hearts and thoughts collide: Best Films of 2007

Like my Best Records of 2007 list, my Best Films of 2007 list is just a collection of films that have shaped, inspired, and tortured my existence this past year. The number that resides beside them and their placement on this list does not reflect their true merit. It took me weeks to compile this list and it took even longer to try and “rate” them. At one point I through my hands up in the air and surrendered. There was no way I can compare Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood to the Sigur Ros documentary Heima. There is context. A particular scene in a movie can overshadow an entire franchise. The “abortion” scene in Stephanie Daley is one of the most authentic pieces of cinema I have witnessed in awhile. That film had more to say about pregnancy than Knocked Up and Juno could ever express in their self-absorbed banter. Some films couldn’t make my top ten because of the high expectations I placed on the director. Julie Taymor did extraordinary things with Shakespeare’s Titus but couldn’t manage to create an interesting screenplay from the eclectic catalog of Beatles songs. But is that fair of me to place such expectations on her? I sort of cheated and put Paris, je t’aime as my number one film. Despite the lack of cohesion among all the short films, each short was amazing on its own. How else can I have the Coen brothers, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Gus Van Sant, Alexander Payne, and Tom Tykwer as my number one film of the year? Who can deny that Daniel Day-Lewis was the best actor of the year? I don’t understand how a film about early 20^th century capitalism could be so interesting. The Manifest Destiny gone wrong. Anton from No Country for Old Men is postmodernism personified. I don’t think I have ever been so frightened by a character since Jason Voorhees when I was nine years old. Speaking of a postmodernism, Southland Tales is the film DeLillo, Vonnegut, and Jean Baudrillard would write together if they were coming of age in the 21^st century. The film was not what I expected; I didn’t know Richard Kelly could write such comedic dialogue. Sarah Michelle Gellar was phenomenal. Like Nathan Lee, a critic from the Village Voice sates: “[Southland Tales] is commit[ed] to a resolutely contemporary address. Southland Tales looks and feels more like life in 2007 than Juno, In the Valley of Elah, and Michael Clayton combined.” His statement couldn’t ring more true. Many of this year’s films dealt with apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic times. The stunning cinematography from Sunshine and the end of humankind. Who knew there was salvation for people who committed suicide? Is Julie Deply the female Woody Allen? Can Johnny Depp even sing and does it really matter? Sweeny Todd might have had millions of dollars to back it up but it could never express the longing, the pain, and the sentiment that Once could. Who knew a musical could work so organically? I never thought I would see a musical with acoustic guitars and a number where one of the characters walk through the streets of Ireland in slippers singing along to her headphones. I intentionally left Ghost Rider, The Invasion, The Invisible and Rocket Science off my list. The only thing good about Lars and the Real Girl was Emily Mortimer who made all of the absurdity seem human. Her compassion for her delinquent brother-in-law was remarkable. Patricia Clarkson was the most boring thing ever. And when has she ever been boring? For some reason I feel as if Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Eastern Promises, Redacted, and Away From Her would have made my list if I had seen them in the theater. Who cares about Atonement and Into the Wild despite the beautiful actors. Sometimes it’s hard to breathe when there is so much cinema around. Art is suffocating. This compilation is subject to change. Some movies I watched only once and others had repeated viewings. If I was able to pause time I would have watched all of these films again to get a better understanding of them, but I don’t have that ability. So my judgments and critiques are inconsistent as memories are. I think about how I felt while sitting in the theater while seeing them. I am sure my mood affected my response to them. Especially seeing The Diving Bell and the Butterfly somewhat hungover and sleep deprived on New Years Day in a claustrophobic theater at the Angelika with a man coughing all over me. But…without further ado here are the films that left me in awe..