Favorites of 2007 so far?

Are you as surprised as I am that there is only about a month and half left to go in 2007? And I have yet to find a real knockout Oscar-contender of a film. Of course, studios traditionally release their Academy Award stuff late in the year to impress the voters, but I thought I'd reflect on a few of the films I've seen so far that I have at least liked.

"Stardust" was a pleasant surprise--charming, witty, romantic, adventurous, exciting, funny, a fairy-tale for adults as well as children. "Ratatouille" was another terrific Pixar CGI concoction, gorgeous to look at, fun and touching in its story and characters. "Michael Clayton" provided George Clooney an opportunity to show his acting chops in an old-fashioned conspiracy-theory flick. "Once" was a musical romance of the sort we don't see very often, and "Hairspray" was blithely cheerful and music-filled. Then Bruce Willis was back after a long absence in "Live Free or Die Hard," one of only two sequels I enjoyed very much, the other being "The Bourne Ultimatum."

Edit: I forgot "American Gangster," which I just saw yesterday and wrote about in another thread. Liked it a lot.

I have a screener for "Waitress" sitting on my desk, and I've heard good things about it. And I didn't get to see "Into the Wild" and probably won't before next year, but several friends rave about it.

Unfortunately, there were disappointments, too, big and mild, most of them involving a numeral after the title: "Spider-Man 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean 3," "Harry Potter 5." At least "Transformers" turned out better than I expected. That's not saying a lot, but when I went in thinking it might be really dumb and I was at least mildly entertained, hey, you take 'em where you can find 'em.

John

[Post edited by John J. Puccio on Nov 10, 2007]

I have to agree with your last paragraph. As far as favorites of 2007 I have to say I enjoed American Gangster. I've talked to some people who thought it was so so but I liked it a lot.

All the others like you mentioned I thought were mediocre or disappointing.

EDIT: I haven't seen Stardust so I can't comment on that but you got me curious about it so I'll check it out at some point.

[Post edited by Falcon01 on Nov 10, 2007]

Only counting movies with a 2007 American Theatrical Release, the best I've seen so far are, in no particular order:

Manufactured Landscapes
Black Book
The Boss of it All
Once
Michael Clayton
Angel-A
Sicko
Eastern Promises
Hairspray

Oh, and, yes, I just saw "American Gangster," so add that to my list of favorites. And, Chris, I wanted to see "Eastern Promises," but after watching the trailer maybe half a dozen times in the months leading up to its premiere, I didn't think I'd be in the mood for so much violence. Was I wrong?

John

[Post edited by John J. Puccio on Nov 10, 2007]

Of the summer bunch I loved "Ratatouille" and "The Bourne Ultimatum." I very much enjoyed "3:10 to Yuma" and would like to see Christian Bale pick up a nod for best actor for "Rescue Dawn". I thought his performance was as poignant as he was in "Empire of the Sun". I'm looking forward to "No Country for Old Men".

Funny. I saw "3:10 to Yuma" and enjoyed it, but looking back on it, I can't remember much about it beyond the performances that was memorable.

John

Agreed. It did feel a bit of a morsel, but performances were solid and I'm all for quality genre pictures.

John, off the subject a bit, and I've asked this elsewhere, and after this I won't again. Promise. It's just this progressive/interlaced thing is kinda confusing, especially since I'm not really even dealing with a true h-def format yet.

I have a 50" 1080i, Panasonic plasma and an upconverter that goes up to 1080i. Will my SD movies look better in 720p or 1080i? BTW, I have an HDMI cable connected from TV to my cable box and one connected from TV to my upconverter. My viewing distance is about 91/2'

What's your take?

John,

Eastern Promises doesn't have a whole lot of violence in it, but the violence it has is very memorable, which is pretty characteristic of Cronenberg. How can you pass upthe chance to see a buck naked Viggo Mortense (w/ all equipment on view) fighting two Chechen assassins in a Turkish steambath?


OH, and I forgot that "Offside" had a 2007 Amer Theatrical Release. That is, by far, the best '07 release thus far, and one of the best films of the current decade, IMHO.

"I have a 50" 1080i, Panasonic plasma and an upconverter that goes up to 1080i. Will my SD movies look better in 720p or 1080i?" --JSWELL

Theoretically, the upconverter should be set to the 1080i of your TV, but only your own eyes can be the judge of that. Invite other people in to watch a few minutes of something transferred in 480 that looks really good to begin with, and ask them which (720p or 1080i) upconversion they prefer. My own TV goes up to 1080i (Sony XBR960), and I keep the upconverting on the Toshiba player set at 1080i, but it probably differs from set to set and player to player.

Chris,

Thanks for the heads up. I think Sony distributed "Offside" in the U.S., so I hope they send reviwers an end-of-the-year screener for it. Otherwise, I'll look for the regular DVD release.

John

[Post edited by John J. Puccio on Nov 10, 2007]

You know, usually I can join in on a topic like this, but this time around I have to stand by and just read. After a dismal early summer onslaught, I just stopped going to the movies, anymore. I still have yet to see "Stardust", "Bourne Ultimatum", "Siko", "3:10 to Yuma", "Eastern Promises", "Ratatouille" & "Michael Clayton". After seeing so many disappointing films earlier in the year, I just gave up. I barely even rent movies as much as I used to. I guess I'm just turned off with Hollywood anymore. It just seems like the same old mundane story's equipped with timeless clichés that can never be escaped. And the lack of originality, as I've said many times before, has become so stale that I just can't find a good reason to blow the $10 at the movie theatre. There have been a few films I enjoyed this year, but they are few and far between... well, at least the ones I did catch.

Have my tastes in movies changed? Possibly, or perhaps I'm just more demanding in my expectations. Do I think it's one of the worst years for films? Quite possibly, yes. However, I do feel it's been degrading for a several years. If anything I can say, we definitely are not in any kind of golden age of cinema, nor do I feel we will look back on the past ten-years and think some of the greatest films ever came from this decade. There have been some very good ones and a few that will probably be considered classics, but overall it has been nothing like decades past. Unfortunately, if Hollywood stays with the cash-cow formula of branding movies I'm afraid it will only get worse. Some of our greatest films are when Hollywood would take a huge risk in favor for something original or controversial. Now all we seem to have these days are assembly line films that are guaranteed to draw in the dollars based on how much eye-candy there is. If this is the kind of formula that we will continue to see, then I can truly say our hopes for really great classics are diminishing every year.

I've fallen way behind on my movie-going lately. "Eastern Promises" just got taken out of theaters this weekend so I'll have to catch it on DVD as well as "Hairspray." There's still a lot on my to-see list.

So far, "Once" has really been the only film that's kinda blown me away. I'd break things down like this...

BEST
3:10 to Yuma
Grindhouse
Hot Fuzz
Once
Ratatouille

GOOD
300
The Bourne Ultimatum
The King of Kong
A Mighty Heart
Paris je t'aime
Rescue Dawn
Stardust

FAIR
1408
Black Snake Moan
Breach
Knocked Up
Superbad
Surf's Up

I'll also say that "Live Free or Die Hard" was probably the best of the summer popcorn flicks. I still want to see "American Gangster", "Assassination of Jesse James", "Control", "Darjeeling Limited", "Lust, Caution" "Michael Clayton", and "No Country for Old Men." Looking forward to "Beowulf", "I'm Not There", and "Persepolis."

-Will

[Post edited by Gangrel00X on Nov 10, 2007]

John,

Jim reviewed Offside here. He failed to appreciate its true genius, but it's a good review.

And, oh yeah, "Private Fears in Public Places" got released in '07 in the US as well. There's another one for the list. Hmm, about half my best of '07 list consists of films I saw in Sept '06 in Toronto. I guess it has been a somewhat disappointing year.

Thanks, John.

Pretty much feel the same about every title in John's original post.

But I also liked Gone Baby Gone and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

I think he really made a name for himself now, rather than being "Ben's brother".

I liked 300 but I have a hunch that "The Golden Compass" will be the favorite of the year. We will have to wait and see!

[Post edited by Ironbull on Nov 10, 2007]

I think Sarah Polley's "Away from Her" should take it hands down. My wife cried on that one

I've never seen her get emotional with a movie before, even with "Grave of the Fireflies" or the end of "Schindler's List". To be honest, when my wife wanted to rent this one I thought I'd hate it as I was not interested in the subject matter AT ALL. Either our little Dawn of the Dead remake star is a genius or she lucked out in some mysterious way. But 10 minutes into this I was captivated by the performances of Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent I forgot I was supposed to hate it and... well... ended up loving it. The color and camera work in the movie would transfer nicely to hi-def, and I'd double dip this one when/if offered.

There are great movies, and then there are big Hollywood blockbusters. This one was the only "great" movie this year so far IMO.

Unfortunately, I have yet to see anything that I was extremely impressed with. I was hoping Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited" would be entertaining, but it was a disappointment.

However, the next month seems promising with the upcoming release of Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There," Noah Baumbach's "Margot at the Wedding," Kar Wai Wong's "My Blueberry Nights," and Francis F. Coppola's "Youth Without Youth." Perhaps, I'm overestimating the potential of Coppola's latest project, but the other three films are sure of be of interest.

Perhaps a top five will have to suffice for this year.

I loved 300!

300
The Darjeeling Limited
Juno
Waitress
Ratatouille
Stardust
In the Valley of Elah
Death at a Funeral
The Simpsons Movie

None are going to win any major Oscars, sadly.

"No Country for Old Men"
"Zodiac"
"Eastern Promises"
"3:10 to Yuma"
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
'Michael Clayton"


2007/2008
"There Will be Blood" which will take a lot to beat I reckon

[Post edited by jaejae on Feb 9, 2008]

I just got around yesterday to seeing what I now think is one of the funniest movies released last year, Disney's "Enchanted." Finally, the Disney folks poke a little fun at themselves and give the audience a great time with it.

John

John,

I've heard Enchanted is a pretty good time from a couple friends of mine. I'll admit I turned my nose on the trailer during Ratatouille last year.

(And MovieLover just pointed out why one particular friend enjoyed it so much. )

Jason

[Post edited by JJ79 on Feb 9, 2008]

John, you might want to inform the webmaster that the DVDTOWN listing link for the Blu-ray ENCHANTED has a bad Amazon sales link - it actually takes you to the DVD of "The Roast of Dennis Leary Uncensored (2003)".

(SAME BAD LINK -to Amazon- from the DVDTOWN's DVD listing for Enchanted). Whoops!

-LH (The Loverboy)

[Post edited by Love Hendrix! on Feb 9, 2008]

Quote:
I'll admit I turned my nose on the trailer during Ratatouille last year.

I don't know who's been doing trailers for some movies lately but I can point to several movies that were marketed completely incorrectly. Stardust is a great example. I wonder if it's even a requirement to actually watch the movie before you make a trailer.

Quote:
it actually takes you to the DVD of "The Roast of Dennis Leary Uncensored (2003)

Well LH there are several similarities between those two discs.

[Post edited by Movielover316 on Feb 9, 2008]

I've yet to see a few of the acclaimed films of 2007, such as Michael Clayton and Gone Baby Gone, but as for what I have seen-

Favorites (in no real order)-
Eastern Promises
There Will Be Blood
Charlie Wilson's War
Breach
Waitress
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Films that are generally acclaimed that I didn't like-
No Country for Old Men
Atonement (I didn't despise this or the former film, they just didn't do much for me, and I find them incredibly overrated)
Juno (There were a few good aspects but the false pop-culture script drove me nuts)
American Gangster (Generic, I just kept thinking the whole time that everything in it had been done before, and that it was too long to boot, I had more or less the same problem with 3:10)

Then there were a bunch I liked, but don't make a top of the year list for me, such as Hot Fuzz and Enchanted.

[Post edited by Vincent on Feb 17, 2008]