Check it. I was browsing through the Onion's AV Club the other day, and I had to unplug my internets after a few minutes. It made me so unbelievably sad. It's like getting shot at point-blank range with bullets of negativity. Every column is named something unnecessarily pessimistic like "The Hater," or "What We're Barely Putting Up With This Week." Awww... it sounds like some lonely, disaffected hipsters need hugs. I guess destructiveness is the inevitable byproduct of having nothing to believe in.
Anyway... where was I. Ah, yes. Film reviews. The AV Club writers each listed their ten fave movies from '07. Since the bloodstream at 2log isn't saturated with PBR, pretention, and Xanax, I thought our top 10 films of '07 might offer a more interesting perspective. Whomsoever takes an interest in movies, please throw in your 2 bits for your fave films over the past year. Here's mine:
Juno: By far the greatest movie of the past year. In every way, it's a better version of Knocked Up. Funnier in the funny parts, more sentimental in the sentimental parts, and consistently smarter. Ellen Page is a far wittier and more talented lead than Seth Rogen. All around, it makes Knocked Up look like a pathetic failure.
Knocked Up: Uproarious and amazing. Could somebody start a TV channel that just points a camera at Seth Rogen 24/7.
Casino Royale: The intro theme? Better than diamonds. By the time you're at the crane scene in Madagascar, you know that the Bond franchise has received a defibrillator blast.
Enchanted: First off... Amy Adams deserves parades for her performance. Not a parade singular. Parades. Disney's Princess franchise is one of the most amazing tropes in our culture. This film manages to poke fun at this trope relentlessly, while also reasserting its importance.
The Darjeeling Limited: I don't understand why I liked this movie, but I did. The first Wes Anderson movie I liked. Unfortunately, seeing it made "The Life Aquatic" look bad, so Wes is now 1-3, with Bottle Rocket remaining unseen.
The Simpsons Movie: "Actually good" was the review I heard most often. It was no South Park movie, but it wasn't trying to be. Just high-quality fun.
Ratatouille: If you don't like this movie, you don't have a heart or you don't have a brain.
No Country for Old Men: Probably lives up to the hype.
Live Free or Die Hard: Yippee Ki Yay
I'm Not There: Good enough for me to enjoy it.
Honorable Mention to Superbad, Hot Fuzz, Control, and whatever incarnation of Bourne we're at.
Just saw Juno and was a bit disappointed. The heart of the movie was excellent. This includes the parts with Juno's family, with Michael Cera, and with Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. And of course Ellen Page as Juno herself. I hated the beginning and the end, though.
Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight from the Office) was awful as a pharmacist here. I love when he goes over the top as Dwight--somehow it suits that character. When he did the same thing here, though, he almost ruined the movie for me from the start.
My main problem with the movie was the soundtrack. Wall to wall, it was a sort of breathy, not-quite-singing, smug-in-its-own-awkward-insecurity, quasi-folk-melodic stuff that makes my blood boil. (I believe the ancestor of this type of music is the Velvet Underground's "I'm Sticking with You," also used in the film. I appreciate that many find this type of song "cute" or "sweet," but it always strikes me as cloying.) Without giving away too much, the ending goes for a big emotional payoff using one of these songs, and it just didn't work for me because I find the music so stupid.
So there's my ante for the pot. Before you call me a 2-bit hack, recall that retail value for my contributions is a mean 28. I don't think I can make a full best of list, because I doubt I've seen 10 new movies this year. Favorites included No Country for Old Men, Darjeeling Limited, and Once.