Best Movies of 2007

It was a decent year for movies, with plenty of good ones, if maybe none that truly astounded me. In particular, it was a good year for Judd Apatow. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Hot Fuzz were both very humorous pokes at certain genres of film. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters and Futurama: Bender's Big Score were both enjoyable extensions of good cartoon series. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the second out of the five Potter films I actually considered good. Instead of mixing in normal images I'll add DVD covers as they come out.

Best of 2007

8. Grindhouse


Grindhouse turned out to be a flop, which is a shame, as it was a very entertaining diversion from the normal theater experience. Its two parts were different yet the same, capitalizing on the ridiculousness and sleaziness of a certain kind of movie that you don't see as much anymore. I liked Planet Terror a bit more, but had fun throughout.

7. 300

This is mostly a special achievement award for its awesome visual style, but 300 was a good time. As an actual film, it wasn't as great as most people seem to think, but it was still very entertaining, with tremendous action scenes (even if that was mostly just interesting use of slow motion) and a simple story that's still pretty effective. Best use of burly, bearded men in 2007.

6. I Am Legend

The way the ending was changed to better fit the Hollywood mold is a bit lame, but I still thought it was an underrated, unique sort of blockbuster, with a tremendous performance by Will Smith and and atmosphere that stuck with me longer than most movies of the sort. Still annoyed by the rampant CG and some plot holes, but I can't help liking it a lot.

4. Knocked Up/Superbad (tie)


In the end, I couldn't choose between Judd Apatow's two comedy giants. They're really two sides of the same coin, both vulgar and hilarious, both about different aspects of growing up. Gun to my head, I probably pick Knocked Up since it was a little more consistent, but there's too much good stuff in Superbad to go against it when I don't have to. It's my stupid blog that no one reads, I can do what I want.

3. The Bourne Ultimatum


Best action movie I've seen in a while. The fact they were able to keep the tension so absurdly high without resorting to the typical tropes of the genre is impressive, as Damon continues to solidify as one of the best actors of his generation. The climax of the movie wraps up the trilogy in a neat bow, but there's still an opportunity to keep it going, and I hope they do.

2. No Country for Old Men


Funny, exciting, but ultimately bleak and depressing, I appreciate it more than I actually like it. I love the Coen brothers, and this is perhaps their best made film, but I can't quite say I want to see it again anytime soon. It might just be a subconscious mental backlash, because I know I enjoyed it while I was watching it. It takes some strange turns at the end, which could have also had an effect. In any case, if you haven't seen it, you should, even if it's just because Javier Bardem is one of the best villains ever.

1. Juno


I'm glad I saw Juno, because as good as No Country was, I didn't really want to call it my movie of the year. Juno is about as funny as anything else this year, and has a huge heart as well. Sometimes, you can't quite describe why you thought a movie was great, you just get a nice feeling in your chest that doesn't go away until long after you've left the theater. Juno was like that. The music still annoys me, but everything else was pitch perfect.

Superbad

The Judd Apatow Sex Comedy Train keeps rolling in good form with Superbad. Apatow didn't actually direct this one, he produced it. Frequent collaborator Seth Rogen wrote the script with his friend and is a featured cast member. The stars of the movie are Jonah Hill, another common fixture of Apatow's movies, and Michael Cera, most easily recognizable for his brutally awkward character of George Michael on Arrested Development. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is new to acting, and his character will probably outlive the rest of the movie. Everybody already knows about "McLovin". I didn't think he stole the movie as much as some other people did, but he was certainly likable. Greg Mottola is the director, and he does a good job of what he has to do with this kind of movie. Nothing fancy, just pointing the camera where it needs to be and keeping the movie focused. The whole cast and crew seems to work well together, and for some reason I just find Apatow and friends' movies better than the average comedy. It's a combination of good chemistry, sharp dialogue over pure gross-out humor (although there are plenty of dick and menstruation jokes), and some scenes that actually convey human emotion.

The two main characters hold the movie down well. Their banter and rapport is very entertaining, and they just seem like funny, likable guys. Hill can be kind of a jerk, but there are plenty of scenes that sympathize him. Cera's character is fairly close to George Michael. He's less completely sheltered and a bit more normal, but still the same kind of worried, reserved guy. Almost the entire movie takes place over the course of one eventful day, which gives it a different feel from a lot of other comedies. At times it can be a little straining, as there's pretty much something happening constantly, and it probably could have used a bit of dowtime. The pacing also seems a bit odd, with a large part of the movie taking place after school and before getting to the big party, wherein the main characters don't do a whole lot. There's a big subplot with McLovin driving around with a couple of seemingly dimwitted cops (one played by Rogen, the other by SNL star Bill Hader), attempting to get ahold of the booze for the party. The scenes are funny, but stretch the suspension of disbelief a lot and are maybe a bit distant from the real focus of the movie.

A few misgivings aside, Superbad is a very funny movie, with plenty of memorable lines and scenes. I'm not sure how much of the great dialogue was scripted and how much was improvised on set, but either way it's pretty smart. The goal of the two leads is to get to a party and hook-up with a certain girl, but the movie is really about the friendship between them. Over the course of the movie, they get angry at each other and have to deal with separation issues between them, and it's a movie that can really hit close to home for anyone who left or is going to leave close friends behind. It might not be as sentimental as some other stuff these guys have done, but it still rings very true. Superbad is one of the funniest movies this year, and definitely worth seeing.