Well 2007 has come and gone. And surprisingly, there were a lot of great films that came out this year. Some received a lot of acclaim from both critics and audiences and others were left in the dust by the audiences. There were also some of the worst films ever to come out as well. I know I only reviewed the films I got to watch late at night but here is my list of the best and worst of the year (that I've seen). WARNING: This is long. I have enough time to work on it because I'm sicker than a dog and I can't go to work or anywhere else.
Best of 2007
1.) No Country for Old Men
The Coen Brothers return to their original style. The same style that made films like Miller's Crossing and Fargo such incredible films. Violent, dark, humorous and loaded with some incredible acting from everyone. Javier Bardem is the best actor in the whole film and he makes Anton Chigurh the best onscreen villain in years. The best of the year.
2.) Eastern Promises
Can Viggo play a bad guy? You're damn right he can. Viggo's second film with director David Cronenberg (the first being A History of Violence) and hopefully not the last one they do together. If you're looking for a good mobster film, this is the one to see. American Gangster is good but this one is so much better. Cronenberg is not afraid to show graphic violence and if you want proof, watch this.
3.) Into the Wild
I wasn't too impressed with Penn's previous directorial effort (The Pledge) but after watching this, I want to see what else he has directed and how they are. The cinematography is beautiful and should be seen on an HD screen. Very emotional and very well done. Excellent soundtrack by Eddie Vedder(lead singer of Pearl Jam)
4.) Black Book (Zwartboek)
Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Total Recall, Robocop) directs this foreign film set during World War 2. Mixing different languages including Hebrew, English and German, Verhoeven shows that even though he has made some camp classics, he can still direct excellent films. An action mystery film that will surprise you, haunt you and leave you breathless.
5.) Zodiac
David (Fight Club, Seven) Fincher's first film since 2002's dopey Panic Room. The first film to use the new Viper cameras and it shows how well the cameras work. The style of the film is beautiful and having a soundtrack that has bands like Three Dog Night and Donovan, you get the full feel of the 1970's setting. Edited beautifully with a program accessible to everyone (Final Cut Pro)
6.) Grind House (both films)
The best movie-going experience I have ever had. Both films are so corny and filled with enough scratches, misframes, missplices and whatever else there is to give you the feel of how it is to watch a very old print. The trailers are phenomenal and hilarious. This was a great way to go to the movies but was overlooked by American audiences because they thought it looked "stupid". Well, that's the point. They aren't meant to be taken serious. And to the people who waited for them to come to DVD, the reason why you weren't impressed with the films is because you didn't get the full experience. This was a film made for theatres, not for DVD.
7.) Michael Clayton
I've never really been a huge George Clooney fan. I thought his Oscar-winning role in Syriana was way over-rated along with the film itself. I thought the first two Danny Ocean movies were over-rated and that's why I never bothered with the third one. However, Clooney has had some good films and this is definitely one of them. A real brain teaser that makes you guess and in the end shocks the hell out of you. Great acting by Clooney as well as Tom Wilkinson.
8.) American Gangster
We've seen Denzel play a bad guy before. But he performs much better than he did in Training Day. With a crew that includes Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington and Ridley Scott, how could you not like this film? Great acting from both actors and Ridley Scott finally makes a good film after flops like Kingdom of Heaven and A Good Year.
9.) Gone Baby Gone
Ben Affleck is a horrible actor. It is very rare that he will come out with a good film (Good Will Hunting, anything by Kevin Smith). So my expectations for his first directorial effort weren't that high. However, after watching it, I was very impressed with how it turned out. I was also impressed by Casey (Ben's younger brother) Affleck's first lead role. Along the same lines as the other film adapted by a Dennis Lehane story (Mystic River) but nowhere near as powerful. Still, an excellent debut by Affleck.
10.) Hot Fuzz
It was very hard to pick which one to put in this spot. It was between this one, Knocked Up, Superbad, and Reign Over Me. In the end, Hot Fuzz came out on top. The same crew that did Shaun of the Dead and the British television series Spaced return for another hilarious film that is a spoof on cop films. If you liked Shaun of the Dead, see this one. You will not stop laughing.
Honorable Mention: Superbad, Knocked Up, Reign Over Me, 300, 3:10 to Yuma, The Bourne Ultimatum (even though it didn't follow the original story at all), Rescue Dawn, In the Valley of Elah, and Manufacturing Dissent.
Special mention: Inland Empire was released in 2006. If it was released this year, it would definitely make my top 5 list.
Still need to see: There Will Be Blood, The Kite Runner, Sweeney Todd, Juno, Bella, Lust Caution, Once, Sunshine, The Namesake, The Savages, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. The list may change.
The Worst of 2007
I try to avoid films that I think look bad. But sometimes I get sucked into watching them. Or it might be one that I think looks good but then turns out to be awful. Here's the list
1.) Dragon Wars: D-War
The ABSOLUTE worst film of the year and maybe of all time. While some bad films can be so bad but fun (Black Sheep. A zombie type film that replaces zombies with sheep) this one is just plain bad. Think Transformers but with dragons. And with horrible special effects and dragon names that are supposed to be taken seriously but can't be when the names are something like Baruki.
2.) The Comebacks
They just don't make them like they used to. Slapstick spoofs these days are nothing like Airplane, The Naked Gun and Hot Shots. Now they just refer to juvenile fart jokes and stuff teenagers find funny but no one else does.
3.) Daddy Day Camp
I never saw Daddy Day Care. There's a reason why: it looked stupid and it had Eddie Murphy. I was forced to watch this one and I was screaming in pain. Horrible, horrible, horrible. If you want to torture your kids and yourself as well, watch this one.
4.) The Invisible
A teenager finds out that he's still alive and tries to get his spirit back into his body before he actually dies. Think Ghost as a mystery film. And also think, who the hell thought it would be okay to have David S. Goyer direct another stupid film?
5.) Lucky You
It could have been good. Other than having Drew Barrymore, this film could have been decent. But when you put a love story and poker together, it equals disaster. There is no story, character development, nothing humorous and overall, nothing interesting about this movie. It's about as lively as Jimmy Hoffa is these days.
6.) Hot Rod (originally Smokin' Aces but then I saw this)This was originally where I had Smokin' Aces but then I watched this movie and had to update my list. Andy Samberg sucks. I don't see how anyone can find this crap funny. Ridiculous story makes a ridiculous film.
7.) Hannibal Rising
Red Dragon: Excellent book turned into a great film called Manhunter then remade into a decent film called Red Dragon. Silence of the Lambs: Excellent book turned into an excellent movie. Hannibal: Good book, but not great. Turned into a very terrible movie that doesn't even follow the original story. Hannibal Rising: Awful book turned into an even worse movie. Anthony Hopkins is nowhere in sight, Gaspar Ulliel is not even close to how young Hannibal should have been and leaves it open to put another story in that takes place before Red Dragon. Thomas Harris just needs to put this series to rest
8.) Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
The first one sucked. What's the point of the sequel? Just so the Silver Surfer can get introduced like he did in the comic books. Does it still make a good film? Hell no. Along the same lines of crappy nonsense like the first one. Crappy special effects, crappy acting and a crappy story.
9.) Shooter
Mark 'Marky Mark' Whalberg as a sniper. It could have been a pretty decent action flick but the action is so over the top and the acting is so awful. You would expect Marky Mark to be in better films after The Departed but it looks like he'll continue to make more crappy movies.
10.) TMNT
The turtles are back and look better than they did in live action and better than they do in the new television series. They actually look like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Not Adult Mutant Ninja Turtles or Overly Beefy Mutant Ninja Turtles. But still, the effects sucked. I liked the Turtles when I was a kid but that was the past. Now I just wish Hollywood would leave them alone.
Well that's my list.
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