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MOVIES:
Best of 2007: THE TOP TEN FILMS OF THE YEAR - TAKE 1
SPIDER-MAN 3, SWEENEY TODD make up iF's Senior Editor's list of this year's most daring and original movies
By SEAN ELLIOTT, Senior Editor
Published 12/26/2007
It’s that time of year again, the time to make best of lists. As we bid a fond farewell to 2007 and welcome 2008, iF MAGAZINE looks back on some of our favorite things in pop culture from the last year. Thusly, you the reader end up with Top 10 lists of some of our editors favorite television shows, movies, comic books, DVDs and more.
This list is a little more eclectic than some I have done in the past couple of years, which means I actually got to see a lot of movies this year. There’s a little bit of something from all genres, so take a gander at what I felt were not only movies I enjoyed, but also movies that (some of) are already keepers on the DVD shelves.
1) SWEENEY TODD
Though I am not a fan of musicals in general, this dark masterpiece from Tim Burton is going to be one of my favorites for years to come. Gorgeously designed and with a brilliant cast (Helena Bonham Carter pretty much steals the show) this is the perfect dark depressing musical for those who don’t have as cheery a vision during the holiday season.
2) ENCHANTED
This is absolutely, hands down, one of the best feel good movies to come around in a very long time. In places where the scenes would ordinarily melt down into childish dopiness, the story actually has a tone of self-mockery and fun. The music by Alan Menken and Steven Schwartz is as fun as any Disney musical of the past two decades, and the park number “That’s How You Know” is one of the best and most entertaining musical numbers ever committed to film.
3) ELIZABETH THE GOLDEN AGE
Director Shekhar Kapur takes more artistic license with this movie than he did with the first film. ELIZABETH was a pretty much straightforward telling of a time period in the Queen’s life, and this chapter has some very interesting and sweeping artistic shots. One of the best is of Elizabeth standing on the cliffs overlooking the sea and watching the Spanish Armada burn.
4) MARTIAN CHILD
This is such an excellent film promoting adoption. Cusack has a line something to the effect of, “I never wanted to bring a kid into this world, but how can you argue against loving one that’s already here?” I think that pretty much sums it up. This movie reminds us all that there are lots of kids out there in the world who need love, support and families, and maybe this flick will make more people consider adoption as a viable option for having children.
5) SPIDER-MAN 3
I will freely admit that I absolutely adored this movie when it came out last summer. In fact, I saw it five times in the theatre (not my fault, they kept inviting me to press events). I never got bored with it, and I hadn’t burned myself out on it either. I gave it an A+, which was maybe a little bit too high, but to me it was regardless of what anybody else said a great superhero movie. I think SPIDER-MAN 3 could have been an absolutely brilliant flick, if the studio hadn’t been pushing for a set release date from a point before the script was even written. Had Raimi and the producers been given more time, a lot of the minor details that clunk up the plot could’ve been ironed out and the movie would have been smoother, but it's still one of the year's best.
6) PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN AT WORLD’S END
The final PIRATES movie has a great balance between all of the story elements dancing perfectly between story, action and effects. AT WORLD’S END delivers the goods to tie up almost all of the loose ends that were left hanging and still leaves enough room to continue the story past this point should the cast and crew choose. The Disney PIRATES movies are just fun, as this entry is proof of.
7) RATATOUILLE
Let’s face facts -- Pixar doesn’t make a bad product. Almost every one of their movies has taken home some Academy Award gold, and even ones like CARS and FINDING NEMO, which are two that I really didn’t want to see, shine like few other animated movies out there. RATATOUILLE is a must see movie. It is the cream of the animated feature crop this year or any other year for that matter.
8) 300
I can’t stress how amazing this movie is! I loved SIN CITY because it was such a bold direction for a film to go, and this movie is in the same sort of literal comic adaptation, but takes it even a step further. Where SIN CITY was in black and white with bits of color thrown in here and there, 300 is all full-color, sepia toned to make it look older and more like art instead of just live action. The panel-by-panel shift from page to screen is incredible and director Zack Snyder (DAWN OF THE DEAD) really outdid himself in trying to match his movie vision to the page.
9) THE HOST
The creature itself is a brilliant design that looks something like and amphibious version of THE RELIC. It really is pretty spectacular to look at and is handled in such a way that makes it completely believable as a real entity on screen. The drama and the pacing on the film are well done, so you never get bored with what is going on in the story. In fact, the tension running through the film, with the audience on the edge waiting to see if the daughter lives or dies, is pretty intense.
10) TRANSFORMERS
A great big slam bang update of one of my favorite toy and cartoon lines from the 1980’s. Director Michael Bay makes the robots in disguise real enough to believe that they are stomping around, and gives us human characters that are engaging enough to watch, that at times you forget you are watching a science fiction movie. The effects are absolutely amazing and I can’t get enough of watching the robots fight and transform.
Reader Comments
Jason from sez....
Great list of a variety of truly entertaining films, Sean! Sweeney Todd is both entertaining and art - I liked it even more the second time I saw it.
PS: Sean, unless the song "How Do You Know?" is in Transformers, your blurb re Enchanted is posted in the wrong place.
12/27/2007 7:20:46 AM
