Oh Official 2007...

This is my "official" lists as if the end of the year was a deadline for a list or whatever.
2007 YEAR IN FILM: THE YEAR OF THE ROCK AND THE POSEY
Top 10
1. Fay Grim(dir. Hal Hartley)
Hal Hartley takes his crowning achievement, Henry Fool, and demolishes all the thematic depth that it once had to create an incredibly entertaining work. Out of all the films that deal with our current political climate, this proves to be the most insightful, displaying political allegiances as essentially complex spiderwebs waiting to be broken. It contains a signature Hartley ending, where the film ends, leaving the viewer hanging, but ultimately satisfied. It is easily the best film of the year.
2. Offside(dir. Jafar Panahi)
It could be dubbed a political film, but it is more a humanistic portrait of an issue, codes of conduct preventing individuals from achieving personal happiness, that needs to be addressed not in just Iran but essentially everywhere. The ending is deeply moving and takes it's message to profoundly beautiful heights.
3. Death Proof(dir. Quentin Tarantino)
An artistic step forward for Tarantino that essentially alienated his whole fan base because of it's lack of obvious thrills and dialogue that everybody will be quoting for years to come. Instead, he made a film marked by a profound sense of quietude and spirituality? The split nature of the film makes it strangely invigorating even if it's not totally successful. This is easily the most subtly playful film he's ever made.
4. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters(dir. Dave Willis and Matt Maillero)
The surrealist experience of the year? If we're not including INLAND EMPIRE, hell yes. The humor from the show is missing, but the craziness of it all is most definitely intact. It's incomprehensible yet brilliantly crafted in it's own strange way. It is, indeed, #1 in the hood, G.
5. Red Road(dir. Andrea Arnold)
Atmosphere, oh atmosphere. It devolves in it's final 15 minutes, but the sense of atmosphere and mood this film has created beforehand is simply impeccable. It's also easily one of the tensest "thrillers" I've seen this year and has one of the most nerve-wracking sex scenes I've ever seen.
6. 28 Weeks Later...(dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadilo)
In a year filled with dark and nihilistic dramas, it's funny to find the most appealingly pessimistic film to belong to a long neglected genre where pessimism and cynicism has been brewing for years and years now. The film's allegorical connotations aren't especially profound and maybe a little too damning when viewed through the lens of Iraq, but the emotions of a world essentially falling apart are as honest and timely as they could possibly be. It's essentially a quick succession of great set-pieces and will leave many breathless, but it's still easily the best horror film of the year.
7. Broken English(dir. Zoe Cassavetes)
Easily the best "chick flick" of the year. It's a film so hopelessly romantic that when it has an idiotic moment, it's easy to forgive it. The ending is about as perfect in it's crowd-pleasing nature as you can get. Even if it does utilize some hackneyed plot devices in order to prolong it's narrative, it's still one of the most charming and endearing films of the year.
8. Gone Baby Gone(dir. Ben Affleck)
Without it's atrociously ridiculous last third, I could have pictured labeling this as a great film. The elegiac feeling of loss that permeates the picture in it's second third is simply astounding and makes it even more frustrating when the film falls back on ridiculous plot twists to "sooth" it's audiences soon after. It also contains one of the most haunting scenes in all of cinema this year set in a "drug house." I can't wait to see what he directs next.
9. The Darjeeling Limited(dir. Wes Anderson)
A step forward for him as a director and a step backward for him as a writer. It's the writing that really sinks this one especially with it's ridiculously literal take on "getting rid of old baggage" in it's finale. It also couldn't decide on when to stop with it's narrative and ends up sort of fizzling out instead of concluding on a good note, but these issues still don't take anything away from a funeral sequence that might possibly be the peak of Anderson's still relatively young artistic career.
10. Southland Tales(dir. Richard Kelly)
Richard Kelly's film is growing on me more and more even though I understand all the negative criticism it has received. It's not as outwardly intelligently crafted as say a No Country for Old Men, but it still makes for an unusual and memorable experience.

Honorable mentions
The Wayward Cloud(dir. Tsai Ming-liang)
After Tsai's wonderfully evocative and elusive Goodbye, Dragon Inn, this comes as an almost unpleasant surprise. It's not as shocking as many will lead you to believe, but the misogynistic nature of it's finale will be extremely off-putting to pretty much everyone. It's still one of the most fascinating movies of the year since it seems to have been specifically designed for interpretation.
Redacted(dir. Brian De Palma)
I have dubbed this as The Fountain of this year, which will probably avert potential viewers from seeing it, but much like that film, it's passion and conviction is what makes it an enjoyable experience even if the film stumbles and becomes a little brain-dead from time to time. It contains one of the most shockingly abrupt deaths I've ever seen. While I don't entirely agree with how it goes about delivering it's antiwar message, it's so earnest that it's hard not to stand up and take notice.
Live Free or Die Hard[Unrated Cut](dir. Len Wiseman)
Wonderfully over-the-top and a whole lot of fun. There are some questionable moments like Kevin Smith's cameo and John McClane being particularly misogynistic with some of his dialogue, but it's still the straight-up action movie of the year.
I Am Legend(dir. Francis Lawrence)
I usually can't stand Will Smith so it was a surprise to find him giving an incredibly affective performance here even if the film is unable to match it in quality. The CGI is noticeably bad along with some of the writing in it's final third or so, but it still doesn't deter Smith's performance and the amount of sympathy he has created with it. I'd label this as my surprise of the year.
We Own the Night(dir. James Gray)
I might have jumped the gun by calling this film a masterpiece and I feel I need to revisit it once it hits DVD, but it still has some of the best set-pieces of the year with it's rain-drenched car chase and standoff in a field of tall grass. While feeling sort of indifferent to it now, it might be possible that I was, in fact, correct when I labeled it a masterpiece.

Bottom 10
Not even going to bother to order or write a blurb about these films.
300(dir. Zack Snyder)
TMNT(dir. Kevin Munroe)
Premonition(dir. Mennan Yapo)
License to Wed(dir. Ken Kwapis)
The Bourne Ultimatum(dir. Paul Greengrass)
1408(dir. Mikael Håfström)
A Mighty Heart(dir. Michael Winterbottom)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead(dir. Sidney Lumet)
I'm Not There(dir. Todd Haynes)
Wild Hogs(dir. Walt Becker)

Best Performances
1. Michael Cera, Juno
This performance is essentially the same performance he gives in everything he's been in, but he's so damn lovable in this that it's almost nauseating. His character telling Juno that she's beautiful in such an awkwardly honest way is easily one of the most charmingly beautiful moments this year. Too bad, Ellen Page wasn't able to create anything as mildly affecting with her performance. They should have called the movie Paulie instead.
2. Will Smith, I Am Legend
He really made this film what is was and it's easily his best performance yet.
3. Parker Posey, Broken English
Fay Grim is most definitely a better film, but since I consider Hartley as pretty much Robert Bresson with a comedic sensibility, mentioning her performance in that would just seem false. Her performance in this film is easily the reason why I liked it so much and is the reason for me forgiving most of it's flaws. It's also the reason why the ending is so perfect in all it's loveliness.
4. Tony Curran, Red Road
He's so sleazily charming that once that sex scene comes into play, it's at once intoxicating and horrifying. Kate Dickie's performance was a little too cold at first to conjure up some emotional engagement so once he entered the picture, he brought some much needed warmth to the film.
5. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, The Game Plan
My contrarian choice in this category? You bet. It's essentially a good-bad performance and truly made the film as entertaining as it was. He has spent his whole career developing a "bad ass" image and with this movie, he essentially demolishes it for our enjoyment. While people would usually say this about actors who take on more challenging roles, he has taken some risks with his career with this and Southland Tales and I strangely have a lot of respect for him because of it. I can't say he's exactly a great actor or anything, but he still remains an amusing one and ultimately one to watch.

Worst Performances
1. Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
J. Hoberman's review of A Mighty Heart is possibly my favorite piece of film criticism I have read all year. He spends most of his time dismantling Jolie's current image as a "great humanitarian" with good reason since the film was obviously made to uphold and support that image. There's nothing resembling a human being in her portrayal, it's just her with a fake accent, fake pregnant belly, and fake curly hair. When she starts to wail like a wounded animal, the thought that this whole damn movie is an attempt to get people to love her and not the character she is playing is made abundantly clear. It's both nauseating, infuriating, but most of all, offensive to anyone that would have actually liked this film to focus on this woman's story instead of spending 2 hours being knocked over the head with how bitching and sensitive of a human being Angelina Jolie is.
2. John Travolta, Wild Hogs
Bitchiest performance of the year. It's almost funny because his character is supposed to be all macho and he ends up coming across as such a little bitch, but when an actor starts to make Martin Lawrence and Tim Allen look like Al Pacino and Marlon Brando in comparison, you know there's a problem. It's a train wreck that at first is amusing then becomes embarrassingly depressing.
3. Sandra Bullock, Premonition
It's almost a good-bad performance, but since the film is so straight-faced, it's hard to look at it without cringing. Her schizophrenic performance filled with soft-spoken whispering and outlandishly intense deliveries is essentially a performance by Kiefer Sutherland set in a woefully mundane story filled with moments of ridiculous intensity that it's no wonder why I can't stand this movie.
4. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
I'm probably going to get a lot of shit for this, but I just find watching him in this to be intolerable. I have to say he has guts to take on this extremely unlikeable character and that's all the positive remarks he's going to get out of me. While his performance is more varied than his co-stars, it's hard to say that is a good thing since he weeps hysterically in a car, does a lot of screaming, and "tragically" pours some rocks on a table. It's the stuff of All My Children.
5. Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
It was a toss-up between Laura Linney's performance in The Nanny Diaries, Ellen Page's in Juno, and this. Laura Linney's performance is not bad per se and would have been more of a response to all the positive notices she's received for it, and Ellen Page's performance wasn't entirely her fault since her dialogue was obviously overwritten. This performance isn't entirely bad, it's just hard to really call it a performance and all the buzz she's been receiving is simply perplexing. If it wasn't for Blanchett's reputation as an actress and the whole gender-bending aspect of the role, I can't imagine she would have gotten as much attention as she has. It's just basically an imitation of Bob Dylan with no nuance or depth, but you could basically say that about the film as a whole.

Best Director
Jafar Panahi, Offside
I mainly picked him over Hartley because he got splendid performances out of his inexperienced cast, while Hartley was mainly working with actors that he's worked with before so the results aren't at all surprising.

Worst Director
Mennan Kapo, Premonition

Best Screenplay
Hal Hartley, Fay Grim

Worst Screenplay
Bill Kelly, Premonition
I just singled this out because I thought the plot overall was ridiculous especially when it came to it's conclusion.

Best Editing
Hal Hartley, Fay Grim

Worst Editing
William Hoy, 300

Best Cinematography
Robert Yeoman, The Darjeeling Limited

Worst Cinematography
Larry Fong, 300

Best Score
Hal Hartley, Fay Grim

Worst Score
Klaus Badett, Premonition
I don't even remember the score, but I just felt like continuing my bashing of it.

Need to see: There Will Be Blood, Syndromes and a Century, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Triad Election, Exiled, 2 Days in Paris, Michael Clayton, Into the Wild, In the Valley of Elah, Rendition, American Gangster, Sunshine, 3:10 to Yuma, The Host, The King of Kong, Away from Her, I Don't Want To Sleep Alone, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Atonement, The Boss of It All, Golden Door, Persepolis, Into Great Silence, 12:08 East of Bucharest, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Margot at the Wedding, The Savages, This Is England, Youth Without Youth, Smiley Face, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, La Vie en Rose, Private Fears in Public Places, Control, Regular Lovers, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Breach, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, and Lust, Caution

MUSIC
1. Rise Above by Dirty Projectors
Taking one of the most angst-ridden albums ever made, Black Flag's Damaged, and making it sound soulful and strangely optimistic and be totally successful at it just has masterpiece written all over it. And it is. Too bad they didn't cover TV Party, but how could they improve on essentially the greatest punk song of all time?
Highlights: What I See, Depression, Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie, Rise Above
2. The Magic Position by Patrick Wolf
The album this most reminds me of is Jens Lekman's album that came out this year, but it's not obnoxiously cloying in it's popiness like that album. Pop album of the year.
Highlights: Overture, The Magic Position, Bluebells, Get Lost, The Stars
3. Untrue by Burial
The album is fairly one-note, but when it's a note as excellent as this, does it really matter?
Highlights: Archangel, Ghost Hardware, Etched Headplate, Shell of Light