A Look At Last Year's Movies

2007: At Least It Was Better than 2006

originally published January 9, 2008

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First things first, let me apologize for last year’s top ten list. My not having seen Children of Men, Pan’s Labyrinth, Dreamgirls, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Children, The Lives of Others, The Last King of Scotland, Volver, Notes on a Scandal and several other highly acclaimed films left the Best of 2006 list looking less than its best. To remedy that incompleteness, I have provided a new, improved Best of 2006: United 93, The Fountain, Brick, The Departed, Children of Men, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Queen, Casino Royale, Little Children and Little Miss Sunshine. (I also offer my sincerest condolences to anyone who saw Miami Vice upon my recommendation; if you’d like a personal apology, please leave a comment that includes your email at the Flagpole website. The only explanation I have for such an egregious critical oversight is getting carried away by the recent gifting of a coffee table book on the art of Michael Mann. Miami Vice may look phenomenal, but the story is structurally unsound enough for the whole construction to be condemned.)

Though I’ve yet to see P.T. Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, Persepolis, The Savages and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I feel much better about the 2007 incarnation of my list. I spent the Christmas holidays sojourning down 316 and I-85 to watch all the acclaimed films that have arrived in Atlanta. I also feel much better about the finality of the following catalog thanks to the addition of our very own downtown art theater, which contributed greatly to the improved balance of my film diet this past year. Ciné fed Athens a sumptuous buffet that included After the Wedding, Away From Her, Lust, Caution, La Vie En Rose, I’m Not There, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, No End In Sight, and Once. All of the following films may not be your cup of tea, but I guarantee you’ll find more than one to your liking. Now on to the movies…

The Best

1. GRINDHOUSE (R) The Weinsteins have lost their magic touch. Their bungled handling of this experimental, nostalgia-driven exploitation double bill could have been a huge critical, cult darling. Instead, Grindhouse turned into one of the year’s biggest box office busts. Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof stars Kurt Russell as a killer stuntman hunting down pretty ladies, and its talky, testosterone-scented feminine bravado is proof positive that QT still has it. Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror perfectly sends up rollicking horror/ sci-fi/ action with a veritable who’s who of modern B-movie vets (Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Tom Savini) and pretty girls (Rose McGowan, Marley Shelton) fighting off zombies; the one-legged Cherry Darling (McGowan) does so with a machine gun for a leg. How badass is that?! To add insult to injury, the two flicks have been released on separate DVDs that lack the brilliant trailers (Werewolf Women of the S.S., Don’t, Thanksgiving) that connect the films like grisly celluloid sinew. For those unlucky many that didn’t see Grindhouse in theaters, I am sorry; you missed out on one special cinematic experience.

2. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (R) The Coen Brothers prove their continued relevance by crafting Cormac McCarthy’s metaphoric thriller of the modern Wild West into the best new American film since Pulp Fiction. This film is an expertly written and directed combination of their two dark crime comedies and previous career bests - Blood Simple and Fargo; it is acted within an inch of absolute verisimilitude (in particular, Josh Brolin, who is getting much less awards love than he deserves). No Country for Old Men is an instant classic. Period.

3. JUNO (PG-13) This smart, heartwarming comedy boasts the year’s most striking new voice, screenwriter Diablo Cody, and another brilliant performance from young Ellen Page (if you haven’t seen her in the tough, creep-out Hard Candy, you should; just read a synopsis beforehand so you know what you’re getting into). But the rest of the film’s comedic ensemble (Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner and Olivia Thirlby) and Jason Reitman’s direction cannot be undervalued.

4. KNOCKED UP (R) Writer-director Judd Apatow builds on the hearty, horny success of The 40-Year-Old Virgin with this raunchy sex comedy that captures today’s stunted modern young adult, for better or worse (but mostly for better). Complain if you want about the film’s assumption that Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) and Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl) must end up together just because a new human being shares both their DNA; I hear you, but respectfully disagree. Bawdy hilarity never came packaged with such maturity.

5. ONCE (R) This modern musical is the most uplifting, least cynical film I’ve seen in some time. Writer-director John Carney’s unnamed Irish busker (Glen Hansard) and beautiful Czech immigrant (Markéta Irglová) find what none of Hollywood’s cookie-cutter couples could, a love that is real and true. And you can’t help but believe in the magic of music after watching Once (eat your heart out, August Rush). You’ll be singing along, too; any of the original tunes from actor Hansard, who fronts Irish band The Frames as a day job, could snag an Oscar nom.

6. THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (R) This film’s one-week theatrical run was the single greatest cinematic crime perpetrated on Athens in 2007. Andrew Dominik’s moody, atmospheric panorama of the first modern American celebrity, Jesse James (Brad Pitt), ranks right up there with Unforgiven in the small pantheon of the postmodern western. The poor marketing and release date of The Assassination of Jesse James is just one more example of an admirable, complex film spoiled by another gutless Hollywood studio.

7. LUST, CAUTION (NC-17) Ang Lee’s follow-up to the acclaimed Brokeback Mountain was a heck of a change of pace. An erotically-charged political thriller about espionage in Japanese-controlled China during World War II, Lust, Caution was the swiftest, most captivating two-and-a-half hour foreign film I have ever seen.

8. SUPERBAD (R) Will the humor still tingle 10 or 20 years from now? How could it not? It’s not as if future high school boys won’t relate to the quest for beer and sex. Plus, no other film has so accurately mimicked the companionably dirty vernacular of teenaged conversation.

9. NO END IN SIGHT (NR) The most important film of the year will rip you up inside. I had a violent, visceral reaction to Charles Ferguson’s enlightening breakdown of the failures of the Bush Administration, and thereby, America, in post-war Iraq. Everyone needs to see this film, no matter their party affiliation or opinions of the war.

10. I’M NOT THERE (R) The most original American film of the year is Todd Haynes' (Velvet Goldmine, Far from Heaven) strange musical biopic that lyrically and note perfectly retells the life of enigmatic American icon Bob Dylan. Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw and Marcus Carl Franklin all portray personas of the all-American bard in this sometimes confusing, always revelatory film.

Next 10: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 300, The Kingdom, Atonement, Hairspray, Michael Clayton, Waitress, Zodiac, This Is England, Into the Wild

Next Next 10: The Lookout, Gone Baby Gone, 28 Weeks Later, Sunshine, The Mist, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The Host, The Darjeeling Limited, In the Shadow of the Moon, Shoot ‘Em Up

The Worst

1. DRAGON WARS: D-WAR (PG-13) I try not to litter my Worst-of lists with movies I know will be bad before I even walk into the theater, but Dragon Wars, one of South Korea’s most expensive and biggest hits of all time, is worse than the typical man-eating monster fare from Sci Fi Channel on any given night. This movie is absolutely godawful.

2. GEORGIA RULE (R) Who was the target audience of this misguided movie? Advertised as from the director of Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries and released just in time for Mother’s Day, Georgia Rule starred Lindsey Lohan as a sexually abused, sexually abusive, lying sexpot sent to live with her grandmother (Jane Fonda) by her alcoholic mother (Felicity Huffman). Yuck.

3. BECAUSE I SAID SO (PG-13) Diane Keaton should never again have to go through so much humiliation for so little meaningful gain. Two cakes in the face, two Internet sex searches, laryngitis-fueled sex charades and a fake orgasm reduced this grand actress to sub-Jennifer Coolidge American Pie sequel silliness.

4. PERFECT STRANGER (R) This not-the-least-bit erotic, star-powered (Halle Berry and Bruce Willis) whodunit made me wistful for the heady days of the '90s sex thrillers (Basic Instinct, Final Analysis, Sliver, Willis’ Color of Night, etc.) when the prospect of stars getting nekkid excited my pubescent self.

5. I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE (R) After the disappointing Head of State and this unfunny, misogynistic slam on marriage, Chris Rock should not be allowed to write, direct or star in any more movies (supporting roles are acceptable). Chris, it’s time to get back to what you do best, trenchant standup comedy pointed at the heart of what is wrong - and right - with our society.

The Wheelies

As in years past, I have compiled a list of my own movie award categories for your (and my) enjoyment. For lack of a better name, I have christened them as The Drew Wheeler Awards for Excellence Awards, or The Wheelies for short.

Most Overrated: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Gone Baby Gone, 3:10 to Yuma, 1408, American Gangster, Bug, In the Valley of Elah, The Simpsons Movie, The Brave One, Shrek the Third.
Most Underrated: The Kingdom, The Lookout, 28 Weeks Later, The Mist, Alpha Dog, Blades of Glory, Dan in Real Life, Death Sentence, Hot Rod, Lions for Lambs, Mr. Brooks, Mr. Woodcock, Shoot ‘Em Up, Stomp the Yard, The Astronaut Farmer, The Ex, Vacancy.

- Footnote with Elliott Earls
  
  Interview with a Renaissance Man
  
  originally published November 28, 2007

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A Look At Last Year's Movies

2007: At Least It Was Better than 2006

The Best

The Worst

The Wheelies

Footnote with Elliott Earls

Interview with a Renaissance Man