2007 Year in Review: Movies
Let's not waste our time on all the movies that sucked. Let's stick to the ones that ruled. Also, I can't cover films I missed or haven't watched yet, so no "Sicko", "There Will Be Blood", "Sweeny Todd", "Persepolis", and ect. So, without further ado...
THE NINE FILMS I WATCHED IN 2007 THAT RULED ENOUGH TO PUT ON A LIST
9. 300- Balls to the wall, hard hitting, gritty translation of Frank Miller's beautiful graphic novel. Muscles, blood, naked women, more blood, freaks, severed limbs, more blood, and the inspiring tale of a small group of born warriors using courage and intelligence to stand toe to toe with an army much greater than them in numbers.
8. The Simpsons Movie- Wow. This was really funny. Really, really funny. I thought it would suck, but it didn't. Apparently, the Simpsons writers have been saving their comedy gold for this flick. The scene where Homer attempts to escape from the townsfolk nearly put me on the floor laughing.
7. Paprika- Easily the best animated film of the year (you heard me Ratatouille), Paprika was a strange, twisting mindbender with beautiful animation and a twisty turny plot. Strong characters and intriguing cases of multiple personality round out this animated tour de force.
6. Pan's Labrynth- Guillermo del Toro's dreamworld may be dark, but the real world of Revolutionary Spain is far darker. Beautiful, haunting film. The scene with the dude with eyes on his hands redefined the word awesome. For example, "How awesome was it?" "It was dude with eyes on his hands awesome."
5. The Darjeeling Limited- Sad yet funny tale of three inept, yet rich, brothers who bumble across India on a train trying to figure out there lives in the wake of their father's death and their own personal tragedies. Great acting, good story, beautiful cinematography. Gotta love Wes Anderson.
4. No Country for Old Men- Blood and dust. The Cohens get back to "Blood Simple" and "Fargo" territory with the ULTRA DARK tale of a cowboy that finds a satchel of money and gets chased by the most baddest ass killer since Mr. Shush. The ending will either make you love or hate this film. Since it's on my list, you can guess my reaction.
3. Eastern Promises- Speaking of Badass, Viggo Mortensen gets into a knife fight in a bathhouse. And he's buck ass naked. Besides having one of the most brutal fight scenes in cinema history, Eastern Promises is a gripping meditation on the lengths men will go to in the name of power, family, and justice. Incredibly complex characters, and dark, uncompromising story, great acting, and an absolute tour de force performance by Viggo. David Cronenberg is the Man.
2. Grindhouse- WORDS CANNOT FULLY EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVED GRINDHOUSE. It was not a movie. It was an EVENT. And not one of those phony-baloney events like the Transsuckers movie was. I mean, a real, honest to goodness, I can't believe I get to watch something so awesome event. I loved all of the Fake Trailers (Werewolf Women of the SS! Don't! Machette! Thanksgiving! These films need to be made! Please!) I loved the cheezy ads. I loved the atmosphere. I loved the double feature approach. I loved Planet Terror! Rose McGowan being all bendy with an AK-47 replacing her leg! Zombie Soldiers! Severed Balls! Decapitation by helicopter! Quentin Tarantino as Rapist #1! Blood! Gore! Death! Killer soundtrack! Awesome cast! Dr. Bloche with his needles of death! More stuff I can't think of! I loved Death Proof! Kurt Russell is smooth, then he's a psycho, then he's a coward! I loved the cars! HOTTEST CHICKS IN A MOVIE EVER DEAR LORD WHERE DID THESE WOMEN COME FROM JUNGLE JULIA DRIVES ME NUTS! Best car chase since the Blues Bros! Brutal Car Crash! More Killer Soundtrack! Do you hear me Butterfly? Many miles to go before you sleep.
So, if that's Number 2, what could possibly be Number 1? As if you have to ask...
#1! INLAND EMPIRE
Holy crap. No movie got me more excited. No movie effected me more while I watched it. No movie excited me more while I watched it. No movie had me thinking about it more after I watched it. Laura Dern puts on the performance of two life times as a series of interlocking women in trouble. Her performance alone would put this film on the top nine. But then, we add David Lynch to the mix, and the whole things explodes. For starters, the whole thing was filmed with a handheld digital camera, yet the film looks way better than Transsuckers did. Beautiful cinematography, so bright in parts and so horridly dark and spooky in others. Then there's the plot, quite literally constructed piece by piece, day by day. There was no complete script. Yet somehow, the whole thing holds together, and ultimately stands as the most intriguing and profound movie of the year. The soundtrack. Dear Lord the soundtrack is so unnerving. I loved it! So many scenes almost made me freak and start screaming histerically right there in the theatre. And then there's the Rabbits. The Rabbits drove me nuts. Again, it was just this thing that sparked my mind and lit up my imagination, and just got me excited about... well, everything. This wasn't a movie. It was so much more. My best film of the year (even if technically it came out last year...)
THE NINE FILMS I WATCHED IN 2007 THAT RULED ENOUGH TO PUT ON A LIST
9. 300- Balls to the wall, hard hitting, gritty translation of Frank Miller's beautiful graphic novel. Muscles, blood, naked women, more blood, freaks, severed limbs, more blood, and the inspiring tale of a small group of born warriors using courage and intelligence to stand toe to toe with an army much greater than them in numbers.
8. The Simpsons Movie- Wow. This was really funny. Really, really funny. I thought it would suck, but it didn't. Apparently, the Simpsons writers have been saving their comedy gold for this flick. The scene where Homer attempts to escape from the townsfolk nearly put me on the floor laughing.
7. Paprika- Easily the best animated film of the year (you heard me Ratatouille), Paprika was a strange, twisting mindbender with beautiful animation and a twisty turny plot. Strong characters and intriguing cases of multiple personality round out this animated tour de force.
6. Pan's Labrynth- Guillermo del Toro's dreamworld may be dark, but the real world of Revolutionary Spain is far darker. Beautiful, haunting film. The scene with the dude with eyes on his hands redefined the word awesome. For example, "How awesome was it?" "It was dude with eyes on his hands awesome."
5. The Darjeeling Limited- Sad yet funny tale of three inept, yet rich, brothers who bumble across India on a train trying to figure out there lives in the wake of their father's death and their own personal tragedies. Great acting, good story, beautiful cinematography. Gotta love Wes Anderson.
4. No Country for Old Men- Blood and dust. The Cohens get back to "Blood Simple" and "Fargo" territory with the ULTRA DARK tale of a cowboy that finds a satchel of money and gets chased by the most baddest ass killer since Mr. Shush. The ending will either make you love or hate this film. Since it's on my list, you can guess my reaction.
3. Eastern Promises- Speaking of Badass, Viggo Mortensen gets into a knife fight in a bathhouse. And he's buck ass naked. Besides having one of the most brutal fight scenes in cinema history, Eastern Promises is a gripping meditation on the lengths men will go to in the name of power, family, and justice. Incredibly complex characters, and dark, uncompromising story, great acting, and an absolute tour de force performance by Viggo. David Cronenberg is the Man.
2. Grindhouse- WORDS CANNOT FULLY EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVED GRINDHOUSE. It was not a movie. It was an EVENT. And not one of those phony-baloney events like the Transsuckers movie was. I mean, a real, honest to goodness, I can't believe I get to watch something so awesome event. I loved all of the Fake Trailers (Werewolf Women of the SS! Don't! Machette! Thanksgiving! These films need to be made! Please!) I loved the cheezy ads. I loved the atmosphere. I loved the double feature approach. I loved Planet Terror! Rose McGowan being all bendy with an AK-47 replacing her leg! Zombie Soldiers! Severed Balls! Decapitation by helicopter! Quentin Tarantino as Rapist #1! Blood! Gore! Death! Killer soundtrack! Awesome cast! Dr. Bloche with his needles of death! More stuff I can't think of! I loved Death Proof! Kurt Russell is smooth, then he's a psycho, then he's a coward! I loved the cars! HOTTEST CHICKS IN A MOVIE EVER DEAR LORD WHERE DID THESE WOMEN COME FROM JUNGLE JULIA DRIVES ME NUTS! Best car chase since the Blues Bros! Brutal Car Crash! More Killer Soundtrack! Do you hear me Butterfly? Many miles to go before you sleep.
So, if that's Number 2, what could possibly be Number 1? As if you have to ask...
#1! INLAND EMPIRE
Holy crap. No movie got me more excited. No movie effected me more while I watched it. No movie excited me more while I watched it. No movie had me thinking about it more after I watched it. Laura Dern puts on the performance of two life times as a series of interlocking women in trouble. Her performance alone would put this film on the top nine. But then, we add David Lynch to the mix, and the whole things explodes. For starters, the whole thing was filmed with a handheld digital camera, yet the film looks way better than Transsuckers did. Beautiful cinematography, so bright in parts and so horridly dark and spooky in others. Then there's the plot, quite literally constructed piece by piece, day by day. There was no complete script. Yet somehow, the whole thing holds together, and ultimately stands as the most intriguing and profound movie of the year. The soundtrack. Dear Lord the soundtrack is so unnerving. I loved it! So many scenes almost made me freak and start screaming histerically right there in the theatre. And then there's the Rabbits. The Rabbits drove me nuts. Again, it was just this thing that sparked my mind and lit up my imagination, and just got me excited about... well, everything. This wasn't a movie. It was so much more. My best film of the year (even if technically it came out last year...)
posted by Joseph Morris | 3:05 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home