2007 Film List

Re: 2007 Film List

Ghost Rider - Can't say I wasn't warned...Actually this is not awful, just pretty mediocre. It has it's moments here and there, I liked how the Penance Stare was filmed and the baddies were actually credible unlike say, the FF movies. However, putting aside the so-so script, corny dialogue and uninspired direction, the whole project is flawed by Ghosty's look. A too-small flaming head on a broad-shouldered (was this Cage or a stuntman?) person just looks silly. - C

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - I probably agree with many of the points the two Adam's made above, and yet the whole thing worked for me exceedingly well. This was by far my best experience with a Potter film. Despite cutting out loads of material, it get's to the heart of the book and the core of the characters in a way that the other films never quite managed. It also is one of Gary Oldman's finest performances, doing a great deal with his limited screentime. Yes there could have been more of many things (Snape is always criminally underutilized given how Rickman just inhabits the character, Luna, the still-banished Doby, the Longbottoms (I would have cut the Trelawny scenes to see Frank and Alice in the asylum), and the Prefect material would have been a great scene for Ron and given him a little more to do in the movie), but the material we have is emotionally resonant and true to the spirit of Rowling's creations. I feel much better about The Half-Blood Prince and Yates now, then I did going in. - A-

Bridge to Terabithia - Not much to say that hasn't been said about this quality family film that deals with friendship and loss. I like how much it engaged my kids, my daughter read the book the next day at camp, and my son is still asking questions about it three days later. A small criticism is that the final scenes felt rushed and didn't come off nearly as well as the earlier scenes in the film. And not to sound too much like George, but despite my generally positive feelings about it, 4/5's of the film is very good, this doesn't feel like a film I want to revisit. - B+

King: Man Of Peace In A Time Of War (2007, Henry Stephens)
Hour long documentary spends 35 minutes or so on a brief, but not insubstantial, overview of Martin Luther King's life and career, interspersed with "talking head" interviews with various political and entertainment figures (Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell, Laurence Fishburne, Eriq LaSalle, etc). The last portion of the film is an archival interview with King appearing on the Mike Wallace show and discussing his views on Vietnam and other social issues of the time. Compelling material, though I was hoping for a more focused treatment of King's involvement with Vietnam issues. - B

Re: 2007 Film List

Added the following to my list:

Ocean's 13: 3 1/2 Stars. Breezy adventurous followup to Ocean's 12. I knew what the payoff was, but the journey was so much fun. Bring on, Ocean's 14!

License to Wed: 2 Stars. Mostly unfunny movie that gets saved from movie hell thanks to John Krasinski's performance. He consistently made me laugh, something that Robin Williams didn't do. I found the kid annoying. How can you have a scene set in Jamaica and not show Mandy Moore in a bikini? For Shame!

Re: 2007 Film List

Yeah, Malick is amazing. The New World was my favorite 2005 film.

Stocking the Netflix list...ugh, reminds me of why I'm not at HTF as much, stupid S&S challenge. I feel guilty if I don't knock off a S&S flick, but half the time I worry about the film being too arty or draining. Half the time they are very enjoyable, but sometimes not so much.

At times I just say "F it, I'm having fun", but then another disc from the S&S shows up and I feel like I shouldn't watch anything but it so the other 4 just sit there.



Adam - I had a totally different reaction to Potter

Harry Potter and the whatever it is #5
9 of 10
First the bad, too much story for too little film time. This creates a Columbus effect as you can clearly see how huge portions of story have been squeezed in with poor choices like dialog interjections or forced scenes from out of nowhere. That does impact it's flow as a film. Either make 2 films or suck it up and punt some major portions out and let the book fans be damned.

However the story itself was the most impressive yet in my mind. The tension and conflict has improved during the series. So that countered the choppiness of the script fairly well for me.

Then you have the standard top-notch effects and some really choice acting from people like Fiennes and Oldman and I think you have a pretty great ride. I really enjoy the performances of all the kids, though obviously Hermione and Ron have their roles diminished for this film which is a drawback.

It helped that the film pushed aside it's choppy approach at the end and instead spent a long period of time with the final showdown battle. That left me with a good feeling about the film as I headed home which always helps.


Knocked Up
9.5 of 10
Brilliant romantic comedy, great drama and meaty character issues that remain constant throughout the film yet don't intrude on the wall to wall comedic efforts. Rudd and Rogen riff off each other like Vaughn and Favreau in Swingers; nearly all my favorite scenes featured the two of them together.

For me it was a notch above 40 Year Old Virgin, it just had more consistantly high level comedy. Both are heavily dependent on pop culture references and perhaps that's where 40 YOV beats it out because it does a better job of creating it's own comedic references, mostly thanks to Carrell. But otherwise Knocked Up is dialed in the entire time.

The mushrooms bit...brilliant.

Re: 2007 Film List

I rewatched the ending of Order of the Phoenix the other day and it is very well done, and I like it more. the earlier parts of the movie do have that Columbus effect, which I attribute more to the novice screenwriter than the novice HP director--the same mistakes were made by Kloves on the first movie as well. What was great about Goblet of Fire is that they did punt great sections of the book and the fans be damned, and I wish they had done that more with Order of the phoenix, or at least given the scenes some time to breathe earlier in the film, but everything from the detention/torture up until the ministry felt rather perfunctory, and only then did the film really slow down and allow us a chance to see and hear and care with the characters and get involved.

Re: 2007 Film List

From what I've seen so far at a movie theater:

01. The Diving Bell and The Butterfly ***** / *****
02. Once ***** / *****
03. No Country for Old Men ***** / *****
04. There Will Be Blood ***** / *****
05. The Great Debaters ***** / *****
06. Eastern Promises ***** / *****
07. Juno ***** / *****
08. Beowulf ***** / *****
09. Bridge to Terabithia ****1/2 / *****
10. American Gangster **** / *****
11. The Brave One **** / *****
12. Away From Her **** / *****
13. Charlie Wilson's War **** / *****
14. Atonement **** / *****
15. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford **** / *****
16. Michael Clayton **** / *****
17. In The Valley of Elah **** / *****
18. 300 **** / *****
19. Transformers **** / *****
20. The Mist **** / *****
21. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street **** / *****
22. Grindhouse **** / *****
23. The Simpsons **** / *****
24. The Bourne Ultimatum **** / *****
25. Stardust **** / *****
26. I Am Legend ***1/2 / *****
27. Across The Universe ***1/2 / *****
28. Into The Wild ***1/2 / *****
29. The Kingdom ***1/2 / *****
30. The Lookout ***1/2 / *****
31. The Hoax ***1/2 / *****
32. Zodiac ***1/2 / *****
33. Live Free or Die Hard ***1/2 / *****
34. Ratatouille ***1/2 / *****
35. Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix ***1/2 / *****
36. I'm Not There ***1/2 / *****
37. Elizabeth The Golden Age *** / *****
38.Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End *** / *****
39. Knocked Up *** / *****
40. Sunshine *** / *****
41. 3:10 to Yuma *** / *****
42. Spider-Man 3 *** / *****
43. National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets *** / *****
44. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead *** / *****
45. The Golden Compass *** / *****
46. 1408 *** / *****
47. Resident Evil: Extinction *** / *****
48. The Last Legion *** / *****
49. Shooter *** / *****
50. Superbad *** / *****
51. Rush Hour 3 *** / *****
52. Arctic Tale *** / *****
53. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer **1/2 / *****
54. Blades of Glory **1/2 / *****
55. The Darjeeling Limited **1/2 / *****
56. Rescue Dawn **1/2 / *****
57. Shrek the Third ** / *****

Excellent ****1/2 to *****
Very Good ****
Above Average ***1/2
Entertaining ***
Disappointing **1/2
Poor **
Bomb *

Re: 2007 Film List

Hairspray - 9 of 10

Joyous wonderful movie with mostly great songs and absolutely terrific performances all around. Absolutely marvelous, one I'd buy on DVD.

Re: 2007 Film List

I'm excited to see Hairspray, the reviews really surprised me. Rescue Dawn and Sunshine are the other 2 besides Simpsons that are on the radar right now for me. Waiting on the wife to get some free time.


Transformers
5.5 of 10
Really it is a better film than Ghost Rider I think. GR is just a character I like a lot more and was excited to see done up pretty well (CGI). But the CGI here is really strong too and the choreography of the character movements was one of my favorite aspects of the film...thus the GR comparison.

The acting is also like GR, in that it's all over the place. Some efforts were really strong, Voigt and Torturro especially but also LaBeouf. They often overcome what could easily be groan enducing lines and give bang-up performances.

But that script. It's very, very weak. They've got this great premise (again, like GR) and the basic story has tons of potential, and then it's mostly written out as a series of cobbled together cliched summer gags and action. Honestly at times I really loved some of those cliches, I could get into the ride. But then Bay would rear his ugly head, reach for an even sillier gag, cornier line or needless slow motion moment and spoil the whole thing. The film was running around a 7 for me through the first half, but by the end it's just more Armageddon.

It doesn't help that he's cribbed scenes from T2 (I mean all that was missing was a box of roses), ID4, and even Die Hard 4 (well, DH didn't invent the corny super-hacker lives with grandma gag, but they did beat him to the theater with it this time, and with a funnier casting choice to boot).

A for character art direction and design, A for basic premise, D for the rest of the production. Once again a great film is ruined by giving it to a poor talent. Save the Bay defense, don't even try to tell me that a guy like James Cameron couldn't have made this a 9-10 caliber POPCORN flick, bypassing slo-mos and rag tag team cliches along the way.


ps - I hated that the Transformers themselves were written like group of oddball teens that save the day ala Goonies. Didn't exactly match the elite warriors image.

Re: 2007 Film List

Sicko
As funny as it is depressing. I doubt this will affect policy, but it has brought back some of my life priorities into sharp focus. Let's just say that unless thing change, I know where I will not be living my golden years

Rescue Dawn
A bleak dreary lifeless affair that was a chore so sit thru. I nearly walked out several times. Good performances, but a lead to which I cannot relate pretty much kills the movie for me. Just an unpleasant film.

--
H

Re: 2007 Film List

Man, the reviews have me stoked to see Rescue Dawn. Hate to see such a negative response from you.

Re: 2007 Film List

Bourne Ultimatum - 9 of 10

The best action film of the year and improves on both of the previous Bournes. Stunning chases, fantastic fight scenes and an incredibly cogent story (compared to the convoluted first film or the more hyper second) I was on the edge of my seat biting my nails the entire time. There are a lot of spectacular set pieces in the film and overall it's tremendously compelling, I'd like to see it again.

3:10 to Yuma - 6.5 of 10
saw this months ago don' think I posted a review. This is not an iconic, Ford, Hawks or Eastwood style western. It's a more straight up classic representation of the western, more in the vein of Boetticher than anyone else. And it's not a postmodern yeehaw-reinvention like Tombstone or a deconstruction like Unforgiven.
The performances are good but the photography, with Papamichael at the helm completely lets down the movie. Mangold's uninspired direction doesn't help either. The Screenplay and the performances are the biggest strength, but overall just entertaining, but not great.

Re: 2007 Film List

Double feature at the drive-in tonight!

The Bourne Ultimatum is a solid capper to the trilogy. It's a mild three and a half stars but too involving for just three stars. A fitting conclusion to the series, though I would have liked a bit more of the color and energy of the second film.

We stayed for I Now Pronounce You Chunk and Larry because it was free. To my surprise, there was a lot to like about the film at times — the relationship that develops between the two male leads is oddly affecting, as is James's character's devotion to his late wife.

Too many sloppy Adam Sandler touches invade the film throughout, but I was still ready to give it two stars until the end. It defies logic and cements an "us versus them" mentality in which all gays and gay rights advocates are saintly and all opposed to their platform are evil bullies that conspire to tear children away from their families. And then, out of the blue, comes a sermon on the AIDS crisis. If a movie is going to effectively preach to me, it's got to be far more subtle than this.
It might just be worth seeing for Dan Aykroyd, who steals the show with his best comedic in years — maybe this millenium. He's given the best lines in the script and he nails every one of them.
I still like it quite a bit more than Evan Almighty. That alone doesn't justify giving it two stars; I should have only handed Evan one.

Re: 2007 Film List

Black Snake Moan - 8 to 10

man did I ever love the photography in this flick, between this and Hustle and Flow Amy Vincent is one of the best outdoor photographers of the middle american Landscape working today. I also love Craig Brewer's sensibility as both a writer and a director. Terrific performances and a really strong script make this a wonderful and enjoyable experience. Perhaps it is a bit cliched and underwritten regarding how Ray and Ronnie are screwed up (and need each other) but the handling of Lazarus was outstanding. Samuel L Jackson does a phenomenal job and makes every moment of the movie better. Perhaps his best performance.

Great entertainment, I hope Brewer continues to make such remarkable and original stories.

Re: 2007 Film List

Breach - 6 of 10

Very solid political thriller but ultimately unremarkable. Good performances, especially Chris Cooper, but the film never really sizzles like an All the President's Men. Harrison Ford was the first studio choice for the Chris Cooper role, but the director didn't want him, but with Ford and a different actor like Wahlberg in the Hartnett role this film could have really taken off and been remarkable.

Re: 2007 Film List

The Bourne Ultimatum / 4.
Taunt, tense, edge of your seat, adrenaline rush... You get the point. Everything you want from an action flick and then some more. Still, a Bourne that is a bit too invincible and a somewhat hollow resolution keep this from a perfect mark.

--
H

Re: 2007 Film List

I agree with you about Wahlberg instead of Hartnett but Ford brings his own baggage to movies and I thought Cooper was just fine in the role. I guess I just liked the movie alot more than you. I was captivated from beginning to end.

Re: 2007 Film List

I had a good week, with Yuma (2007), Sunshine, Bourne, and two Netflix winners.

Vertigo - How many time can you see this for the first time 10/10
The Insider - One of Mann's very best, also 10/10
Young Frankenstein - Didn't work for me too much, but that might be me 7.5/10 I have no criticisms of it...I didn't laugh as much as I had hoped, but then I haven't seen the original Frankenstein.

Re: 2007 Film List

The Bourne Ultimatum
10 of 10
Greengrass has yet another high caliber hit on his hands, following the previous Bourne, Bloody Sunday and the outstanding United 93. It is United 93 that most comes to mind while watching Bourne 3, the intensity of multiple characters working together to understand, track and resolve a situation in same chaotic visual style he's coming to be known for. It works brilliantly here and might pay off with being the rare 3rd film of a series that outshines it's predecessors.

My gut reaction was that the film could be in sincere Oscar discussions for Editing, Screenplay, Sound (both) and even perhaps Score (depending on original cue rules). I suppose Greengrass's success with U93 last year might even get him in the door with a summer action flick in the director category, but that will depend on Oscar season efforts.

Still it's great to see summer coming in strong with a film that won't have to hope for a token nod come Oscar time. Who knows, if Gladiator could pull it off...and at the very least you have a smart, well directed, well cast action spy thriller.

Yet another example that POPCORN films don't have to try to be Citizen Kane in order to be examples of outstanding filmmaking. Don't check your brain at the door, it won't want to be left out of the fun.


Sicko
9 of 10
The only thing that holds it back is the standard moments of Moore manipulation. He just can't help himself, he can't even stand to remain an anonymous financial donor at the end of the film, instead smugly pointing out that he's helped a person that runs an anti-Moore website.

But despite his need to grandstand and fudge, he also has that voice, style and tone of humorously somber reflections on the human condition. He may resort to any trick in the book to make his case, but for this film and these people the case is well worth making. It's often impressive how deftly he can shift between a chuckle and a tear, both feeling earned and legit and often working off each other.

It's often a depressing film, yet he finds laughs at every turn, almost refusing to let you dwell in the negativity of the reality he presents. It's these emotional machinations that make you question his films as true documentaries but make it impossible to deny his ability to make touching, interesting films.

If only more politicians could make their cases so well, and this includes the rather dry Inconvient Truth from last year.



Now Chuck, listen to me very carefully.
DON'T.
put the candle.
back.

Vertigo, Young Frank, Insider...that's a lot of good first timer experiences.

BTW, not only would you want to see Frankenstien, but really Bride of AND Son of Frank too. Son of Frank is actually a great film and is a major inspiration for Young Frank (this is where the police chief with the arm thing came from along with many other plot ideas).

Re: 2007 Film List

Different double feature at a different drive-in with different company tonight, same fun time:

Hairspray proved to be one of those delightful cinematic surprises. A movie I was expecting to be fair proved to be more than I could have hoped for. If the Producers musical film captured the worst qualities of the original film and the hit broadway musical, Hairspray captures the best of both its sources. Even though it was directed by Adam Shankman (best known for directing Cheaper by the Dozen 2) there are long stretches when it feels like a John Waters picture. It's also the first musical film in a long time that feels at home on the screen; its recent predecessors have either felt too static and stagy or, as in the case of Rent, too self-conciously and forcefully three-dimensional. The social message is so incredibly heavy-handed that it seeps into the soul of the picture and becomes an asset instead of a detriment. The film takes great delight in using its characters as mouthpieces, with performances that somehow deliver lines like "I was afraid the colors of our skin would keep us apart!" with both genuine emotion and a lighthearted wink. The movie is also littered with hilariously subversive asides dropped so quickly I couldn't quite believe what I heard. Despite the most PC message of all, the movie never feels the slightest bit PC. Quite possibly my favorite film this summer.

We stayed for Rush Hour 3 because it was free. It confirmed my belief that a third entry in the series was completely unneccessary. I didn't pay attention to the plot, didn't care about the plot, and had a good enough time with jokes we've heard many, many times before. Not as horrendous as Evan Almighty but if possible even more tedious.

Re: 2007 Film List

I too think that Bourne should be up for an editing oscar, and I think it's got a damn good shot at that nom.

As for directing well this year we have:
Joe Wright - Atonement (not a lock, but definitely the most secure frontrunner)
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will be Blood
Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Ridley Scott - American Gangster
Francis Ford Coppola - Youth Without Youth

Tim Burton - Sweeney Todd
Alan Ball - Nothing is Private
Gavin Hood - Rendition
Mike Nichols - Charlie Wilson's War
Mike Newell - Love in the Time of Cholera

Marc Forster - The Kite Runner
Paul Haggis - in the Valley of Elah
Sarah Polley - Away from Her
Terry George - Reservation Road
Ang Lee - Lust, Caution
David Cronenberg - Eastern Promises

Noah Baumbach - Margot at the Wedding
Todd Haynes - I'm Not There
Robet Redford - Lions for Lambs
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages
Chris Weitz - His Dark Materials
Adrienne Shelley - Waitress

John Carney - Once
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
Sidney Lumet - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Neil Jordon - The Brave One
Paul Greengrass - the Bourne Ultimatum


And a dozen other directors for movies like, Things We Lost in the Fire, Rails and Ties, Across the Universe, Gone Baby Gone, The Kingdom, Grace is Gone, Michael Clayton, Leatherheads, Knocked Up, Darjeeling Limited, Assassination of Jesse James, PS I love You, Other Boleyn Girl, Zodiac, 310 to Yuma, and the Orphanage.

It's a great year for movies, and probably will be pretty damn competitive come oscar time.

Re: 2007 Film List

I will. I watched Vertigo and The Insider back to back. Good day for a film lover

I also recently saw Days of Heaven and Rear Window for the first time, and North by Northwest in downstairs. I didn't want to get them when I felt obligated to watch. With a small child, movie time should never feel like homework But I've enjoyed watching these films deeply so my queue is loaded with them now.

Re: 2007 Film List

The Simpsons Movie - 7 of 10

A very good flick, quite funny, great job with the relationships and a good story well sustained throughout the film. The simpsons do work for longer form storytelling as well, but I think any future movie sequels will in some respects need to evolve and grow the classic characters beyond the stasis the TV show has kept them in--the first time out it was perfect, but if the sequels remain the same then it's going to run into the same problems as the series has.

There were some tremendously funny gags, and I like that the previews didn't really show me anything about what the plot was about.

Re: 2007 Film List

Another classic (one that has sat on my shelf for about 3 years) that I finally made time for. And it was, again, more than worth it. Most of the old snobs here will laugh, but it was my first silent film ever

The Passion of Joan of Arc - Carl Theodor Dreyer

Probably one of the best things I've ever seen. It's almost pointless to assign a point grade, but I'd max it out and then some for this film.

It took a while to work. I thought it was well done, and powerful, but the last 15 minutes are mesmerizing, among the best stuff ever caught for cinema. It hits another gear completely. Brilliant film.

Re: 2007 Film List

Superbad - 8 of 10

Great flick with charming characters. Comparisons to knocked up are inevitable, so I won't bother. Michael Cera and Jonah Hill do an amazing job, while McLovin does a great thing stealing the movie out from under them. Quite sweet in it's own way and did a perfect job of capturing what guys' perspectives and awareness in high school is like.

Re: 2007 Film List

Superbad - 10 out of 10

Pretty much a perfect comedy for me. A high school Animal House with interweaving storylines, unexpected twists and turns, and likeable often believable characters.

I've seen better movies this year, but not a single one so perfectly achieved what it set out to do.

Re: 2007 Film List

I managed to catch Georgia Rule by most peculiar circumstances. It wasn't a film I was particularly eager to see, because the reviews were 4 to 1 against it. I can see everything that all the negative reviews found fault with. As a comedy it falls utterly short. As a narrative movie it falls short. There is one reason to watch this movie, and that — shocked as I am to say it — is Lindsey Lohan. This is the performance of a career. All the characters around her maybe, in varying degrees, cardboard cutouts. But she perfectly captures this protagonist — a creature so damaged that she can't herself tell moral truths from lies. It is a devastating performance, but (when you remove the ah-shucks fish-out-of-water element) a staggeringly believable one. This is a film and a performance that tackles a very serious issue and never quite wavers from it, no matter how eager the sideshow all around it is to lead it astray. I felt that character's emotional rollercoaster as acutely as if I was standing in the room with her.
The performance is worth 4 stars. The rest of the movie 2 stars. It ends up with 3.

Re: 2007 Film List

My Must See List from now until the end of the Oscar year:

Rendition
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
The Golden Compass
American Gangster
Beowulf
Across The Universe

Re: 2007 Film List

The Ex - 2 of 10

There are a couple of funny moments here but overall the film is just relentlessly tedious and frustrating. And very very long for an 80ish minute film.

Re: 2007 Film List

My must see list in order:

Atonement (yes I've already seen it, yes I'll probably see it two or three more times in theatres)
No Country for Old Men - Coen Bros. Roger Deakens, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones...
Youth Without Youth - Coppola is back
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass - it looks like New Line may have knocked it out of the park
Eastern Promises - Cronenberg's last film was brilliant
Lust, Caution - Ang Lee and it got an NC17 which makes me even more interested.
Across The Universe - looks delerious, fun, and Titus was brilliant
American Gangster - The black Godfather, sweet.
There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson, robert Elswit, Daniel Day Lewis
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Roger Deakens, Brad Pitt, and really killer trailer
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - Sidney Lumet, Philip Seymour Hoffman, great trailer
Into the Wild - looks amazing
Rendition - Trailer gives me Chills
The Kite Runner - Could be great
Love in the time of Cholera - Mike Newell, Javier Bardem etc
The Savages- great cast, looks funny
Margot at the Wedding - lots of buzz, big cast, script is pretty good
Sleuth - Looks like delicious fun
Nothing is Private - sounds amazing, Summer Bishil
Michael Clayton - great trailer, killer cast
Cassandra's Dream - good trailer, great cast
Charlie Wilson's War - Great cast, the script was pretty good.

Movies I'm not looking forward to much:
In the Valley of Elah
Grace is Gone
Lions for Lambs (looks awful!)
The Golden Age
The Bucket List
Reservation Road
In Bloom
Other Bolyen Girl
Sweeney Todd (I think it'll be a big Burton mess, but who knows)

Re: 2007 Film List

I've got way too many to list for this year. Maybe if I'm bored this week I'll make my list... maybe not

Re: 2007 Film List

North by Northwest - and I didn't love it

It was a very good film (as if it needed my stamp of objective approval), and Grant was AWESOME, but I only enjoyed it. It didn't hit me like Vertigo. But nonetheless, I'm very happy I saw it.