It's a new year, which means it's time for BEST AND WORST lists! Oh joy! Make no mistake, mine is a highly subjective list. After all, I can only judge from the films I've seen, and I have only seen about one hundred films this year. I'll try to take in more flicks in '08, peeps.
Before we get to my TOP FIVE FILMS of 2007 let's start with the FIVE WORST. And what do you know...Lindsay Lohan's "I know Who Killed Me" did NOT make my five worst films of the year! Wow! What five could have possibly been worse? Read on...
5. Disturbia
If Hitchcock had been brain damaged in a car accident shortly before filming his masterpiece, this film is what he may have ended up with. Full review: Click here.
4. The Number 23
"The Number 23" misses the mark of being a hard-boiled film noir so much that when I got home from seeing it, I checked the IMDb to make sure it wasn't supposed to be a parody. Full review: Click here.
3. The Heartbreak Kid
The Farrely Brothers are D.O.A. with this sad, tired, embarrassing Ben Stiller comedy. Malin Ackerman sure is cute, but that's not enough to save this mean-spirited romp. When you bill your film as a comedy, and the audience never laughs once, there's a problem.
2. Premonition
An odd mixture of "Groundhog Day" and "Memento," this film fails to make the least bit of sense after setting up a very flimsy premise that has no real pay off anyway. Full review: Click here.
1. Bee Movie
Wow, so it's "BEE MOVIE," and not the dreadful "Happily N'Ever After" that takes this dubious honor of being my most-hated film of 2007. Jerry Seinfeld's "BEE MOVIE" features nary a laugh, and Seinfeld isn't exactly 'Mr. Warmth," which makes this a curious project indeed. Why would kids enjoy a self-centered acerbic stand-up comic voicing a bee? Answer: they wouldn't.
Enough with the bad. How about the good? I very much wanted to put "The Darjeeling Limited," "Knocked Up," "INLAND EMPIRE," and "Grindhouse" on this Top Five list, but they all JUST missed the cut. Just know that these films come highly recommended. (Yes, even "Grindhouse" - without a doubt the most fun I had in a theater all year.) So which five flicks did I enjoy more? Read on...
5. Eastern Promises
This isn't David Cronenberg's take on "The Godfather," it's a more intimate story, almost like a Russian twist on "The Departed." It's interesting to see an outsider like Cronenberg manage to stretch and reshape the mainstream thriller genre to his own ends. Full review: Click here.
4. Pan's Labyrinth
This is a fairy tale for adults, not unlike Neil Gaiman's "Coraline." It's important for adults to remember why children cling to fantasy. Sometimes it's the best way for children to deal with tough circumstances. Full review: Click here.
3. No Country For Old Men
Stark, involving, striking, intelligent. The Coen Brothers make one of their best films ever with this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's book. Josh Brolin is note-perfect, Tommy Lee Jones is sad and soulful, and Javier Bardem is the scariest screen villain of the year. Five Stars.
2. Atonement
A film I loved so much I wanted to watch it every day for a year.
Full review: Click here.
1. Lust, Caution
“Lust, Caution” is the best film I've seen all year. Director Ang Lee continues to examine emotional distance and longing between sexuality and culture better than anyone else in modern cinema. Yes, it's subtitled and almost three hours long, so if those are two strikes against the film for you, then this one's not your cup of hot tea. Full review: Click here.
"There Will Be Blood" and "The Orphanage" are not on this list, even though I saw both of them in 2007. Neither will be released in Saint Louis theaters until 2008, so it seems silly to put them on my Top Five for 2007 list when you haven't even had the chance to see them. So until I work for a national outlet, I will base this list on what my Saint Louis peeps would have had the opportunity to view in 2007. That being said, both "The Orphanage" and "There Will Be Blood" will most likely be on my 'Top Five for 2008' list. So check 'em out! |
