Jan 13, 2008


I think it is safe to say that I have decided on my personal favorite theater experience this year. Sad to say that it is not a 2007 Golden Globe nominated film. It is however the best film I saw in a theater in the 2007 year. My favorite film that I viewed in a theater was Casablanca. Which for those of you who know my history with this movie may surprise you. For those of you who don't know, I used to hate this movie, but looking back I think it is because I saw it for the first time when I was too young to appreciate it. Seeing it at the Del Mar on the big screen, how it was meant to be seen made this film almost magical.

I held out for a long time, before deciding on my top film for the year, wanting to have seen all that there was to see, but after Fridays trip to the Nickelodeon to see Atonement, I have lost hope that there was in fact a film worthy of an award for best picture this year.
That is not to say that I hated Atonement, only the last half of it left me truly disappointed. I was able to lose myself in the first few scenes of the film. I liked the characters well enough, but from the moment the plot jumped four years ahead to WWII the film lost it's appeal for me. It seemed to lose all of its rhythm, and the love story fell into a heap as it became more and more unclear what was truth.
Maybe it is this lack of fine tuned story telling in the assortment of films to hit the big screen this year that has left me with no options. It seems like Hollywood has lost its ability to tell us a good story.
Sure we have more special effects, and more creative editing, and more money, but what is all of that worth if we have lost the ability to tell the story well...


Here is a list of all of the movies of 2007:


"11th Hour"
"1408"
"2 Days In Paris"
"28 Weeks Later"
"30 Days Of Night"
"300"
"3:10 To Yuma"
"Aaja Nachle"
"Abandonded"
"Across The Universe"
"After Dark Horrorfest 2007"
"After The Wedding"
"Air Guitar Nation"
"All The Boys Love Mandy Lane"
"Alone With Her"
"Alvin And the Chipmunks Movie"
"The Amateurs"
"Amazing Grace"
"American Gangster"

"An Unreasonable Man"
"Alpha Dog"
"Angel-A"
"Aqua Teen Movie"
"Arctic Tale"
"Are We Done Yet?"
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"The Astronaut Farmer"
"Atonement"
"August Rush"
"Avenue Montaigne"
"AVP2 - Alien Vs Predator 2"
"Awake"
"Away From Her"
"Badland"
"Balls Of Fury"
"Because I Said So"
"Becoming Jane"
"Bee Movie"
"Before The Devil Knows You're Dead"
"Bella"
"Believe In Me"
"Beowulf"
"Beyond The Gates"
"Bhool Bhulaiyaa"
"Black Book"
"Black Irish"
"Black Sheep"
"Black Snake Moan"
"Blade Runner: Final Cut"
"Blades Of Glory"
"Blind Dating"
"Blonde Ambition"
"Blood And Chocolate"
"Bordertown"
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"Bratz Movie"
"The Brave One"
"Breach"
"Bridge To Terabithia"
"Broken"
"Broken English"
"The Brothers Solomon"
"The Bubble"
"The Bucket List"
"Bug"
"Caffeine"
"Canvas"
"Captivity"
"Cashback"
"Catch And Release"
"Charlie Wilson's War"
"Christmas In Wonderland"
"Civic Duty"
"Closing Escrow"
"Code Name: The Cleaner"
"Colour Me Kubrick"
"The Comebacks"
"Condemned"
"Constellation"
"Control"
"The Counterfeiters"
"Cut Sleeve Boys"
"Daddy Day Camp"
"Daddy's Little Girls"
"Dan In Real Life"
"Dans Paris"
"Darfur Now"
"The Darjeeling Limited"
"Dark Blue Almost Black"
"Day Watch"
"Dead Silence"
"Death At A Funeral"
"Death Sentence"
"December Boys"
"Dedication"
"Deal"
"Deep Water"
"Delta Farce"
"The Devil Came On Horseback"
"Die Hard 4"
"Diggers"
"Disturbia"
"The Diving Bell And Butterfly"
"DOA"
"Duck"
"D War"
"Dynamite Warrior"
"Eagle vs Shark"
"Eastern Promises"
"El Cantante"
"Eleven Men Out"
"Elizabeth 2: The Golden Age"
"Enchanted"
"Epic Movie"
"Evan Almighty"
"Evening"
"Everything's Gone Green"
"The Ex"
"Exiled"
"Eye Of The Dolphin"
"Fantastic Four 2"
"Fat Girls"
"Fay Grim"
"Feast of Love"
"Feel The Noise"
"Fido"
"Fierce People"
"Final Season"
"Finishing The Game"
"Fired"
"Firehouse Dog"
"First Snow"
"The Flock"
"The Flying Scotsman"
"Forgiving The Franklins"
"For The Bible Tells Me So"
"Fracture"
"Fred Claus"
"Freedom Writers"
"Freshman Orientation"
"Full Of It"
"The Game Plan"
"Georgia Rule"
"Ghost Rider"
"Glastonbury"
"God Grew Tired of Us"
"The Golden Compass"
"Gone Baby Gone"
"Good Luck Chuck"
"The Good Night"
"Goya's Ghosts"
"Grace Is Gone"
"Gray Matters"
"The Great Debaters"
"Great World Of Sound"
"Grindhouse"
"Hair High"
"Hairspray The Movie"
"Halloween 2007"
"Hannah Takes The Stairs"
"Hannibal Rising"
"Happily Never After"
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Movie"
"Hatchet"
"The Hawk Is Dying"
"The Heartbreak Kid"
"He Was A Quiet Man"
"The Hills Have Eyes 2"
"Hip Hop Project"
"The Hitcher 2007"
"Hitman"
"The Hoax"
"Holly"
"Honeydripper"
"The Host"
"Hostel 2"
"Hot Fuzz"
"Hot Rod"
"The Hottest State"
"House"
"How To Cook Your Life"
"The Hunting Party"
"I Am Legend"
"I Know Who Killed Me"
"Illegal Tender"
"I'm Not There"
"Inner Life Of Martin Frost"
"I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry"
"Into The Wild"
"The Invasion"
"Interview"
"In The Land Of Women"
"In The Shadow of the Moon"
"In The Valley of Elah"
"Introducing The Dwights"
"The Invisible"
"Ira And Abby"
"The Italian"
"I Think I Love My Wife"
"Itty Bitty Titty Committee"
"I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With"
"The Jane Austen Book Club"
"Jhoom Barabar Jhoom"
"Jimmy Carter Man From Plains"
"Jindabyne"
"Joe Strummer"
"Joshua"
"Juno"
"Kickin' It Old Skool"
"King Corn"
"The Kingdom"
"The King of California"
"The King Of Kong"
"The Kite Runner"
"Knocked Up"
"LADRON QUE ROBA A LADRON"
"Lady Chatterley"
"Lake Of Fire"
"Lars And The Real Girl"
"The Last Legion"
"The Last Mimzy"
"The Last Sin Eater"
"The Last Winter"
"La Vie En Rose"
"License To Wed"
"The Life Of Reilly"
"Lions For Lambs"
"Live Free Or Die"
"The Lives of Others"
"Local Color"
"Lonely Hearts"
"Look"
"The Lookout"
"Love In The Time Of Cholera"
"Lucky You"
"Lust Caution"
"Margot At The Wedding"
"Martian Child"
"Maxed Out"
"Meeting Resistance"
"Meet The Robinsons"
"Memory"
"The Messengers"
"Michael Clayton"
"Midnight Eagle"
"A Mighty Heart"
"The Mist"
"Mr. Bean's Holiday"
"Mr. Brooks"
"Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium"
"Mr. Untouchable"
"Mr. Woodcock"
"Moliere"
"Moondance Alexander"
"Moving McAllister"
"Music & Lyrics"
"The Music Within"
"My Best Friend"
"My Kid Could Paint That"
"Naked Boys Singing"
"The Namesake"
"Nancy Drew"
"Nanking"
"The Nanny Diaries"
"National Lampoon's Beach Party At The Threshold Of Hell"
"National Lampoon's Electric Apricot"
"National Treasure 2"
"Next"
"Nightmare Before Christmas 3D"
"Nina's Heavenly Delights"
"The Nines"
"No Country For Old Men"
"Noelle"
"No End In Sight"
"Nomad: The Warrior"
"Norbit"
"No Reservations"
"The Number 23"
"Ocean's 13"
"Offside"
"O Jerusalem"
"Om Shanti Om"
"The Orphanage"
"Out Of The Blue"
"Outsourced"
"P2"
"Paprika"
"Paris, je t'aime"
"Park"
"Partner" A Bollywood Film
"Pathfinder"
"Peaceful Warrior"
"The Perfect Holiday"
"Perfect Stranger"
"Persepolis"
"Pirates Of The Caribbean 3"
"Premonition"
"Pride"
"Primeval"
"The Prisoner or: How I Planned To Kill Tony Blair"
"Private Fears In Public Places"
"Protagonist"
"PS I Love You"
"Race You To The Bottom"
"Rails & Ties"
"Raising Flagg"
"Randy And The Mob"
"Ratatouille"
"The Reaping"
"Redacted"
"Red Line"
"Red Road"
"Reign Over Me"
"Rendition"
"Reno 911: Miami"
"Reservation Road"
"Resident Evil 3"
"Return With Honor"
"Rescue Dawn"
"Resurrecting The Champ"
"Revenge Of The Nerds 2007"
"Revolver"
"Right At Your Door"
"Rocket Science"
"Romance And Cigarettes"
"Rush Hour 3"
"Saawariya"
"Sarah Landon"
"Sasquatch Gang"
"The Savages"
"Saw 4"
"Sea of Dreams"
"The Seeker: Dark Is Rising"
"Self Medicated"
"September Dawn"
"Seraphim Falls"
"Severance"
"Sharkwater"
"Shoot Em Up"
"Shooter"
"Shortcut To Happiness"
"Shrek 3"
"Sicko"
"Silk"
"The Simpsons Movie"
"Skid Marks"
"Skinwalkers"
"Sleuth"
"Slipstream"
"Slow Burn"
"Smiley Face"
"Smokin' Aces"
"Snow Cake"
"Southland Tales"
"Spiderman 3"
"Stardust"
"Starter For Ten"
"Starting Out In The Evening"
"Steep"
"Stephanie Daley"
"Stomp The Yard"
"Strength And Honor"
"Sunshine"
"Superbad"
"Surf's Up"
"Sweeney Todd Movie"
"Sydney White"
"Talk To Me"
"Tears of the Black Tiger"
"The Ten"
"The Ten Commandments: Animated Movie"
"Ten Til Noon"
"TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)"
"TEKKONKINKREET"
"Terror's Advocate"
"There Will Be Blood"
"Things We Lost In The Fire"
"This Christmas"
"This Is England"
"Thr3e"
"Tortilla Heaven"
"Trade""Transformers The Movie"
"The Tripper"
"The TV Set"
"Two Weeks"
"Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?"
"The Ultimate Gift"
"Unconscious"
"Underdog"
"The Unknown Soldier"
"Vacancy"
"The Valet"
"Vitus"
"Waitress"
"The Walker"
"Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"
"War"
"War/Dance"
"The Water Horse"
"Weirdsville"
"The Wendell Baker Story"
"We Own The Night"
"What Would Jesus Buy?"
"Who's Your Caddy"
"Wild Hogs"
"Wind Chill"
"The Wind That Shakes The Barley"
"Wristcutters"
"Year Of The Dog"
"Yellow"
"You Kill Me"
"Your Mommy Kills Animals"
"Youth Without Youth"
"Zodiac"
"Zoo"

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

either i misread or you never said it... what's the best movie of 2007?

Jenn - The Army Wife Life said...

I agree with you that Casablanca is a magical movie, but you know that I've always loved it! I can't believe all the movies you saw last year - I saw exactly 1 movie at the theater last year, and it was that stupid Die Hard movie. That's what happens with you let your husband pick the movie! Anyway, this year so far I've managed to see TWO movies, that's quite a record for me. We saw National Treasure 2 and yesterday we saw the Veggie-Tales movie. Yes, I have a toddler.... :-)

Brandon K. Baker said...

While you know that I totally agree with you on atonement, I heartily disagree that there has been no film worthy of best picture this year. I still need to see a few more, but I can honestly say that I think No Country For Old Men was a solid best picture nomination. As far as telling a good story goes, I think a few more films told good entertaining stories. "I Am Legend," "Zodiac," and "King of California" were some of the most tight-knit stories I've seen in a while. Have hope though! We still have to be disappointed by Charlie Wilson's War!

Oh, and it is hard to read. In my opinion ;)

trinity said...

Christy- when you read this blog, it did not say. But I had written it in a rush. I have now added the subject. What a thought. (cold medicine)

Jenni-Yeah the whole time I was watching Casablanca, I kept thinking Jenni would die if she knew I voluntarily went to this movie, and enjoyed myself. I too saw National Treasure 2 and Veggie Tales with the Fam.

Brandon-is it easier to read now? I think so. I have not watched any of the movies you mentioned minus Zodiac (which I did rank towards the top)...so the jury is still out on those. And of course I still must see Charlie Wilson's War.

heidi anne said...

holy. mother. i wonder if i could compile my movie viewing so... er.... extensively... :o)

and casablanca is my all-time-number-one-classic-of-classics. i'm so glad you made it over to this side of the boat.

Brandon K. Baker said...

Much easier :) Thanks!

Paul Pincus said...

Cool post!

quotes i love

  • "they will never care how much you know until they know how much you care."
  • "never be afraid to trust a well known God with an unknown future." - Corrie Ten Boom
  • "God doesn't need you, He loves you, that is much better."
  • "the world has yet to see what God can do through a man/woman who is totally commited to him." - D.L. Moody
  • "be who you is, cause if is ain't who you is, you is who you ain't."-
  • "some people say movies should be more like real life. I say real life should be more like the movies."