Scots Taffer on 11/12/2007 at 06:43

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Little bit early, sure, but my main man Stitch prompted me about this and I didn't want to get beaten to the punch like last year. :(

It's been a very interesting year for movies but due to release dates being what they are in Australia and being a busy working parent what it is, I've not seen many of the films that qualify as being highest up my list as having the potential for being my favourite picks of the year so I'll cross those off before I even start.

No Country for Old Men - The Coen Brothers look back on form, the trailer gave me chills, always a good sign and I've heard nothing but raving since it got released stateside.
Zodiac - This movie looked brilliant and perhaps a little too effective, while watching this with my wife she got so unnerved by a particular scene that we had to skip it about an hour in. I haven't got back to it yet.
3:10 to Yuma - I love Westerns if they're done right (read: Deadwood/Tombstone) add to that Christian Bale and Russel Crowe being among the best actors in Hollywood then I think we've got a sure-fire hit.
The Mist - Off my radar until recently, never read the story but people have being going nuts about this movie - I'm interested, plus Darabont knows how adapt King so I'm hopeful.
Shoot Em Up - Looked like frenetic, hyperkinetic, lactonic awesome.

Now for those that I did see, it's been a banner year for comedies and I can't think of the last time so many movies had me in tears of laughter, so it shouldn't really come as a shock that my favourite movies of 2007 are mostly of comedic nature. I also throw a bunch of 2006 (*) movies into the mix that I saw in this year and rate really highly among my recommendations, period.

My Top Three:

1. The Fountain *

It's not often I see a movie that moves me in a profound way and this one did. The weaving of three stories into one here uses beautiful imagery and allegory to tell a story that isn't so much about characters as it is about a simple yet incredibly complex facet of psychology: acceptance. All the actors do outstanding work here, Aranofsky does admiral work at the helm, the visuals and audio are sublime. This was an easy pick for first, to be honest, in any year.

2. Hot Fuzz

The creative trio of Pegg, Frost and Wright is the best thing to happen to comedy (specifically, parody) since Zucker/Abrahams and Brooks were around in the late 70s, early 80s. Hot Fuzz riffs on nearly every genre cliché that afflicts the buddy cop movie thriller arena but without cheapening the sentiments of those movies, light guitar work in the background as Pegg talks about arresting kids on his playschool police motorcycle is lovingly constructed parody that goes beyond the pop-culture/movie-reference jokes that litter modern day “parodies”. I can't wait for the third in the "blood and ice cream" trilogy.

3. Ratatouille

Brad Bird is one of the most consistently brilliant film-makers working in the industry. Both The Iron Giant and The Incredibles show a mastery of imagination, creativity and sheer love of fun and spectacle, all the things that kid's movies need to be, but grounded in the duality of convincing characterisation and subtle references that appeal to adult audiences. While I think that he's perhaps leaving his younger audiences behind with his work on Ratatouille, there's no doubt in my mind that it's one of the best animations in history, the story, the detail, the characters, all vivid and bursting with life.

Numbers 3 through 10:

4. The Last King of Scotland * - powerful, well acted, brutal stuff, young James McAvoy is great in the leading role and Forest Whittaker finally gets the recognition he deserves in a challenging part, even if the story does go a little awry at points.
5. Eastern Promises - see above and replace Whittaker with Mortensen, ditto on the plot going awry at points.
6. Knocked Up - as a young father, this movie just killed me.
7. Superbad - as an immature guy, this movie just killed me.
8. The Simpsons Movie - The first thirty or so minutes are vintage simpsons, the “movie” story meanders and struggles but the comedy never does. Consistently funny.
9. Grindhouse: Planet Terror - it's got Rose McGowan gyrating, crying and launching herself into the air with an amputated leg replaced by an automatic rifle with an attached grenade launcher, if you don't already have a raging erection get off my fucking planet. Plus Freddy Rodriguez: so dreamy.
10. La Doblure * - a French film that doesn't have people dying and a haze of melancholy surrounding the entire thing? Sign me up. Very, very funny.

There are plenty that fell short of glory, but were still quite worthy in their own right:

Spiderman 3 - Failed to live up to the promise of Spiderman 2, with Parker and MJ together it was inevitable that the third outing would simply try to pack in too much, between the Green Goblin redux, Sandman and Venom origin story, the whole thing falls apart under the weight of its too numerous subplots and the third act is a mess. For the record, I liked Peter Parker “going bad”.

Die Hard 4.0 (LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD) - Take John McClane, lose the vest, throw in a geeky sidekick and a “hack the world” plot, lose the iconic score (mostly), lose much of the cuss-words and get a film that's in some parts more Die Hard than “with a Vengeance” but mostly resembles a sequel to True Lies. I would've probably liked this a lot more and it would've made the top ten if they'd cut out the Fighter Jet shit at the end.

Sunshine - A director who's produced some great work has an interesting cast and a not entirely original premise, it works well for the first hour or so and builds an atmosphere not entirely unlike Event Horizon. The comparisons don't end there, they both suffer from a third act that just completely destroys the atmospheric good will it generated and throws a whole lot of crazy shit at the screen and hopes it works, which it doesn't.

Grindhouse: Death Proof - The first half worked as a slow, tense build towards a scene of complete annihilation, the second half was a bunch of whiny bitches talking utter shite and then a great chase scene capped by a lack of cathartic release.

Blades of Glory - CHAZZ MICHAEL MICHAELS IS FIGURESKATING!!

The Kingdom - Awesome intro followed by some entertaining pseudo-politics and lots of action.

Films that just failed on a major creative level with me:

300 - Shouting, slow motion fighting and men from Health and Fitness mags, not what I wanted Sin City to allow the green-lighting of, just give me the sequel instead.

Shooter - Conspiracy assassination babble lifted from The Jackal with Marky Mark, not even really good enough to hold my attention on a transatlantic flight with only the lonely farts of other passengers to distract me.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Let's spend half the movie gearing towards an epic sea battle we never see and let's have the plot make less sense than an AIDs infected monkey giving a nobel prize winning speech of the ethics of cross pollinating cows.

Wild Hogs - A bunch of decent actors can't elevate a pedestrian script.

Shrek the Third - Much like other movies like Rush Hour 3 and Evan Almighty this didn't interest me in the slightest, but being stuck on a flight to New Zealand will do strange things to a man, including making a movie cause you to grow a third nipple.

Lucky You - Not even an unhealthy interest in poker could make this movie any less painful, but even for those with a healthy interest in poker the idea that a son and father get through the donkament minefield of the WSOP Main Event to play heads up is so fucking retarded you just want to shove your Trey-Deuce off-suit into Aces.

Other movies I haven't seen yet but run a good chance of being decent:
The Bourne Ultimatum
American Gangster
Assassination of Jesse James...
Sicko
1408
Stardust
Stop Loss
Run, Fat Boy, Run

Movies I can't wait to see in 2008:
The Dark Knight
War Inc.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Now it's your turn!

Aja on 11/12/2007 at 06:55

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INLAND EMPIRE

actually I think it was 2006 but it only came out here this year and it is absolutely hands down the most frightening and intense movie I've ever seen. Add to the fact that I had never seen a David Lynch film up to this point and it was pretty much guaranteed that my mind would be blown. If it has one flaw, it might be too long, but by the same token it draws you down into its utter madness so slowly and unnervingly that I really wouldn't have cut it any other way. Lynch is brilliant, and if you have the willingness to completely surrender all sense of logic, continuity and well, reality, then this is a must-see.

I also loved Grindhouse, but agree with pretty much everything Scots said, apart from Death Proof's ending, which was fantastically bizarre and funny.

Fragony on 11/12/2007 at 07:04

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1 Pan's Labyrint
2 Pan's Labyrint
3 Pan's Labyrint

Watched it 3 times.

Tonamel on 11/12/2007 at 08:23

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But never finished it?

d0om on 11/12/2007 at 10:10

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Stardust! Ace film in the tradition of the Princess Bride.

Hot FuzzAnother good film, more enjoyable than Shaun of the dead I think. their film making is improving with each successive film! Lets hope for a decent third.

I can't remember what other films I have seen this year, I tend to think of years in the Academic Oct-Oct way so remembering what was last year and what was this year is too tricky for me :(