In general, or as we’ve become more, *cough* sage, we’ve come to find Top 10s very arbitrary and in a way, superficial. Don’t you think the qualification of art is rather shallow?
This is a bit of a familiar rant to some, but art isn’t made within the constraints of a 12-month vacuum. Release dates are arbitrary, random and or monetarily premeditated; all of which have nothing to with ranking them numerically.
That said, and with the knowledge of being aware our dislike for measuring oranges against apples, here’s a list of things we enjoyed an awful lot (or in some cases didn’t enjoy) in 2007 most of it in no begrudging order. Also of note: Top 10s are always in flux, there’s still a few things we haven’t seen yet (though we’ve seen most; coming to mind is, “Starting Out In The Evening“; which the NYTimes seems to be all bonered up about). Essentially these lists are subject to change anytime we damn please. We’ve written about most of these films ad nauseum, but we just wanted this out there for the record. Links to our reviews are all within.
For further reference on things we liked this year, please consult, The Playlist’s Top Soundtracks Of The Year and The Break-Out Performances Of The Year pieces among many on our blog.
Movies: Films We Enjoyed More Than Most or Distinctive Enough To Leave An Impression
01. “There Will Be Blood“
The Coen Brothers film is pitch-perfect and flawless; the better movie on paper, but Paul Thomas Anderson’s astounding oil epic is a jaw-dropping, creative left turn, and a powerfully unnerving experience with a deep resonance that endures long after the film is over. Daniel Day-Lewis is monumental. PTA has finally become the master-class director that his early flawed films promised. The ending slightly caves in on itself, but it’s a testament to the film’s strength, that it overcomes any unraveling via a stunning final sequence that leaves you awed.
02. “No Country For Old Men“
The best film the Coen Brothers have ever made? Quite possibly. As dark and bleak as the film is their sense of twisted humor is there all along. The cast is stellar and Josh Brolin is a revelation. And that ending – the film’s mission statement if you’ve been paying attention all along – is abrupt and breathtaking.
03. “The Diving Bell & The Butterfly“
Vibrant, imaginative, soaring and beautiful. After only three films (all of them remarkably good), teddy bear Julian Schnabel makes his masterpiece.
04.“I’m Not There“
A fragmented kaleidoscope and fractured prism through the many faces of Bob Dylan; a cineaste’s wetdream.
05. “Margot At The Wedding“
Family behaved brutally in this comedy drama about a weekend wedding trip where irascible families eviscerate one another with vituperative revenge and long-held grudges. Painfully real, yet painfully funny.
06. “Persepolis“
Whimsical and magical are trite platitudes, but damn if this movie leave us floating on a cloud despite all the tears and hardships the characters endure.
07. “The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward John Ford“
Haunting and measured. A gorgeous score with sumptuous visuals and Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck have never been so understated yet brimming with intensity. Long, but rewarding and a film that resonates long after its gone.
08. “Broken English”
Something about this charming little indie stayed with us. Parker Posey’s most beguiling role to date. You couldn’t help but having an outpouring of empathy for her.
09. “Michael Clayton“
A ’70s like thriller that refused to round off its points and edges. Instead, it allowed itself to meander and linger in the best ways possible. George Clooney doesn’t do his schtick thankfully and the always-great Tom Wilkinson is typically fantastic.
10. “The Killer of Sheep“ (re-released, first theatrical run)
Charles Burnett’s long-lost debut finally came into theaters this year. A raw, but beautiful slice of life tale of growing up poor in a Los Angeles ghetto, ‘Sheep’ plays out with a dreamy lyricism and poeticism we’ve rarely seen in this kind of setting.
Honorable mention: Juno, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, The King Of Kong, Fay Grim, Knocked Up, Sunshine (under appreciated), 3:10 to Yuma, The Savages, The Hottest State, Gone Baby Gone, 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days [ed. need to write the review to this one]
Most Enjoyable Documentary Of The Year – “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters”
A rivalry about two adult nerds warring over the bragging rights of the highest score for the old-school arcade game “Donkey Kong.” Sound loserish? Absolutely. Tedious and for videogame-heads only? Absolutely-fucking-not. As our infrequent contributor Mr. Snruff said, “you can’t write characters this good!” There’s a whole level of drama, manipulation, back-handedness that you would never expect from this world, but christ is this documentary good. Go run and rent it now.
Underrated Mainstream Movie Of the Year
Who woulda thunk “3:10 To Yuma” would be so excellent? We saw it on a lark to fill the time, but it turned out to be a thrilling remake with fantastic performances from Christian Bale, Russell Crowe and scene-stealer Ben Foster; not to mention a great orchestral score. Don’t count out James Mangold’s (“Walk The Line”) directorial prowess.
Most Overlooked Film Of The Year
“Sunshine” – Ok, maybe not the most, but we thought this Kubrickian sci-fi meditation was an amazing experience. Granted, it might not have resonated as deeply as we’d have liked afterwards, but we feel like it sort of got the shaft.
Most Annoying First Fifteen Minutes Of A Film That Threatened To Derail It Entirely:
Man, thank god screenwriter Diablo Cody either a) ran out of steam or b) was reigned in, because “Juno’s” overly-written, hip teen-lingo dialogue at the beginning of the film was obnoxious and threatened to ruin the picture, but thankfully was jettisoned rather quickly. Rain Wilson is also a completely annoying one trick pony. Thank god, he’s barely in the film.
Some Simple Props (Sort-of):
Eastern Promises – Not as good as “A History Of Violence” overall, but it does include some great moments. The sauna scene in particular packs an amazing visceral punch, and Viggo Mortensen is unsurprisingly fantastic once again. The unique hand of David Cronenberg does leaves an impression, but the swift economy of his storytelling is such that the film seems episodic – almost like a well-made movie of the week. It doesn’t help that the story shits the bed in the last act and leaves a lot of narrative threads dangling.
Most Laboriously Overrated Film Of The Year – Aka I Didn’t Realize There Would Be Math Involved
Zodiac: Surprisingly, David Fincher’s paean to term papers and fact checking ended up on a lot of best of top 10 lists. We were a bit shocked since this arduous and obdurately tedious and drawn-out film about the 1970s San Francisco mystery serial killer was like taking ambien in a pillow factory while studying for the GMATs.
Film We Enjoyed That Everyone Else Seemed To Hate
Lars And the Real Girl: Almost everyone felt that the film was cloying in its attempts at being overly-sincere and therefore became gaudy and saccharine. We liked it, but it also wasn’t a film we would argue too much about the universal distaste for it. You can’t argue too much with Ryan Gosling as an actor though, but sure yes, maybe he blinks too much in this thing.
Music: We were going to write about all these, but then we decided this post was long enough…
(honestly after #3 this is pretty much arbitrary order, but we figure two or three people might give a small rat’s ass about what albums we enjoyed this year).
1. Lavender Diamond – Imagine Our Love
2. Blonde Redhead – 23
3. The Besnard Lakes – …Are The Darkhorse
4. Au Revoire Simone – The Bird Of Music
5. Loudon Wainwright III – Strange Weirdos
6. Dean & Britta – Back Numbers
7. Sly Stone Reissues
8. Leonard Cohen reissues
9. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
10. R.Kelly – Double Up
11. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha
12. The National – Boxer
13. Florida Funk: Funk 45s From The Alligator State
14. El Kinto –Complete Collection reissues
15. Betty Davis resissues
16. Sandro Perri – Tiny Cities
17. Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth reissue
18. Lucinda Williams – West
19. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – The Assassination of Jesse James OST
20. The One AM Radio – This Too Will Pass
Some Random Songs We Loved: Ones We Can Remember
Betty Davis – ” In The Meantime”
Band of Horses – “Detlef Schrempf” (we pretty much dislike you if you
don’t like this song)
LCD Soundsytem – “All My Friends” (pretty much the same)
LCD Soundsystem- “Someone Great” (pretty much the same)
John Cale – “All My Friends” (LCD cover)
Panda Bear “Pony Tail”
Loudon Wainwright III “Grey In LA”
Feist – “La Meme Histoire” (from “Paris Je T’aime”)
Wilco – “Either Way”
Jesse Harris – “Morning in a Strange City (Cafe)” (instrumental from “The Hottest State”)
Dean & Britta – “The Sun is Still Sunny”
Best Record We Got In 2007 That Actually Came Out In Late 2006
Beach House – Beach House
Best Record We Got In 2007 That Actually Comes Out In 2008
The Magnetic Fields – Distortion (which sounds like the Fields’ House of Tomorrow EP meets the Jesus & Mary Chain, with a touch of Beach Boys and Merritt’s later work).
Best Score Within A Movie (not just to listen to on disc afterwards)
“There Will Be Blood” – Jonny Greenwood (we still can’t get over how unnerving and claustrophobic it is within the film. Unstoppable)
Worst Movie of the Year
“Redacted”
“Southland Tales”
Both of these films couldn’t be more different. Their commonalities? An aggressive commitment to being fucking godawful.
Disappointing
Ghostface Killah – The Big Doe Rehab – Not quite hotfire this year.
Worst Album Cover
Bjork – Volta – Like children vomitting their crayons onto a Mr. Potato Head. What the hell was she thinking? What a joke.
