The Golden Globes were announced this morning, and I was excited to see that Daniel-Day Lewis won Best Actor for “There Will Be Blood”. All of the reviews I’ve read have tried to describe the dimensions of his performance (“volcanic”, “elemental”, “titanic” etc) but none have captured it. Probably because it can’t be captured – it was that good. Go see the movie, and then tell me what you make of the final scene. I know I’m still thinking about it.
Another thing reviewers have agreed upon is how good of a year 2007 was at the movies. So good that we’re tired; “Great film fatigue” I’ve heard it called. I was going to post a “best-of”, but then I realized that although I’ve been to the movies this year more than ever before, I still haven’t seen a number of films that everyone’s been listing (“Atonement” “Diving Bell” “I’m Not There” “Eastern Promises”). So instead of a “best-of”, here are my personal favorites of 2007:
1. There Will Be Blood. The scene where Plainview reveals, “there’s a competition in me” is the most profound thing I’ve seen on screen in a long, long time. If there’s a better description of the law out there, I haven’t heard it.
2. Margot At The Wedding. Some say Baumbach’s families are too “dysfunctional”, but I think he depicts the world as it is – in desperate need of redemption, on every level, often hilariously so. Jack Black will never be funnier.
3. The Darjeeling Limited. Completely underrated, even better the second time.
4. Ratatouille. Brad Bird rules!
5. Michael Clayton. Tilda Swinton’s slow descent into villainy is breath-taking to behold.
6. The Savages
7. Juno
8. No Country For Old Men
9. Once
10. Sunshine
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Great list! (Except sunshine! sorry buddy!)
Ok here is mine. I’ll just do top 5.
1. No Country for Old Men. One of the rare times in my life that I can say I think the movie was actually better than the book. And the book is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Also-was it me or was the movie virtually without a soundtrack? This was the best Cohen Bros movie (in my opinion) since Barton Fink.
2. Ratatouille. The movie made me cry. And it gave a reprieve from all the other noir movies that I loved this year.
3. There Will Be Blood. Loved it. I’ve always thought Daniel Day could be an indulgent actor but it never worked better than in this movie. But I think Paul Thomas Anderson is the real hero, as this marks his 5th near perfect film.
4. Before The Devil Knows your Dead. Lumet’s still got it? Hell yes! Coppola should take notes.
5. Gone baby gone. If you haven’t seen it, go now. Incidentally, Denis Lehane who wrote the book Gone baby gone, is having his 2006 book “Shutter Island” (One of my favorites from last year) made into a movie by Scorsese. With that and Mystic River under his belt this guy is one to watch.