I’ll admit I haven’t seen all the films that have been highly recommended this past season, but if you want to know what my favorites were of those I did see, the list is below the fold.
1. “No Country For Old Men” (my rapturous review here)
2. “Michael Clayton”
3. “Juno”
4. “Atonement”
5. “There Will Be Blood”
6. “Eastern Promises”
7. “Amazing Grace”
8. “Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
9. “The Savages”
10. “American Gangster”
Worst: “Lions for Lambs”. Widespread laughter throughout the theater at all the wrong moments.
You’re welcome to suggest what else I need to see. “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days” and “Persepolis” are tops on my list of what I must see…
The link to your €œ”No Country For Old Men” review is bust; you got “ttp://” instead of “http://”.
Whoops, fixed. Thanks.
The only ones I’ve seen from that list are “No Country For Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood”. Both were superb.
I might even rank “There Will Be Blood” as slightly better. I loving seeing a film that didn’t live in fear that the
audience would lose interest if something didn’t happen in the next 60 seconds, that wasn’t afraid to just
look at the scene, the actors’ movements, their faces.
You’ve already seen everything I would recommend so I can’t help you there, but
this makes
a neat segue from “No Country For Old Men” to some other concerns of this blog.
Sigh, substitute “I loved” for “I loving” in #3.
I’ve only seen two of those movies and both in 2008!
I get a C- in pop culture.
You would leave out Ratatouille.
I saw Ratatouille on a plane; charming, but not breath-taking.
Sez you.
you have pretty much seen the cream of the crop of 2007. and it has been a wonderful year in movies.
i recommend, in no particular order:
1.”gone baby gone”
2.”day night day night” (released 2007 in the u.s.)
3.”sunshine”
4.”green street hooligans” (2005 in the u.k.; but i count it as an ’07 since… i watched in 2007
5. “children of men”
my top 5, in no particular order:
1. no country for old men
2. gone baby gone
3. ratatouille.
4. blank for now
5. blank for now
i had the chance to watch “the diving bell and the butterfly” last week. and I wonder if it would make my top-ten-list; if i were sort one out. it could be due to the company that I had , and how they were in a restless mood due to being sleep deprived. The jury is still out.
Ratatouille did not make it to your top ten? *scrunches face*. There is a plethora of layers to the movie and at the same time it is a “cartoonâ€. something at first glance that might be passed of for “just kids”. Something I am sure that children will not only enjoy when they are young, but also later in life when they are able to apply the morale subtext to what they will learn. and not even on an academic level, but on a level by just being alive and living through society as a person.
The movie, like many great movies, is multifaceted enough that there is always something different for the viewer to find when they view it another time. *shrug. I guess the same can be said about all pixar films–or great films in general. I am beginning to enjoy what pixar for what they produce. While others—namely my peers—will attest to “finding nemo†as their favorite film, or “toy storyâ€â€”since it is the first—I will beat my drums to the band camp of ratatouille!
p/s.: i have yet to watch “there will be blood”. sigh, no one to see it with.
p/s.: i could go on about ratatouille, but i had to restrain myself.
expanding onto movies that i recommend:
number 6: “rocket science”
To be fair, I saw Ratatouille on a plane. I rarely love films I see that way. Last year, I saw “Capote” on a plane and wasn’t swept until friends made me watch it again on a bigger screen.
Oh, and “Children of Men” would have been on my list, but I think of it as an ’06 film.
I have to second Juno as one of the best films of the year. I went to see it with my wife, then, having been very moved, I took my 15 year old son and 13 year old daughter to see it, and then we had a very powerful discussion about the many themes in the movie for several hours afterward. Have to say it is one of the very few times a movie has had such an impact on myself and my family.
You should see Once. It won for best song (“Falling Slowly”), but in general it’s really a fantastic film. And it’s already out on DVD. If you do like it, I suggest you look into either “The Swell Season” (the CD that the two main actors collaborated together on) and/or Glen Hansard’s work as part of the band, The Frames.
I realize this is a 2008 film, but if you’re into monster movies at all, go check out Cloverfield: it’s a fantastic instance of its genre.
Have you seen Charlie Wilson’s War? Should’ve taken Michael Clayton’s spot in Best Picture Nods. I also hear In Bruges is pretty fantastic, but I guess that’s technically 2008. The Darjeeling Limited and Into the Wild were also both solid, if not excellent.