My List of the Best and Worst Movies I Saw Released in 2007

Best of 2007:

1. No Country for Old Men

Look, I'm sorry that I have to follow every other critic in the world in putting this in my number one slot, but it deserves it. This movie is just that awesome. It tells a money-murder-mayhem story that the Coen Brothers have been telling since Blood Simple now perfected. Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem deserve every single award I’m sure they will get for this movie. I commend the Coen’s bravery in this film. They took some chances and did some things that I’m sure made their studio execs (and the oldies sitting in front of me in the theater) cringe, but who cares about them, right? I went into the theater expecting a unique experience from the Coens and came out honored to have witnessed a breathtaking masterpiece of a film.

2. Ratatouille

I absolutely loved this movie. Pixar and Brad Bird did it again. They made a movie that looks incredible and is funny and moving. The whole movie builds to a payoff scene that sent chills throughout my body and was one of the best scenes I’ve seen in a long time.

3. The Darjeeling Limited

I disagree with the haters. Wes Anderson is awesome. Yeah, some of his themes, subjects and character arcs are similar through all his movies. I don’t really care. I think his movies are great (especially The Life Aquatic but mega especially Rushmore) and The The Darjeeling Limited is no exception. I sat there with a smile on my face from the moment I saw Bill Murray in the cab to the moment the yellow credits started to roll. This movie was colorful and bright and quirky and fun and introspective and interesting and I loved every minute of it.

4. The Simpsons Movie

I had my doubts. I think we all did. We all know that since 2002 the TV episodes of The Simpsons have been hit or miss and we were all afraid that this could be a 90 minute “miss” of an episode. But then a funny thing happened. This movie was created and it ruled us all like some kind of brave and fair comedy clown king for 90 minutes of our lives. This movie was hilarious but also touching in a way and it reminded us why we love the Simpson characters so much. And it was not afraid to use its movie medium and PG-13 rating to its advantage.

5. Hot Fuzz

Is it blasphemous to call Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost the new Holy Trinity? Yes? Well how about the new Holy Trinity of comedy? Okay good, let’s go with that then. This movie establishes these fine lads as the new Holy Trinity of comedy with Edgar Wright as Jesus, Nick Frost as the Holy Ghost and Simon Pegg as God himself.

6. Zodiac

What a unique and incredible movie Zodiac is. It held me spellbound the whole time. This could have been the most boring docu-drama of all time but it wasn’t. It managed to walk a tightrope, telling an engaging story without leaving out any detail. David Fincher is an incredible, visionary filmmaker. If you have any doubts after watching Seven, Fight Club or Panic Room – see this movie.

7. Eastern Promises

What a brutal and fascinating movie. This movie pulls no punches as it shows you a world you’ve never seen before – the world of the Russian Mafia. Viggo Mortensen is incredible in this movie – this is by far the best work he has ever done. If I had to put money on either fictional character played by Viggo, Nikolai or Aragorn, winning a fight to the death I’d put all my money on Nikolai. I’d still keep my money on Nikolai if Aragorn was allowed up to 5 hobbits to fight with him. He’d probably simply point at each hobbit and then split his two fingers around his throat and they’d all run away and hide behind their giant circular doors. He’s that goddamned tough in this movie.

8. American Gangster

Denzel is the man and this movie chisels this fact into stone. Watching his performance in American Gangster was like watching a reenactment of the shootout at the OK Corral done by nuns – in other words it was like watching the most beautiful thing in this or any other world. He is the master of his craft. He can play anyone or anything. You could cast him as the ‘J’ in your daughter’s second grade alphabet play and he’d find a way to make you cry about his role in the word “Jack” - he’s that good. Josh brolin and Russel Crowe turn in some great performances too but it’s Denzel’s show and it’s an incredible spectacle.

9. Juno

Juno is another example of a movie that I sat through with a smile on my face the whole time. This movie is an incredibly honest, but funny movie that deals with a very serious subject. Ellen Page is amazing in her portrayal of Juno and the script, written by Diablo Cody, is clever, touching and funny.

10. Hot Rod

Hot Rod is funny stuff. “But Cam,” you might be asking, “you’re at number ten and you didn’t mention Knocked Up or Superbad, what gives LOL?” Well those movies were not as funny to me as Hot Rod. I liked Hot Rod for its simplicity and for the fact that it didn’t care about trying to teach me a life lesson or help me grow in any way at all. It wanted to try and make me laugh and it did that. Isn’t that enough?

Honorable mentions: Gone Baby Gone, Superbad, Walk Hard, The Mist, Sunshine, Death Proof, Transformers, Live Free or Die Hard, 3:10 to Yuma.

Worst of 2007:

5. Rise: Blood Hunter

Even a naked Lucy Liu kissing other girls could not save this movie from being the most boring movie I watched all year. It felt like it was going on forever, not the good parts mind you; those were over in a flash. No the other stuff like the meandering story, the horrible acting and murky photography seemed to just go on and on and on. I didn’t care what happened to any of the characters in this movie. Lucy Liu is still a goddess though and I’d suffer through this movie again any time for her.

4. Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 got all the character development and boring love triangle stuff out of the way so now it’s time to have some fun with Spider-Man 3 right? Maybe establish three awesome new villains and have some kind of awesome battle royale to finish out the franchise, right? Wrong. Instead they made Spider-Man 3: The Soap Opera and made each character, including the villains, cry or fall into comas every few minutes. Raimi, we love you, but if you pull this shit again we’re going to go all Ash on you – boomsticks, chainsaw hands, the whole nine yards. And yes, it will be ironic.

3. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

Gay jokes are some of the funniest ever, right? So why does this movie suck so badly? Well, you see Sandler, when we go to the movies we want to see new jokes, or maybe old jokes told in a new and funny way. But we don’t like hearing the same stupid joke over and over and over from the same person. Remember how your scout leader wouldn’t stop telling you that “frayed knot” joke right before he’d kiss you on the neck? Well it’s kind of the same thing with this movie. And for god sakes, stop trying to play it safe. You’ve got a daring premise, do something daring with it. Oh yeah, I forgot that you are all about the bottom line – my bad. Biel is still a goddess though but not worth watching this movie again for.

2. Resident Evil: Desert Boredom

I can’t remember the subtitle for this movie and I don’t care. This movie sucked so hard and for so long that the roof of its mouth caved in. Ali Larter is still a goddess but I’m never watching this movie again for anything.

1. AVP:R

I hate, hate, hated this film so much. In every way it squandered every chance it had to do something cool and it exploited every chance it had to take a huge shit on fans of the classic Alien / Predator franchises. This movie wasn’t just bad, it was insulting and that’s why it was the number 1 worst movie I saw in 2007.

Honorable mention: Transformers. Never has a movie sucked so much more on a second viewing. The Transformers in the movie are still cool though, well done ILM. And suck it Michael Bay.

Cam out.