Best of 2007

This movie has taken away my western virginity, and what a great first it turned out to be! Tense, magnetic performances by Crowe and Bale. What I love about this movie is how so much is left unsaid but you know EXACTLY what the characters are thinking. If you think about it, Bale hardly says anything but his facial expressions and the way the camera pans in and out of a scene contribute so much to how we perceive things.

This is an actor's film. Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent each give mesmerizing performances and inhabit their characters in such a way I was like...wow, these two have a history together. Sarah Polley guides events along in a seamless manner, letting the actors shine individually while restraining these moments to make the movie more cohesive. Out of the three movies recently made about Alzheimer's (The Notebook, Iris, and this), Away From Her is by far the best. And I really dig those Canadian accents.

This is singularly THE cutest and most delicious chick flick I've seen, like, ever. Watching Adrienne Shelly onscreen makes me unbearably sad about her tragic death.

Sidney Lumet is luminous in this amazing flick of provocative proportions. Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman have great chemistry and play out their characters in a totally 3-dimensional way. In particular, the scene of Hoffman's quiet breakdown is written, acted, and directed perfectly. I love, love this movie. Even though Marisa Tomei still pisses me off.

Holy crap....way too wowed for words. This is Ridley Scott's masterpiece, and Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe give equally mesmerizing performances as antitheses of one another. The role of Frank Lucas was tailor-made for Denzel - classy, badass, and just really really COOL. Russell Crowe gives an interesting turn as a loserish but morally determined cop, which is something he is so NOT that despite his limitations he pulls off VERY admirably. Tightly sequenced scenes and amazing in every sense of the word.

The acting was kind of eh (excepting Michelle Pfeiffer, who has molded the role of the villainness to perfection - her decay into evil hag is spellbinding), but my gosh, what a find in director Matthew Vaughn! The cinematography made the theater experience absolutely unforgettable. It's so pretty in a really epic, large scale way. I love that one scene when the camera swoops out of the field where Charlie Cox is talking to Sienna Miller to the starry sky into a round hole in the roof of the dying Peter O'Toole's castle (ha, how many prepositions did I use in the that sentence?). CGI is kept at a minimum, which is admirable. The story is thoroughly engrossing and continually permeates that "magical" feeling. Ending closes off predictably but doesn't drag or seem contrived. Possibly the only negative was Robert DeNiro - he should stay out of comedy.

um, i absolutely adore this movie. it has an animator's eye for details and brad bird's signature humor. the scenery is just gorgeous. it evoked such strong desires in me to go to paris. to eat the "haute" cuisine! to live in a world of fancy dress and fine dining and jawdropping architecture. the wine! the music! the life of PARIS! this movie was a perfect combination of cuteness, humor, and mouthwatering cuisine, with a little bit of morality thrown in. and that line "so sorry to be rude, but we're french!"? hands down best line of the summer.

It wasn't what I expected, but in a good way. MUCH more beautiful than I thought it would be, probably THE most beautiful movie I've seen in my LIFE, hands down. Flawless acting by newcomer Saoirse Ronan...seriously where in the world did they find this gal? She is a find. Slightly disappointed in Knightley and McAvoy's performances. The guy is hot but he doesn't belong in a leading actor role. But the true star of the movie was the guy who strung it all together, and beautifully too, might I add - Joe Wright, you magnificent genius, you. Every action and scene had some sort of significance, but with no details omitted, and the ending provided the perfect amount of closure - I still hate Briony, but maybe not as much.

Definitely felt that the dialogue was forced at times but this movie is so awesome it doesn't even matter. It's this year's happy Little Miss Sunshine that genuinely ends on a positive note...I think the happy yellow color of LMS deceives us into thinking it ends happily but on hindsight it really doesn't. Now, THIS...does.

I am really glad I saw this. Ellen Page brings a perfect contrast of acerb and cute to the table. Heck, the entire cast is great - perfectly indie, yet oddly relatable.

The scene where Juno and Bleeker are sleeping together (but not sexing together) speaks volumes that all the witty repartee in the world couldn't. That is what I call good writing. Diablo Cody knows when to turn it on and when to shut it, and for that I am officially advocating her for a Best Screenplay win. Bring it on, Oscar!

So Julie Taymor is now officially my favorite person. A magical treat for the eyes and ears. Although I felt Taymor was a little limited with the contents, which sometimes gave off the feeling of a bunch of Beatles music videos smooshed together, it ended with a bang despite its lack of cohesiveness.

I enjoyed this WAY MORE than I'd care to admit. Heck yes, McLovin.

Perfection in the form of Marion Cotillard. Oscar, anyone?

beautiful! i just want to hug that censoring man and tell him everything's okay.

The Julia Roberts on the front cover is deceptive, but this movie as a whole was a pleasant surprise. Mike Nichols shows his versatility in directing a more political wide-scale kind of thing instead of his usual drama. Philip Seymour Hoffman provides HILARIOUS one-liners and Tom Hanks is dependably awesome. I also liked that this ended on a more uneasy note, like, what do we do now? It's satire but it's lightly biting satire. And the length was perfect.

a compilation of short little vignettes that all capture a moment of love: seeking love, losing love, loving others, and above all, loving paris. this is a perfect little gem of a film featuring a huge number of directors each with their own interpretation of love.