Adam, thanks for doing this thread (now for a bunch of years) it's always interesting.
My Top Ten
1. No Country For Old Men - Terrific story, well conceived and executed 2. There Will Be Blood - Has many outstanding aspects including cinematography and acting 3. Once - Terrific and compelling story. A compact story that stayed true to its vision. Terrific music and character development 4. The Darjeeling Limited - I'm surprised this didn't get more votes. To me it went past the quirky kind of humor that Wes Anderson goes for and had a really good story with interesting characters I hope that he will follow into another film. 5. Gone Baby Gone - Great Acting and terrific dialogue. 6. Hairspray - Received good/bad press because of Travolta in drag but I thought the songs/performances really crackled and the sets were wonderful. 7. Eastern Promises - A film I definitely would like to see again. 8. Michael Clayton - Perhaps one of the best ensemble casts of the year. 9. Waitress - Interesting story 10. The Bourne Ultimatum - It's hard to carry sequels. This film was fun and had a couple amazing scenes.
Just missing out ...
La Vie En Rose - Needed major editing but Marion Cotillard is a star. Across the Universe Juno
Films that really disappointed me.
Zodiac - Made a point to see this after all the positive rankings going on in this thread. I found it very boring.
The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford - I went in with zero expectations and it met them. What a yawn fest.
I'm Not There 'I'm not there' refers to the lack of an intelligent story, told in a compelling manner. I had big hopes for this film. Let's see, we'll make a Dylan film without Dylan singing ... Brilliant! We'll have a young black child from the South portray a singer from Minnesota ... Brilliant!
Significant films I didn't see ... as you can only reflect on what you've seen.
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly The Kite Runner Lars and the Real Girl Charlie Wilson's War Atonement
I added Lake of Fire to the #7 slot. A fascinating (though often hard to watch) documentary. I have to thank the local newspaper for bringing this one to my attention.
Closing in on 90 seen, still missing some of the prestige releases like Michael Clayton, Assassination of Jesse James, La Vie en Rose, In the Valley of Elah, Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Persepolis, and more.
Added Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at #10, pushing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix off my list. This was a good year for musicals between this Hairspray, Once, & Across the Universe.
1. Atonement 2. The Kite Runner 3. Gone Baby Gone 4. Eastern Promises 5. Zodiac 6. Bridge to Terabithia 7. No Country for Old Men 8. 3:10 To Yuma 9 Michael Clayton 10. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
1) Zodiac 2) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 3) No Country for Old Men 4) There Will Be Blood 5) The Nines 6) Michael Clayton 7) Juno 8) Ratatouille 9) Gone Baby Gone 10) Grindhouse