2007 will go down as the year American cinema stormed back to the fore. As foreign films saw a steep decline in quality, getting mired in commercial fare and artistic misfires (particularly in the world of Asian cinema), Hollywood finally dragged it’s seat back to the table and served cinema a hearty meal the likes of which hasn’t been seen since perhaps 1999. Titans like Burton, the Coens, PTA, Cronenberg, and Lumet flexed their muscles in shining displays of cinematic excellence. The art of the big performance made a comeback reminding us all of the raging ‘70’s when actors were ACTORS and not just subtle conjurers of the human condition. Tarantino and Rodriguaz brought us to the Grindhouse in all of it’s glory (and non-mass-audience appeal). Fresh voices from every corner of the world stood up and said me too.  Rarely have we had the pleasure of such a wide array of quality cinema. Of course not all was right with the world. Masters like Wong Kar-Wai, Wes Anderson, Ridley Scott, and Danny Boyle missed the gravy train with middling efforts at best. But one can’t complain when the highs of 2007 far outweighed the lows! On to the big list…

Top 15 Films of 2007 (in alphabetical order)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Eastern Promises
Grindhouse
Hot Fuzz
I’m Not There
Lust, Caution
No Country For Old Men
Once
Ploy
Secret Sunshine
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood
This World of Ours
Zodiac

Winner: No Country For Old Men
Why: There were only two contenders in my mind for the very best film of 2007: No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Such is my admiration for each that I even contemplated just calling it a tie. What finally tipped the scale towards the Coens’ masterpiece was the audacity of it’s narrative. The brothers C took some big chances in telling this tale, especially a climax that is about as unconventional as they get. There Will Be Blood is no doubt a masterpiece in it’s own right, but No Country just had that little something extra. Having said that, I could easily change my mind tomorrow.

Best Director
Todd Haynes, I’m Not There
Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
David Fincher, Zodiac

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Why: Five strong contenders, all with career defining efforts. Todd Haynes took on the most difficult subject in the mercurial Bob Dylan, crafting a film the is pure art. Fincher continues to evolve as a provocateur of the dark edges of humanity without compromise. Burton found the perfect story for his macabre sensibilities in easily his most affective film in years. The Coen brothers continue to prove they are perhaps the best filmmakers alive anywhere (and maybe anytime). Anderson, however, trumped them all by completely redefining himself as a filmmaker. Gone is his Altman fetishism that has informed his sprawling multi-character epics.  With Blood PTA took on the giants of 20th century cinema: Huston, Leone, Ford, Welles, Kubrick - and had the audacity to say me too. That takes serious balls and boy does he deliver!

The Performances:

Best Actor
Sam Riley, Control
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Christian Bale, Rescue Dawn
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Why: There were four great performances and then there was Daniel-Day Lewis.

Best Actress
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
Ellen Page, Juno
Wei Tang, Lust, Caution
Do-yeon Jeon, Secret Sunshine

Winner: Do-yeon Jeon, Secret Sunshine
Why: This really wasn’t even close for me. Do-yeon Jeon delivered the most emotionally devastating performance of the year and one of the great female performances since…Lee’s last film Oasis. That she took home the best actress award at Cannes is no surprise - there is no equal.

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War
Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Paul Dano, There Will Be Blood
Robert Downey Jr., Zodiac

Winner: Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Why: Bardem would have been the easy choice here, his Anton Chigurh already reaching an iconic status with cinephiles the world over. When it came down to it, I simply couldn’t shake the younger Affleck’s eerie performance as the wretched Robert Ford. I expect greatness from Bardem, but I doubt anyone expected Casey Affleck to reach such heights. The way he straddles the line between villan and tragic hero had me mesmerized from beginning to end.

Best Supporting Actress
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Kelly Macdonald, No Country For Old Men
Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd

Winner: Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Why: No contest - Blanchett had my vote from the very first frame. I do want to highlight Kelly Macdonald’s performance as Carla Jean Moss in No Country For Old Men. Her name gets lost amongst giants like Brolin, Bardem, and Jones but she was a revelation.

The Scribes:

Best Original Screenplay
Kelly Masterson, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Steven Knight, Eastern Promises
Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg, Hot Fuzz
Diablo Cody, Juno
Chang-dong Lee, Secret Sunshine

Winner: Chang-dong Lee, Secret Sunshine
Why: An eclectic mix indeed. 2007 was the year of the adaptation which led to some interesting choices here. Diablo Cody has major heat right now and while I thought she did excellent work here, the dialogue was a bit too unnatural for me. Chang-dong Lee took on some really tough issues with his Secret Sunshine, primarily religion and the complex dynamics or faith. The film never goes in the expected direction and is filled with ideas without being pretentious or preachy.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Andrew Dominik, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
James Schamus & Hui-Ling Wang, Lust, Caution
Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
James Vanderbilt, Zodiac

Winner: Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Why: There Will Be Blood almost has no resemblance to the novel which it is based so adaptation hardly describes PTA script (which is great). The Coens truly captured McCarthy’s unique literary voice and translated it faithfully to the screen. Not to mention it has easily the best dialogue of any film this year.

The Technicians:

Best Cinematography
Roger Deakins, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Roger Deakins, No Country For Old Men
Dariusa Wolski, Sweeney Todd
Robert Elswit, There Will Be Blood
Harris Savides, Zodiac

Winner: Roger Deakins, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Why: He shot two of the best films of the year. Could it be anyone else?

Best Editing
Paul Tothill, Atonement
Tom Swartwout, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Jay Rabinowitz, I’m Not There
Roderick Jaynes, No Country For Old Men
Angus Wall, Zodiac

Winner: Jay Rabinowitz, I’m Not There
Why: The movie was truly made in the editing room.

Best Sound
No Country For Old Men
Sunshine
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood
Zodiac

Winner: No Country For Old Men
Why: By boldly deciding not to have a score in the film, the Coens took on the challenge of creating mood with natural sound alone…bravo.

Best Costume Design
Atonement
Sakuran
Stardust
Sweeney Todd
The Warlords

Winner: Sweeney Todd

Best Special Effects
300
Big Man Japan
Sunshine
Sweeney Todd
Zodiac

Winner: 300
Why: Quite a strange mix of films indeed. 300 was the obvious choice, but I have a real soft spot for the unique imagery in Big Man Japan.

Best Art Direction
300
Across the Universe
Sakuran
Stardust
Sweeney Todd

Winner: Sweeney Todd

Best Production Design
I Am Legend
Lust, Caution
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood
Zodiac

Winner: There Will Be Blood

Best Make-Up
La Vie En Rose
Sakuran
Sweeney Todd

Winner: La Vie En Rose
Why: Marion Cotillard is an attractive woman…Edith Piaf is not.

The Tunes:

Best Score
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Dario Marianelli, Atonement
Alexandre Desplat, Lust, Caution
John Murphy, Sunshine
Jonny Greenwood, There Will Be Blood

Winner: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Why: These are some incredible scores which made the decision very difficult. It ultimately came down to Nick Cave/Warren Ellis and Jonny Greenwood. The score for There Will Be Blood is the most ambitious of the lot and perhaps the best constructed. I just couldn’t get the themes Cave & Ellis created for Jesse James and that made the difference.

Best Soundtrack
Black Snake Moan
Control
The Darjeeling Limited
Death Proof
Hot Fuzz
I’m Not There
My Blueberry Nights
Once
Sweeney Todd
Zodiac

Winner: Once
Why: See the film and you’ll know why.

The Genres:

Best Foreign Film
Lust, Caution, Taiwan
Once, Ireland
Ploy, Thailand
Secret Sunshine, South Korea
This World of Ours, Japan

Winner: Secret Sunshine
Why: Did I mention how great this movie is?

Best Animated Feature
5 Centimeters Per Second
Beowulf
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Tekkon Kinkreet

Winner: Persepolis
Why: All very different films. Persepolis had the most unique look and a surprising mature story.

Best Comedy
Hot Fuzz
The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia
Juno
Knocked Up
Superbad

Winner: Hot Fuzz
Why: Sure this was the year of Apatow & Co. and Juno is all the rage, but give me the Wright/Pegg/Frost team any day!

Best Documentary
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
No End in Sight
Sicko

Winner: Sicko
Why: I’m shocked at how this film has been dismissed. All of the problems most have with Moore’s films are absent from Sicko, presenting a surprisingly even-handed dissection of health care in America and the politics that are effectively killing thousands.

Best Short Film
Key to Reserva, Martin Scorsese
One Fine Day, Takeshi Kitano
There is Only One Sun, Wong Kar-Wai

Winner: One Fine Day
Why: Three great filmmakers…Kitano’s film just tickles me!

Best Action Sequence
Last Stand, 300
Bourne vs. Desh, The Bourne Ultimatum
Bath House Fight, Eastern Promises
Lleweyln Moss Meets Anton Chigurh, No Country For Old Men
Special Delivery, Shoot ‘Em Up

Winner: Bourne vs. Desh, The Bourne Ultimatum

The David Lynch “Bat-shit Crazy” Award
Ex Drummer
Glory to the Filmmaker!
The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia
The Ten
You, The Living

Winner: Ex Drummer
Why: Flemmish metal bands. Ultra-violence. A guy walking on ceilings. Rape. Extreme anti-social behavior. Hardcore Porn. 15 inches of manhood. Why not?

Last and Certainly Least…

Biggest Disappointments
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
American Gangster
Blood Brothers (Tian Tang Kou)
The Darjeeling Limited
Dororo
Mongol
My Blueberry Nights
Smokin’ Aces
Sunshine
Triangle

Why: These are 10 movies that are good but could have been so much more. I either had higher expectations of the filmmakers (Kar-Wai, Anderson, Scott, Boyle) or the premise. Consider these films that had every reason to be great yet failed. At least for me.

The Worst Films of 2007
The Bucket List
Freesia: Icy Tears
Halloween
I Am Legend
Lions For Lambs
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Redacted
Spiderman 3
Transformers
Whispers and Moans

Why: My criteria for the worst films is a bit different than most. Since I don’t bother seeing the Norbits of the world I’m there were far worse movies than some of the films I’ve listed here. These films are either outright bad or unforgivably flawed.

Given my proclivity for Asian cinema, here are some breakdowns of what I thought were the region’s best from 2007 (by country):

Best of Japan
5 Centimeters Per Second (Byosoku 5 Senchimetoru)
A Gentle Breeze in the Village (Tennen Kokekko)
Big Man Japan (Dai-Nipponjin)
Glory to the Filmmaker!! (Kantonku Banzai!)
The Graduates (Lemon no Koro)
How to Become Myself (Ashita no Watashi no Tsukurikata)
The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia (Zukan ni Nottenai Mushi)
Sakuran
Tekkon Kinkreet
Talk, Talk, Talk (Shaberdomo Shaberdomo)
This World of Ours (Oretachi no Sekai)

Best of South Korea
Breath
The Railroad
Secret Sunshine (Milyang)

Best of China / Taiwan / Hong Kong
Getting Home (Luo Ye Gui Gen)
Lost in Beijing (Ping Guo)
Lust, Caution (Se, Jie)
The Warlords (Tau Ming Chong)

Best of Thailand
Alone
Ploy

Impressive list, Visualist!

Interesting to see that you have both Dainipponjin and Kantonku Banzai!

The Visualist - January 21, 2008, 3:12am

Gone is his Altman fetishism that has informed his sprawling multi-character epics. 

I just watched McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and besides the fact that if there was ever a template for David Milch’s DEADWOOD HBO series this film was it (right down to several key characters)...the other thing that struck me was if P.T. Anderson mines Altman for his inspirations, then THERE WILL BE BLOOD was conceived after multiple viewings of McCabe and Mrs. Miller. - at least structurally (in so far as Magnolia mirrors Short Cuts structurally, but has aims on a different end)

To wit:

Totally Incongruous (yet brilliant) Score:  TWWB - Radiohead; M&MM;- Leonard Cohen
Business Entrepreneur failing to integrate into community:  TWWB - Oil/pipeline; M&MM;- Whorehouse/Saloon
Big Business looming overhead of individual entrepreneurship:  TWWB - Oil/Railroad Monopoly; M&MM;- Mine Corporation

Of course the big difference is the quasi-cowardness (pompousness) of McCabe, yet there are some elements in J.W. Plainview, especially when he rubs up against the Railroad/Oil corps in the film, particularly with his son in the bar.

Of course the films have loads of differences too, but when watching the Altman film, I was struck by the similarities.

Kurt Halfyard - January 21, 2008, 1:16pm

I just watched McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and besides the fact that if there was ever a template for David Milch’s DEADWOOD HBO series this film was it (right down to several key characters)...

In its defense (ok, defense isn’t the right word, but it’s worth noting), a lot of those characters are drawn from real people in history. It’s interesting comparing the fictional Deadwood history with the real one.

Kurt:

You’re absolutely right, I also had McCabe in mind while watching TWBB so there is indeed some Altman present. You would agree that McCabe is more the exception than the rule when it comes to Altman’s style. I actually saw more of Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - the opening scenes are almost a shot-for-shot homage. And of course none of Altman’s films approach the bleakness the PTA achives in this film.

Ardvark: Both films were quite different. Kitano is more an anarchist than Matsumoto, who’s humor is dry as salt. If I had to choose, Dai-Nipponjin is the more effective film as a whole with a much more interesting central conceit than Banzai.

I loved Dianipponjin for the first hour.  Oh, the brilliant DEADPAN!  Then it started to wane for me.  The ending did little for me.

Here is another McCabe/Deadwood connection:  Keith Carradine being gunned down in surprise in both.  I wonder if the casting in Deadwood is accidental?

On the surface, Shelley Duval’s character reminded me of Molly Parker’s Widow Garret.  Rene Auberjoinis’ barkeep reminded me of William Sanderson’s innkeep.