Films of 2007
At the beginning of 2007, I had a vague idea of going for 100 new movies in one year, but only made it to 61. Sigh. I think I might make a similar goal for this year; I don't really anticipate making it, but there's no harm in trying. Because I watched a lot more movies than I read books (does that mean I get my license revoked as an English major?), I'm not going to attempt an individual review for each of them; instead, I have a list of everything I watched with a few brief thoughts throughout.
My Fictional 2007 Part 2: Films
1. Here Comes Mr. Jordan
2. Death Takes a Holiday - This movie can be summed up as, "Fredric March is really really weirdly hot. Like, really."
3. Sunset Boulevard - Can't believe it took me so long to finally watch this! I've always been a big fan of Gloria Swanson's silent work, and when has Erich von Stroheim ever not been awesome?
4. Love Affair
5. As You Desire Me
6. Phonebooth
7. Hell's Angels - Meh plot, but what a piece of history! It's worth watching just to fast forward to all the aerial sequences. I also meant to watch The Aviator after seeing this film, but... uhh... maybe I'll add it to my list of movies to watch this year.
8. Pepe le Moko - I watched Algiers a few months earlier, and decided to check out the original. I don't know which one I prefer; I think Pepe le Moko is a stronger character piece, but the Gaby relationship works much better in Algiers.
9. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
10. Bright Young Things
11. Blood and Sand
12. Battle of Britain
13. Summertime - I'm not going to pick out a "best" film for this year, but I might consider Summertime to be the movie that defined my year. First of all, Katharine Hepburn and David Lean is always a recipe for awesome. And then, as seems to be a requirement for all of David Lean's films, it's unspeakably gorgeous but depressing as hell. And... I dunno, somehow that speaks to my life, haha. I guess I just have this feeling that I'll end up like Katharine Hepburn at the beginning of this movie -- aging and alone and watching as my last remaining dreams slip through my fingers. Woe! But, hey, at least I'll be Katharine Hepburn! There is also a tidbit of comfort in the idea that, even if something does turn out to be a fleeting illusion, it might be enough to simply live that dream for a while. Oh, and I think this movie was the first in a long string of things which convinced me that the universe was subconsciously urging me to visit Venice... We'll see how that goes.
14. Kingdom of Heaven
15. Sleuth
16. The Clairvoyant
17. Touch of Evil
18. Bonnie and Clyde - We were doing a Bonnie and Clyde project for my American history class. I really wanted to like this movie, and just... didn't. Sadness.
19. Angels Over Broadway
20. Hot Fuzz - Most unexpectedly awesome movie of all year. I got dragged into going at the last minute as part of a family outing, so went in with zero expectations and came out with songs of love and adoration spilling for from my lips. Simon Pegg/Nick Frost OTP!
21. Shaun of the Dead
22. Double Harness
23. Night of the Hunter
24. Spitfire
25. Pat and Mike
26. My Favourite Year - "I'm not an actor, I'm a MOVIE STAR!" Could I love Peter O'Toole any more than I already do?
27. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
28. Chinatown
29. Planet of the Apes - Shocking, I know -- I'd never seen the original film all the way through!
30. G-Men - This was stacked in with a bunch of generic Cagney movies, and yet somehow it really jumped out at me as one of my favourites from this period of his career. It's airing on TCM again this coming Thursday afternoon at 1:15, and I would recommend watching it if you get a chance.
31. They Were Expendable
32. Yankee Doodle Dandy
33. Cover Girl
34. The Lady from Shanghai
35. The Children's Hour
36. Clive of India
37. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
38. Ball of Fire
39. Mister Roberts - This is a very typical "my dad" movie (he picked this up for $1 from the library's second-hand store and made us all watch it together), but I don't mean that as a bad thing because I really liked it. Looking on IMDb, it seems like a lot of people are disparaging it as a war film because there are too many shenanigans and not enough scenes of actual war. Which, uh -- isn't that the point of the movie? And since when have comedy and insightful observations been mutually exclusive? And even if you're not looking for some profound statement, it's still a very funny movie. Jack Lemmon is great: "I'm looking for marbles all day long!"
40. Follow the Fleet
41. Double Wedding
42. Dawn Patrol
43. Night of the Generals
44. Wrath of Khan - I think you can sense a trend beginning here...
45. Search for Spock - I'M
46. Voyage Home - A
47. The Undiscovered Country - BIG
48. The Final Frontier - GIANT
49. Fast and Loose - (this movie is interrupting my groove!)
50. Star Trek: The Motion Picture - NERD!
51. The Murder Man - It didn't play out quite how I would have expected or hoped, but this is a very intriguing early Spencer Tracy movie. Also, hey, Jimmy Stewart's first speaking role!
52. The Lost Weekend
53. Sharkwater
54. The Merchant of Venice
55. Venus - Oh mannnn. Coming from me, the weepiest person EVER in regards to books/movies, I honestly did not think it was possible for me to cry as much over anything as I did while watching this. I should have seen it coming; I cried over the movie before it even came out simply from watching the trailer, I cried when Peter O'Toole was nominated for Best Actor, and I bawled when he didn't win. With about a full year in between the film's release and me actually watching it, you'd think I would have had enough time to prepare myself. Uh, no; I popped the DVD into my computer and literally started crying after about five minutes. I got up to blow my nose, and then about two minutes later I had to get up again, and then I just said, "Damn it all!" and dragged the tissue box over with me, clinging to it for dear life. As with Harry Potter, I really don't think I'm capable of objectively judging this -- but ohhhh Peter O'Toole I love you so much and DON'T DIE EVER OKAY??
56. The Life of Jimmy Dolan
57. Ratatouille
58. The Little Minister
59. Enchanted
60. Sahara - Another movie that I expected to be good in a generic, predictable, hardboiled Bogey saves the day sort of way, but was actually really really impressed with as one of the best WWII films I've seen. Unfortunately, I deleted it from TiVo before transcribing some of my favourite bits, because I assumed I'd be able to find the quotes on IMDb (how can they not have a memorable quotes page for this movie? Augh!). But anyway, the Italian's speech at the end completely blew me away; J. Carrol Naish has an amazing supporting role.
61. Beauty and the Beast
My Fictional 2007 Part 2: Films
1. Here Comes Mr. Jordan
2. Death Takes a Holiday - This movie can be summed up as, "Fredric March is really really weirdly hot. Like, really."
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3. Sunset Boulevard - Can't believe it took me so long to finally watch this! I've always been a big fan of Gloria Swanson's silent work, and when has Erich von Stroheim ever not been awesome?
4. Love Affair
5. As You Desire Me
6. Phonebooth
7. Hell's Angels - Meh plot, but what a piece of history! It's worth watching just to fast forward to all the aerial sequences. I also meant to watch The Aviator after seeing this film, but... uhh... maybe I'll add it to my list of movies to watch this year.
8. Pepe le Moko - I watched Algiers a few months earlier, and decided to check out the original. I don't know which one I prefer; I think Pepe le Moko is a stronger character piece, but the Gaby relationship works much better in Algiers.
9. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
10. Bright Young Things
11. Blood and Sand
12. Battle of Britain
13. Summertime - I'm not going to pick out a "best" film for this year, but I might consider Summertime to be the movie that defined my year. First of all, Katharine Hepburn and David Lean is always a recipe for awesome. And then, as seems to be a requirement for all of David Lean's films, it's unspeakably gorgeous but depressing as hell. And... I dunno, somehow that speaks to my life, haha. I guess I just have this feeling that I'll end up like Katharine Hepburn at the beginning of this movie -- aging and alone and watching as my last remaining dreams slip through my fingers. Woe! But, hey, at least I'll be Katharine Hepburn! There is also a tidbit of comfort in the idea that, even if something does turn out to be a fleeting illusion, it might be enough to simply live that dream for a while. Oh, and I think this movie was the first in a long string of things which convinced me that the universe was subconsciously urging me to visit Venice... We'll see how that goes.
14. Kingdom of Heaven
15. Sleuth
16. The Clairvoyant
17. Touch of Evil
18. Bonnie and Clyde - We were doing a Bonnie and Clyde project for my American history class. I really wanted to like this movie, and just... didn't. Sadness.
19. Angels Over Broadway
20. Hot Fuzz - Most unexpectedly awesome movie of all year. I got dragged into going at the last minute as part of a family outing, so went in with zero expectations and came out with songs of love and adoration spilling for from my lips. Simon Pegg/Nick Frost OTP!
21. Shaun of the Dead
22. Double Harness
23. Night of the Hunter
24. Spitfire
25. Pat and Mike
26. My Favourite Year - "I'm not an actor, I'm a MOVIE STAR!" Could I love Peter O'Toole any more than I already do?
27. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
28. Chinatown
29. Planet of the Apes - Shocking, I know -- I'd never seen the original film all the way through!
30. G-Men - This was stacked in with a bunch of generic Cagney movies, and yet somehow it really jumped out at me as one of my favourites from this period of his career. It's airing on TCM again this coming Thursday afternoon at 1:15, and I would recommend watching it if you get a chance.
31. They Were Expendable
32. Yankee Doodle Dandy
33. Cover Girl
34. The Lady from Shanghai
35. The Children's Hour
36. Clive of India
37. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
38. Ball of Fire
39. Mister Roberts - This is a very typical "my dad" movie (he picked this up for $1 from the library's second-hand store and made us all watch it together), but I don't mean that as a bad thing because I really liked it. Looking on IMDb, it seems like a lot of people are disparaging it as a war film because there are too many shenanigans and not enough scenes of actual war. Which, uh -- isn't that the point of the movie? And since when have comedy and insightful observations been mutually exclusive? And even if you're not looking for some profound statement, it's still a very funny movie. Jack Lemmon is great: "I'm looking for marbles all day long!"
40. Follow the Fleet
41. Double Wedding
42. Dawn Patrol
43. Night of the Generals
44. Wrath of Khan - I think you can sense a trend beginning here...
45. Search for Spock - I'M
46. Voyage Home - A
47. The Undiscovered Country - BIG
48. The Final Frontier - GIANT
49. Fast and Loose - (this movie is interrupting my groove!)
50. Star Trek: The Motion Picture - NERD!
51. The Murder Man - It didn't play out quite how I would have expected or hoped, but this is a very intriguing early Spencer Tracy movie. Also, hey, Jimmy Stewart's first speaking role!
52. The Lost Weekend
53. Sharkwater
54. The Merchant of Venice
55. Venus - Oh mannnn. Coming from me, the weepiest person EVER in regards to books/movies, I honestly did not think it was possible for me to cry as much over anything as I did while watching this. I should have seen it coming; I cried over the movie before it even came out simply from watching the trailer, I cried when Peter O'Toole was nominated for Best Actor, and I bawled when he didn't win. With about a full year in between the film's release and me actually watching it, you'd think I would have had enough time to prepare myself. Uh, no; I popped the DVD into my computer and literally started crying after about five minutes. I got up to blow my nose, and then about two minutes later I had to get up again, and then I just said, "Damn it all!" and dragged the tissue box over with me, clinging to it for dear life. As with Harry Potter, I really don't think I'm capable of objectively judging this -- but ohhhh Peter O'Toole I love you so much and DON'T DIE EVER OKAY??
56. The Life of Jimmy Dolan
57. Ratatouille
58. The Little Minister
59. Enchanted
60. Sahara - Another movie that I expected to be good in a generic, predictable, hardboiled Bogey saves the day sort of way, but was actually really really impressed with as one of the best WWII films I've seen. Unfortunately, I deleted it from TiVo before transcribing some of my favourite bits, because I assumed I'd be able to find the quotes on IMDb (how can they not have a memorable quotes page for this movie? Augh!). But anyway, the Italian's speech at the end completely blew me away; J. Carrol Naish has an amazing supporting role.
61. Beauty and the Beast