Seeking out Redemption in the Beautiful World of Film. or My Excuse to Write About Movies

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Top Ten Films of 2007

This is my favorite post of the year, the time I get to spout my opinion about what I think has been the best this last year. And 2007 has been a fantastic year for film. Without a doubt this was the best year of the decade so far. It has been incredibly difficult to narrow a list down to a top ten, so I decided to go with a top fifteen. And even with that there are still so many thoroughly enjoyable films that did not make my list.

So without further ado, here are the fiften films that I enjoyed the most in 2007. These films taught me about life, about myself and others, about humanity, about God, and about our relationship to Him. I have written a review of each of these films, so feel free to visit those posts for further investigation into each of these works of art.

15. Zodiac
14. Breach

13. Into the Wild


12. Atonement

11. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford


10. The Savages


9. Knocked Up


8. Sunshine


7. The Darjeeling Limited


6. Ratatouille


5. Lars and the Real Girl


4. Gone Baby Gone


3. No Country For Old Men


2. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly


1. There Will Be Blood


And there it is. I would love to hear others' opinions on the list, and anyone else's list. Let me know what you think/what films impacted you the most this year.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good list, though I'd slide your top two a lot further down. I like PT Anderson, but "There Will be Blood" missed the mark. Maybe it was the leap at the end that didn't quite make the jump. I read a review that talked about how maybe Daniel Day-Lewis didn't do the best acting in a movie in 2007, but he certainly did the most. That's probably how I feel regarding the flick.

As far as "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is concerned, I thought it was good, and that it should have one best director, but it's the kind of movie where simply because they do the perspective right, doesn't mean it's enjoyable. They made you feel his frustration with the camera angles, and while I think the conflict between his wife and his mistress (played out especially well in the speaker phone scene) was fantastic, it was another movie that I expected more from. Perhaps my problem is expectation...

Still, 2007 was a great year for movies. I agree with your assessment of best of the decade thus far. "Breach" was a wonderful sleeper hit. I'm impressed that they took a movie where they gave away the ending in the beginning and still had it have great tension--mostly because you wonder what will happen to Ryan Philippe's character. "No Country For Old Men" tops the list for me, though I don't want to see Cormac McCarthy be the new Philip K. Dick for Hollywood hack jobs.

Anonymous said...

Where is I am Legend?? In my opinion, that was one of the best!

Anonymous said...

Alright, so I disagree with some things on this list, which is fine, we all have different opinions and tastes. Here, however, is where I find two very big travesties in your list. First, Into the Wild was without a doubt, a top 10 film. Personally, for me, a number 2 (behind the tie of No Country and There Will Be Blood). A close 2. I can understand if it is not this for you. But anything less than a number 7 to me is mind-boggling. And where's Juno? Without a doubt better than Zodiac, Ratatouille, Sunshine, and though I have not yet seen it, I would assume Breach. Needless to say, this just goes to show how amazing this year was in movies because I'm sure making this list was not easy, and I know for myself, doing so would proably be impossible without about... oh, 15 or so ties, which is pretty much cheating.

Inter Bunkwad said...

"There Will be Blood" was my #1 as well, although "Juno" belonged in there somewhere.

I think the hard one for me to figure out was where "Michael Clayton" would fit into the mix if it was actually a good movie, or just a great acting job.

Kudos, as this list is fantastic!

O said...

Well, I am Legend was sweet, but didn't quite make the cut, that's how good the year was. Dalton, Juno was alright, but definitely overrated, big time. There were 3 dramedies (Darjeeling, Savages and Lars) that were much better.

I love to see everyone so passionate about their opinions. Arguing is fun.

Colleen Oakes said...

Yay! A new list to work our way down (we are still working on 2006 MAN!). We've seen Ratoutille, Gone Baby Gone (SO good!), Breach, and Knocked UP (we'll agree to disagree on that one). Thanks for the list...I am heading over to our Netflix queue now. (By the way, are you ever going to take us up on watching the LOST seasons? I think you would love them!)

O said...

Yes, Colleen I am a huge Lost fan, I guess I just haven't told you. It is such a fantastic show, I just wouldn't know where to start writing about it. Actually, I thought one day I could write one of those "finding God in Lost" books, but someone just came out with one. Crap. By the way, I hate Jack, he sucks.

Prophet said...

I think the top 5 is good with the exception of Into The Wild and its neccessity to be in it! It was amazing and everyone owes it to Sean Penn. I also am going to see sunshine, so no comment yet on that one, but Zodiac was maybe a top 20 movie, and Breach was not by any means a good movie, it was horrible. I can think of a handful of movies that you missed, not in any particular order: Reservation Road, The Lookout, Reign Over Me(maybe not top 15 but still a very good movie), Paris je'taime, Juno, and The Kite Runner and probably some I'm forgetting but still I don't think this was an easy year to create any sort of list just as long as There will be Blood and No Country are at the top, but I do think that Breach, Zodiac, and even Ratatouille were worthy of a top 15 spot over many fantastic movies. I also think that The Darjeeling limited was very good and hilarious, but Life Aquatic is still my favorite Wes Anderson movie, it is so freaking hilarious. I also really liked This Is England b/c it was a less intense version of the believer and American History X, but from a different time period about different issues and I liked it a lot. Rescue Dawn, 3:10 to yuma, Before the Devil Knows you're dead, Charlie Wilson's War(can't go wrong with Phillip Seymour Hoffman or for that matter Tom Hanks.) Sweeney Todd, just because of how hilariously morbid it was... however odd that might sound. Once, I can't believe you left ONCE out, come ONCE at least a top 15, the modern musical didn't win your heart over come on... well I miss you O talk to you soon.

Anonymous said...

Just read Elijah's comment, and I remembered Once. That is definitely better than quite a few of the movies on the list. It should be on everybody's top 15.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dalton's comments on Into the Wild and Juno. . both top 10 movies on my list. As for No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood, they were both over-rated in my book. I don't know when/why the Academy started paying homage to movies simply because they are becoming increasingly violent in ever more creative ways. From the Academy's list, my pick was easily Michael Clayton: tight script and awesome acting without the need to glorify violence. The scary thing to me is that, if movies are one of the primary ways we tell stories about ourselves, what are these movies saying and how do we, as followers of the Christ, respond to these narratives?

O said...

So yes Once was a good film but didn't make the cut. I didn't forget it. Also, I do take issue with your comment Jimbo. The most creative use of violence (outside of the retarded Saw movies) was Sweeney Todd this year, which I don't even want to see, and which was a film that was "supposed to be" nominated for Best Pic and was not. So, that may hurt your theory, just a thought.

Cady said...

Gah I am sick of hearing about No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Sure, they were good but they were not that good.