Best Movies of 2007
I’m getting to my Best Movies list a lot earlier this year. I did a much better job in 2007 actually seeing things in the theaters and on DVD as soon as they came out, so this list is coming out as early as I have ever had the chance to make it. There are still a few “great” movies from last year that I haven’t seen (American Gangster, La Vie en Rose, 12:08 East of Bucharest and others), so I reserve the right to update this later. For now, though, this is the definitive list. As always, I begin with my ten runners-up, in alphabetical order:
Atonement (Joe Wright)
The pedigree was better than the execution—that one-take tracking shot sure was impressive, but it actually distracted me from what I was supposed to be seeing.
Away From Her (Sarah Polley)
Sad/happy. An ode to true love.
The Bourne Ultimatum (Paul Greengrass)
A strong end to a solid trilogy. Some of the best action scenes in recent memory.
Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg)
The b-movie violence takes away from an otherwise gripping story of redemption.
4 Months 3 Weeks & 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu)
The best direction of the year. Almost too painful to watch at times.
Gone Baby Gone (Ben Affleck)
The Afflecks make a formidable team. Better than Mystic River? Maybe.
The Hoax (Lasse Hallstrom)
Whizzy, gleeful trip through the life of an expert liar.
Knocked Up (Judd Apatow)
Hilarious, improbable look at modern family values.
Talk To Me (Kasi Lemmons)
Rollicking, unique portrait of a the civil rights era through the eyes of the inimitable Petey Green.
Zodiac (David Fincher)
One of the best crime procedurals of the last decade.
The Top 13
13. Diggers (Katherine Dieckmann)
The smallest movie on my list, Ken Marino’s story about Long Island clam diggers struggling with tradition versus modernity struck a chord. With the able direction of Adventures of Pete & Pete alum Dieckmann and a solid cast, including Paul Rudd, Maura Tierney and Sarah Paulsen, Diggers proves greatness doesn’t have to come from the usual places.
12. The Savages (Tamara Jenkins)
Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman are two of our finest actors. Together they hold fort in this family drama where the people are messed up, but not so unrealistically that you can’t relate. Linney and Hoffman put together one of the most realistic sibling portraits I’ve seen on film.
11. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (Sidney Lumet)
Here’s Hoffman again, playing yet another brother in a screwed up family. This is much, much darker though, and whereas The Savages gives you hope, Devil takes that hope and washes it down the drain. A heartbreaking family/crime drama.
Full review
10. Ratatouille (Brad Bird)
Quite possibly the best movie ever made about a restaurant, Brad Bird’s second masterpiece (sorry, Iron Giant fans) is also one of the best movies ever made about art appreciation. The fact that it also features talking, cooking rats only makes it that much more remarkable.
9. Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy)
This star-studded gem might be the very definition of the over-used phrase “taut thriller.” The acting is so strong (Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and the always stellar Tom Wilkinson in particular) and the pace so quick that the story almost glides by. I’m not even sure I ever quite grasped the full details of who had wronged who and how, but I’m not sure it matters.
8. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
I’m positive Anderson’s most challenging picture (which is saying something) was a great movie—I’m just not sure if I liked it or not. Maybe it was too confusing. Maybe it was too dislikable. Certainly it was compelling, thrilling and epic… its place in the pantheon of great American movies will be debated about for ages.
7. Once (John Carney)
If Diggers was the smallest movie on my list, this lost that title by a nose. Much like Ratatouille, the intimate but never slight Once captured creation so beautifully that even if the story didn’t resonate with you, the music did. For the record, I was enraptured by both.
6. The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson)
Fair or not, Anderson has been blasted for the increasingly high artifice of his films (most recently with The Life Aquatic). Yes, Anderson uses finely detailed art direction, ’60s-pop soundtracks and quirky familial relationships continuously to tell his stories, but when it’s all so expertly crafted, who am I to complain?
5. Into the Wild (Sean Penn)
Just about the only thing I didn’t like about this near-perfect road movie/cautionary tale/ode to America was chintzy opening titles. Everything else—the soundtrack, the acting, the cinematography, and, most importantly, the euphoric pro-life feeling the movie left me with—was brilliant.
4. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)
A German movie about the Cold War? Sounds dull and distant, right? Wrong. Das Leben der Anderen (its German title) was one of the most compelling and profoundly sad movies of the year.
3. Superbad (Greg Mottola)
Yes, that’s right, Superbad. I laughed continuously throughout this movie, and by continuous I mean I can’t think of a stretch of two minutes where I wasn’t laughing. Out loud. Top that off with a rooting interest in the lives of Evan & Seth (and my endless love for any of the Apatow gang) and you’ve got a winner.
2. No Country For Old Men (Coen Brothers)
This would’ve been my number one in just about any other year, even if the only scene in the movie was the bit in the convenience store with the coin toss. Absolutely brilliant from start to finish, and arguably the best film the Coens have ever made.
Full review
1. Juno (Jason Reitman)
Like a Wes Anderson movie (if Anderson were a woman named Diablo Cody), Juno had everything I love about the movies: lovable characters, an instantly memorable soundtrack, humor with heart, amazing opening credits and a “happy” ending that never once felt forced or overwrought.
Full review