>> The Dark Knight
>> Hellboy II: The Golden Army
>> WALL-E
>> Get Smart
>> The Incredible Hulk
>> Sex and the City
>> Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
>> Speed Racer
>> Iron Man
>> Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

Opening 7.23.08
>> Boy A (Limited) (R) [trailer]

Opening 7.25.08
>> Step Brothers (R) [trailer]
>> The X-Files: I Want To Believe (PG-13) [trailer]
>> American Teen (Limited) (PG-13) [trailer]
>> Brideshead Revisited (Limited) (PG-13) [trailer]

Coming To DVD 7.22.08
>> 21 [buy]
>> Spaced: The Complete Series [buy]
>> Robot Chicken: Star Wars [buy]
>> Las Vegas: Season 5 [buy]
>> Kiss of the Spider Woman [buy]

It's so easy to get cynical with year-end lists. In fact, this is the first one I've done since 2004. It'd be far too easy to chalk 2007 up as a year of remakes and sequels - most of them mediocre (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Spider-Man 3) to poor (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) - but fortunately there were some real gems this year. The issue at hand, especially for the the Academy, is that many of the year's best films contained performances that were better than the film itself. Oscar night will be interesting, that's a guarantee.

It should also be noted that I was much pickier about my moviegoing choices this year. That's the beauty of running your own site. Since I make about enough money off this site to buy a ballpark hot dog every month, I need other means to pay the bills. That's why you won't see obvious crap like Norbit, Epic Movie, The Brothers Solomon, and The Hills Have Eyes II on my "Worst of 2007" list. Also, I haven't seen Sweeney Todd or There Will Be Blood, so simmer down.

Enough babble. My Best and Worst of 2007 follows, along with commentary on some underrated and overrated films. Enjoy!

The Best Films of 2007

1. No Country for Old Men – I can’t think of a year where the choice was easier. The Coen Brothers’ adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel is one of the most engrossing films I’ve ever seen. They maintain their signature black humor while extracting perfect performances from Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, and Tommy Lee Jones. A true masterpiece.

2. Zodiac – I had feared that David Fincher’s Zodiac would be overlooked when I saw it back in March, but I vowed to not that happen. Fincher’s sprawling police procedural is a must-see for fans of the genre. Most puzzling of all arethe people who complain about the ending. Here I thought that knowing the Zodiac killer was never caught was as common of knowledge as last year's American Idol winner. Silly me. Unbearable suspense, brilliant cinematography, and a host of fine performances make Zodiac unforgettable.

3. Michael Clayton – After 2005’s surprisingly hollow Syriana, George Clooney is back on my good graces as Michael Clayton. A wonderful commentary on big business and corruption, Michael Clayton features some of the year’s best dialogue and supporting performances.

4. American Gangster – Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe do not share a scene until the film’s final minutes, but American Gangster is an engaging look at one of the country’s most notorious drug runners.

5. Gone Baby Gone – Never in my days did I expect to have anything Ben Affleck-related in my top ten, but his directorial debut is a stunner. His brother, Casey, plays a no-nonsense detective trying to track down a missing child. The supporting work by Amy Ryan is Oscar-worthy and the brutal side of Boston is captured with precision.

6. The Orphanage – Hands down the best foreign film of the year (and horror, for that matter), The Orphanage had every hair from my head to toes on end during some scenes. There are images that will stay with you for days and Juan Antonio Bayona’s direction is a revelation.

7. The Savages – Biting black humor, fantastic performances, and a hell of a script from Kelly Masterson – all about elder health care! Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney may be the best tandem of performances this year and Philip Bosco is already unfairly being overlooked. Insightful and moving, but never melodramatic.

8. Once – The musical has been reworked, and you will be nearly moved to tears. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova own the screen from beginning to end. The soundtrack will be seared in your brain for days, and that’s not a bad thing.

9. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead – Hey, I’m a sucker for stories told from multiple viewpoints. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is one of the better ones of late as two brothers plot the robbery of a jewelry store – their parent’s jewelry store.

10. The Bourne Ultimatum – The capper (hopefully) to the best action franchise of the decade is a hectic and sometimes quease-inducing experience, but the power and energy seeps through every frame. This is top-notch action filmmaking, particularly in a showcase hand-to-hand battle to the death.

Runners-Up
Waitress
Mr. Brooks
Ratatouille
Superbad
Knocked Up

The Worst of 2007

1. Because I Said So – Winner of the distinguished “F-,” Because I Said So offers nothing for anyone. It’s the kind of movie that makes guys stop and think “why do we like women?” Diane Keaton has set a new standard for cinematic embarrassment with her completely over-the-top performance as the domineering mother of three obnoxious brats. And women wonder why we just want to watch football and be left the hell alone...

2. Good Luck Chuck – This pathetic up-“chuck” of a disaster made me feel dirtier than any horror dungeon ever could. Hollywood really wants Dane Cook to be a star, and the joke’s on us. There is not one event, line of dialogue, or even orifice discharge to “chuck”-le at. And how many more times must we see the sides of Jessica Alba’s boobs?

3. Halloween – Now for the landslide winner of the “There’s No Way This Could Possibly Be Good” category. Rob Zombie may have some musical talent, but to think he has directorial chops borderlines on dementia. I guess making two horror films, the awful House of 1000 Corpses and the slightly better The Devil’s Rejects, qualifies you to butcher an American classic. He successfully removed all scares and added unnecessary gore, though.

4. Code Name: The Cleaner – I want to sue Cedric the Entertainer for false advertising on his name alone. This turd, releases back in the bowels of January, is the anti-comedy. I slightly grinned when Cedric emerged as a camo-laden commando at one point, but that’s about it. Proof positive you can’t be funny just by being fat.

5. Happily N’ever After – That’s right kiddies, I’m skewering a family film – not that any families ever saw it. This has to be one of the worst animated films ever made. The damn thing runs 75 minutes and Pirates 3 seemed shorter.

6. 300 – I can hear you now: “Ohhh now he’s really going crazy!” I said it back in March, and I’ll say it again: 300 is a lousy film. The story, which happens to consist of one of the most important battles in history, is reduced to a black-and-brown video game with zero heart. Lots of people are impaled and lots of buff dudes scream inspiring words that, unfortunately, have become catch phrases. Oh, and the topper is that it thinks it’s the coolest movie ever made.

7. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – Never have I been so perplexed by a comic book franchise’s success. The original, with its awful special effects and script, was a chore, but this sequel is unacceptable. If you’re going to have a superhero film, at least make the heroes likeable. Everyone here is a whiny fool and the aforementioned Silver Surfer is the ugliest special effect of the year.

8. The Condemned – Yikes. Here’s a nasty piece of business. Someone, somewhere along the line, thought Steve Austin should get his own movie. Too bad the guy has the charisma of Snowball, my deceased parakeet. Preposterous action can be what the doctor ordered at times, but this flick is as dank and depressing as they come.

9. The Hitcher – Remake fiasco! 1986’s original was alright, but this remake is DOA (literally!) from the opening roadkill. Sean Bean manages to be over-the-top without doing much of anything and the car chase set to Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” is amongst the most absurd ever filmed.

10. Smokin’ Aces – Joe Carnahan, whose Narc was of very high quality, has been pulled over by the Taratino police. Take any mob-related, hitman-related, overly-casted film you can think of and multiply by four on the suck-o-meter.

Runners-Up
The Brave One
Rush Hour 3
The Astronaut Farmer
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Evan Almighty

The Most Overrated Film of 2007

Juno – Depending on how the next three years go, Juno could be my Most Overrated Film of the Decade. As it stands now, I have one of the eleven bad reviews (out of a pool of 159 total reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes. I cleared my inbox in preparation for the lashings of rabid fans, but instead I received about 70/30 positive reactions. Juno is a true "love it or hate it" film, but it's rare that all of the blame can be placed on the screenwriter. Diablo Cody (that sounds like a stripper name! Oh, wait...) has raided the Urban Dictionary in the hopes of crafting the Coolest Screenplay Ever - and she's being applauded for it. Worse yet, people have tried to tell me that Juno is an accurate representation of how kids today talk. Excuse me? Not only does this act as a form of birth control for me, but I'm fairly certain that if I walked the grounds of the local high school (assuming I don't get arrested) I highly doubt I'd find cliques of girls saying "honest to blog" or making references to Soupy Sales and Thundercats. It's a shoe-in for Best Screenplay as the Academy never finds a trendy screenplay they don't like. Hopefully another Little Miss Sunshine can come around this year and undo this Indie comedy mess.

Runner-Up
300

The Most Underrated Film of 2007

Breach – Released back in the dead of winter, Breach was probably destined to be forgotten about come year-end awards time. Like Zodiac, is way too good for the season in which it was released. The always-great Chris Cooper owns the film; his character based upon the man who pulled off the greatest security breach in U.S. history. It's a slow burn through and through, but a very satisfying one. See this immediately, especially if you are a fan of spy films.

Runner-Up
Stardust