Cavalcade of Awesome

Well, 2007 is over and the Oscar nominees are being decided as we speak (the 2008 Oscars are supposed to air on February 24). When the nominees are finally announced, I’ll be sure to let you know and I might even give a little review of how the Oscar committee did like I did for last year’s Oscars nominations. Did I get to see everything I wanted to see this year? No. Of course not. My wife and I love movies and there are several movies we missed this year. However, we did see a lot of movies in 2007.

In Dec 2006, I decided to keep track of all the movies released in 2007 that I got to see. Whether it was in the theater or on DVD. I started this because I would read all of these “Best Movies of the Year” articles and wanted to write my own. However, by the end of the year, I’d forgotten all the movies I’d seen except for a select few. So, I decided to keep a running record. I set up a white board in my cubicle and wrote down every movie I saw throughout the year. I called it “The Movie Board”. People would come over and check it out to see if I’d add any new ones over the weekend. It was fairly popular. Well, now that the year is over, let’s take a look at the final tally. Remember, these are only the movies released in the 2007 calendar year. My wife and I saw many more movies, these are just movies released within the current year.

There it is above, The Movie Board (click the picture for a bigger view). According to its all knowing whiteness, I saw 57 movies last year that were released in 2007. Well, the board actually says 58, but I mistakenly put Knocked Up twice. And, well, crap, now that I look at it, the first two movies, Blood Diamond and The Good Sheperd, were released in December 2006, so that reduces the list to 55. That’s about 4.58 movies a month. Just over 1 a week. Not bad. That doesn’t include the older movies Steph and I rented and/or own that we watched.

So now it’s time to peruse this list and see what my top 5 favorite movies are for 2007. Notice I’m not saying these are the 5 best movies of 2007. “Best” is subjective. I’m not telling you one movie is better than another for whatever reason. Sure, I could wax philosophic about my favorite movie saying it’s the most important movie of the year. I could talk about how deep and profound the script is, how it tackles many issues on several different levels. I could discuss how lush and royal the colors and scenery are. I may even delve into the hearty tone, smart characterization and sweeping scope using flowery words that mean little but sound like I know what I’m talking about. The truth, I really have no idea what I’m talking about. You know it and I know it. The following five movies are the ones that entertained me the most. Period. I’m letting you know so that you may enjoy them too. Shall we begin?

Here they are in no particular order:

3:10 to Yuma– What a really good movie. Russell Crowe is a captured outlaw and Christian Bale is a poor rancher who is somewhat railroaded into helping escort Crowe’s character to the departing prison train of the title. Wonderful performances by Crowe and Bale as well as strong appearances by Peter Fonda and Ben Foster. Check this one out, seriously.

Stardust– I wanted to see this in the theater because it looked fun, but I was surprised at how good overall it was. It’s a wild and crazy fantasy movie with many characters and a plot that is really hard to describe. I’ll try: A guy is in love with a girl who doesn’t love him. He promises to fetch her a fallen star if she would love him back. He goes to find the fallen star and his adventures in trying to get the star back to the girl is the main adventure. Such fun adventures with a lot of magic, witches, pirates, sword fights and danger. I highly recommend this. How old is Michelle Pfeiffer, by the way? She is still unbelievably beautiful in this movie (quick trip to IMDB tells me she’s 50 years old…WOW). See it.

Bourne Ultimatum– This end to the first trilogy (hopefully there will be more) is a fitting one. Bourne returns to put a stop to the government’s dogged pursuit of him and what he knows. Damon was born (pun intended) to play this role. Exotic locales, unbelievable action sequences and smart dialogue make this one as good as the first Bourne movie.

Ocean’s 13– I love these movies, even the second one which most people hated. This one returns Ocean’s group to Vegas to take on Casino mogul William Bank (played by Al Pacino). For me, it doesn’t get much better than the hijinx and shenanigans the Ocean boys find themselves in. Hopefully there will be an Ocean’s 14.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix– Each movie is better than the last. Not much else to say. As these kids get older and the suspense and tension are ratched up, so is the action and thrill. Great performances, great movie.

Okay there’s the top five. How about some Honorable Mentions since I found it really hard to narrow down the above list? The below movies are also really good and worthy of your attention.

Enchanted– This was so close to getting on the list. This movie is essentially Disney parodying itself. And who better to do it? Amy Adams is adorable as a cartoon princess who is sent into our world by her wicked stepmother. James Marsden and Patrick Dempsey are really good as her suitors. I was surprised I liked this movie as much as I did. Very funny, very cute, lots of fun.

Mr. Brooks– Wow. This movie isn’t for everyone. Kevin Costner is a respected member of the community but also a sought after serial killer. Dane Cook discovers his identity and wants in on the action. Eerie, thrilling, scary. Costner’s performance is his best in a long time. Look for a good turn by William Hurt as Costner’s partner.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age– Sequel to 1998’s Elizabeth, Cate Blanchett returns to her Oscar winning role as Queen Elizabeth of England. Clive Owen joins the cast as Sir Walter Raleigh. Very good performances, this sequel is actually many times better than the original (which was only okay for me). Great depiction of England’s victory over the Spanish Armada. Give it a chance.

So, those are my favorite choices for this past movie season of 2007. Hope you saw some really good ones this year and I hope 2008 is even better.

Stay tuned, I’m working on a worst movies of 2007 list that’ll be posted in the next day or two. Oh, and yes, I will change the Christmas decorations up top and put something new up this weekend.

See you in the theater!

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This entry was posted on January 10, 2008 at 4:18 pm and is filed under Academy Awards, Movie Board, movies, pop culture, reviews with tags Harry Potter, Movie Board, movie reviews, movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.