Matt Harry's Annual Movie Report

My friend and fellow USC alum Matt Harry puts together a stellar end-of-the-season report on Hollywood.

Note: The number within each parenthesis is Matt's grade of that movie on a scale from 1 to 10.

Enjoy!

2007 BEST & WORST MOVIES

NUMBER OF FILMS WATCHED: 145

NUMBER OF FILMS WATCHED RELEASED IN 2007: 72

BEST OLD MOVIE WATCHED: GANDHI (10)

WORST OLD MOVIE: THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES (2)

“IMPORTANT” FILMS I DIDN’T SEE: Atonement, Ma Vie En Rose, Away From Her, I'm Not There

THE BEST:

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (9): The Coen Brothers are always worthwhile, but this movie was really a return to form for them: suspenseful, dark, and featuring one of the best screen villains EVAH. And yes, I LOVED the ending.

KNOCKED UP (9): There were some funny movies last year, but this one had me laughing the most. It’s more mature than 40 year-Old Virgin, Seth Rogen can actually carry a film, and the scene with him and Paul Rudd on mushrooms – “there are five different kinds of chairs in this room!” – is one for the DVD case.

THE LIVES OF OTHERS (9): A complex, deeply movie film with a surprisingly love story – it’s between the two guys. It takes a while to get going, but man, by the end, you are hooked. Bonus points for how freaking young the director is.

HOT FUZZ (9): This was the second-funniest movie of 2007, and after this and Shaun of the Dead, it seems like the team of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg can do no wrong. I’m on board for whatever they come up with for the third film in their rumored “trilogy.”

ONCE (8): This is sweet, small film is technically a musical, but it’s unlike any musical you’ve ever seen. The songs are so good, I downloaded them all the next day.

RATATOUILLE (8): Brad Bird. Pixar. You’d think some kind of sophomore slump would be in the wings, but not so far. This is another movie that grows on you as it progresses, until that amazing third-act flashback of the critic that says more without words in ONE SHOT than other films say in their entirety. Amazing.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD (8): I go back and forth on Paul Thomas Anderson, but this film was unquestionably a big step forward for him. Daniel Day-Lewis is awesome, the cinematography’s great, the music is amazing, and even if you think the final scene is bizarre (“I drink your milkshake!!”) you have to admit it’s memorable.

MICHAEL CLAYTON (8): A movie for adults, with great performances from George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Wilkinson. Sometimes it’s nice just to see a well-made, regular film without a bunch of special effects and merchandising tie-ins. And yes, I am officially an old fart for saying that.

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (8): While most “franchises” seem to get more overblown and ridiculous with each entry, this one just gets better. The action’s great, the shooting is energetic, and Paul Greengrass somehow manages to make all those shaky-ass shots make sense.

THE ANIMATION SHOW, VOLUME 3 (9): Okay, this is kind of a cheat, since it’s a collection of short animated films rather than a feature, but it’s honestly one of the better times I had in a theater this year. Several of the directors here – Shane Acker is one – will be names to watch in the coming years.

HONORABLE MENTIONS (8): Superbad, 3:10 to Yuma, The Kingdom, American Gangster, Juno, The Darjeeling Limited, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Diving Bell & The Butterfly

THE WORST:

SOUTHLAND TALES (3): Richard Kelly follows up Donnie Darko with an egotistical, misguided, bloated, and plain confusing sci-fi-comedy-what-the-hell mismash. It’s disappointing, and really, really dumb. And not even in a midnight movie way.

GHOST RIDER (3): Mark Steven Johnson is officially one of the worst directors working today, and Nicholas Cage has gone off the rails. This movie captures both of those ideas perfectly/horribly.

I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY (4): Unfunny, boring, and offensively stereotypical, this comedy is all the more inexplicable because it was co-written by Alexander Payne. Yes, Jessica Biel has an amazing body, but I could have seen that by standing in the check-out line at a grocery store.

THE LAST MIMZY (4): A former studio chief tries to imitate Steven Spielberg, and fails incredibly. The plot is absurd, the kids are bad, and watching a weird collection of actors (Rainn Wilson?!) trying to play “awe-inspired whimsy” is like watching grandma do a striptease – it don’t work.

VACANCY/PREMONITION (4): Two very stupid, boring genre entries that hopefully signal the end of torture porn and supernatural mumbo-jumbo thillers. What’s that? They’re already making Vacancy: the prequel? God DAMN it.

BIGGEST LET-DOWN: THE GOLDEN COMPASS (6) Chris Weitz had the source material, the cast, and a great production designer, but somehow he still managed to fuck this movie up. It feels rushed and dead, and when the best sequence is a CG bear fight, you know you’re in trouble.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: THE KINGDOM (8) Yes, it’s basically a bigger budget episode of “The Unit,” but it’s a really good episode. Peter Berg is really increasing his chops as a director, and Jason Bateman’s range is a nice surprise.

MOST UNFAIR BACKLASH: ROCKET SCIENCE (7), JUNO (8), BEOWULF (7)

MOST OVERRATED: 300 (6), WAITRESS (6), SPIDER-MAN 3 (5)

KNEW IT’D BE BAD, PAID TO SEE IT ANYWAY: TRANSFORMERS (5)

BEST ORGY: PERFUME (7)

MOST UNEXPECTED ROLE: Kevin Costner as a really evil serial killer in MR. BROOKS (7).

BEST MOVIE SOMEONE I KNOW WORKED ON: My wife Juliane, for THE YEAR OF THE DOG (7)