Jeremy's Honorable Mentions

Just to let everyone know my top ten list of 2007 will be a long drawn out process. I have yet to see "Im Not There" and as a devoted fan of Bob Dylan, I must withhold my list until I at least see this movie (fear not it will be appearing in a theatre near me this Friday). I was also going to hold out for "There Will be Blood", but that thing is taking forever to be released wide I wonder if it should even be considered a 2007 film. Not that it matters, most people have made up their own top ten lists already, my list will probably be deemed anti-climactic. Just to let you know there will probably be no big surprises on my list. For those who know me, you already know what my number one choice will probably be, but for those who have no idea, then you obviously don't pay much attention to this blog.

But anyway before I unveil my defining Top Ten List of 2007 I thought I'd share with you a few films that although were close didn't quite make cut. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't go out and see them right away. They were after all highly recommended by yours truly.

Zodiac: Probably David Fincher's best film, as it traces the investigation on the famous Zodiac killer. Jake Gyllanhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and the great Robert Downey Jr. provide great performances as the men who become obsessed with capturing him.

Hot Fuzz: If you were to ask me back in April what I thought the best film of 2007 was, my answer would've been this one. Definitley one of the funniest movies of the year, this reteams the creators of "Shaun of the Dead" for a dead on parody of Police action films, along with those cozy British village comedies. Good for a chuckle.

Superbad: A raunchy comedy if ever there was one. Because of this film, the term McLovin is now in our cinema land lexicon, and Michael Cera creates a classic deadpan expression for every awkward moment he's in.

Atonement: Beautifully filmed adaption of the Ian McEwan novel casts Keira Knightley and James McAvoy as two lovers who are separated after a young girl falsly accuses McAvoy of a crime he didn't commit. The film is set against a wartime back drop and draws upon epic love stories of the past to create a rich, complex film.

Michael Clayton: George Clooney stars as a man who is brought in by his law firm to clean up an embarrasment brought on by Tom Wilkinson. The film is one of the best legal thrillers since the 70s with a well written screenplay by first time director Tony Gilroy.

Rescue Dawn: Christian Bale stars as a prisonor of war during Vietnam in Werner Herzog's frightening and chilling drama about the true story of Dieter Dangler, who escaped his prisonors only the have to go through the strange dark Vietnamese jungles to gain his freedom. Bale shows why he is one of our great young actors, and Steve Zahn is hardly recognizable as Dangler's friend. Another note about this film, some people wrote it off as a straightforward prisonor of war drama. There is nothing straightforward about this film.

Ratatoullie: Pixar does it again with the story of a rat who longs to be a gourmet chef in Paris. This is a charming, funny tale from director Brad Bird, with wonderful bits of character and animation thrown in.

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman: The story of the life of the last hangman of England and how his job takes its toll. Timothy Spall (Who you might've seen this year in "Enchanted" and "Sweeney Todd") gives a great performance as Pierrepoint and one I wish were getting more awards attention.

In the Valley of Elah: Tommy Lee Jones gives his usual subtle performance as a man who investigates the death of his son who fought in Iraq. Of all the films that captured the outright anger towards the Iraq war, Paul Haggis' film caught the somberness of the soldiers as victims the best. Combined with Jones' oscar worthy performance, this one unfortunatly passed a lot of people by.

Into the Wild: Sean Penn's poetic telling of Christopher McCandless, who threw away all his possesions to go out and live in Alaska. Emile Hirsch gives perhaps the years bravest performance as Christopher. The film is a wonderful love letter to the landscapes of America and the people in it, and also the idealism of McCandless' spirit.

And Finally.....

The Return of the musical

I had to say something about the great stream of visionary musicals that appeared in 2007. Hairspray was probably the most charming about a young girl's dream to dance on a local television show, Across the Universe was the most polarizing using Beatles as the soundtrack in the lives of young people during the turbulant sixties, and Sweeney Todd was director Tim Burton's return to the macabre with the story of a man (Johnny Depp) who becomes consumed with his own vengence.

Well that's it. Stay tuned for more coming soon.