Movie Review: 2007

Hey all,

It was my intention to run my top movie picks of 2007 down after watching Sweeney Todd, but unless I go catch it by myself some afternoon I may not see it until video. 2007 was a fairly disappointing year with so many high profile releases, but I thought I would run down my top 10 films of 2007. These films are based on a few things, one they will all be genre films. The Oscars and Golden Globes are gonna slurp up films like There Will Be Blood and Atonement, I am concentrating on films that the general public goes to see. Tow, these are films I have watched. Not being a professional critic I have to pay my own way and sometimes I don't get to see movies that may be good, Like Sweeney Todd or American Gangster.

That's the precursor, onto my Top 10 genre Films of 2007.

10- Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Probably the weakest pick of my top 10. I am sure there are probably a few films that I missed that were better than this, but I went into the film expecting it to be terrible and I was surprised to see it actually improve on the original.

9-Shoot'em Up-
Just a sinfully guilty pleasure in terms of action and farce. I loved Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti's over the top approach. Its not a good movie.. but it's damn fun.

8- Hot Fuzz
My forgotten favorite of the summer. Very funny and very good. I thought it a perfect send up of the cheesy action genre that I love so dearly. I also think it further cemented Simon Pegg as a comedic actor with a large upside.

7- 300
I loved 300's slavish adaption of Frank Miller's graphic novel and the beautiful way the movie was shot. I will admit that this slipped a bit on the charts for the sheer amount of over exposure it received.

6- Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Financially the worst received of the Judd Apatow movies of the summer (Knocked Up and Superbad running rampant) but by far my favorite. Eschewing the gross out humor with a message formula of the those other films its simply a ridiculous and funny movie that made me laugh. My favorite comedy of the year.

Top 5

5- Grindhouse
Though way to long I absolutely loved Tarentino's Deathproof and the great fake trailers spread through the movie. Particularly Robert Rodriguez's Machete and Rob Zombie's hilarious Werewolf Women of the SS. The Planet Terror section too long for my tastes and could have used a bit of an edit, but over the course of the year I really came to like the movie more.

4-Live Free or Die Hard
My favorite action movie of the year saw Bruce Willis return to what he does best, crack wise, kill bad guys, and get the shit beat out of him. It didn't try to be something it wasn't, just a fun movie that reminded us why we loved the other three in the first place.

3- Pan's Labyrinth-
Guillermo del Torro is quickly becoming a great director. Managing to make two compelling films in one is no easy feat. The fantastic juxtaposition of the Spanish Civil War and a girls journey to the world of faerie was beautifully done. Technically this film given a limited release in 2006 for Oscar contention, but the film didn't get a national release until January of 2007, which is why I am counting it here.

2- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix-
My least favorite book and possibly my favorite film of the series in one. Director David Yates boiled down the film to the important parts and kept the tone of the film evolving with the audience. The optimism of the early works really turns dark in book 5 and I think that message was conveyed. I am eagerly awaiting his adaption of book 6 in 2008, possibly the darkest of the series.

1- 3:10 to Yuma
This should be no surprise to anyone who has talked to me. I love Westerns and this is a great western. Better than the original version and another reason to man crush on Christian Bale. It has a great story, great action and great acting. Perfect/

I am sure I left out some great films, but this was my list. I will post a worst of '07 tomorrow that I know at least 1 film inclusion should be flameworthy. Thanks for reading and happy viewing in 2008!

End of Line.
Gerrad!