, and Brad Bird's third genius film in a row. If he can keep up the kind of storytelling and attention for animation excellence found in Ratatouille, then he'll be my favorite filmmaker relatively soon. My absolute love for this film is only outweighed by my enormous respect for my number one pick...

1. No Country For Old Men - Wow. Just wow. If you needed proof of the decline of western civilization, look no further than this film. The people who don't get this film (and the ending) prove themselves to be part of the problem. Not that I'm hitting out at them, but the meaning is a bit esoteric, but it's powerful nonetheless. Joel & Ethan Coen are back with a fiery vengeance, and every actor in the film pulls out fantastic performances, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem specifically. This is filmmaking at it's most captivating and intense, and it's a film you simply cannot ignore.

COMMENTS

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 4:20 PM

ALLIETHORN7

I have to say...
Apart from being scared, The Mist... the ending was simply hilarious. I jest not a wit when I say that I was laughing all the way home. I didn't know I had such a thing for Black Humor.
And you should give Sweeney Todd more credit. Depp is just the right kind of crazy to play Sweeney/Barker.

-Danny

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 3:24 PM

REGINAROADIE

That's a really good list. I haven't made mine yet (I'm seeing ATONEMENT tonight, and I'm waiting on THERE WILL BE BLOOD and a few others), but #'s10,9,8,5, and 1 are on my list (although NO COUNTRY I think I'll see a third time to try and make it click. It's not as high as I'd like it to be.) And some of the other ones you mentioned are, if not the absolute best, then at least highly enjoyable.

Where's MICHAEL CLAYTON and GONE BABY GONE? Those are two flicks that are very high on my list. GONE BABY GONE is actually my #1.

When I have a complete list, I'll post it.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 10:38 AM

HOBBLEIT

Haven't seen most of those films also, but I agree with you on Hot Fuzz and Ratatouille. That was such a great film!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 8:45 AM

MSB

OK Haven't seen most of the movies on your list, but now I want to. Totally agree about Hot Fuzz.. I could watch that a dozen times and laugh each time...

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