Best Films of 2007

by James Evans

No Country for Old Men
Javier Bardem is one of the most terrifying characters in film history. This movie is about more than the previews let on and is not to be missed.

Michael Clayton
George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, and Tilda Swinton are all worthy of Oscar nominations and this is a very close second for me. There is not much to the story, but the characters are so real and interesting.

Dan in Real Life
Steve Carell and Juliett Binoche seemed like an odd pairing to me, but they look good together. This movie took me off guard and I saw it more than any other movie this year. The soundtrack by Sondre Lerche is excellent as well.

Superbad
Michael Cera and Jonah Hill are the stars of the funniest film of the year. There is also heart to this movie, and the end scene on the escalator may be the saddest scene of the year.

I’m Not There
This is the most interesting film of the year to say the least. Even if you don’t know much about Bob Dylan, you will still enjoy this biographical film that is one of the most unique films ever made.

Gone Baby Gone
Amy Ryan as the trailer trash mother of the kidnapped daughter is so good at being one of the worst mothers in history. Ben Affleck directed this movie and cast his brother Casey who is excellent as the private detective hired by the family to find the girl.

Juno
Ellen Page is one of the best young actresses today and Michael Cera had a great year with this and Superbad. I think the movie would have been higher on my list if I had never seen the preview.

Crazy Love
This documentary tells the story of one of the most bizarre love stories you will ever hear about. I wouldn’t believe it if someone just told me the story.

King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
I used to live for video games so watching this story of a guy who wants to beat the world record score on Donkey Kong was must-see viewing. It is about more than just getting that high score though and shows this weird underworld of competitive video gaming. Sure the games are all old school, but those are the ones I grew up on.

Bridge to Teribithia
I had never even heard of the book, so this movie took me by surprise. The preview was terrible and made this out to be something completely different than it is. The story is about friendship, regret, and death which sounds strange for a film targeted at kids, but it is done well.

I ALSO ENJOYED:

Alpha Dog – Justin Timberlake really has a career ahead of him if he does it right.

Blades of Glory – Will Arnett and Amy Poehler are just as good as Will Ferrell and Jon Heder.

Disturbia – A good update of Hitchcock’s Rear Window.

Eastern Promises – All the talk was about the naked fight scene, but the twist is what made the movie for me.

In the Valley of Elah – Tommy Lee Jones is great. The heavy handed ending is terrible.

Into the Wild – Hal Holbrook and Catherine Keener are amazing in this sad story of a lost soul who is searching for something better in life. Too bad he didn’t listen to these people a little more.

My Best Friend – The “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” ending is classic.

My Kid Could Paint That – Hard-to-watch doc about a little girl who may or may not be the next Pollock.

Ratatouille – The best animated film I saw this year even though I have no idea what the hell ratatouille is.

Sicko – Another doc from Michael Moore about the state of health care in this country.

Southland Tales – I think I just really wanted to like this. I do want to see the full version that Richard Kelly made. Again, Justin Timberlake is great and him lip synching to The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done” is one of my favorite scenes of the year.

Stardust – I think Neil Gaiman is a brilliant writer, but I couldn’t get into the graphic novel upon which this was based which was a huge mistake. What a great love story.

There Will Be Blood – This would have been in my top 10 if not for the last jump in time. I would have liked to have seen more during this gap.

This Is England – This story of a young boy who falls in with a group of skinheads is hard to watch for the subject matter, but Thomas Turgoose who plays the kid is so good and is one of the best performances of the year.

Zodiac – I loved this movie, but there is something about it that didn’t push it into my top 10 for some reason. I just can’t figure it out.