Films: 2007
1) Spongebob Squarepants The Movie - Starting 2007 as I mean to continue. Awesome on a stick.
2) 24 Hour Party People - Another fine installment in Michael Winterbottom's career that again shows interesting links to his other works.
3) The Da Vinci Code - Competent thriller.
4) Casino Royale - Pretty much everything I was hoping for, although structurally its a bit odd.
5) The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada - Very strong debut from Tommy Lee Jones. Much more intelligent and non-conventional than I expected.
6) White Noise - Not exactly riveting beyond the grave shocker.
7) The City Of Lost Children - Grotesque, glorious but not quite as good as Delicesen.
8) 13 - Minimal, unremittingly bleak French secret society thriller about getting in over your head. Implausible but well done.
9) Severance - Violent and funny horror comedy. Perfect post-pub viewing.
10) Children Of Men - Not as good as I'd hoped.
11) Bubba Ho-tep - I'll admit I was a bit drunk but this was alternatingly amusing and confusing.
12) Layer Cake - British gangster flick in not rubbish shocker.
13) Walk The Line - Wonderful.
14) The Fountain - Transcendental.
15) Ghost In A Shell 2: Innocence - Very pretty. Even more cod philosophical musings than the first one but it does it with a certain style.
16) Weekend - Proper bloody French.
17) Aeon Flux - Nonsensical sci-fi cobblers with a fit bird in it. Avoid.
18) The Gift - A pleasant surprise. Not a great film but far better than the many, many similar "psychic" thrillers.
19) Hot Fuzz - a bit too anticipated. Sometimes constrainted by its need to tell a story but very funny. More physical than Shaun.
20) Ultraviolet - One of the worst films I've ever seen. Cheap, dull and incoherent. Just awful.
21) Thank You For Smoking - Moderately funny but more importantly very well written and holds its nerve.
22) Party Monster - Drugs are good. Drugs are bad. Drugs are really bad.
23) Changing Lanes - Rubbish modern day morality play.
24) A Matter Of Life And Death - veggiesu and swisstone are always banging on about this. Turns out it is marvellous.
25) Legally Blonde - Never less than utterly predictable.
26) Panic Room - Fincher follow up to Fight Club was always going to be slightly disappointing. At first almost entirely about cinematography, it becomes a tense but slight thriller.
27) The Lives Of Others - This has received mass acclaim and deservedly so.
28) Sunshine - Well, that was stupid, wan't it?
29) SWAT - Stupid boy thrills. Colin Farrell is mercifully restrained.
30) Sister Act - Brutally realistic.
31) Hard Candy - It may be contrived but what a stunningly well made contrivence. Rivetting central performance from Ellen Page.
32) The Transporter 2 - Preposterously entertaining.
33) EDTV - Not very good but probably better than The Truman Show.
34) Zoolander - I didn't like this as much as I wanted to but it was still fun. I particularly liked the Billy Zane cameo for some reason.
35) xXx - Hella stupid. Whoever came up with this concept deserves a medal.
36) Trancers - File under E for Eighties and B for bum.
37) Ice Age - Not quite as good as I was hoping for. They should have made it all about Scrat.
38 Ice Age 2 - Better but I am still all about Scrat.
39) Mean Machine - Rotten remake that doesn't even pay lip service to plausibility.
40) 28 Weeks Later - Frenetic.
41) Tears Of The Sun - Bruce Willis grows a conscience in a meaningless war drama that is notable only for featuring Monica Belluci.
42) Pirates 3 - The law of diminishing returns: we are firmly in self parody territory here. Enjoyable but arse numbing.
43) Pan's Labyrinth - Far bleaker and more violent than I expected.
44) The General's Daughter - Meaty, torrid thriller with slightly distastefully uneven tone.
45) Sea Of Sand - Typical British war film that is on seeming constant rotation at Channel 4.
46) The Devil's Backbone - Overripe.
47) Out Of Time - Silly, anonymous thriller. Eva Mendez is hot.
48) The Road To Perdition - Bizarrely stately, predictable period gangster flick.
49) Underworld Evolution - Enjoyable action flick. Still mildly boggled by Kate Beckinsale's transformation from English rose to So Cal hardbody.
50) Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix - Makes the very best of Rowling's shit heap.
51) The Iron Giant - I'll let you know once coalescent pulls his finger out.
52) Transformers - Weird. Really weird.
53) The Simpsons Movie - Funny but not funny squared.
54) Before Sunrise - There is something slightly repellent about Ethan Hawke in this, which rather cuts against the whole premise. I'm not sure I approve of turning Vienna into a fantasy Ruritania either.
55) The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - A classic for a reason. Bloody long but actually does something with it.
56) Star Trek: Nemesis - I'm pretty much lost when it comes to the Star Trek timeline. This was just like a feature length episode of Next Generation.
57) Babel - There is a strong sense in which Iñárritu keeps making the same film but it is a bloody good. Perhaps the Japanese strand was too much though.
58) The Bourne Supremecy - Good stuff. Time for a trip to the cinema for part three I think.
59) The Bourne Ultimatum - Great stuff. The superheroics and shaky camera work are taken to extremes but this doesn't detract from the visceral punch of the film.
60) Before Sunset - There is much to be irritated by in this film - particularly in its use of the two characters as proxies for genders, nations, ideas, etc - but it uses its unique status as real time sequel well and is pretty emotionally powerful.
61) Spartan - David Mamet doesn't really show his presence in this Violent thriller.
62) Sleepless In Seattle - I was forced to watch this against my will and I was right to put up a fight.
63) Hannibal Rising - A sort of A-list B-movie but without the A-list. Who thought this was a good idea?
64) A Series Of Unfortunate Events - Some nice set design but ridiculously disjointed.
65) Kung Fu Hustle - Awesome!
66) Herbie: Fully Loaded - I can see why they had to digitally reduce Lindsay Lohan's breasts for the poster.
67) Black Snake Moan - A rum old film and no mistake.
68) The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse - Well, I can see what they were trying to do there but I'm not sure they succeeded.
69) A Room For Romeo Brass - I don't know why I haven't watched all Meadows's films. Another cracker.
Somewhat down on last year. All these brief impressions were originally posted on 52filmchallenge if you want to play along at home.
My Top Ten
24 Hour Party People
The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada
Spongebob Squarepants The Movie
A Matter Of Life And Death
The Lives Of Others
Hard Candy
Babel
The City Of Lost Children
Hot Fuzz
Walk The Line
2) 24 Hour Party People - Another fine installment in Michael Winterbottom's career that again shows interesting links to his other works.
3) The Da Vinci Code - Competent thriller.
4) Casino Royale - Pretty much everything I was hoping for, although structurally its a bit odd.
5) The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada - Very strong debut from Tommy Lee Jones. Much more intelligent and non-conventional than I expected.
6) White Noise - Not exactly riveting beyond the grave shocker.
7) The City Of Lost Children - Grotesque, glorious but not quite as good as Delicesen.
8) 13 - Minimal, unremittingly bleak French secret society thriller about getting in over your head. Implausible but well done.
9) Severance - Violent and funny horror comedy. Perfect post-pub viewing.
10) Children Of Men - Not as good as I'd hoped.
11) Bubba Ho-tep - I'll admit I was a bit drunk but this was alternatingly amusing and confusing.
12) Layer Cake - British gangster flick in not rubbish shocker.
13) Walk The Line - Wonderful.
14) The Fountain - Transcendental.
15) Ghost In A Shell 2: Innocence - Very pretty. Even more cod philosophical musings than the first one but it does it with a certain style.
16) Weekend - Proper bloody French.
17) Aeon Flux - Nonsensical sci-fi cobblers with a fit bird in it. Avoid.
18) The Gift - A pleasant surprise. Not a great film but far better than the many, many similar "psychic" thrillers.
19) Hot Fuzz - a bit too anticipated. Sometimes constrainted by its need to tell a story but very funny. More physical than Shaun.
20) Ultraviolet - One of the worst films I've ever seen. Cheap, dull and incoherent. Just awful.
21) Thank You For Smoking - Moderately funny but more importantly very well written and holds its nerve.
22) Party Monster - Drugs are good. Drugs are bad. Drugs are really bad.
23) Changing Lanes - Rubbish modern day morality play.
24) A Matter Of Life And Death - veggiesu and swisstone are always banging on about this. Turns out it is marvellous.
25) Legally Blonde - Never less than utterly predictable.
26) Panic Room - Fincher follow up to Fight Club was always going to be slightly disappointing. At first almost entirely about cinematography, it becomes a tense but slight thriller.
27) The Lives Of Others - This has received mass acclaim and deservedly so.
28) Sunshine - Well, that was stupid, wan't it?
29) SWAT - Stupid boy thrills. Colin Farrell is mercifully restrained.
30) Sister Act - Brutally realistic.
31) Hard Candy - It may be contrived but what a stunningly well made contrivence. Rivetting central performance from Ellen Page.
32) The Transporter 2 - Preposterously entertaining.
33) EDTV - Not very good but probably better than The Truman Show.
34) Zoolander - I didn't like this as much as I wanted to but it was still fun. I particularly liked the Billy Zane cameo for some reason.
35) xXx - Hella stupid. Whoever came up with this concept deserves a medal.
36) Trancers - File under E for Eighties and B for bum.
37) Ice Age - Not quite as good as I was hoping for. They should have made it all about Scrat.
38 Ice Age 2 - Better but I am still all about Scrat.
39) Mean Machine - Rotten remake that doesn't even pay lip service to plausibility.
40) 28 Weeks Later - Frenetic.
41) Tears Of The Sun - Bruce Willis grows a conscience in a meaningless war drama that is notable only for featuring Monica Belluci.
42) Pirates 3 - The law of diminishing returns: we are firmly in self parody territory here. Enjoyable but arse numbing.
43) Pan's Labyrinth - Far bleaker and more violent than I expected.
44) The General's Daughter - Meaty, torrid thriller with slightly distastefully uneven tone.
45) Sea Of Sand - Typical British war film that is on seeming constant rotation at Channel 4.
46) The Devil's Backbone - Overripe.
47) Out Of Time - Silly, anonymous thriller. Eva Mendez is hot.
48) The Road To Perdition - Bizarrely stately, predictable period gangster flick.
49) Underworld Evolution - Enjoyable action flick. Still mildly boggled by Kate Beckinsale's transformation from English rose to So Cal hardbody.
50) Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix - Makes the very best of Rowling's shit heap.
51) The Iron Giant - I'll let you know once coalescent pulls his finger out.
52) Transformers - Weird. Really weird.
53) The Simpsons Movie - Funny but not funny squared.
54) Before Sunrise - There is something slightly repellent about Ethan Hawke in this, which rather cuts against the whole premise. I'm not sure I approve of turning Vienna into a fantasy Ruritania either.
55) The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - A classic for a reason. Bloody long but actually does something with it.
56) Star Trek: Nemesis - I'm pretty much lost when it comes to the Star Trek timeline. This was just like a feature length episode of Next Generation.
57) Babel - There is a strong sense in which Iñárritu keeps making the same film but it is a bloody good. Perhaps the Japanese strand was too much though.
58) The Bourne Supremecy - Good stuff. Time for a trip to the cinema for part three I think.
59) The Bourne Ultimatum - Great stuff. The superheroics and shaky camera work are taken to extremes but this doesn't detract from the visceral punch of the film.
60) Before Sunset - There is much to be irritated by in this film - particularly in its use of the two characters as proxies for genders, nations, ideas, etc - but it uses its unique status as real time sequel well and is pretty emotionally powerful.
61) Spartan - David Mamet doesn't really show his presence in this Violent thriller.
62) Sleepless In Seattle - I was forced to watch this against my will and I was right to put up a fight.
63) Hannibal Rising - A sort of A-list B-movie but without the A-list. Who thought this was a good idea?
64) A Series Of Unfortunate Events - Some nice set design but ridiculously disjointed.
65) Kung Fu Hustle - Awesome!
66) Herbie: Fully Loaded - I can see why they had to digitally reduce Lindsay Lohan's breasts for the poster.
67) Black Snake Moan - A rum old film and no mistake.
68) The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse - Well, I can see what they were trying to do there but I'm not sure they succeeded.
69) A Room For Romeo Brass - I don't know why I haven't watched all Meadows's films. Another cracker.
Somewhat down on last year. All these brief impressions were originally posted on 52filmchallenge if you want to play along at home.
My Top Ten
24 Hour Party People
The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada
Spongebob Squarepants The Movie
A Matter Of Life And Death
The Lives Of Others
Hard Candy
Babel
The City Of Lost Children
Hot Fuzz
Walk The Line