SUPERBAD!! THE BEST OF CINEMA 2007
Mar 01 '09
The Bottom Line Was 2007 the greatest year in movies so far this decade? I still favor 2001, but looking back this year truly was a godsend for cinema.
From a young man who loses himself in the farthest reaches of the American wilderness to a French magazine editor who gets lost within the universe of his own body; from a spirited, teenage American girl who opts to carry her baby to term and give it up for adoption to a terrified, college student who chooses to illegally terminate her pregnancy in communist Romania, the most memorable films of 2007 offered a wealthy contrast in characters either basking in the absolute freedom that life can provide, or struggling to maintain dignity and look ahead when that cherished freedom has vanished. Accomplished directors rose to the challenge of presenting stories--some inspired, some rather sobering, but equally ignited by the fiercest of passions--of characters committed to living in the MOMENT, for better or worse. The unrestrained zeal in capturing such moments on film paved the way for a treasure trove of emboldened directors in 2007--some rightly celebrated, others whose previous films didn't properly showcase their talents, some simply unknown--to produce the best, most illuminating, or most surprising works of their careers.
THE BEST FILMS OF 2007
1. INTO THE WILD--Emile Hirsch delivers a star making performance in Sean Penn's stirring and elegiac true account of Christopher McCandless, an idealistic college graduate whose disappearance into the beautiful, unforgiving recesses of the American landscape is an evocative metaphor of the holy grail quest for the soul. Storytelling rarely gets more passionate than this epic tribute not only to America, but the tenacious spirit of American individuality.
2. THERE WILL BE BLOOD--Daniel Day Lewis delivers a monumental performance as Daniel Plainview in Paul Thomas Anderson's haunting, stunning vision of oil prospectors at the dawn of the 20th Century. An epic tribute to America of radically different attitude, Anderson's masterpiece explores the corrosive toll greed and capitalism exact on family, religion and, most devastating, Plainview's polluted soul.
3. THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY--Third time proved the unforgettable charm for Julian Schnabel in 2007. This true account of French magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), who suffered a massive stroke leaving him paralyzed except for his left eye, is a disorienting experience that rewards viewers with images of profound wonder and uninhibited imagination. That Bauby, working with caretakers, managed to write a memoir of his ordeal is a staggering truimph of the spirit which remains infinitely inspirational.
4. JUNO--Jason Reitman's sophomore film is a comedy classic that splendidly blends energetic laughs with taboo subject matter. Working from a fabulous script by Diablo Cody and boasting a star making performance from Ellen Page, the story of a misfit, pregnant high schooler who decides to give her baby up for adoption has an uncanny wisdom matched only by its deeply rooted heart.
5. LUST, CAUTION--Ang Lee's follow up to "Brokeback Mountain" isn't the cultural milestone that film was, but spearheaded by extraordinary performances from Tony Leung and newcomer Tang Wei, this erotically charged, period thriller about a Chinese ingenue who seduces a traitor collaborating with the occupying Japanese with designs on killing him is a brutally romantic tale of innocence and a country lost.
6. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN--Behold what Joel and Ethan Coen can achieve when they scale back on their Coen Brothers affectations (For that, see "Burn After Reading"). This terse, violent and altogether riveting adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel serves not only as an outstanding summation of the thriller genre, but a haunting, evil begets evil begets evil allegory of forces beyond anyone's control or understanding casting a shadow of doom over their lives.
7. ONCE--A Dublin busker (Glen Hansard) with a broken heart whose musical hopes are going nowhere fast. A Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova) with her own relationship baggage and untapped musical potential. Together they're a match made in heaven in John Carney's dirt cheap but resourceful and enormously enchanting valentine to dreams and the treasured partners who help you realize them.
8. SUPERBAD--Every decade must have one. A teenage comedy that takes place over a twenty four hour period which defines the characters' lives and in so doing speaks to a generation. Greg Mottola's addition follows three virgin geeks (Jonah Hill, Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the immortal McLovin) whose hilariously ribald quest to score booze for a party and finally attain sexual glory masks a desperately unspoken and deeply touching commitment to each other.
9. GRINDHOUSE--And now for something completely different. B movie freaks Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino join forces for this outrageously exhilarating and spectacularly violent homage to the cheap, lowbrow spectacles of their youths. Sporting two films (Rodriguez' zombie extravaganza "Planet Terror" and Tarantino's hell on wheels, stalker romp "Death Proof") and a slew of fake trailers ("Thanksgiving" is priceless), GRINDHOUSE showcases two innovative directors delighting in the purity of an impure genre and stretching grand entertainment for entertainment's sake to new, delirious levels.
10. (TIE) 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS--Or, the anti-Juno. Cristian Mungiu's astonishingly acted, 1980's set drama has an authentic, matter of fact ring to it that makes the startling events which take place all the more nightmarish. Anamaria Marinca stars as a college student who helps her disastrously naive roommate (Laura Vasiliu) get an illegal abortion. Vlad Ivanov makes for one of the most chilling villians in screen history as the doctor they hire. The little heard of, Romanian Mungiu has crafted an unforgettable portrait of his country's communist past that dishonored its citizens by forcing them into such ghastly measures.
ZODIAC--An elusive serial killer. Obsessive cops, a manic journalist and an inquisitive cartoonist. David Fincher's eerie, brilliantly acted (Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr, and Jake Gyllenhaal), and deeply absorbing probe into the Zodiac killer investigations is less about a madman's grip of fear over a city and more boldly about the psychic toll years of futile searching takes on those engaged in a weary, losing fight in pursuit of justice.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOUR DEAD--Sidney Lumet
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM--Paul Greengrass
CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR--Mike Nichols
THE DARJEELING LIMITED--Wes Anderson
EASTERN PROMISES--David Cronenberg
HOT FUZZ--Edgar Wright
KNOCKED UP--Judd Apatow
THE LIVES OF OTHERS--Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
MICHAEL CLAYTON--Tony Gilroy
PERSEPOLIS--Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
LA VIE EN ROSE--Olivier Dahan
** I also wanted to give a shout out to ALEXANDER PAYNE for his uproarious and deeply moving concluding segment to PARIS JE T'AIME. Starring a game Margo Martindale as a lonely traveller who has an epiphany in Paris (And really mangles the French language), this brief gem was absolutely perfect and whets one's appetite for Payne's next project.
OTHER SUPERLATIVES
BEST ACTOR--Daniel Day Lewis in THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Also Worthy: Mathieu Amalric in THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY; George Clooney in MICHAEL CLAYTON; Emile Hirsch in INTO THE WILD; Tony Leung in LUST, CAUTION; Viggo Mortensen in EASTERN PROMISES; Ulrich Muhe in THE LIVES OF OTHERS
BEST ACTRESS--Marion Cotillard in LA VIE EN ROSE
Also Worthy: Cate Blanchett in ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE; Julie Christie in AWAY FROM HER; Anamaria Marinca in 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS; Ellen Page in JUNO; Tang Wei in LUST, CAUTION
SUPPORTING ACTOR--JAVIER BARDEM in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Also Worthy: Josh Brolin in AMERICAN GANGSTER, GRINDHOUSE, and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN; Ethan Hawke in BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOUR DEAD; Phillip Seymour Hoffman in BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOUR DEAD and CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR; Hal Holbrook in INTO THE WILD; Vlad Ivanov in 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS; Max Von Sydow in THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
SUPPORTING ACTRESS--Amy Ryan in GONE BABY GONE
Also Worthy: Cate Blanchett in I'M NOT THERE; Martina Gedeck in THE LIVES OF OTHERS; Catherine Keener in INTO THE WILD; Tilda Swinton in MICHAEL COLLINS; Laura Vasiliu in 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS
DIRECTOR--Paul Thomas Anderson for THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Also Worthy: Joel and Ethan Coen for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN; Ang Lee for LUST, CAUTION; Cristian Mungiu for 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS; Sean Penn for INTO THE WILD; Julian Schnabel for THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY--Diablo Cody for JUNO
ADAPTED ACREENPLAY--Sean Penn for INTO THE WILD
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Member: marcelo deugarte
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And the hand that rocks you cuts you up like lyrics of your life.
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