EASE DOWN THE ROAD

 

Each year while compiling lists of favorite films, albums, celebrity goofs, video games or books, media journalists make statements about how the current year was better than this or that year - call it a nearly mandatory precursor to any good geek-out list. Keeping in mind that I’m at least somewhat “known” for being a bit more draconian than the average media bear/writer, I began wondering how 2007 stacked up to the previous year, or even the year before the year before that. Bah! Nothing could possibly be as good as whatever the last year was before I got so damn cynical.

Music was great in 2007, no argument there from me. I was so great, even, that I liked nearly every album on my personal Top 10 from the year more than The Hold Steady’s Boys and Girls in America, my No. 1 album from 2006. But what about film? I saw almost 100 nationally-released films from 2007, almost half of which, naturally, are hardly worth watching, let alone mentioning. The theme for film in 2007, similar to music, was independent production. Lucky for you, dear reader, I’m no filthy film snob; I’ll go to the big-bang summer blockbusters armed with just as much excitement as I will for the little Jim Jarmusch art-attack that pops up two or three times per decade. Likewise, I like allof M. Night Shyamalan’s films and I think Steve Spielberg is a brilliant (albeit technical-minded, same as Shyamalan) post-auteur/pre-auteur-revival filmmaker. Small studios (and, for the most part, fittingly small shooting budgets) owned the year in film, and, as a result, the list below tilts heavy on the art-house scale.

What do you get at the art-house? Well, sometimes they serve wine and cheese (not kidding), but, mostly, you usually get blood, passion, experimental storytelling and, most notably, adventurous actors willing to work at a fraction of the price for creative filmmakers. Limited resources aside, how could the much more anything-goes approach of indie film not trump Hollywood’s money-minded output.

With no further ado I present you with Ease Down the Road’s Top 30 Films of 2007. Of the 100 (or so) I saw I consider the Top 14 listed below to be better than good - some even reaching the status of “great.” The Top 8? New classics. Oh, and be sure to keep in mind that I’ve not seen everything I’d like to, making this a working list that will be updated as the rentals hit my hands. (Supposedly there is a documentary floating around about competitive Donkey Kong gamers. How uniquely retro; sounds like a must-see.)

 1. There Will Be Blood: Swooping camera shots of naturally sepia toned landscapes frame lead character Daniel Plainview’s every sharp thought in this period piece about the early days of organized business, my no-brainer pick for 2007’s most impressive piece of cinema. Writer/Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s (Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love) latest is not quite as good as I expected, but then again, I thought it had movie-of-the-decade potential (and with repeat viewings, who knows, maybe it does). All the Daniel Day-Lewis hype you’ve likely heard by now is true - though you’d have to see it to really believe it. He’s mean, scary, full of emotion and so anchored by hate that he had me leaving the theater wanting to tear everyone who walked in my path in half - especially the suburban-looking folks who seemed far too comfortable and happy for anyone’s own good. Needless to say, the anger and hate of this film’s main character is startling, believable and, unfortunately, strangely transferable to viewers. Anderson wrote a classic character that probably would’ve scored any half-decent actor an Oscar nomination, but Day-Lewis went above and beyond in every scene, offering the exclamation point to Anderson’s writing and landscapes needed to secure this as a balls-out classic of modern cinema.

All that said, this is a very demanding film: it’s slow; it’s long; it’s full of the honest-to-God ugliness too often used to get ahead; and it has no real defined story arch. The end is just as uncompromising as the Coen Brothers’ No Country For Old Men, maybe even more so. Most surprisingly, despite sort of ending with a pseudo-bang of emotion, Anderson never took the sensational route. The “climax” just sort of happens, and then it’s over. It’s actually a bit refreshing, and definitely a ballsy move.

Verdict: Paul Thomas Anderson is all grown up and Daniel Day-Lewis has offered the best performance of his amazing career. I won’t watch There Will Be Blood as much as any of my other Top 8 from 2007 (it really is that demanding), but calling it anything less than the most impressive film I saw from 2007 would be a lie. Head and shoulders above the rest, really.

2. No Country For Old Men: The best movie-going experience I had all year and also the only film I saw multiple times in the theater. Javier Bardem’s (Before Night Falls) performance as the untouchable villain , Anton Chigurh, is a career-maker. The story - which belongs to Cormac McCarthy - is obviously the primary reason this is such a great film. The Coen Brothers took on the huge challenge of doing justice to the book, and, with the help of Bardem and good guy Josh Brolin, they did it. The screenplay, editing and side actors were very good, too, but this film belongs to the Coens, Bardem and cinementographer Roger Deakins (who has been nominated for Oscar seven times, mostly for his work with the Coen Brothers). Oddly, this film’s movements, language, editing and pacing did have a “Tarantino-light” feel; nothing wrong with that.

3. The Darjeeling Limited: This road film is easily the strangest commercially-released flick of 2007, as well as of writer/director Wes Anderson’s (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic) career. The themes of family baggage, disapointment and soul searching are nothing new for Anderson, but by employing minimal locations and characters within the context of a road film, Anderson has challenged himself, seeing how much he can do with three acquired-taste actors, amazing art direction and, as usual, a few Kinks songs. Look for this, like all of Anderson’s films, to become a minor cult classic. Amazing execution, even if the key elements are starting to seem a little too famliar. Update: I’ve been blown away time after time since watching this on DVD. It’s different than any of Anderson’s films while remaining a clear product of his detail-minded imagination.

4. Margot at the Wedding: My head is still spinning after watching this film, which should stand as writer/Director Noah Baumbach’s thid classic. The writing here is so good that I’m tempted to proclaim Baumbach the best dramatic/comedic screenwriter since Allen’s heyday, but just can’t do so yet with Wes Anderson and David Gordon Green still kicking around the promise of their still-brief catalogs. There is some very, very smart writing in this film; never before has it been so obvious that Baumbach was raised by two overly-literate writer parents. This, however, isn’t the 98% perfect film SQUID AND THE WHALE was: there’s some overdone parts and fractured storylines. There are also a few moments that just don’t work (Pooping in the woods? Was that supposed to be a miscarraige? It really looked like brown, sticky poop to me.). In general, though, this was a hugely enjoyable film full of family drama, colorful characters and humble detail. I can’t wait to see it again and suspect it’ll be the sort of film I watch regularly. Also, Baumbach’s return to a more Gorilla-style of shooting and editing was nice touch that pefectly accented the chaotic mood of the story (most directors employ this technique for style points, not mood).

5. The Savages: Tamara Jenkins’ new junk drawer classic features the finest acting (Day-Lewis aside) I saw all year long, especially from Philip Seymour Hoffman. The Savages is the rare film that made me think about things I’d never given much time to (i.e. how do you take care of dying parents when you still haven’t learned how to fend for yourself) whiel still laughing with clueless glee. The writing and directing by Tamara Jenkins should have made her (not Diablo Cody or Ellen Page) the breakout star of 2007. This is a dirty-subject film with grace, wit, bare-bones truths and the guts to make audiences leave the theater questioning themselves. Oh, and it’s funny as all hell, too. Great of a hipster-friendly comedy as Juno was, Ellen Page’s performance as the tile character in that film has no business being mentioned aside Laura Linney’s Wendy Savage on the Oscar ballot. 

6. Zodiac: Thanks to a friends urging, I gave David Fincher’s slow-burning crime thriller a second chance after a nap-filled first viewing; I’ve since watching it at least three more times. It’s a bit challenging in pacing and structure, but the mood, style and acting are all dead on. I’m not a huge Jake G. fan, but he did fine in this, likely due to Fincher’s always overlooked direction. A challenging story and script made into a fine film my Fincher, one that will stand as the most timeless of his career thus far.

7. Eastern Promises: Mind-blowing. Imaginative. Dark. Weird. Exhausting. Probably my favrorite David Cronenberg film already, and that’s saying a lot, expecially when considering how great his last film, A History of Violence, was. This is what they call “pulp fiction.” Cronenberg’s new style introduced with History mixes modern with noir, and this well-acted, very dark film should prove hard to improve on.

8. Death Proof: Quentin Tarantino could’ve done anything with this film. He could’ve gone all out like Robert Rodriguez did with his half of the Grindhouse onslaught, but he chose not to. This dialogue-heavy action film boasts a slew of countless memorable characters, killer Austin Rock City scenery, great music and some of the best car chase/action sequences of modern cinema. Though a far cry from any of QT’s other drop-dead classics (his last, Kill Bill, is one of the most ambitous films of all-time while his signature film, Pulp Fiction, is already one of the most influential), Death Proof is wholly unique and enjoyable. Strangely, it’s also very beautifully shot, edited and paced.

9. Juno: Enjoyable as this cutesy pop-culture-hipster film is, it has no business being mentioned alongside There Will Be Blood or No Country For Old Men in this year’s Best Picture category. Ellen Page, limited as her range thus far seems to be, did a pretty good job carrying this in-your-face script. Writer Diablo Cody, who owned most of the hype surrounding this film, is an exciting new female screenwriter, though only half as good as the much less hyped (and much less attractive) Tamara Jenkins (The Savages); Cody’s ability to please the hipster set and the everyman at once is undeniably impressive and promising. The overall indie vibe of this rare 100-million-plus grossing indie film - accented by it’s soundtrack, art direction and off-kilter dialogue - hopefully exposed at least a small portion of the popcorn fan base to a new flavor of film.

10. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: Westerns are hip right now, and this one - featuring Bradd Pitt and Casey Affleck in the title roles, as well as a stellar supporting cast - stands above the rest. The cinementography pulls from Malick films and the subtle, detailed acting is easily the best of both Pitt and Affleck’s careers. A great story that’s never sensationalized but, rather, told with grace and a slow-burning beauty.

11. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: Director Julian Schnabel’s (Basquait, Before Night Falls) third proper feature film is, against all odds, his most aesthetically beautiful yet. A former fine artist of notable popularity in the New York City scene, Schnabel treats each each split second in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly with care, making every visual moment worthy of freezing, framing and putting on a wall in a gallery. The only real problem with this very unique, memorable film is that the story can hardly keep up with the look and style. Schnabel’s problem has always been that he can’t find a balance between story and style, and never has that been more true than here. Simply put, the Brooklyn born artist/director/major personality is in love with beauty. Every woman in this film is just as drop-dead gorgeous as the scenery. This is an art film in every sense of the word, one that should only further Schnabel’s reputation as the “Next Almodovar.”

The Rest of the Best: 12. Bug; 13. Superbad; 14. Gone Baby Gone; 15. Once; 16. The Bourne Ultimatum; 17. Charlie Wilson’s War; 18. Rocket Science; 19. Things We Lost In the Fire; 20. Lars and the Real Girl; 21. Planet Terror; 22. Knocked Up; 23. 2 Days in Paris; 24. Michael Clayton; 25. Reign Over Me; 26. Waitress; 27. Sunshine; 28. The Lookout; 29. Away From Her; 30. Breach; 31. Sicko; 32. Rescue Dawn; 33. Fracture; 34. 3:10 to Yuma; 35. Ratatouille

Other 2007 Films of Note:  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; I Am Legend; The Simpsons Movie; Live Free or Die Hard; Sweeny Todd; Spider-Man 3; 28 Weeks Later; Disturbia; Year of the Dog; Transformers; 300; Shooter; A Mighty Heart; The Astronaut Farmer; Vacancy; Black Snake Moan; The Number 23; Evening; Broken English; The Kingdom; We Own the Night; The Brace One; Joshua; Talk to Me;

Films I Wasn’t Able to See Before Making this List: Control; I’m Not There; In the Valley of Elah; Death at a Funeral; Persepolis

THE EASE DOWN THE ROAD AWARDS:

Best Lead Actor (Male): Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

Best Lead Actor (Female): Laura Linney (The Savages)

Best Supporting Actor (Male): Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men)

Best Supporting Actor (Female): Naomi Watts (Eastern Promises)

Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country For Old Men)

Best Original Screenplay: Tamara Jenkins (The Savages)

Best Soundtrack: Various artists (I’m Not There)

Best Score: Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood)

Best Song: Stephen Malkmus (”Ballad of a Thing Man,” I’m Not There)

Best Art Direction: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Cinematography: There Will Be Blood

Best Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Best Film (Drama): There Will Be Blood

Best Film (Comedy): The Savages

Best Film (Action):Grindhouse

Best Film (Noir/Western): Zodiac

Best Film (Popcorn): Knocked Up

Most Watched DVDs: Superbad; The Darjeeling Limited; Margot at the Wedding

Best Comedic Performance: Jonah Hill (Superbad)

Comeback of the Year: William Friedkin (Bug)

Breakthrough of the Year: Javier Bardem*

Most Overlooked Performance of the Year: Chris Cooper (Breach)

Hardest Working: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman (tie)

*After years of great, great performances (especially Before Night Falls) in both foreign and Stateside films, Bardem is dating Penelope Cruz and finally teetering on the cusp of real stardom.