Top 10 Movies of 2007

Last year's list of the Top 10 (MadProfessah-reviewed) movies of 2006 was not issued until March 6, 2007, a week after the Oscars were announced and the Top 10 (MadProfessah-reviewed) movies of 2005 was not published until January 18th, 2006.

However, I want to make sure the list to be a list of the best movies that I actually saw in 2007, since my previous Top 10 list was published here.

10. 3:10 to Yuma. The best western since Unforgiven stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in a remake of a classic which matches the original for intensity and suspense--with the added benefit of a scenery-chewing performance by Ben Foster as the fey psycho violent sidekick.

9. Boy Culture. What? A well-written gay movie? Yes, Virginia, they do exist! This romantic comedy had very handsome actors interacting in a surprisingly real and really surprising way.

8. 300. A homoerotic smorgasbord of computer generated ultraviolence masquerading as a historic epic. "1800 abs" was a unique visual experience, very stimulating and although story-deficient, oddly compelling.

7. Ratatouille. The latest film from Brad Bird, the creator of my 2004 favorite film, The Incredibles is the creative force behind this tour de force animated masterpiece from the magicians at Pixar about a rat in a Paris restaurant who loves to cook.

6. 28 Weeks Later / Sunshine. From the mind of Danny Boyle (28 Days Later) and each featuring Rose Byrne comes these two very different, science-fiction based action films. 28 Weeks Later is actually more effective than the original. Sunshine is an absolutely gorgeous spaceship-based thriller influenced by seminal films like Alien and 2001.

5. The Simpsons Movie. Like a really good, 90-minute episode of The Simpsons--what's not to like?

4. The Namesake. I may be influenced by my trip to India last year, but I was greatly moved by this film adaptation of one of my favorite books by Jhumpa Lahiri. The story is about the intergeneration conflict between immigrant parents and their American born children. In addition, the acting by Kal Penn and Irfan Khan is extraordinary, and Mira Nair's directing is at her most proficient to date.

3. Sicko/¡Salud!. The health care crisis in the United States is only growing worse day after day and these two documentaries pointed out the ridiculous state of affairs while also highlighting that there are other solutions many other countries around the world have identified and implemented.

2. The Bourne Ultimatum. A technically flawless summer action movie helmed by director Peter Greengrass and carried by Matt Damon which starts with the accelerator to the floor and doesn't let up until the final frame.

1. Juno. The most enjoyable time I spent at the movies all year was watching this heartfelt, pitch-perfect comedy that has an impact which is felt long after the movie is over. Diablo Cody's script along with an incredible ensemble cast headed by the hitherto unheralded Ellen Page in the title role are destined to receive Oscar recognition.

Honorable Mentions: The Host, American Gangster, Hairspray and I Am Legend.

It should also be noted that I have yet to see end-of-year contenders like Sweeney Todd, Atonement, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, The Great Debaters or Persepolis. When I see them, I will review them, but they will count towards my 2008 Top 10.

REVIEW: American Gangster

Saw Ridley Scott's American Gangster starring Oscar winners Denzel Washington (Glory, Training Day) and Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind) from a script by Steve Zaillian (Schindler's List) at my favorite second-run theaters in Pasadena (Regency Academy Theaters) this weekend.

Although it is billed as two-star vehicle, it is clearly Denzel's show and he runs away with the film, although I was impressed with Crowe's understatedly effective work. It is unlikely it will bring him his 4th Oscar nomination, although it is likely it will bring Denzel his 6th.

What the most impressive feature of the film to me was Ridley Scott's direction. I was shocked to discover that the creative force behind Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Legend (1985), Thelma & Louise (1991) and Gladiator (2000) has been nominated 3 times (Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) but never won an Oscar or Director's Guild of America Award.

The film is set in the late 1960s and early 1970s in New York City and New Jersey and reproduces this era with amazing precision and verisimilitude. Additionally, the story is pretty complex, recounting the details of how Frank Lucas became the most "dangerous drug dealer in New York City, even bigger than the mafia" in the words of Richie Roberts, the detective who locked him up. However, through clever pacing and non-showy direction, Scott weaves the tale with an ever increasing level of suspense despite the fact the ending is known walking into the theater.

The only caveat to my enthusiasm for the film is its shockingly retrograde depiction of women.
First of all, it is a testosterone-fueled film, with all the central characters depicted by men, from Lucas (Denzel) and Roberts (Russell) as the two main protagonists followed by Denzel's lieutentants played by his brothers and every single cop being male. The female characters are Denzel's wife, Denzel's mother, Russell's estranged wife and Denzel's drug production lieutenant. None of these characters is afforded agency and most of them are depicted one dimensionally. There are several incidental depictions of females as (mainly nude) objects of entertainment for men or as drug-addicted irresponsible caregivers.

Despite this drawback, overall American Gangster is a well-made, suspenseful period crime drama featuring two notable performances from two Oscar-level actors working at the top of their game.

GRADE: B+/A-

REVIEW: 3:10 To Yuma

The user reviews for 3:10 To Yuma were impresssive so Mad Professah and the other half went to our favorite local multiplex in Alhambra and caught a weekend screening of the Russell Crowe-Christian Bale remake, rejecting Jodie Foster's revenge fantasy The Brave One and a repeat viewing of Matt Damon's The Bourne Ultimatum in the process. The other film we seriously considered was David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts.


So, surprisingly, we chose the western. We were not disappointed. The most notable feature of the film is not the interplay between Russell Crowe's Ben Wade and Christian Bale's Dan Evans but the mesmerizing performance by Ben Foster as Charlie Prince, the slightly-fey, exceedingly homicidal sidekick to Ben Wade. Although, After Elton objects to an allegedly homophobic subtext that director James Mangold (Walk The Line) has added to his remake which do not appear in the original 1957 version starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. Foster's performance is the first performance I have seen this year where one walks out of the theater thinking "That guy should get an Oscar nomination."


When Foster's Prince is on screen, he is absolutely riveting. He exudes a wild-eyed, devil-may-care, sense of someone who has no respect for life whatsoever. His character is shown repeatedly violating various social compacts and particularly the golden rule (do unto others as you would like them to do unto you).

The movie itself is quite suspenseful, with an engaging plot and a suprising twist at the end. Christian Bale's character is part of a posse led by Peter Fonda's character to take Russell Crowe's character to the nearest big city (which is 50 miles away) in order to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma, AZ where there's a federal prison with a hangman's noose for Crowe's Ben Wade, who has been responsible for dozens of robberies and murders. Bale's Dan Evans joins the posse entirely for the money ($200), which he desperately needs to pay off his struggling family farm's mounting debts, which is about to collapse due to a long-running drought.

The movie becomes quite psychological, where the roles of Wade, the greedy, heartless killer and heartless gang leader, and Evans, the gentle, principled farmer and married father of three boys, trade verbal barbs and meaningful glances while they compete for the heart and soul of Evan's oldest boy William. William (played well by Logan Lerman) is unimpressed by the careful ways of his father and is attracted by the danger and dominance exuded by the gangster. By the end of the film, the roles of Crowe's bad guy and Bale's good guy have becomes blurred and it becomes unclear who is leading who to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma.

REVIEW: A-.