‘Enchanted,’ ‘Juno,’ ‘Robinsons’ among best movies of the year
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By MELISSA OLSON
Friday, January 11, 2008 5:18 PM CST
For the Herald
Now that the year has come to a close, publications everywhere have been releasing their postmotems — best of the year, worst of the year, top 10, and so on. We make lists not just because it’s fun, but because by cataloguing film’s achievements, we give it a push in the right direction to keep getting better.
And this year, list fever will be hotter than ever, if the Golden Globes are any indication. The televised awards ceremony, honoring the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s best of television and film, has been canceled due to the WGA strike. If the Oscars and the Emmys fall in succession, published lists are going to be the only way we celebrate 2007 at all.
Not that there was all that much to celebrate, in all honesty, especially if you focus on the numbers. This was the year that threequels ruled the box office n but not our hearts, as “Spiderman III,” “Pirates III” and “Shrek III” all turned out to be... pretty... eh. (And “Spiderman III,” coming on the heels of the excellent second installment, was downright appalling.)
It was the year that a number of great, original films failed to find any box-office legs: the sublimely atypical “Grindhouse” tanked, “Eastern Promises” came and went without a murmur, and the thrilling, sweetly comedic “Stardust” was overlooked in favor of bigger summer fare.
And those are only a few of the casualties of this year’s box office. In fact, if I had to summarize 2007, I would say it was the year that any big-budget, big-name, disgustingly bloated sequel that the studios threw together found enormous financial success, while anyone who tried anything too different came up against a brick wall.
Or, to put it a little less bitterly, it was the year that audiences chose the familiar and lousy over the new and creative.
In fact, two of the worst trends in the last five years n gross-out parodies (“Epic Movie”) and torture porn (“Saw IV”) refused to implode, despite growing public disgust.
Still, there were triumphs. “Enchanted” restored our belief in fairy tales, and in the idea of a quality original studio release.
The much-talked-about “Juno” broke most of Hollywood’s box office and release trends to become the biggest indie hit of the year.
And “Transformers,” while not a great film, reminded us that summer movies can just be flat-out fun. We also got to enjoy seeing several actors in a new light: as it turns out, Shia LeBouf (“Transformers,” “Disturbia”) is a great action star, Ben Affleck (“Gone Baby Gone”) can direct, and Michael Cera (“Juno“) makes a wonderful romantic lead.
There is that silver lining, but at the end of the day, I’m not sorry to say goodbye to what was a very depressing year for movies. I can only hope that in 2008, audiences will do a better job of recognizing quality films, even if there’s no numeral behind the title.
And so, in the name of learning from our mistakes and growing from our successes, here’s my list of the top 10 movies of the year:
1. “Juno”
2. “Enchanted”
3. “Meet the Robinsons”
4. “Grindhouse”
5. “Stardust”
6. “Ocean’s 13”
7. “Michael Clayton”
8. ‘Hot Fuzz”
9. “Eastern Promises”
10. “The Game Plan”
Best of the rest - 2007
Best parody: “Hot Fuzz”
Worst parody: “Epic Movie”
Movies I quite rightfully didn’t bother to see: “Hitman,” “License to Wed,” “The Heartbreak Kid,” “Balls of Fury,” “Hannibal Rising,” “Mr. Woodcock” and “Norbit.”
Movies I only wish I hadn’t bothered to see: “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” “Nancy Drew,” “The Reaping,” “The Invasion.”
Most deserving of its buzz: “Juno”
Least deserving of its buzz: “Spiderman III”
Legal movies that made me wish people still watched legal movies: “Fracture” and “Michael Clayton”
Best use of talking animals: The T-Rex in “Meet the Robinsons”
Worst use of talking animals: The chipmunks in “Alvin and the Chipmunks”
Best performance by a cameraman: “The Bourne Ultimatum” — in one memorable chase scene, the videographer jumped through a window to get the shot of Matt Damon.
Most forgettable movie starring an Oscar winner: Tie between “Perfect Stranger” and “The Last Mimzy” (Remember that one? No?)
Best casting: “Juno”
Best straight-up horror movie: “28 Weeks Later”
Best craptastic horror movie: “Alien vs. Predator 2”
Most likely to produce a sequel: “Enchanted”
Least likely to produce a sequel: “No Country for Old Men”
Best use of inappropriate genital shots: Tie between “Grindhouse” and “Knocked Up”
Best performance by a forgotten ‘80s star: Josh Brolin in “No Country for Old Men”
Most surprising (and undeserving) successes: “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and “Ghost Rider”
Biggest disappointment: “Spiderman III”
Best performance by a machine: Bumblebee in “The Transformers”
Best performance by a hairdo: Jon Heder in “Blades of Glory”
Worst performance by a hairdo: Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men”
Actor most likely to play a henchman: Timothy Spall (“Sweeney Todd,” “Enchanted” and Harry Potter series)
Most overmarketed movie of all time: “Bee Movie”
Melissa Olson was born and raised in Chippewa Falls. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in film and television, and works in Madison for the television program Discover Wisconsin. E-mail comments and questions to Melissa at mfo.usc@gmail.com.
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