From the daily archives:

Thursday, February 21, 2008

The Best American Films of 2007

by Moen Mohamed on February 21, 2008

in Lists

2007 has been a great year for cinema — and American films shone in 2007. The best American films of the har­vest were chal­len­ging, enter­taining, intel­li­gent and insightful. The films on this list spoke to me per­son­ally and cine­mat­ic­ally. These are my favourite American films of 2007, in order of preference:

  1. THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD — Sublime cinema. This is the best film made about the outlaw (Samuel Fuller’s I SHOT JESSE JAMES comes close). Jesse James is com­pletely deglam­our­ized and exposed in his final years. Although Brad Pitt’s per­form­ance is chilling and mer­it­orious, the film belongs, heart and soul, to Casey Affleck, who gives the per­form­ance of the year. A truly evoc­ative, poetic and meta­phys­ical piece of film-making. (a dif­ferent view from TSS’s Jay Kerr)
  2. ZODIAC — A com­plex, multi-layered, com­pel­ling piece of his­tory that works on every level as a film. Meticulously researched, superbly acted and per­fectly real­ised, this film is fiercely intel­li­gent and sadly overlooked.
  3. INTO THE WILD — Sean Penn’s powerful film about indi­vidu­ality, youth and nature. It is a cour­ageous film. Although sad, this film is uplifting if you look in the right places. Emile Hirsch is a revelation.
  4. THERE WILL BE BLOOD — Much has been said about this film and THE per­form­ance, but all that aside, this film is an American classic. Instantly. The fact that the ending has divided many people is not exactly a bad thing.
  5. THE SAVAGES — A bril­liantly written and acutely observed film. It’s been 10 years since Tamara Jenkins’ SLUMS OF BEVERLY HILLS, which is a very good film, but I believe THE SAVAGES to be superior. This film draws the viewer close to the quiet moments of making agon­izing decisions con­cerning loved ones and it does so unce­re­mo­ni­ously and unsen­ti­ment­ally. But all the same, the emo­tions are raw.
  6. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (James McNally’s TSS review)
  7. NO END IN SIGHT (James McNally’s TSS review)
  8. THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS (James McNally’s TSS review)
  9. MICHAEL CLAYTON
  10. THE HOAX
  11. THE LOOKOUT
  12. RATATOUILLE
  13. KURT COBAIN: ABOUT A SON
  14. BILLY THE KID (James McNally’s TSS review)
  15. CHOP SHOP
  16. STEEP
  17. THE DARJEELING LIMITED
  18. NANKING
  19. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
  20. A MIGHTY HEART
  21. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
  22. JOSHUA
  23. THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK
  24. 3:10 TO YUMA
  25. MY KID COULD PAINT THAT

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Dispatches from Moen

by James McNally on February 21, 2008

in Lists

After receiving another well-written and insightful, though lengthy, email from my friend Moen, I decided to ask him if I could post it here. You see, Moen is a genuine cinephile. He sees lit­er­ally HUNDREDS of films a year. So many, in fact, that he wouldn’t have time to blog about them all. But he knows what he likes, and is able to recall details months or years later that I didn’t notice in the first place. Around this time of the year, pre-Oscars, he sends out his selec­tion of great films from the pre­vious year. I’m going to post his list of the best American films of the year, and he prom­ises another email soon with his choices for best per­form­ances of the year. I’m sure you’ll enjoy these as much as I do. Please com­ment and let him know what you think. I’m hoping he’ll be chuffed enough to keep contributing.

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