TOP TEN FILMS OF 2007

As I mentioned before, I thought 2007 was a terrific year for movies. Here are the ten films that I felt were a cut above the rest...

#10 - 3:10 TO YUMA
This Western remake is as much a character study as it is a gun-slinging shoot’em up. Christian Bale is a determined rancher dead-set on delivering outlaw Russell Crowe to the gallows. The force of each of their performances is moving, as two men learn who they really are by matching wits against each other.

#9 - BRIDGE TO TERRABITHA
Although marketed as the next CHRONICLES OF NARNIA picture, BRIDGE TO TERABITHA was so much more. Two childhood misfits find refuge in each other’s company and their imagination in this wonderfully realized and authentic adaptation of Katherine Patterson’s novel, Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSohia Robb make charming and likable counterparts who learn how to overcome some of life’s toughest lessons.

#8 - HOT FUZZ
HOT FUZZ was the most fun I had in the theater last year. This British picture is everything GRINDHOUSE had hoped to be and more, an oft-beat and silly tale about a gung-ho cop re-stationed in a supposedly quaint London suburb. Whether you’re looking for a hysterical comedy, an exciting action movie or a silly mystery, HOT FUZZ delivers all three.

#7 - ATONEMENT
The Oscar nominated picture ATONEMENT deserves all of the acolodes it's received. The best crafted and told yarn of the year revolves around a misconception a young girl has regarding her older sister’s boyfriend. Saoirse Ronan is perfect as young Briony Tallis, demonstrating a maturity beyond her years. Spanning several years, and told through the eyes of the film’s antagonist, ATONEMENT makes for a dramatic, mesmerizing and stunningly surprising tragedy.

#6 - GONE BABY GONE
Ben Affleck’s directorial debut is an impressive work, a purposefully morally murky drama set around a young child’s abduction. Ben’s younger brother Casey gives, by-far, his best performance to date as a driven private-eye convinced he’ll make the right choices. There’s no easy ending for GONE BABY GONE, but a difficult and powerful conclusion that leaves the viewer with plenty to think about.

#5 - THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Daniel Day-Lewis gives the performance of a lifetime as turn-of-the-century prospector Daniel Plainview. Day-Lewis’s intensity personifies a man obsessed by greed, power and his hatred towards mankind. Director Paul Thomas Anderson gradually builds the madness brewing within Daniel, and between Daniel and his rival, Eli, a colorful and passionate preacher. Both men are blinded by their selfishness, but nevertheless results in a clash of two titans, with a result that is magnificently troubling.

#4 - ONCE
ONCE redefined movie musicals for a new generation. John Carney’s soulful and romantic drama follows the lives of two starving artists in modern-day Ireland. The spark and charm created by co-stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova is matched only by their musical talents. Both composed and performed the music for ONCE, expertly impassioned songs that reveal all we need to know about the two destined pair.

#3 - JUNO
Maybe the best teen comedy of all-time, JUNO creates a quirky, clever and hilarious world surrounding a unique and impregnated teenager. Screenwriter Diablo Cody scripted the film’s original and funny dialogue, and star Ellen Page delivers it with well-deserved sincerity and sarcasm. Director Jason Reitman finds just the right beat between the films performers, the script and the low-key, but catchy independent songs that connect with the characters emotions.

#2 - THE LIVES OF OTHERS
Last year’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language film is a meticulously calculated and fully rendered look into Weisler, a German surveillance officer and the two German artists, one a writer and one an actor, that he is probing. You may think you know where this story is headed, but as Weisler begins to delve more and more into the artists lives he becomes emotionally attached and begins to manipulate the situation. This outstanding drama is an accomplished character study, a nail-biting thriller and a morality tale wrapped around the tense atmosphere of Germany before the fall of the wall.

#1 - LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
And the best film of 2007 is the carefully crafted, well acted and compassionately written original, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL. This gentle tale of a reclusive young man and his anatomically correct doll as his girlfriend sounds like a gimmick, but it’s original conceit is really a clever comedic tool to lure us into a tale of personal redemption and supportive family dynamics. Ryan Gosling’s Lars never veers towards lunacy, and its in large part to due the fine young actor’s calm touch with Lar’s fractured soul. Director Craig Gillespie handles Nancy Oliver’s screenplay with just the right feel, building a realistic and positive depiction of middle-class Midwesterners and Christians. LARS AND THE REAL GIRL left me feeling refreshed not only about the prospects of our country’s heartland, or the inherent goodness abundant in us all, but most of all that one movie could inspire such humor, heart and originality, and that is why LARS AND THE REAL GIRL is my selection for the best film of 2007.