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The Best and Worst of
2007 March 25, 2008 Author’s Note: Although a bit late this article comes, it is a necessity in order to reflect the fact that it took so long to see so many important movies that were released in 2007. I, and hopefully you, think it was worth the wait. 2007, you might say, was the year of revelations at the cinema, a year of surprises, startling discoveries and spectacular achievements. But that is not necessarily a positive prospect, either. Saturated by ambition and ambivalence, the movies that occupied theater screens in the 12 months of the calendar year offered high stylization, great energy and loud explosions, and payoffs too brief and momentary to make many of them deserving of that output. The trend was not one limited to the more prolific of box office competitors, either; like a disease that transcends culture and social divides, no one, including the Indies or the art-house flicks, were safe from the mediocrity that spread through the crops. Mediocrity, at least, tends to lull us into appreciating bright spots even more than we might ordinarily do. One does not know how the few actual great films of 2007 will hold up in years to come, but in the moment, amongst a slew of monotone and intellectually stagnant releases, they emerge as more than just solid productions: they are also beams of light in a time when our faith in the future of moviemaking feels like it has been muddled. The year produced many films that are memorable for distinct reasons. Not all of them are completely successful, even fewer are flawless. But the year’s ten best are so placed not just because there are so few choices to pick from, but because each selection represents a scope that fully encompasses the passion and inspiration of a talented filmmaker. It is clear, beyond debate, that these people love making movies. THE BEST |
1.
There Will Be Blood The
portrait of the cynical and the corrupt is a grand, stirring thing
in the hands of a talented filmmaker, and the always-impeccable P.T.
Anderson tops himself with this loose adaptation of the “Oil!”
novel by Upton Sinclair, eradicating a good chunk of his stylistic
quirks in order to play straightforward with his material, at least
to a point. The result is brilliantly dramatic, beautifully shot and
utterly captivating in the way it builds, deconstructs and tears apart
a persona in attempt to understand the process at which power and
money forces man to detach from the reality around him. Daniel Day-Lewis
does the work of his life in the lead role, rivaling even the great
Orson Wells in “Citizen Kane” in his attempt to occupy
celluloid less as a villain and more as an enduring object of destruction.
He is brave, he is captivating, and the endeavor that surrounds him
is astonishing in its brash thrust. Having seen it twice to this point,
I relish the opportunity to revisit it a third. And no other movie
released in 2007 has warranted that distinction. |
2.
Across the Universe In
a different time, in a different climate, Julie Taymor’s vivid
snapshot of the 1960 American society would be heralded as a trailblazing
endeavor. A musical in which the spine of the music is made up entirely
of songs from the Beatles catalogue, it is a film in awe and appreciation
of everything it does. But the music is only the glossy coating; underneath,
an ensemble of colorful and likable young characters blast their way
through life with little more than love and brotherhood guiding them,
and Taymor surrounds them in stirring acid-ish visuals that cater
to the sentiments of a drug-fueled generation. Why did it not catch
on as easily as it should have? Perhaps because the Beatles’
music is so timeless with so many people, it is impossible for most
of its admirers to allow characters in a movie to take ownership of
those songs. A valid standpoint, no doubt, but one that shields people
from seeing just how beautiful and poignant the end result really
is. When it comes right down to it, all you really need is, indeed,
love. |
3.
Zodiac David Fincher’s
“Zodiac” suffered the burden of searching for an audience
in a time when the cinema was disinterested in the ways of the classic
serial killer phenomenon, having been saturated already by the next
generation of creative homicidal maniacs such as Jigsaw, Leatherface,
and those crazy rich guys who run human slaughterhouses across Europe.
Too bad for moviegoers, as they missed out on not only a brilliant,
calculated and skillful thriller, but also the best film of its genre.
Surpassing even the likes of “The Silence of the Lambs”
and “Seven” in its haunting, terror-filled grandeur, the
movie obliterates the FBI-agent-becomes-hero formula and tells its
story without gloss or convention. Zodiac was never found, but the
theory that makes up the spine of the premise is both fascinating
and plausible in its foundation, and Fincher’s direction hits
all the right notes in its search for closure to a mystery that will
likely forever remain unsolved. |
4.
Sunshine Danny Boyle
passed on doing “28 Weeks Later” because of his involvement
with this film, a project in which the premise reeks of the over-the-top
natural disaster thrust of “The Core” and “Armageddon.”
The difference between those films and this? “Sunshine”
isn’t just well-executed, it is precise, observant, imaginative
and visionary to a fault, a movie so brave and challenging that it
doesn’t merely ask “what if,” but “why not?”
Filmed with a scope that rivals the expansive, endless possibilities
of a “2001” or a “Blade Runner,” it plunges
us into its sphere with a certain level of passion. The movie genuinely
cares and believes in the material. And as it slowly but surely reaches
a fevered pitch of tension and excitement, it also refuses to bow
to convention and give us the conventional climax that we come to
expect of disaster pictures. Science fiction movie-making has not
seen anything this well done since “Minority Report.” |
5.
Lust, Caution What
a beautiful, elaborate, chilling period drama this is! Ang Lee’s
follow-up to his award-winning “Brokeback Mountain”, while
an odd choice of material to those who felt he would continue for
commercial appeal, is easily the director’s most daring, challenging
and effective work yet, telling the story of a group of rebels in
World War II-era Shanghai who plot to assassinate a local political
official who has ties to the Japanese. When they deploy one of their
own into his life, allowing her to earn his trust and gain access
to his secrets, a wild and passionate love affair ensues. Lee is unashamed
in his brazen approach to the rough, often violent sexual interludes
shared between his two leads, and he captures a sense of chemistry
that lends great material to discussions on the use of sex as a tool
for power and control. Furthermore, an isolated shot in which a bus
approaches the camera while nighttime Shanghai is visible in the background
makes for the single most stunning moment I have seen on film all
year. |
6.
Ratatouille Who
would have thought a movie with a bunch of rats would have been so
cute? The latest PIXAR picture is rousing, touching, charming and
funny on so many levels that it is impossible to pinpoint one specific
reason why it is such. Moreso than “Cars,” the last of
the studio’s CGI features, the movie takes ambitious chances
with formula and completely distances itself from the urge to cater
strictly to the tots; both adult and serious, the movie has all the
wit, skill and delectability of a great classic Woody Allen comedy,
and all the emotional maturity of one of the great Disney fairy tales.
|
7.
28 Weeks Later The
sequel on a top ten best list is a rarity, even more of one if its
predecessor too ranked among the highest quality output at the cinema
of any other given year. The follow-up to Danny Boyle’s rousing,
haunting and utterly terrifying horror flick not only built on and
expanded his universe, but gave it new edge. Gone is the enclosed,
tight, gritty facet of the original, and in its place comes an arsenal
of skillful conviction, slick camerawork, well-paced narrative structure
and effective performances that, even without linkage to its predecessor,
allows the movie to completely exist on its own terms. By the end,
you are so worn down from the impact of the psychology of the movie’s
tug-of-war with human condition that you walk away not with satisfaction,
but with a sense of numbness and despair. And it’s powerful. |
8.
Juno Diablo Cody,
an exotic-dancer-turned-screenwriter, didn’t just concoct one
of the cleverest scripts of 2007, she also produced a sweet, touching,
genuine, heartfelt and delightful little comedy that plucks at all
the quirks of a series of characters involved in the life of a pregnant
teenager as if she genuinely understands her players instead of just
viewing them from the outside. It is a brilliant and effective little
movie that hits all the right chords, never backs down from the wit
or sarcasm, and approaches hard positions with a subtlety that adds
great dimension to a series of likeable, realistic characters. Ellen
Page as the lead, a high school wisecracker who finds herself with
child, is simply marvelous in her conviction, and Jason Reitman’s
direction ensures all sorts of color and humor will occupy the screen
as we watch all of its vibrant people slog through a series of difficult
situations in an attempt to grasp the meanings of their lives, or
something like that. |
9.
1408 A creepy hotel
room, a deep and buried past that manifests itself into the lives
of those living in the present… yeah yeah yeah, we’ve
heard it all before. But “1408” isn’t a clone of
“The Shining,” nor is it just a generic haunted hotel
thriller with a bunch of creaking sounds and suggestive visuals –
the movie is purely psychological, relatively simple, and easily one
of the most well-acted of its kind. 90 percent of the screen time
is occupied by a single character played by John Cusack, who approaches
the role as if he is just as much the victim of the impending torment
as the persona in the script. When a writer with experience in exploring
haunted mansions and divulging in supernatural lore is mysteriously
lured to a vacant hotel room in a high rise that has been vacant for
decades, he is encouraged to turn the other way and avoid the temptation
to uncover its mysteries. Naturally, he refuses, and when the room’s
interiors begin to go bonkers, so does the man witnessing them. So
direct with the suggestive sights and implications, there are times
when the audience feels like it is unraveling right along with the
protagonist. |
10.
No Country for Old Men Though
their movie fails as a straight crime thriller – a prospect
that is likely not of much concern to the filmmakers anyway –
the Coen brothers’ “No Country for Old Men” nonetheless
flourishes as a character study. Three-fourths dedicated to its villain
and one-fourth to the protagonist, the movie plays awkwardly with
its players in a tug-of-war for the affections of a dithering narrative,
yet allows (perhaps rightfully) the necessary details of their stories
to emerge with a certain cleverness and energy. Bardem as a ruthless
drug dealer dead-set on reclaiming what it his is more than just a
scene-stealer, he is an embodiment of dynamic and passionate performing,
as his screen persona rips through the lives of everyone around him
like a hurricane on a mission to devastate anything that shows courage
or strength in his presence. It is easily the male performance of
the year, and the fact that it single-handedly drives a movie that
might have seemed ordinary without it says something profound about
the actor who undertakes it. |
Honorable Mentions: The
Namesake 300 Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix The Big Disappointments 3:10
to Yuma Atonement Sweeney
Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street The
Golden Compass Elizabeth:
The Golden Age THE WORST |
1.
Pathfinder For
those still optimistic enough to think that Hollywood has enough sense
to prevent their absolute worst decisions from ever seeing the light
of day, this sack of crap is for you. “Pathfinder” isn’t
simply the worst movie of 2007, but one of the most shameful cinematic
endeavors ever released -- a nightmare in every sense of the word,
directed with all the skill of a cat litter commercial. The movie
tells the tale of a Viking son (played here by Karl Urban) who is
inherited by a family of Native Americans as an infant, the sole survivor
of a battle that culminated with the slaying of an entire ship of
land-rapers. Years later, another Viking ship pulls into the bay for
the same purpose: to gain control of the land and slaughter the “savages”
that currently occupy it. Except this time, one of their own is now
considered family to the Natives, and he isn’t about to let
his violent ancestors lay waste to their society for the sake of land.
That the screenplay conveys all of this in confusing muddles is only
the shell of the problem; badly directed and poorly executed, the
movie is indistinctive with the photography and lighting, and there
are moments so dim-witted that we see characters running from a hot
and sunny beach into the nearby wilderness, where snow is falling
at a high rate. Too bad no one on screen noticed they were slogging
their way through little more than a giant turd. |
2.
Balls of Fury “Balls
of Fury” is such a bad movie that it violates a principal rule
in modern cinema, which indicates that any movie starring Christopher
Walken in any capacity cannot possibly be so bad. Oh, but it is that
and more: a movie so lifeless and unfunny that staring at your watch
for the same amount of time feels more rewarding. Main characters
follow each other around without much script to drive them beyond
very broad plot points, and Walken’s appearance in the picture
– a cross between a Liberace and Elvira – does little
more than prove that, yes, “Balls of Fury” was very obviously
made in the hands of amateurs. It is not enough to frame your star
in a series of quirks; at least give him something interesting or
funny to say and do. Don’t allow him to spend 80 minutes of
unfunny screen time cracking lame jokes about the oh-so-important
sport of ping-pong. |
3.
P.S. I Love You Gerard
Butler announces in the first scene that he will “always be
there” for his wife, and then dies of a brain tumor and leaves
her in one of the worst romantic weepers ever made. If seeing is believing,
than “P.S. I Love You” is that rare endeavor that truly
lives up to its hype as a pile of trash. Unromantic, contrived, touchy-feely
and sappy melodrama at its thickest, the movie is a series of cringe-worthy
flashbacks, unbelievable characterizations and lousy coincidences
designed to do little more than make ladies swoon over Irish biceps
and piercing blue eyes, all for the sake of nothing lasting or genuine.
Luckily for Butler, he spends most of the movie dead; poor Hilary
Swank, one of our greatest living actresses, has to endure a screenplay
of such detestable and monstrous intentions that we find ourselves
wanting to cry for her. She does a lot of her own crying, to be sure,
but whereas most movies would make no argument over what those tears
are meant for, “P.S. I Love You” is almost bad enough
to make you wonder if, just maybe, Swank’s crying amounts to
her truly realizing just how dumb she looks to be associated with
this travesty. |
4.
Evan Almighty Read
my lips. Steve Carell is not funny. Steve Carell in “Evan Almighty”
is not funny. Morgan Freeman playing God is not funny. And everything
about this follow-up to Jim Carrey’s “Bruce Almighty”
reeks of every unfunny sentiment you can possible think of. Obviously
meant for kids (or religious adults too dumb to smell a turkey when
it’s right in front of them), it is synthetic comedy through
and through, paved from beginning to end in plot twists and comedic
dialogue exchanges so unfunny and aloof that it’s as if the
filmmakers are intentionally trying to cater to no one other than
themselves. Who finds the idea of building an arc funny? What relevance
does it have in a movie that is sorely lacking in comic timing? If
not for the presence of Wanda Sykes as a wisecracking, quick-witted
political secretary, this entire thing would be better off drowning
in a 40-day flood. |
5.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer The
Silver Surfer makes a more interesting screen persona than any of
the Fantastic Four do, but that only highlights the fundamental flaw
with this franchise. What in the world is really so appealing about
four well-named super-heroes who, minus their space-bound mutations
and abilities, have no distinguishing characteristics to speak of?
If the predecessor to this endeavor could not find the answer, “Rise
of the Silver Surfer” finds that the question is now no longer
in the mind of anyone behind the scenes. As such, the movie bubbles
over with the stench of irrelevance, plodding through the material
with such half-hearted conviction that even highly-stylized special
effects feel like nothing more than glossy coatings on expired candy. |
© 2007, David Keyes, Cinemaphile.org. Please e-mail the author here if the above review contains any spelling or grammar mistakes.
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© 2007 Cinemaphile.org.