Movies from 2007 in review - Revisited
Just before I get my 2008 movie post going, I thought I’d repost my updated 2007 list:
Top 10
1. No Country For Old Men
The Coens forge a masterpiece regarding the black depths of humanity around the staples of noir - a fickle cold-blooded murderer, a risk-taking everyman, an aging cop with a weary mind, a stolen bag full of blood money. Brilliantly adapted, beautifully shot and endlessly provocative.
2. There Will Be Blood
Another masterpiece in terms of cinematography and writing, but this time the acting shines brighter than the rest of the movie - Daniel Day Lewis is Daniel Plainview, the obsessive oil-man who slowly destroys everything around him as his compulsions are left with nowhere else to turn. A powerful tale about identity and greed given life by one of the best performers in the business.
3. Hot Fuzz
Parody has never been so close to loving homage as it is in this movie, upping the ante significantly from Shaun of the Dead - where it could be argued that a lot of the laughs are cheaper to win in a gore-fest comedy with a genre that has provided so much unintentional hilarity over the years - Wright, Pegg, Frost and co. return to take on the action buddy-cop genre and the result is a brilliant piece of action comedy that pokes fun at its genre conventions while taking them to the next level.
There’s not a lot of fat in between that top 3, all top class movies that are inherently watchable and have already been revisited since. The rest of the top 10 are great movies in their own right and belong on there, but without any commentary from me.
4. The Mist
5. Eastern Promises
6. Ratatouille
7. Superbad & Knocked Up (tie)
8. Stardust
9. The Valley of Elah
10. Zodiac