MOVIE REVIEWS- 2007 in review: What a long, strange year it's been
Special to THE HOOK
You're all a bunch of idiots!
There, I've got that off my chest. I don't mean you personally, of course. If you have enough taste to read this column, you're not one of the people who started 2007 by making huge hits of horrible movies (Norbit, Ghost Rider, Wild Hogs), then stayed away when the "serious" pictures started arriving in the fall.
Everything came in batches all year: great actresses (Julie Christie and Marion Cotillard) and failed "torture-porn" sequels in the spring, threequels in late spring/early summer, vigilante thrillers and Jane Austen-related romances in late summer, anti-Iraq War movies in early fall, African American holiday movies in late fall. Whatever you liked, there would surely be at least one more just like it opening soon.
The studios continue making a self-fulfilling prophecy of the idea that awards go to late-year releases by saving their potential contenders at least until September, then flooding the market with them. It's worth noting that most of my Ten Worst opened in the first half of the year, so I don't forget.
After eight months of crap, can the public really be blamed for not flocking to Reservation Road, Things We Lost in the Fire, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Lions for Lambs and Martian Child, some of which weren't very good anyway; or for confusing Dedication and Delirious, Rendition and Redacted, The Hoax and The Host, In the Valley of Elah and In the Shadow of the Moon, September Dawn and Rescue Dawn or We Own the Night and 30 Days of Night?
As disappointing as many of the films themselves were, more disappointing was when one the masses should have enjoyed (e.g., Shoot ‘em Up) got lost in the shuffle. At this writing, the boxoffice jury is still out on those year-end releases that are supposed to make the wait worthwhile. You'll see several of their titles in the "Best" list below and on many other lists of nominations and awards. But will you go to see them when they're up against sequels to Alien vs. Predator and National Treasure?
Oh, you will, but what about all those other idiots?
As usual, some of the films listed are platforming and haven't arrived here yet, or were test-marketed and sent directly to DVD.
Top Ten:
1. Atonement
2. The Kite Runner
3. There Will Be Blood
4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
5. Juno
6. No Country for Old Men
7. The Lookout
8. Michael Clayton
9. Lars and the Real Girl
10. Golden Door
Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically):
Away from Her
The Bourne Ultimatum
Charlie Wilson's War
Death at a Funeral
Hairspray
The Host
In the Valley of Elah
Knocked Up
Rocket Science
Shoot ‘em Up
Best Foreign-Language Film: The Kite Runner
Runners-up: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Golden Door
Best Documentary Feature: Protagonist
Runners-up: The Life of Reilly, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Best Animated Film: Ratatouille
Runners-up: The Simpsons Movie, Paprika
Best Director: Joe Wright, Atonement
Runners-up: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men; Sean Penn, Into the Wild
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Runners-up: Julie Christie, Away from Her; Jodie Foster, The Brave One
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Runners-up: Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Lookout
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Runners-up: Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There; Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Runners-up: Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton; Alan Tudyk, Death at a Funeral
Best Original Screenplay: Judd Apatow, Knocked Up
Runners-up: Diablo Cody, Juno; Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl
Best Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Hampton, Atonement
Runners-up: Aaron Sorkin, Charlie Wilson's War; Sarah Polley, Away from Her
Titles I Hated to Leave Out but They Wouldn't Quite Fit: Across the Universe, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Black Book, The Bubble, For the Bible Tells Me So, The Namesake, No End in Sight, Rescue Dawn, Rendition, Sicko, Superbad
People I Hated to Leave Out but They Wouldn't Quite Fit: George Clooney, Michael Clayton; Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart; Ben Kingsley, You Kill Me; Sidney Lumet (director), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead; Laura Linney, The Nanny Diaries; James McAvoy, Atonement
Movie that Made Me Feel Best about Being a Human Being: Lars and the Real Girl
ROFLMAO*: Death at a Funeral, Knocked Up, Superbad, Blades of Glory, Reno 911!: Miami
*Texting shorthand for "rolling on the floor laughing my a** off"
Best Creature Feature: The Host
Runner-up: The Mist
Breakout Actor: Justin Timberlake (Alpha Dog, Black Snake Moan, Southland Tales, Shrek the Third)
Runners-up: Homayoun Ershadi (The Kite Runner), Michael Cera (Superbad, Juno)
Breakout Actress: Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Dan in Real Life)
Runners-up: Dana Fuchs (Across the Universe), Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)
Rediscovered Geezer: Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Runner-up: Andy Griffith, Waitress
Unstoppable Geezer: Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement, Evening)
Runner-up: Max von Sydow (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Rush Hour 3)
Return to Form: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Runners-up: Sidney Lumet, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead; Brian DePalma, Redacted
Top & Bottom: Philip Seymour Hoffman (lead in The Savages and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead; supporting in Charlie Wilson's War)
Runner-up: Tommy Lee Jones, (lead in In the Valley of Elah; supporting in No Country for Old Men)
She's Everywhere!: Margo Martindale (The Savages, Rails & Ties, Paris Je t'Aime, Rocket Science, Feast of Love, TV's The Riches)
He's Everywhere!: Terrence Howard (Pride, The Hunting Party, The Brave One, August Rush, Awake, The Perfect Holiday)
Best History Lesson: The Great Debaters
Worst History Lesson: 300
A Nine-year Break Can Be Healthy: Tamara Jenkins, The Savages
A Ten-Year Break Can Be Deadly: Francis Ford Coppola, Youth Without Youth
Worst Daypart (Tie): Night (We Own the Night, 30 Days of Night); Evening (Evening, Starting Out in the Evening)
If I Go Down I'm Taking the Picture with Me!: Robin Williams, August Rush
Runner-up: Nicolas Cage, Ghost Rider
If One Line Could End a Career... (a.k.a., the No Wire Hangers Award):
"I am the super mother bug!" – Ashley Judd, Bug
Bottom Ten:
1. Wild Hogs
2. Romance & Cigarettes
3. Norbit
4. Daddy Day Care
5. The Brothers Solomon
6. September Dawn
7. Georgia Rule
8. King of California
9. In the Land of Women
10. The Number 23
Dishonorable Mention (listed alphabetically):
Arthur and the Invisibles
Bella
Bug
Ghost Rider
Happily N'Ever After
Kickin' It Old Skool
License to Wed
Rails & Ties
Sleuth
We Own the Night
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