No Country For Old Men by a mile. I've seen it four times now and it just gets better and better.

ah, critics. the resemble the louse in so many ways.

I just saw, "The Lives Of Others".

I was pleasantly surprised at the film. It wasn't exactly what I expected.

I recommend it.

I'll tell you how bad I am about movies, I have never seen Sound of Music. I saw Jaws for the first time on tv. I would rather read than watch a movie. I can use my imagination when reading, and that's more fun that watching someone else's interpretation.

Was Children of Men 2007? If so, that's tops for me.

I would put Ratatouille on the list of good ones, plus Zodiac and Idiocracy. But I couldn't fill a top 10 list of current movies I even saw this year, let alone liked.

BTW, Rotten Tomatoes is a little off, as they often label a film a 'win' when the review is fairly negative.

just saw and loved walk hard - the dewey cox story yesterday. gives me faith in movie parody again. haven't reviewed it yet (hope to do so later tonight) but in the meantime here's my prelude to the review discussing the terrible state of movie parodies today, and why they're so bad compared to golden oldies like what the zucker bros. used to produce.

McChowder @ 10:

Was Children of Men 2007? If so, that's tops for me.

I would put Ratatouille on the list of good ones, plus Zodiac and Idiocracy. But I couldn't fill a top 10 list of current movies I even saw this year, let alone liked.

BTW, Rotten Tomatoes is a little off, as they often label a film a 'win' when the review is fairly negative.

Right on!!! everyone should go out and watch Idiocracy... it's a shame that film died in the theatres.

I dont go to the theater but I watch alot of movies on DVD, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, 300, Amazing Grace, The Lives of Others, The Queen, Freedom Writers, Blood Diamond and Pan’s Labyrinth were all very good and worth anyone's time. Not to mention Snakes on a Plane :)

Since this is Open Thread I guess I'm allowed to post something that would ordinarily be OT:

Wayne Madsen reported the following on August 15, 2007 about Pakistan and Bhutto:

WMR has learned that the CIA is also working with pro-Al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents in Pakistan. Currently, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher is visiting Pakistan to repair frayed relations with Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf, however, U.S. intelligence is also working with tribal opponents of Musharraf to help destabilize his regime.

Boucher is likely in Pakistan to help bring about the return of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as Prime Minister in a civilian administration where Musharraf would retain the presidency. Bhutto, who remains in exile, and Musharraf recently met in Abu Dhabi to hammer out a power-sharing agreement.

Bhutto claims she wants to return to Pakistan, as she said, to save her country from "a militant takeover, (and) God forbid, disintegration."

However, Bhutto's own political party [hareli: Pakistan People's Party (PPP)] is affiliated with the very same Islamic militants in the tribal areas from whom she claims she wants to save her country.

The Bush administration's long-term plan is to use the tribal militants to destabilize Musharraf to the point that a Indian-American-Australian team, that could also possibly include covert Israeli commandos, can enter Pakistan's deep underground laboratories to extract certain key nuclear technologies. The agreement of the Bush administration to provide India with billions in "peaceful" nuclear technology was used to lure India into the covert program to de-nuclearize Pakistan.

"Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) had links to the anti-Musharraf tribal movements and Islamists in Pakistan's rugged mountainous regions. The corporate media is attempting to spin the story that Bhutto was killed by Islamist militants."

Children of Men was the best movie of 2006, not 2007. It was a late December '06 limited release that most of us didn't see till 2007.

My favorite this year is a tie between Zodiac and Ratatouille, but I haven't seen No Country for Old Men, Once, or There Will Be Blood yet, and I know they definitely have a shot at unseating my current favorites.

Idiocracy.

Best of 2007. One of my favorites of all time and EXTREMELY relevant and prophetic.
They'll be taking about this in history classes if they exist in 20 years.

For 2005, if you missed it which most people did, see Terry Gilliam's (Brazil and Twelve Monkeys) TIDELAND.
Its a work of art.

Latest Diehard film, total crap, bad acting, bad actors, lousy script, lousy plot, and feeble

ok . . . no one is going to say Control? great movie, great music . . . it was almost the real joy division.

"Children of Men" was stunning. That and "Pan's Labrynth" were the two best movies I saw all year (even if they were technically released in 2006, very few people got to see them until 2007). Miles better than the vast majority of studio-produced crap we got.

This year was a particularly crappy one for movies. Other than "No End In Sight" I felt disappointed in almost everything, though "3:10 To Yuma" and "American Gangster" were both decent. "Lust, Caution" was good, too.

I haven't seen "Ratatouille," "Sicko" or "Persepolis" yet. Or the Joe Strummer doc. Those are all on the list, though, along with the POW film with Christian Bale the name of which I can't remember right now.

Oh and "Hot Fuzz" I liked. :)

Gotta go with No Country for Old Men.

But loved i'm not there. And I'm not a Dylan freak. Too bad about Riddle.

children of men..?

full of cheech and chong humor and fart jokes. couldn't take it seriously.

hehe guess I upset the sheep at DailyKos, there are some good people there, but also a lot of middle aged 'women' who hate independent thought / dissent and are pro Hilary for another four years of Bushco.
If you rec their 'pootie' (cats) threads all is fine, discuss dangerous thoughts, slavish hero-worship of uniforms in American culture, 9/11 coverups, economy, war in Iraq then bam banned from posting.

Children of Men got robbed last year. At the very least it should have waon best cinematography.

This year I like No Country for Old Men, but I have a feeling There Will Be Blood, which hasn't been released nationwide yet, could end up being the best film of this year.

I loved The Diving Bell & The Butterfly, No Country for Old Men, Michael Clayton, Sicko, and Children of Men. It was a crime that Children of Men was not nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.

I enjoyed Hot Fuzz also, but I liked Shaun of the Dead too.

The Golden Compass will be a classic.

Across the Universe for unrivaled baby boomer nostalgia [although my 20-something liked it too].

The documentaries already mentioned for education.

I'll be watching the documentary Sacco and Vanzetti tonight.

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The most recent movie I've seen is "Sweeney Todd" and I recommend you wait for the DVD download. The beginning was interesting, but it quickly turned into a glorified slasher flick with music.

Shame on Tim Burton for making a potentially interesting movie into a piece of pornography.
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I saw ONE movie in a theater this year: Lions For Lambs. It was worth it.

Too many good movies to list. I just saw Juno, excellent flick!

"No Country for Old Men" would have been a really good movie if:
1) The main character's (Josh Brolin's character's) demise would have been on instead of off screen
2) It would have been clear how his killers found and got the drop on him
3) The movie wouldn't have ended 20 minutes before it should have.

Children of Men was great. So was The Lives of Others. Just saw The Kite Runner, and that was fantastic.

Still waiting to see Atonement, though. That might be the best.

Is it just me, but does the main character in Juno, strongly resemble Janeane Garofalo?

Jake @ 59:

"Is it just me, but does the main character in Juno, strongly resemble Janeane Garofalo?"

In that she's not funny? No not at all, she's hilarious.

I haven't seen Juno yet. I've just seen the long winded previews on Direct TV.

From what I saw, I thought Ellen Page played a smart and humorous role.

why give space to a douchebag like Loader in the pants?

Juno was great, try not to get laid after that one!

I Am Legend is shattering box office records. I will never knock success but I'm shocked the public loved it so much. It's a glowing tribute to the incandescent star power of Will Smith. I thought the film had the look of a glorified TV movie and it played out like one. Not much substance. The movie relied on the cheap shock value of screaming creatures to punctuate extended lulls in action.

"Juno was great, try not to get laid after that one!"

I saw it with some buddies, but I'd definantly see it again with a date if she wanted haha! Totally date movie of the year. The duet at the end really brings awesome closure to the whole film. Lot's of great acoustic indie music in the film too.

PS. sorry for the italics in my post above. My coding skills are what they should be. :-)

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

And after it rose and got oiled, Jessica Alba pleasured herself.

Closest she'll ever get to something that looks like an Oscar.

ysbadadden-

She's a beauty, but no actress. Too bad she co-starred with World's Biggest Douchebag Dane Cook in Good Luck Chuck. I would've checked it out, as bad as the total package seemed, with anyone but that guy. Spade, Schneider, Chris Tucker....anyone!

I wanted to pick a film that hasn't been mentioned yet and if I was to pick a film based upon just the performance alone I was very impressed with Marion Cotillard's work in La Vie en Rose. I mean, she was Edith Piaf, I've never seen an actor disappear into a role like she did. Amazing...

Concerned Canuck @ 65-

Transformers was well done….Pirates of the Carib? Not so much. Spiderman 3? Not great, but didn’t make me vomit. Best of 2007 hands down was Matt Damon’s final Bourne movie. Well done all in all, except the choppy camera work. Sicko was also not too bad.

I'll agree with ya on the others (didn't see Spiderman 3, though), but what were ya smokin' to make ya say that about Transformers. Not only was it a horribly triangulated script, it also had twenty-somethings as high school kids...the crass commercial placements...and how in the hell could ya follow the action?!? Blue blur fightin' black blur...it made me nauseous. Really!

Or are ya one of those folks- like my kid- who grew up with the cartoons and toys?

what about transformers!

"Children of Men" was not only my best of 2006, but that of just about all the people I knew who saw it. I wondered if the reason it was ignored at Oscar time was that it was so politically clear and pointed.

with two youngsters, we don't get out so much anymore...
and Into the Wild was excellent!
I read the story in the mid-90's and wanted to see how Sean Penn adapted this very intriguing tale.

trank @ 3:

The Coen Brothers', No Country for Old Men with Al Gore's Harvard room mate.

...true...

Nice of you to give away the ending...

Jeffrey Stewart @ 54:

"No Country for Old Men" would have been a really good movie if:
1) The main character's (Josh Brolin's character's) demise would have been on instead of off screen
2) It would have been clear how his killers found and got the drop on him
3) The movie wouldn't have ended 20 minutes before it should have.

I guess I am alone in this, but I though Children of Men was a bit too obvious. Much like Vendetta, the political commentary lacked any subtlety. If you have to come right out and say it in a movie, you are not doing a very good job and it is getting in thh way of the plot. I guess to me all these movies just seem like pail imitations of "1984".

So far I only have 1 2007 movie w/ 5 stars and that was Hot Fuzz, but I think I might have been a bit lenient w/ my rating since Shawn of the Dead was such a joyful surprise when I first watched it.

I do have some hopes for they year as I still have a few new films to watch, like Eastern Promises, but overall this year's movies were pretty dreadful. How many terrible sequels did Hollywood create?

For me it was actually an old film, "The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On"

ferrofluid @ 39:

DRST @ 30:

I haven't seen "Ratatouille," "Sicko" or "Persepolis" yet. Or the Joe Strummer doc. Those are all on the list, though, along with the POW film with Christian Bale the name of which I can't remember right now.

Oh and "Hot Fuzz" I liked. :)

Ratatouille is very good, so is Surf's Up.

The Christian Bale move is Rescue Dawn which was a strong performance by Bale in a way too long movie.

Most critics liked I Am Legend which I thought was just awful. Pans Labyrinth and Children of Men were I thought were ok, not great.

Bests: 3:10 to Yuma, Sweeny Todd, No Country for Old Men, Lives of Others, and just today I saw an stunning performance by Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood.

Juno is really something special. A film that comes out maybe once every 10 years.

It may become a "The Graduate" for my tweener girls.

Such honesty and loyalty from Juno's family.
More like the people we know and love.

From CNN, Huckabee's take on "all things going down" in Pakistan, and the base agrees!

During an event Friday in Pella, Iowa, Huckabee said the crisis sparked by Bhutto's death should lead to a crackdown on illegal immigrants from Pakistan. The Huckabee official told CNN that when he said that, Huckabee was trying to turn attention away from scrutiny of his foreign policy knowledge.

Yeah, Pakistanis flooding our borders, that's a real problem...Jesus

Concerned Canuck @ 81-

…….but….Bourne Supremacy was the best…did you see it?

Sure did, and I liked it a lot! Not the best film that I saw, but it's easily the best of the films ya listed. I like that franchise a lot. The Bourne's may be formulaic, but I like their formula.

I'm Not There, Don't Touch the Axe, I Don't Want To Sleep Alone, Syndromes and a Century, There Will Be Blood, La Vie en Rose, Sweeney Todd, The Man of His Life, Away From Her, Terror's Advocate.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Brand Upon the Brain!, Sicko, The Walker, Michael Clayton, Eastern Promises, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Zodiac, Into the Wild, Coeurs, Knocked Up, Stephanie Daley, The Lookout, One to Another, The Bubble, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Paris Je T'aime, No End in Sight, The Hoax.

Belated Premieres: Out One (1971), Les Amants Reguliers (2005), Mary (2005), Triple Agent (2004).

Here's an effort in VT underway to arrest the President. If you're wondering what you can do, share with your friends discussing the issue this article: It is a legal paper by Jonathan Turley of Georgetown, who specifically addressed the legality of prosecuting a sitting President outside impeachment, outside Congress.

Here is the article citation: [ Turley, Jonathan, "'From Pillar to Post': The Prosecution of American Presidents," 37 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1049 (2000) ]

Suggested Action Items

Here are some ideas, if you're wondering what you can do to help make this happen:

A. Visit Turley's blog and ask him about the VT effort.

B. Share with your friends the Turley law citation.

C. Let your friends know there is a state-led effort to enforce Geneva, outside Congress, outside impeachment.

D. Encourage your friends in other states to monitor the developments, discuss similar efforts in their states, and get feedback. Share those lessons with others, and modify the approaches in other states.

E. Ask your state officials to review the Turley Article, and ask them to provide you with specific reasons why they are not willing to enforce the law, defend the Constitution, or enforce US treaty obligations as their oath of office requires.

F. Ask your state officials, friends, and legal experts to give good reasons why Turley's article "Pillar to Post" would not support the VT effort to arrest the President. What legal problems do they see; or has Turley adequately addressed these excuses for inaction?

I only saw two movies at the theatre this year - the Harry Potter and the Simpsons. Both were great.
I have cable so I've seen parts of "Children of Men" and what I've seen is scary (but Clive Owen is H-O-T-!-!-!).
Was "Idocracy"2007? I've watched it just about EVERY TIME I've seen it on - I love that film! I even told my boss' mother-in-law about it at Xmas!!
I haven't seen "Sicko" but I'll buy it on DVD (I buy Michael Moore movies to help support his work) - probably won't watch it unless the cable goes out (preaching to the choir here). My favorite Michael Moore is still "Canadian Bacon" - I miss John Candy.

Question For Presidential Candidates

Some Presidential candidates are suggesting they think the President should be impeached, but Pelosi has taken it off the table. How about getting the candidates to comment on non-Federal efforts to enforce the law against the President.

Do they have a view on State-led efforts to enforce Geneva against the President, outside Congress outside impeachment?

If there was a way to arrest the President, would anyone bother to notice with the events in Pakistan? The candidates now need to be challenged: What is their plan to timely enforce Geneva inside the US government, not require the States to act to enforce Geneva at the state level. They need a plan, not excuses or diversions.

Also, it would be fun to see how long this link gets passed: Does the issue get raised to the 2008 Presidential candidates? [The link conveniently allows you to quickly share with your friends this information, and the backup information.]

Andy K @ 105:

swarmofkillermonkeys @ 99-

Yipes! I forgot all about Eastern Promises! It's a really enjoyable film, but as the kid and I were discussin' on the way out, it seems like a chapter in a book that will never be finished.

3:10 To Yuma was very good, too. I've been a fan of Bale's since he was in Empire Of The Sun. I don't think I've ever seen him turn in a bad performance. I liked Crowe in this one, too.

The Ocean's franchise stepped it back up this year. Ocean's 13 was better than Ocean's 12, but not quite as good as 11 (because, to borrow from Nigel Tufnel, it's 11). Casey Affleck and Scott Caan steal this one from the other 9 regs, though Pacino and (still a woman I'd like to get to know a lot better, if ya know what I mean) Ellen Barkin are pretty good in it.

That's good to hear! I wondered as I just saw the ad yesterday -- visiting family w/cable. Hidalgo, and perhaps the LOTR trilogy aside, Viggo can be a scary good actor. At least I sure liked him in The Indian Runner (a movie that was so good, I refuse to believe Sean Penn had anything to do with it).

And after I saw Unforgiven, I've a soft spot for more thoughtful westerns I must admit. Or heck, even just extremely well-acted westerns like Tombstone...

Good reminder that I'm TWO Oceans behind now, I'll add #13 and Idiocracy to the list.

Andy K @ 107:

I was about to disagree with your appraisal of Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg’s best movie ), but I'l be damned if I don't agree! Keep in mind that I haven't seen A History Of Violence, though.

Eastern Promises is better than A History of Violence because Viggo Mortensen's performance is comparatively superior.

Moose, have you seen The Darjeeling Limited? I loved the cinematography, but I wish Wes Anderson would be a bit less...Wes Anderson, for a change.

Wes Anderson is incredible and on its own The Darjeeling Limited is still a sensually pleasing movie but pales in comparison to his other work. The problem is Wes set the bar impossibly high for himself with movies like Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. His distinct style and penchant for using the same actors makes it hard to separate one movie from the next. He'll be back... he's too talented. I think it would be nice to see him make a movie where he wasn't involved in the screenwriting.

Kurt Loder is a hack and partly responsible from turning an entire generation of kids into consumerist zombies living in a reverse matrix. Kurt Loder sucks, MTV sucks, The Hills suck, The Real World sucks, Fall Out Boy Sucks, My Chemical Romance Sucks,Linkin Park sucks. Please, someone in this new generation....DO SOMETHING THAT MIGHT MAKE MY GRANDMOTHER OFFENDED!!!!!

Children of Men(which came out last year so really shouldn't count but WTF)
Michael Clayton
Charlie Wilson's War
Superbad
Zodiac

1. THE ASSASINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
2. Zodiac
3. This is England
4. Gone, Baby Gone
5. No Country for Old Men
6. Eastern Promises
7. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
8. No Country for Old Men
9. Rescue Dawn
8. Bourne Ultimatum
10. Reign Over Me/Stardust

Ooops!!!
s/b "Saw almost 30 '07 releases ..."

Here's my top movies for the year (...also note that these are about the only movies I've had the time to see in the theatres this year)

1) Enchanted -- saw this with my kids and my sister's kids and we all loved it (great music, fun plot and enough Disneyfied grown-up humour to make it engaging for all involved from ages 5-40)

2) Bourne Ultimatum -- beautiful cinematography and perfectly paranoid resolution to the latest anti-hero/hero flick (totally smoked the Spiderman trilogy for that...)

3) Ratatouille -- Pixar does it again...need I say more?

4) Namesake -- As a namesake myself, I loved this novel and the transition to film was surprisingly elegant (the only downside was moving the film location from Boston to NY...wtf?!!?)

...and the biggest disappointment of the year to the Order of the Phoenix, the latest entry in the increasingly challenging Harry Potter series. These novels are too dense and complex to translate to film completely, but all the directors, with the exception of Alfonso Cuaron and the Prisoner of Azkaban, have felt the need to pack more action than emotion into the stories. I do have to say that this one was head and shoulders above the Goblet of Fire in terms of plotting and pacing (I especially liked Imelda Staunton as Prof. Umbridge -- just the right level of unctuousness...), but the trio of actors in the leads are still too cardboard (and I get the sense that Rupert Grint -- "Ron Weasley" -- is totally walking thru and wishes he could get off the ride...)

Hot Fuzz was one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. Children of Men was also excellent. I rented it hoping it was the book I had read years earlier. It was and I was amazed at how good the movie was.

No accounting for taste. Anyone who voted for Children Of Men
as best of anything really should question themselves. The people
in the theater with me were laughing at the wrong scenes and I had
to agree. I saw he movie based on the recommendation of this site.

Children of Men

The Lives of Others

American Gangster

Aliens vs. Predator Requiem :)

Paprika Though it was made in 2006, it didn't get released in the US until this year.

Letters From Iwo Jima, Clint Eastwood's masterpiece that gave another view of what became one of the greatest battles during World War 2..

Tommy @ 89:

And btw, what exactly was Clive Owens' day job in that movie anyway?

He worked at the Water Authority, I believe. You can see the logo of the building when he walks through the security checkpoint at the beginning.

Ruthless People - thanks! I'll have to make a note for when I go to the video store, "Rescue Dawn"

My list of Best of 2007

1. Charlie Wilson's War

2. Children of Men

3. The Lives of Others

4. Mr. Bean's Holiday (Comedy).

Top ten for me:
1) Sicko (far and away the best and most emotional)
2) An American Gangster (An amazing year for Denzel)
3) The Debaters (Ditto)
4) Michael Clayton
5) The Bourne Ultimatum
6) Knocked Up
7) Charlie Wilson's War
8) The first 90% of No Country for Old Men (I'd like to see a contest for directors to finish up this should-be classic that was ruined by this ending--I don't care if it did follow the novel faithfully--the ending sucked!)
9) Eastern Promises
10) Superbad (I laughed so hard, I had to go buy some Depends)
I haven't seen Juno and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead yet; so, I realize my list is invalid.

As good as any of those listed above were, there were at least half a dozen "indies" that were as good, if not better. You just have to get your weeeee brains arounds the "star power" in the movie.Give me life's realities over much of the sensationalism & bullshit that you see in the high profile movies.