[List] WM's Top 10 Movies of...2007

[ak]

WM Forum's Top 10 Movies of 2007
Results compiled from voting members of Dubai's finest film discussion community online.

#1: No Country For Old Men (Ethan and Joel Coen)
#2: Zodiac (David Fincher)
#3: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Sidney Lumet)
#4: There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
#5: The Bourne Ultimatum (Paul Greengrass)
#6: The Fountain (Darren Aronofsky)
#7: Johnny Gaddar (Sriram Raghavan)
#8: Juno (Jason Reitman)
#9: Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry)
#10: 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu)

Personal Top 10 lists from WM Forum's voting members, with their commentary follows...

AK's Top 10 Movies of 2007

#1
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Andrew Dominik

A dream. A thoughtful reflection of a bygone time. A relevant rebuke of America's obsession with celebrities. A Greek tragedy about Jesse James and Robert Ford, his friend and betrayer, who loved and hated the outlaw equally.

#2
The Banishment (Izgnanie)
Andrei Zvyagintsev

Lyricism and melancholy filtered through Zvyaginstsev's exquisite asesthetic. Bergman and Tarkovsky would have blessed this.

#3
There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas Anderson

PT Anderson's Great American Movie about faith, greed and the singularity of one man. Thrives on its eccentricity.

#4
I'm Not There
Todd Haynes

Subverting the 'biopic,' Haynes' artful ode to Bob Dylan has him inhabiting different universes -- some imagined, some surreal, all compelling.

#5
Perfume: Story of a Murderer
Tom Tykwer

Savage yet poetic. Based on a notoriously "unfilmable novel," filmed with ferocious vigor by Tykwer.

#6
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Sidney Lumet

Lumet's grand return to form with the coldest, meanest, bleakest crime thriller of 2007.

#7
The TV Set
Jake Kasdan

A brilliant dramedy about surviving both as an artist and the guy who puts food on the table. Powerful in its subtlety, and hilarious all the way through.

#8
Bug
William Friedkin

A tour-de-force of acting, visual design and filmmaking on-the-cheap. Friedkin may be 72 years old, but this is his 'youngest' film.

#9
Girl Cut In Two (La fille coupée en deux)
Claude Chabrol

Chabrol's latest attack on the bourgeoisie, with his trademark dry wit and crafty perversions of morality.


#10
Joshua
George Ratliff

Influenced by the European art-horror wave, a film possessed with uncanny intelligence and attention to characterization.

--

Honorable Mentions:

#11
Rescue Dawn
Werner Herzog

Save for an unexpected, misplaced sentimental ending, this is another Herzog treasure. Featuring yet another devastating performance from Christian Bale.

#12
Zodiac
David Fincher

Probably the most ballsy film of the year. Fincher's quiet police procedural is less about a killer and more about those who chase an idea of the killer.

#13
Into the Wild
Sean Penn

Bold filmmaking from an actor-turned-director who continues to impress.

--

Most Overrated Movie of 2007

3:10 To Yuma
James Mangold

Boring and stuffy. A superficial Western.

[shariqq]

Shariqq's Top 10 Movies of 2007

#1: Zodiac

(I am not Paul Avery)

#2: The Fountain

(Death is the road to awe)

#3 The Prestige

(Are you watching closely?)

#4 Saawariya

(A lifetime of three nights.)

#5 TMNT

(Man, I love being a turtle!)

#6 Johnny Gaddar

(Ye kaam jitna asaan dikhta hai, utna hai nahi. Don't Take it Easy!)

#7 The Host

(The Best All-Genre movie since Ghostbusters!)

#8 300

(Give them nothing! But take from them everything!)

#9 Transformers

(No Sacrifice, No Victory)

#10 Beowulf

(I am Ripper... Tearer... Slasher... I am the Teeth in the Darkness, the Talons in the Night. Mine is Strength... and Lust... and Power! I AM BEOWULF!)

Honorable Mention(s)
#1 Vanilla Sky

(Hands down the best few hours of the entire year was when I was watching this.)

#2 Partner

(The best entertainer out of Bollywood in 2007)

#3 Hot Fuzz

(Only if people took their comedy as seriously as these chaps)

Most Overrated Movie of the Year
The Assasination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford

(That there, is the entire script of the movie in the title.)

[theoddball]

The Oddball's Top 10 Movies of 2007

01. No Country for Old Men

Boy on bike (to Chigurh): "Mister? You got a bone stickin' out yer arm."

02. Zodiac

Zodiac: "Before I kill you, I'm going to throw your baby out the window."

03. There Will Be Blood

Plainview: "I can't keep doing this on my own with these... people."

04. Ratatouille

Ego: "Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere."

05. The Bourne Ultimatum

Bourne: "Do you even know why you're supposed to kill me?"

06. Juno

Juno: "Bleeker is actually good in... chair."

07. Michael Clayton

Edens: "I am Shiva, the god of death."

08. Persepolis

Marjane's grandmother: "Fear lulls our minds to sleep."

09. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Andy Hanson: "Do you need money?"

10. Superbad

Fogell: "I am McLovin."


Honorable Mention

The Assassination of Jesse James ...etc.

Not a film for everyone. But it is worth mentioning because of the stunning direction and cinematography, and the excellent performances -- especially from Affleck who is hands down 2007's most powerful "breakthrough".


Most Overrated Movie of the Year

Lions for Lambs

Stellar cast. Great story potential. Utter disappointment.

[fizz]

Fizz's Top 10 for 2007:

01 - No Country for Old Men:


For putting to screen the only film this year that I felt like going back and re-watching, immediately after I came out of the screening. Cinematic to the hilt, befitting its title of being a modern crime masterpeice and impossibly living up to all the pent up hype preceeding it. And for serving us a last act that still resonates in all its unanswered beauty. Terrific!

02 - 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days:


For making me detest what men are sometimes capable of doing and how women have to cope up with it.

03 - Silent Light:


For giving us 2007's best cinematic moment - a sublime, mysteriously ethereal 6 minute opening sunrise. And then repeating it again at the very end.

04 - Zodiac:


For creating the film that I always thought "All the presidents men" should have been, but most of all, for almost catching the Zodiac killer and then letting him walk away.

05 - The Edge of Heaven:


For a thougtful, moving story about a fathers mistakes and a sons forgiveness, and in a great cinematic trick, making the audience stare at the screen at the end and wait and wait and wait...

06 - A Mighty Heart:


For recreating a city I know so well, come alive so vividly, in the midst of an intense, fruitless investigation and also for Jolie's fierce portrayal of a woman caught at the center of a personal maelstorm.

07 - Michael Clayton:


For making us realise that even though a good consience is lethal to success, there are exceptions.

08 - The Bourne Ultimatum:


For the most tense use of open spaces and the most kinetic, lethal & breathless display of hand to hand combat...ever.

09 - Charlie Wilson's War:


For telling the truth, like it isn't!

10 - Before the Devil Knows you're Dead:


For giving new meaning to the term family dynamics and for bravely being 2007's bleakest thriller.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Honourable Mentions:

The Kite Runner:


For taking a beautiful, touching book and making a beautiful, touching film out of it.

Assassination of Jesse James:


For the sublime poetry of its visuals.

28 Weeks Later:


For scaring the living daylights out of me 5 minutes into the film, and not letting me catch my breath thereafter.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Most overrated:

I'm not there


For never feeling like one, coherent film!

[kaytee]

Kaytee's Top 10 for 2007

1. No Country for Old Men



Anti-Hero's never looked this cool.

2. Johnny Gaddaar



Bollywood Hollywood Ishtyle.

3. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead



Money is the root of all EVIL.

4. The Namesake



Family will always be by your side.

5. Gone Baby Gone



Ben Affleck proved that class is permanent.

6. 28 Weeks Later



One of the best sequels to date.

7. Superbad



Who said this genre had died. Im McLovin It.

8. Charlie Wilson's War



Truth Hurts.

9. Taare Zameen Par



The only movie that made me cry this year.

10. Rescue Dawn



Christian Bale proves his acting chops once again.


Honourable Mentions

1. Ratatouille



2. Zodiac



3. Eastern Promises



Most Overrated Movie of the Year

300

[madali]

MADali's Top 10 for 2007

#1 Science of Sleep
“She smiles. I bend over a rock, to try to reach her. And my stomach compressed, hurts.”

#2 God Grew Tired of Us
Even a cynic like me could not resist this touching documentary.
"I thought God felt tired of people here. Tired of the bad deed, the bad things we are doing...I thought God got tired of us and he want to finish us."

#3 I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK
Chan-wook Park is my kind of director

#4 Rocky Balboa
"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward."

#5 Juno
I usually hate cool indie mainstream movies, but I couldnt help not falling in love with this movie. When cool indies work, they work.

#6 Zodiac
Is a director allowed to make two of the best serial killer movies ever?

#7 The Host
Best fucking monster movie ever made and probably will ever be made

#8 Joshua
"No one will ever love you."

#09 No Country for Old Men
Excellent, in spite of all the hype

#10 Alone
Scared me shitless.

Honorable Mention(s)
All of these movies were much better than they had any right to be

#1 Shoot 'Em Up

#2 Die Hard 4

#3 TMNT

Most Overrated Movie of the Year

300
Filmmakers deserve death because of this.

[ozzylogic]

1) No Country For Old Men

2) The Lives Of Others

3) 3:10 To Yuma

4) Zodiac

5) Bourne Ultimatum

6) The Fountain

7) 28 Weeks Later

Transformers

9) Die Hard 4.0

10) 300

Honorable Mention:

1) Sweeney Todd

Most Over-Rated:

1) Hot Fuzz