Top Ten Movies of 2007

At the end of each year, I like to pull together my personal Top 10 list of movies. This list only accounts for movies that were officially released in 2007, and I did managed to see all but two of the Top 20 this year. I only considered the movies that I actually saw, which was about fifty of them, so there may be a few good movies that I missed...

[10] Fracture (Link)
I expected a tight drama with plenty of head-to-head scenes between Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling, and I got it. I've been a fan of Gosling since Breaker High and I think that he's a great actor that can more than hold his own. Nothing like an old-school locked-room murder mystery with some court-room twists and turns to mix things up.

[9] Sicko (Link)
In Michael Moore's latest rant, he focuses on the pathetic health care system in the United States. He runs through Canada, then England, then France and progressively compares each of them. (Yes, I'm jealous of France's full-service system and England's cheapo drug costs.) Moore intentionally takes himself out of the central lens and lets the stories of others take centre stage. Anyone burned by Canada's health care system won't care for the lofty compliments he offers for our system but it's still infinitely better than that of the USA. And you've got to hand it to a documentary that can keep us entertained, eh?

[8] Across The Universe (Link)
This is a little-seen musical that incorporates Beatle's songs with a storyline centred around the Vietnam War. The songs are sung well and are meaningful to the story, and it made me appreciate the Beatles all the more. Beautiful.

[7] Stardust (Link)
Take The Princess Bride, add much improved special effects instead of muppets, take away the quotability factor, and you have Stardust. I actually watched Bride again shortly afterwards and the characters in that movie are definitely much more likeable and memorable, especially since Claire Dane's character in Stardust is a whiny brat and the hero is a naive idiot. However, it has the same sort of sensibility, the fantastical premise and setting, and the same amusing sense of humour.

[6] The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (Link)
I saw this shortly after watching 3:10 to Yuma, which was the (only) other major Western of the year. Yuma had the benefit of two great actors and a lot more action but I opted to put this Brad Pitt flick in my list instead. It's based on the real events of Jesse James' life, which I find fascinating. The final "confrontation" between Jesse and Robert Ford still sticks out in my mind months after I saw it, and the final commentary on modern celebrity is downright brutal.

[5] The Bourne Ultimatum (Link)
The best action movie of the summer, so says me. (Only bested by 300 in September.) Up until this was released, I thought that the fourth Die Hard movie held that title. It encapsulates parts of the previous two movies in the Bourne trilogy, which is certainly a unique approach, but taken by itself it actually ends up as the best of the three.

[4] American Gangster (Link)
Based on the true story of the rise of a black mob boss, this pits Denzel Washington against Russell Crowe. What more do you even need to know? From the outset, it makes it clear that Denzel is a bad, bad man. And yet, he cherishes self-discipline and family in a way that Crowe's cop character can't live out in his own life. It's a great dynamic and while the ending kind of fizzles, it's still a great dramatic movie.

[3] The Transformers (Link)
As a life-long fan of the original Saturday morning cartoon and the comics, this was my most anticipated movie of the year. (My favourite comic has them teaming up with Spider-Man.) This had the original narrator from the cartoon movie, a few bursts of the original sound effects, and even some classic lines from the cartoon. ("Once again, Starscream, you have failed me.") The fact that they had product placements everywhere and all of the vehicles were from GM didn't detract too much, though John Turtorro's silly role was insipid. Some people derided the focus on the human characters but I thought that gave the audience someone to root for and it fit well with the Tranformers philosophy. All in all, I was definitely that annoying audience geek that cheered and clapped all over the place.

[2] Dan In Real Life (Link)
After all of the big blockbusters of the summer and fall, I'm surprised that this small flick rated so highly for me. I saw this mostly because my sister wanted to see it so badly, but it's also the type of character-driven pic that I have always appreciated. Steve Carell is a bundle of supressed nerves and pain, and the family angst and paternal relations strike a real chord. And I have really enjoyed Dane Cook's work this year, both here as the main brotherly foil for Steve's character, and in Mr. Brooks earlier this year.

[1] 300 (Link)
I liked the original graphic novel and I loved the movie. I like that it relates to real history, even if the facts are askew. Each small battle, with the increasingly crazy setups, was a pleasure to cheer. Frank Miller's unique comic perspective was translated perfectly. Best movie of the year, be it action or otherwise.

Honourable Mentions:
Children Of Men
Ratatouille
I Am Legend
Beowulf
Amazing Grace

My Previous Top 10 Lists: 2004, 2005 & 2006
Reference: Top Grossing Movies of 2007