Movie Review: Duplicity

by James Evans

If you haven’t seen Michael Clayton, then you are missing out on a great movie. This is Tony Gilroy’s follow-up. Even though it isn’t quite as good as Michael Clayton, it is still better than most things out there. Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are great together, and the supporting cast is amazing. Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti as dueling CEOs are perfect. It’s a twisty, double-crossing movie that is not confusing, so don’t worry about not being able to follow along. I won’t give away the ending, but it is the best ending to a film I have seen so far this year.

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.

The Oscars: 2007

by James Evans

ACTOR – LEADING
George Clooney – Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones – In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises

I do believe this will go to Daniel Day-Lewis, although I wouldn’t mind an upset if George Clooney won. Tommy Lee Jones was great, but the movie didn’t do well and the ending was too much. Johnny Depp shouldn’t even be on the list and Emile Hirsch should be up there for Into the Wild instead.

Winner: Daniel Day Lewis

ACTOR – SUPPORTING
Casey Affleck – Jesse James
Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
Hal Holbrook – Into the Wild
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War
Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton

My personal pick would be Hal Holbrook and not just because he’s old. His performance was so good and he has never been recognized for his work. Javier is certainly worthy, and I will have no problem when he wins. Missing from the list is Josh Brolin also for No Country for Old Men.

Winner: Javier Bardem

ACTRESS – LEADING
Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth
Julie Christie – Away From Her
Marion Cotillard – La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney – The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno

I didn’t see La Vie en Rose and I wasn’t that impressed with Away From Her. Nobody thought Cate would get nominated for the sequel that tanked. Laura Linney is always so good, but I want Ellen Page to win. Missing from the list would be Amy Adams for Enchanted. Might seem like a strange choice, but she did such a good job of playing a Disney Princess and I dare anyone to try it.

Winner: Marion Cotillard

ACTRESS – SUPPORTING
Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There
Ruby Dee – American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan – Atonement
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton

Tough category. My favorite would be Amy Ryan. Tilda and Saoirse are both worthy. Not that she was bad, but Ruby Dee was nominated for her age. Cate should take this one home and deservedly so. Except that the woman who really should win was not even nominated. Catherine Keener in Into the Wild was the best performance all year.

Winner: Tilda Swinton

ANIMATED FEATURE
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surfs Up

Surfs Up? Really? At least Shrek 47 didn’t get a nomination. You really should see Persepolis which should have been nominated for Best Foreign Film. The animation here is amazing, but Ratatouille will probably win, which is fine. It’s a great movie.

Winner: Ratatouille

DIRECTING
Julian Schnabel – Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman – Juno
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Joel and Ethan Coen – No Country
P.T. Anderson – There Will Be Blood

Joel and Ethan should win. P.T. and Tony both deserve the nomination. I have not seen Diving Bell, although I plan to now. Juno was great, but Jason should be out and Sean Penn should be in for Into the Wild. I would have liked it if Todd Haynes had been recognized for I’m Not There.

Winner: Joel and Ethan Coen

SCREENPLAY – ADAPTED
Atonement
Away From Her
Diving Bell
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

The Coens should take this one home as well. Again, missing would be Into the Wild.

Winner: No Country for Old Men

SCREENPLAY – ORIGINAL
Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages

Diablo Cody has all the hype behind her and I loved Juno. I was happy to see Ratatouille get nominated since animated films are usually overlooked. I think a missing movie here would have to be Superbad, which was funny and had a heart and how could you not recognize how original the screenplay was for I’m Not There even though it was inspired by Bob Dylan.

Winner: Juno

BEST PICTURE
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

It should be all love for the Coens and No Country for Old Men. Michael Clayton was a close second for my favorite film of the year, and Juno and There Will Be Blood I am good with being on the list. Atonement was a bad made-for-TV movie, and I can’t believe it is up here. In its place should be Into the Wild. It’s strange because I didn’t even put this in my top 10, but now I am reconsidering that decision. The more I think about it, the more I realize how much I liked it. I was blinded by how stupid the main character is, but that shouldn’t stop me from appreciating the movie. Another one missing is I’m Not There which was the most interesting and unique film of the year.

Winner: No Country for Old Men