2007 film wrapup

[bavariankumquat]

best picture: There Will Be Blood, with The Assassination of Jesse James coming in a close second. Both dark character studies of the american dream, and how the quest for fame, money and power corrupt the soul. One a dizzying spiral into madness, the other an elegaic meditation on the end of the west and the death of a legend. See them both. god

Comments

[troy_story]

I'm so glad you put up your list of favorites. It has inspired me to do the same. It seems like you didn't see very many movies this year. I thought there was actually a surprising wealth of movies that actually delivered on their heightened anticipation and hype. And lots of good performances too. I agree with you about Juno. I have absolutely ZERO desire to see that movie. #1 I hated Little miss sunchine and the people who reccomend Juno loved that movie soo.... and #2 I can pretty much predict exactly what the movie is going to be like given it's sappy, quirky, Moldy Peaches-drenced trailer, and personally I could give a rat's ass about the fucking bitch if she has her baby or not. Spiderman3 sucked so badly and was a total disappointment after 2. I still want to see La Vie En Rose because I love edith Piaf and the movie really sounds amazing. I am skeptical though. As for There Will Be Blood, I haven't seen it yet because it comes out on friday in Santa Cruz. I will see it this weekend for sure and weigh in on it. But for now I'm posting my top ten and other favorites. Check it out!

[bavariankumquat]

haha consider this comment part two, or, journal entry 2.0. like web 2.0 but with less jugalettes.

Well, I saw more movies than those included, I guess I should have written an actual top 10 list or something, but, for half a year I was kinda swamped with work and didn't have any time. Though it was the beginning half. Other movies that I liked/my thoughts on more movies:
Into the Wild, it was kind of corny in a way but also really good
Sweeny Todd-a surprise for me as I kind of distrust Tim Burton, and yes, the singing wasn't perfect, but sondheim fags' whining was not warranted at all. Depp was good but I loved HBC's choice to portray Mrs. Lovett as a tragic figure instead of a clown.
Once-also a surprise to me as it was one of those heavily hyped things, and I tend to sort of distrust word of mouth after little miss sunshine(which a good friend of mine absolutely loves, ugh), but, loved the music and the intimacy of it.
28 Weeks Later-I was surprised by this as well, though I love me a good nihilistic end of the world movie, especially the opening and the hopeless ending.
Darjeeling Limited: a nice little low-key movie, and I loved loved loved the opening short.
No Country For Old Men: also really good, tho I was in a kind of depressed and odd mood on the day that I saw it, so I think I didn't appreciate it as much as I should have.
Grindhouse was probably my best viewing experience this year, tho both the movies kind of lost something when seen at home separately.
oh shit I forgot Paprika. that was awesome.
Zodiac was good but slightly diluted by watching it with my slightly impatient housemate and his buddy who were like, they don't catch him? that ending sucks. really creepy and intense tho, and I love stories spiralling into madness.
oh shit the host. how could I forget. though it was rather sad.
southland tales was...well I don't know what it was but I found it rather entertaining.
I also saw this great documentary called "Audience of One" which is about this eccentric pastor's attempt to make a gigantic scifi epic with members of his church. I hope it gets distribution. The same for this thing I saw a test screening of called Debate Team, about the crazy world of college debates.

as for other things,
I guess Ratatoille was pretty good, but everyone sort of hailed it as if it was the second fucking coming of christ, instead of a well-done animated kid's movie with some appeal for adults.
I really didn't like Transformers that much at all tho shia was cute.
Golden Compass was actually a pretty decent adaptation of the book, tho they made it less subtle and took out the ending, which REALLY annoyed me.
I also really want to see Perseopolis.
other than that, I don't know. Though I must leave now, before the Cloverfield monster eats me! eek!

[fusako]

La Boeuf?! Ugh. I don't understand how/why he got launched into stardom. Talk about mediocre on all fronts... *shakes head*

What exactly bothers you about "Little Miss Sunshine"? Was it Steve Carell's character?

[bavariankumquat]

oh also, as seen above I did see more movies than those two, but, those were the ones that really impressed me the most by a long mile, and that's saying something, seeing as how it was actually a really good year for film.