January 10, 2008
Duff's Favorite Movies 2007
I went to 57 movies in the theater in 2007 (full list here). (Technically more if you count the ones I went to twice, which I don't.) I'd say that's higher than recent years but certainly not my BEST year.
The BEST movies I saw in 2007 were:
1. Grindhouse
2. Juno
3. A Mighty Heart
4. No Country for Old Men
5. American Gangster
6. Control
7. Blackout
8. In the Valley of Elah
9. The Bourne Ultimatum
10. Gone Baby Gone
If I were to add to that list, the movies I ENJOYED the most in 2007, I'd have to add:
- Music & Lyrics
- Hot Fuzz
- Sweeney Todd
- JUMP!
If I were to add a foreign films category, I'd have to add:
- The Lives of Others
- Pan's Labyrinth
- La Vie en Rose
I saw a bunch of bio pics this year, some done traditionally ("La Vie en Rose" - Edith Piaf; "Control" - Ian Curtis) as well as less traditional ones ("The Last King of Scotland" - Idi Amin [not REALLY a bio pic but feels like one]; "I'm Not There" - Bob Dylan). I saw 7 not-likely-to-see-these-elsewhere flicks at the Chicago Film Festival and some '70s flicks on the big screen thanks to the Chicago Humanities Festival.
I saw great performances in movies that I didn't love (George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"; Claire Danes in "Evening"; my boyfriend Joaquin Phoenix in "We Own the Night"; Will Smith in "I Am Legend") and great performances in movies I thought were good but just didn't beat out others on the lists above (Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War"; Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" [as well as in aforementioned "Gone Baby Gone"; Casey Affleck was really a standout performer for me this year!]; Viggo Mortenson in "Eastern Promises"). I saw sweet movies that weren't great but were still enjoyable ("Dan in Real Life"; "Catch and Release"; "Stardust"). I went to sequels ("28 Weeks Later"; "Pirates 3"; "Oceans 13"). I really liked a couple documentaries ([the aforementioned] JUMP! and Helvetica) and it was good to see Alien-like sci fi return to the theaters ("Sunshine") as well as Westerns, dang I've missed those ("3:10 to Yuma"; aforementioned "Assassination of...").
I did NOT like some movies that were highly praised by others:
- Margot at the Wedding (worst movie of the year)
- The Lookout
- Knocked Up
- The Walker (second worst of the year)
And thought some were OK, but didn't live up to the hype:
- Waitress
- Once
- Transformers
There are reviews up on Snip, you can search by name or sort by "watchin".
And 2008 has started off quite nicely with "Atonement" being a movie that would have been very high on my 2007 list had I seen it before the end of the year.
Posted by Duff - Say What? - Permalink | filed under 2007, All Faves, FaveMovies
January 02, 2007
Duff's Favorite Movies 2006
[originally posted at Snip]
By far, the best film I saw this year was "The Departed". For drama, I also highly recommend "Inside Man" "The Queen" and I personally loved "Marie Antoinette". For a smaller film "Come Early Morning" was very well done. For comedy "Scoop" and "Clerks 2" were both quite funny, in their own ways. "Casino Royale" was the Best Bond, perhaps ever. And "The Prestige" was a good movie about just how horrifically awful human beings can be. So you'd have to keep that in mind, should you choose to see it. There were other movies I liked also.
I'm pretty good at not going to movies I can tell I'm not going to like, in my old age. I'd have to say "Last Kiss" (yuck) and "Match Point" ("Scoop" is so much better!) were my least favorite movies in the theater this year and "The DaVinci Code" was about how I expected: not good, but not as bad as I had heard. Average. Middling.
For Keanu lovers like myself, there wasn't a damn thing wrong with "The Lakehouse." You can see the whole list of what I saw here or you can view Snip by category "watchin"; although I oddly forgot to write up a LOT of the concerts I saw, I pretty consistently reported back on movies.
And I've already seen my first movie of 2007 although I haven't written it up yet. Soon! :)
Posted by Duff - Say What? - Permalink | filed under 2006, All Faves, FaveMovies