With all the best-ofs going up everywhere over the next few weeks, I thought I’d see what fellow Twitch-forumites dug or decried last year?
In theaters I didn’t see a lot - a few I did see (and loved) were The Mist - gorgeously realized, great performances, amazing use of sound and sparse music; Death Proof - were it really from the ‘70s, Anchor Bay would’ve released it in a deluxe package followed by a Blue Underground re-release - just brilliant; Pan’s Labyrinth - caught it late, was blown away - how does Del Toro keep improving???; Hot Fuzz - just a good time - not quite to Shaun‘s level, but few films made me laugh harder this year; 28 Weeks Later - extremely unsettling, cleverly crafted - and now Boyle might be taking the reigns again??!?; The Simpsons Movie - like three back-to-back-to-back episodes from the good old days; Sweeny Todd - wonderfully bloody, dark, and whimsical - often all at once; Postal - Boll makes good - now, will it ever be released?
As you can see, my tastes skew toward genre - as you can also see, I missed on a spread of prestige pics released toward the year’s end which I need to catch up on (good thing it’s winter / spring - the only competition for my attention in the next three or so months will be A-Horror remakes - increasingly easy to resist).
I had the good fortune to have a short film I wrote playing in a number of festivals in 2007, so I was able to catch a lot of smaller films and shorts otherwise unavailable. Of Darkness - imagine Goonies crossed with Night of the Demons - and In the Wall - mean-spirited, psychological-cum-splatter mayhem - were stand-out shorts, as well as Phil Mucci’s one-two punch of The Listening Dead and Far Out and Richard Gale’s squirm-inducing (in a good way) Criticized. Windcroft (which I reviewed on the main page here) and End of the Line (notice here) were impressive features.
As always, I viewed a lot on DVD - many imports. Eye in the Sky, Retribution, The Sword Bearer, and Puritan were all very memorable in good ways (sure there were more… hard to remember them all!).
Can’t think of anything I absolutely hated in ‘07, though more than a few disappointed, in particular Shoot ‘Em Up and Invasion (concept and talent trumped all-around… ugh).
What did you folks see in 2007???
What stood out though was the prestige, pan’s labyrinth and My Neighbour Totoro . I enjoyed those very very much. Also some of the films at the CPH:DOX festival i was at.
