Rob Talks 2007 Movies

Movies
released in 2007 that I’ve seen:

 

"28
Weeks Later"  -  I was somewhat disappointed with this
movie.  Was hoping it would be more like
28 Days Later (investing more in the characters, and all that), but ended up being a
not-too-interesting actioner.

"300"
– Beautiful to look at.  Not much
more.  But, oh so beautiful to look
at.  Recommend it on that alone.  Did I mention it was beautiful to look at?

"3:10
To Yuma" – I quite enjoyed this western.  I’m a sucker for westerns, if they have any
meat to them.  This one was like the ribs
at Swiss Chalet.

"American
Gangster" – I watched it. 
And then I stopped watching it when it was over.  That’s about it. Well-made, but ultimately
disappointing.  I found it to be a very
flat movie, in that there were no peaks and valleys for the action to move
into.

"The
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" – I
thought this a was a good movie.  One of
my favourites of the year, actually. 
Maybe top ten?  Sure, this is my 1^st
Top Ten.

"Atonement"
– This one left me wanting.  Started out
okay, but by the time the story split into two separate locations, I thought it
lost its steam.  And by steam I mean both
sexual intensity (which was there early on) and dramatic interest.

"Balls
Of Fury" – I caught myself watching this with my son, who this
year is very into table tennis.  I told myself
I’d only watch a bit of it to see if it was as bad as I expected it to be.  I ended up watching the whole thing.  It’s the only comedy I can think of where I
didn’t laugh out loud once, yet still didn’t absolutely hate.  Weird effect on me, this one.

"Before
The Devil Knows You're Dead"  - Not what I’d call a happy movie.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman is great, and Ethan
Hawke is surprisingly not irritating. 
Pretty bleak, but an enjoyable romp into that bleakness.

"Black
Snake Moan" – Really enjoyed this.  Maybe another of my top ten.  And it’s not a favourite just because Ricci
spends much of the time locked in a house in nothing but a tank top and
panties.  Great performances all
around.  Even JT was good.

"Blades
Of Glory" – When will I tire of Will Farrell?  Well, I tired of him around the time of
Talledega Nights.  Disliked that movie a
whole lot.  But this one has plenty of
funny moments.  And that’s all you’re
looking for, right?

"The
Bourne Ultimatum" – I’m a fan of the Bourne movies and this
one was maybe my favourite?  I honestly
don’t know.  I’ll say it’s a top ten
movie.  That’s 3 top tens so far.  Let’s keep track of that.

"Breach"
– Another good movie. Like the western genre, I’m also a sucker for a good
espionage movie and this has enough going for it to easily keep my
interest.  Does that sound like a good
endorsement?  Not really, maybe.  But I quite liked this movie.

"Bug"
– Didn’t really know much about this going into it, other than Ashley Judd is
in it and it’s directed by William Friedken. This movie about obsession and OCD
grabbed me and didn’t let go.  There’s a
tag you can put on the poster! 

"Control"
– I wasn’t much of a Joy Division fan back when they were actually a band.  I became more of a fan when I watched 24 Hour
Party People (a movie I’d recommend to anyone). 
This is a very good bio-pic, lovely to look at, with strong performances
and conveys a very strong sense of time and place.  Recommended.

"Die
Hard 4" – You know. 
It’s Die Hard.  You try to look
beyond the implausibility and just enjoy the ride.  Well, those implausibles were pretty hard to
look beyond, but I managed. Lots of fun.

"Eastern
Promises" – So, you’ve learned I’m a sucker for good westerns
and good espionage.  Add Russian mafia to
that list.  I’m going to say this is in
my top ten, but it might fall out of that list if many more below make it.  4^th Top Ten.

"Epic
Movie" – Ugh.

"Gone
Baby Gone" – What a nice surprise. I wasn’t expecting this to
be as good as it was.  I was disappointed
in the ending, but thought it was great otherwise.  I’ll give it Top Ten.  5^th top ten.

"Grindhouse"
– Okay, obviously I’m going to have to re-calculate my top ten because this is
definitely on there too.  And very close
to the top.  Was this a 2007
release?  Guess so, because the list says
so.  I loved this movie going
experience.  Every moment rocked!!  Wow, thinking back on it, I’m tingly. 6^th
Top Ten

"Hairspray
The Movie" – Tried to watch all of this, but couldn’t get
through it.  Tried to like John
Travolta’s character, but couldn’t get through it.  Tried to like this movie, but couldn’t get
through it.

"Hannibal
Rising"  - An okay
telling of the formative years of Dr. Hannibal Lecter.  Pretty standard as far as explaining how a
genius cannibal comes into being.

"Hot
Fuzz" – another fun movie from the Shaun of the Dead boys.  I did find it a bit too long, but otherwise is
lots of fun.

"I
Am Legend" – I didn’t like the
super-human-strength-and-super-fast zombies or whatever they were.  I wished they weren’t so dangerous
individually, but that their danger came from their numbers.  I liked pretty much everything about this
movie though.

"I'm
Not There" – Really wanted to like this, but ended up turning
it off before it finished.  Which is
weird because I was ‘kind of’ enjoying it as I watched it, but at one point I
finally just gave up on it.  Maybe it was
that I was watching it late night one Friday night and I was over-tired?  Great performances, but just too non-linear
for my liking, at that time that I watched it. 
Maybe if I’d seen it in other circumstances, I’d be raving about it?

"The
Invasion" – An slightly-better-than-ordinary re-telling of
Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  I found
myself caught up in the tension a few times, but overall, nothing really
fantastic.  I’d give it thumbs up.

"Joe
Strummer" – The Future Is Unwritten.  A great bio of Joe Strummer of The
Clash.  Seeing that Joe Strummer is a
musical idol of mine, I was really glad to see this film.  Well done and made me crush on Strummer even
more.  Sigh.

"Juno"
– Let me voice my dissident opinion on this movie:  I did not cream my jeans for this movie.  I found the world they lived in to be far too
cartoony.  I was expecting something that
resembled realism, and I found something that resembled glibness.

"The
Kingdom" – I really liked this movie.  Great performances all around.  Doesn’t give a very hopeful outlook for holy
war ever ending.  I’m gonna give it a Top
Ten. 7^th Top Ten

"Knocked
Up" – I really enjoyed this movie when I saw it, but every
time I think of it since, I seem to recall liking it less and less.  Weird sensation, that.   C’mon, Rob! 
Remember how much you liked it.  I
did!  I did like it!

"Michael
Clayton" – I really liked the performances in this movie, but
the action of the movie was pretty pedestrian. 
Tom Wilkinson was, I thought, wonderful. 
The flick doesn’t paint lawyers in a very happy light.

"Music
& Lyrics" – Didn’t care much for this.

"No
Country For Old Men" – Definitely Top Ten, and either One or
Two, depending on my mood.  Fantastic on
all counts.  Loved the ending.  Loved how the ending puzzled and bothered so
many. 8^th Top Ten

"Ocean's
13" – I liked it, but I hope this is the last in the
franchise.

"Pirates
Of The Caribbean 3" – I liked it, but I hope this is the last
in the franchise.

"Shoot
Em Up" – Watching this in the cinema, I didn’t know what to
make of it, but I was pretty sure I didn’t care for it.  Way too over the top.  Watching it again on the television, I
enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. 
What’s that mean?  That means go
home and watch it.  Don’t expect much and
you might just enjoy it.

"Sicko"
– Makes me glad to be in Canada,
paying huge taxes for a health care system that’s barely working.  Compared to the US system, it’s heavenly.  Another pointed doc from Michael Moore.

"The
Simpsons Movie" – Funnier than I expected it to be.  Didn’t really offer much to warrant the big
screen treatment though.

"Spiderman
3" – I liked it, but I find it’s getting boring re-hashing the
“with great power comes great sequels” formula. 
Let’s let Peter Parker put his troubled soul aside and let’s just see a
great kick-ass super-hero action movie.

"Superbad"
– Funny.  Silly.  The only thing keeping it from being the
ultimate teen sex flick was the lack of nudity. 
If there was some nudity in this film, it would be forever classic.  You know, like Porkys.

"Sweeney
Todd Movie" – I don’t like musicals.  I loved, loved, loved this musical.  Depending on my mood, this ranks either one
or two in my Top Ten. 9^th Top Ten.

"The
Ten" - Here’s a weird little film that may have escaped a lot of people’s
notice.  I saw a trailer for this last
year, and the trailer was weird and funny enough for me to take notice.  Found the movie and watched it.  Lots of fun. 
Basically it’s ten short films, each one dealing with a different one of
the Ten Commandments.  Wynona Ryder has
sex with a ventriloquist doll.

"This
Is England" -  A great little
movie from England.  About a 12 year old loner kid in the late 70’s
burgeoning ska punk England
who finds companionship with a group of older skinheads.  Highly recommend you seek this out.

"Transformers
The Movie " – I was never into the Transformers. 
Don’t think I’ve watched even a minute of the cartoons (they were
cartoons, right?).  So, coming into this
movie blind, I have to say I rather enjoyed it for what it was.  That’s enough on that.

"Zodiac"
- The 10^th of my Top Ten
movies.  Hey, what’d’ya know.  I didn’t even have to go back and reconfigure
the top ten.  This is a great movie,
wonderful atmosphere, great intrigue, lots of troubled characters and takes its
time to let it all unfold.  Watch it.

 

My Top Ten movies I’ve seen that were released in 2007:

in order from Ten to One

 

10 Bourne Ultimatum

9  Before
The Devil Knows You’re Dead

8  Eastern
Promises

7  Assassination
of Jesse James

6  The
Kingdom

5  Gone
Baby Gone

4  Grindhouse

3  Zodiac

2  Sweeney Todd

1  No
Country For Old Men