Best Movies of 2007
Though the tiny overlap between cinematic greatness and box office success has remained more or less the same, 2007 has been a surprising year filled with cinematic riches. While the big studios often produced sequels that merely mooched off the glory of past franchises with many disappointing results, those who sought more originality in their films found a wide variety of daring subject matter to pick from, particularly in the fall season. It was such a good year that I have also listed another ten runner-ups that I grappled with before finally deciding on my top ten. The best films of the year are:
1. Lars and the Real Girl - It must be said: to make a movie this sweet, innocent, and moving about a man who carries on a “real” relationship with a life-size love doll in order to connect with the world is some kind of a daring wonder. No other movie, not even the more unanimously praised Juno, successfully utilized the tools of eccentric comedy to get at a pure and sincere heart and much of it is thanks to the tightly controlled performance by the consistently impressive Ryan Gosling. Most other great films this year treated the everyday world with admirable austerity but this movie stayed with me because this vision of unconditionally accepting those who are different challenged me to believe in another level beyond it.
2. Ratatouille – In a distant way, this film goes hand in hand with my number one pick because it is about a rat who wants to rise above others’ perception as a kitchen pest to become a cook. Pixar has transformed fishes and insects into lovable characters and with this film, their genius involves tapping into the sense of taste to make Remy the rat even more lovable. As it is with all of their films, their creative genius is all around, from their animation to the increasingly mature storytelling that backs it up.
3. No Country for Old Men – The Coen brothers have built an impressive career of creating patently, absurdly creative worlds and characters but they really hit one out of the park every 11 or 12 years with a transcendent crime movie. They did it in 1984 with their debut, Blood Simple and in 1996 with Fargo, and with the source of Cormac McCarthy’s novel they have made the most purely cinematic film of the year. This is the kind of movie that whets one’s appetite for the meticulous detail in pure filmmaking with sound design, cinematography, and vivid characters invisibly enhancing each other while leaving us with the philosophical implications of how ordinary men grapple with the concept of implacable evil.
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Article comments
1 - CallmeMaddy
Is it bad that I haven't seen any of those movies?
I have to see more movies...
2 - Tan The Man
"Sunshine" gets unfair criticism with its second half. While it might not have been the most likely event, it does point to the idea between man and our role in the universe and our relationship to nature. Nature works its path, and you could argue man's greatest downfall has always itself.