Top 10 Films of 2007

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I started watching movies, really watching movies, in 1999, the year considered by most to be the best in recent film history. Judging from the trouble I had compiling my 2007 list, I’d say last year was an even greater achievement than 1999 for filmmaking as a whole. I’ve never seen so many movies in one year, and I’ve never loved so many of them. I’m even skipping the bottom five list I usually put together. (Lucky for you, Next.) What’s the point when there is so much to celebrate? Without further ado, here is TheFilmChair.com’s Top 10 for 2007.

1. No Country for Old Men – Perfect isn’t a word you can ever use in describing a human creation. I’m sure the Coen’s film isn’t technically perfect. But it feels perfect. Every move it makes is calculated, leaving the audience punch-drunk from the opening sequence. Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh is an iconic villain. Tommy Lee Jones’s Sheriff Ed Tom Bell is a hero for our time, once unflappable, but now only bewildered. Perfect.

2. I’m Not There – Todd Haynes motion picture inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan is pure cinematic artistry. No other film this year so effectively presented what you can do with film, though no other subject would demand nearly as much from the medium. If you want to call it a biopic, then you would certainly use the word unconventional. If you call it what it is, then you can start like this: I’m Not There is a transcendent, experimental masterpiece

3. Ratatouille – In any other year, I think Ratatouille would be my pick for Best Picture. Hell, it taught me to spell the word ratatouille. In terms of classical cinematic storytelling, no other picture achieves what Brad Bird’s animated film about a rat who aspires to be a French chef achieves. In terms of animation, you’ve never seen computer animation used with such a painterly touch.

4. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – This epic Greek tragedy in the Old West defies its genre. And it’s the most starkly beautiful film set to celluloid this year.

5. Juno – A film that looks like every other hip teen indie proves to be the closest thing to a solid American drama we get this year (see number 7 for more on this). Funny, smart, and oh so poignant.

6. There Will Be Blood – Watching Paul Thomas Anderson’s towering film about a misanthropic oilman is like being involved in an abusive relationship. It accosts you. It seduces you. It has a hypnotic manner, drawing you in until landing a vicious punch. Daniel Day-Lewis is astonishing as oilman Daniel Plainview.

7. The Lives of Others & After the Wedding – At a time when American dramas are focused anywhere but on their stories, two foreign dramas, one in German and one in Dutch proved to be two of the most emotionally evocative films of the year. The Lives of Others tells the story of an East German Stasi who must spy on a playwright, and After the Wedding shows what happens when a secretive business man challenges the principals of an idealistic aid worker. These engrossing stories are fine example of what can be done when simple story ideas are executed flawlessly – by the directors, the actors and everyone else involved.

8. Michael Clayton – The year’s biggest surprise. I never thought anyone could channel Lumet like Gilroy does here, but this socially conscious thriller is as riveting as it is intelligent. George Clooney proves once again he’s not just a star; he’s an actor.

9. Into the Wild – Sean Penn’s films never moved me before. Of course, none were as celebratory as his drama about a young man who gives up a life of privilege to pursue a nomadic life, traversing America in search for simple human truth.

10. The Wind that Shakes the Barley – A deeply moving and evocative film, Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner brings the director’s realist touch to a film with the emotional scope of the grandest epic.

Honorable Mentions:
Romance & Cigarettes | Once | Black Book | Lust, Caution | The King of Kong | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Brand Upon the Brain | Charlie Wilson’s War

Best Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Actress – Ellen Page, Juno

Best Supporting Actor – Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There

Best Director – Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men

Best Ensemble – The cast of Hairspray

Best Song – “Falling Slowly,” Once

Quote of the Year – “In my opinion, the best thing you can do is to find a person who loves you for exactly who you are. Good mood, bad mood. Ugly, pretty. Handsome, what have you. The right person will still think that the sun shines out your ass. That’s the kind of person that’s worth sticking with.” — Mac MacGuff, Juno