Charlie Wilson's War

Rating: 9

I now have to grudgingly adore Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. My massive crush on Phillip Seymour Hoffman continues. Very satisfying.

Juno

Rating: 8

I'll try not to get to bugged by Hollywood's inability to acknowledge that abortion is still (for the moment) safe and legal in the U.S., and many people do use this option. For some reason, this is the Year of the Unwanted Pregnancy in cinema: Knocked Up, Waitress, and Juno. All of these films are terrific, so I can't complain. Juno has a rocky first 20 minutes but lets go of the initial pretension and gets very sweet as it moves along. The characters who initially seem square, played by accomplished actors such as J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner, end up being smart, interesting and well-developed. And Ellen Page and Michael Cera are delightful as the two main characters.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Rating: 7

Funny. And, hey look! It's Jack White as Elvis! And Jack Black as Paul McCartney! And Paul Rudd as hilarious John Lennon!

I Am Legend

Rating: 7

It degenerates into a little sentimentality towards the end, but still, I was interested, frightened, and affected by the sadness of the movie. I saw it at the IMAX theater, which was incredibly fun and where half the audience was in attendance not for the movie itself but rather the 7-minute Batman trailer which preceded it. The trailer was kickass. I could get on a tangent about the new Batman movie which may or may not involve Heath Ledger, as the Joker, and Christian Bale making out (please god, Please????) but this isn't about that. I Am Legend is a fun flick.

Best of 2007

I'm gonna go out on a limb and bet that even though Alvin & the Chipmunks isn't out yet it's probably safe to go ahead and publish this. Feel free to weigh in with comments!

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men

Best Director: David Cronenberg for Eastern Promises

Best Screenplay: Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton

Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins for The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Best Art Direction: Aradhana Seth and Adam Stockhousen for Darjeeling Limited

Best Actor: Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose

Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck in The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swindon in Michael Clayton

Best Documentary: The King of Kong

Best Foreign Film: The Lives of Others

Best Animated: Ratatouille

Best Comedy: Knocked Up

Best Nude Scene: Viggo Mortenson in Eastern Promises (runner up: Marisa Tomei in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead)

Honorable Mentions: Jindabyne, Rescue Dawn, Zodiac, American Gangster, Breach, The Hoax, Waitress, Crazy Love, Sicko, Interview, Lake of Fire

Most Underappreciated Gem: Tie between The Life of Reilly and Year of the Dog

Most Overhyped Disappointment: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Worst Movie: Death at a Funeral

The Golden Compass

Rating: 7

Pretty entertaining, only I'm a little disappointed they chickened out and left out the stuff from the book about killing God. Apparently the most interesting scene in the book - the climax - had to be cut because of this. The fans of the book must surely feel cheated. Maybe the manager of the Cinerama was trying to compensate for this by playing the Sex and the City Movie trailer...before this children's film.

Coming Soon: before my judgment is clouded by too much buzz, my Best of 2007 List!

The Mist

Rating: 7

Quite a bit better than I expected, and did a nice job of staying true to the Stephen King vibe. There are some definite holes in the script but it managed to avoid the sappiness that's common in Frank Darabont's films. Pretty creepy, actually.

Southland Tales

Rating: 6

Though there are some interesting bits of casting and surprising moments, I found Southland Tales to be overly ambitious and overly long. After Donnie Darko I guess I had my hopes up a little too high. It' s probably more enjoyable if you look at it as a surrealist piece, but I kept finding myself grasping for a storyline or a character that would carry me along. Bizarrely enough, Justin Timberlake was the closest it got.

The Great Happiness Space

Rating: 8

I don't usually include rentals here but I think this one deserves a plug. It's a documentary about male escorts in Osaka who cater to young Japanese women, who pay them tens of thousands of dollars a night just to flirt. It's completely incomprehensible from our cultural perspective, and totally fascinating. The male escorts are extremely effeminate too, which makes the whole thing even more bizarre, though the question of their sexuality is never addressed in the movie. Check it out on Netflix!!!!

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Rating: 8 1/2

Me and my gal pals, who saw this with me, were sort of stunned into silence afterward. It's a terrific movie but an extremely grim view of the world.

American Gangster

Rating: 8 1/2

The combination of Ridley Scott and Denzel Washington, both of whom have tons of style, is a real treat.

Rendition

Rating: 7

Solid.

No Country For Old Men

Rating: 9

What can I say? Coen Brothers are great, Javier Bardem is great, Tommy Lee Jones is great. Hell, even Josh Brolin is great.

Gone Baby Gone

Rating: 6 1/2

I wasn't totally captivated but it's good for a directorial debut, and the story went in some unexpected directions. Though Casey The Superior Affleck gave a good performance, it pales in comparison to his wonderful role in The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which is an all-around more interesting and original movie.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Rating: 9

What a marvelous utopia we'll be living in twelve years from now, in 2019! The most noticeable improvement in this version is the removal of the unnecessary voice over, in what is supposedly Ridley Scott's REAL vision for the movie. I'm sure there are other minuscule changes that are only apparent to Blade Runner aficionados, but the coolest thing for me was the opportunity to see it on the massive Cinerama screen. One week only, people!

Lake of Fire

Rating: 8

Michael Moore could learn a thing or two from Tony Kaye about showing the deep complexity of an issue without the screwball tactics. Though I have read that it's unclear in the film which side of the issue the director is on, I did notice that there was not a single sane person representing the pro-life perspective. They ran the gamut from ill-informed and paranoid to flat-out homicidal, and were unable to come up with a single compelling argument for their side that didn't involve God and Jesus and the Virgin Mary and the talking walnut. The smart people, on the other hand, really seem thoughtful about it, particularly Alan Dershowitz and Noam Chomsky. The interviews with the real Jane Roe, now a crazy jesus-nut, are interesting too.

Darjeeling Limited

Rating: 8

Sad and funny. Vibrantly colorful India.

Tonight: Rosemary's Baby at SIFF Cinema!

" This is no dream! This is really happening!"

The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Rating 8:

Despite its flaws - the 2 1/2-hour length, and the maddeningly redundant voice-over-the film is worth seeing. The performances are excellent and the film's exploration of celebrity in America is interesting. But most impressive is the cinematography by Roger Deakins (frequently of Coen Brothers' movies.) Also, music by Nick Cave, who makes a brief appearance.

Into the Wild

Rating: 7

Nature's not on your side, people! Bears aren't your friend, and living off foraged roots and berries is not normal. That's what I've learned from movies like Into The Wild and Grizzly Man.
There were flaws but I did enjoy the film.

Michael Clayton

Rating: 8.5

Michael Clayton is a lawyer movie, but not a courtroom movie. The writer/director, Tony Gilroy, was in attendance at the screening I saw, and he said he intentionally begins a scene a little early and and lingers a little at the end, which is a good description of the style of the film. The effect of this is, you have no idea where the story is headed but you're fascinated. Also, the dialogue is very realistic - the characters seem to really be talking which draws you into their relationships. And it's the relationships rather than plot twists that drive the story. You can tell the terrific cast is thrilled to be involved in such a smart movie. Clooney waived his fee to work on this, according to Gilroy. Excellent movie!

Dan in Real Life

Rating: 3

Even Steve Carell's charms don't save this dippy, sappy romantic comedy. It's also a shameful waste of excellent music by Sondre Lerche.

Eastern Promises

Rating: 9

Not predictable, fascinating characters, very violent but wonderfully done. Cronenberg is steadily becoming one of my favorite directors.

The 11th Hour

Rating: 7

Bone-chillingly informative. There are numerous brilliant sciencey-types out there doing their best to save the planet, and in The 11th Hour, they aren't just talking about the people on the planet. The excellent point is made that humans, like most species, will become extinct eventually. The problem is that we might leave the planet uninhabitable for any life, and that would be the real tragedy.

Paths of Glory

Rating: 10

Thanks to the SIFF Kubrick festival that's happening now, I finally got to see Paths of Glory on the big screen. It's a masterpiece. See it.

The Naked City

Rating: 9

It's no surprise The Naked City won the best cinematography Oscar in 1948. It's quite a spectacle - particularly the views of Manhattan when the tallest building was the Empire State. The story plays like and 40's Noir version of Law & Order. Definitely at the top of my list for Film Noir.

Invasion

Rating: 6.5

This film reminded me of a LOT of other movies: 28 Days/Weeks Later, Blade Runner, Stepford Wives, Pulp Fiction and Nightmare on Elm Street. There were some creepy moments but it was a bit derivative for my taste.

Superbad

Rating: 8

A hilarious combination of crude filth and tender teenage emotion.

The King of Kong

Rating: 9

Though I originally saw this at SIFF, I'm reviewing it now because it's coming out this week and I beg of you, GO SEE IT!! It was my favorite film at this year's SIFF. It's much more wonderful than it sounds, and it features one of the most evil villains in cinema. And he's a real guy!

Rush Hour 3 & Daddy Day Camp

Rating: n/a

No, of course I did not see Rush Hour 3 or Daddy Day Camp. I am merely rejoicing that since the films have now opened, we never have to see those fucking trailers again.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Rating: 5

All sequels SUCK.

Now that that's out of the way: I like spy stuff as much as the next gal, but this one was a little heavy on the running and jumping and driving and running and jumping and driving, and too light on the intrigue stuff.

The Simpsons Movie

Rating: 8

Todd Flanders: I wish Homer was my Daddy!
Ned Flanders: And I wish you didn't have the devil's curly hair!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Rating: 6.5

What gets my interest most in the HP series is the magic stuff, like those groovy living paintings on the walls of Hogwarts, and the Escher-esqe moving staircases. Also , the adult characters played by those brilliant actors are just plain fun to watch. But the plot loses me a little, and I felt this was particularly the case in Order of the Phoenix. I have to say, though, I saw the film at the IMAX theater and the final 20 minutes were in 3-D. That was pretty spectacular. I actually would have been happy to scrap the other 2 hours of the film and just see that part. I wish all movies were in 3-D.

Sunshine

Rating: 8

Contrary to its perky title, Sunshine has a dark edge to it, probably because it comes from England and not from Hollywood. The director is Danny Boyle of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. With any space movie, comparisons with other space movies are inevitable - Alien, 2001 and Solaris come to mind - but I still found Sunshine to have enough unexpected tweaks in the template to be engaging, frightening and fun.

Small Town Gay Bar

Rating: 6

The gist of the movie is pretty well summed up in the title. The small town is in rural Mississippi, and boy howdy, would it be a bummer to be gay there. If the fear in the expressions of the poor southern gays isn’t convincing enough, the film features Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church, also known as the ‘God Hates Fags Guy’ and his sign-wielding minions, just hatin’ away. There isn’t a lot of originality here as far as bigotry documentaries go. Prejudice is bad. But seeing the victims of that hatred reminds me of those horror movies where the babysitter being chased by the axe-weilding maniac illogically refuses to leave the house. Holding their ground in that part of the country may eventually lead to further acceptance by the peckerwoods, but I still can’t help thinking: why don’t they just get the hell out of there?

Stardust

Rating: 3

I wouldn't recommend paying to see this movie in the theater, but if you want a kick in the pants, rent the dvd and fast forward to Robert DeNiro playing a gay pirate.

Rescue Dawn

Rating: 9

I disagree with some reviews I've read saying Rescue Dawn is redundant for those who have seen the documentary it was based on, Little Dieter Needs to fly. On the contrary, I think both films compliment one another beautifully. This is simply a great adventure story, and the actors approach it with rare determination. Herzog seems to take glee in torturing his performers but it isn't without purpose - I heard him say in an interview that in this age of ubiquitous CG effects, he wants audiences to be able trust their eyes again.

Oh, and one more thing: if you thought Christian Bale's skinniness in The Machinist was impressive, you'll enjoy the skeletal Jeremy Davies as Gene from Eugene (pictured in the background above.)