The Best & Worst Movies of 2007: Part I

Last year, we kicked off the PB & Movies blog with inaugural posts that featured our "Best of '06" lists. Although we didn't plan it this way, our lists had virtually no overlap - and consequently sparked a great deal of debate, name-calling, and tears (on B's part).

This year I predict there will be more P/B agreement. The main reason: I actually saw--and liked--all of the Best Picture nominees this year, whereas the previous year I only saw two (The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine, neither of which made my '06 list). Sure, it meant forsaking a few slasher flicks that had been on my to-do list. But have no fear: I'll still get around to watching Saw IV, Grindhouse, and The Mist someday soon. In the meantime, here is my list of the 10 movies that made 2007 a year to remember -- plus 5 movies that sucked.


The Best Movies of '07

10. Hostel 2 - Okay, it's not like I didn't see any horror movies this year.
9. Superbad - I make it a rule (well, maybe more of a guideline) not to waste money on seeing comedies in the theater. But my $11 was well spent on the latest hilarious entry in the Apatow ouevre.
8. Bourne Ultimatum - Second-best action movie of the year, and a great culmnation to the Bourne series.
7. Shoot 'Em Up - Best action movie of the year, bar none. Arguably one of the funniest movies, too, from Clive Owen's carrot munching to the sex-scene shootout. A brilliantly "bad" B movie.
6. Eastern Promises - Not sure if it's superior to A History of Violence, but the David Cronenberg-Viggo Mortensen tag team proves to be a winning one yet again.
5. Atonement - The first part of the movie, set on a bucolic English estate, hinges on an interesting development that I didn't see coming. The second part uses World War II as both a backdrop and a metaphor for the dissolution of hopes, dreams, and relationships. The satisfying coda brings it all together - a great film.
4. American Gangster - Did anyone notice that the last time Denzel and Russell faced off was in the 1995 sci-fi flick Virtuosity? Well, I did. I liked both, but this was better.
3. Michael Clayton - Michael Clayton's confrontation with Tilda Swinton's immoral lawyer reminded me of Dr. Doug Ross's confrontations with Laura Innes' Dr. Weaver. Yes, I am a diehard "ER" fan (still), and yes, I do have man-love for George Clooney.
2. No Country for Old Men - Anyone who thinks the horror genre suck should be reminded that this film is, at heart, a horror/suspense movie. I dare you not to have sweaty palms when you watch this movie.
1. There Will Be Blood - The last movie I saw before Oscar Night, and still the Best Picture in my eyes.


Honorable Mentions:

Knocked Up - I couldn't put two Apatow comedies in my Top 10, but Knocked Up was a close second to Superbad in the comedy department this year.
Dan in Real Life - Steve Carrell is so talented, he can even make a movie starring Dane Cook funny. I saw this on an airplane expecting a standard RomCom, but it was actually a lot deeper and sadder. Not a pick-me-up movie for sure, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless.


The Worst Movies of '07

5. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem - Despite some decent action sequences, this movie fell flat because the acting was too awful for words (and the words in the screenplay had no hope of saving the actors). Fans of the series should see it anyway, but the disappointment factor was enough to convince me that AVP-R was one of the year's worst.
4. The Number 23 - If you want a good story about magical numbers, watch "Lost". Jim Carrey is batting about 0.167 right now in non-comedies.
3. Closure (UK: Straightheads) - Dubbed "one of the best movies of 2007" by England's "The Times", this film left me scratching my head. The promise of "copious foot-age of Gillian Anderson’s naked breasts" may have been enough for the critics across the pond, but even an unabashed X-Phile like myself found nothing redeeming in what the DVD description portrayed as "Deliverance meets Kill Bill". That comparison should have tipped me off right there.
2. The Hills Have Eyes 2 - I was deeply disturbed and entertained by the first movie, while the sequel evoked neither emotion. Maybe this film could have been more than Blockbuster shelf filler if Emilie de Ravin (Clare of "Lost") had reprised her role and (as was initially hinted) put an Ellen Ripley spin on it. Oh well.
1. Rescue Dawn - Biggest disappointment of '07. Christian Bale boasts an awful German accent. Steve Zahn fails to convince anyone (including his castmates) that he can be a convincing dramatic actor. The Vietnam War genre is a tired one by now, and Rescue Dawn does nothing to reinvent it. This movie was boring, predictable, and practically unwatchable. Worst. Bale movie. Ever.

Dishonorable Mention:

Spider-Man 3 - Definitely one of the most disappointing movies of the year, especially given my high praise for Spidey 2. Overall it was just mediocre and doesn't crack my Worsts list, but c'mon - it cost $200m t0 make this?

* * *
UP NEXT: B's take on the Best and Worst of the year that was...

And last but not least, the Extra Chunky PBs...

Most Entertaining Movie

The nominees for Most Entertaining Movie are:

Shoot 'Em Up, Superbad, Hot Fuzz, 300, and Bee Movie

And the PB goes to... Shoot 'Em Up

* * *

Most Original Movie

The nominees for Most Original Movie are:

Once, There Will Be Blood, Beowolf 3-D, and Hostel Part II

And the PB goes to... There Will Be Blood

* * *

Best "Bad" Movie

The nominees for Best "Bad" Movie are:

Transformers, Shoot 'Em Up, and Mr. Brooks

And the PB goes to... Shoot 'Em Up

* * *

Best Ending

The nominees for Best Ending are:

The Lives of Others, Bourne Ultimatum, Hostel Part II, and There Will Be Blood

And the PB goes to... There Will Be Blood

* * *

Breakthrough Performer of the Year

The nominees for Breakthrough Performer of the Year are:

Michael Cera, Josh Brolin, Shia LaBeouf, Jonah Hill, and Justin Timberlake

And the PB goes to... Michael Cera

* * *

Thank you for attending the First Annual PB Awards Show. Stay tuned for our "Best of '07" Movie Lists, which I'm sure will spark plenty of controversy (at least between the two of us).

PB Award Tally: There Will Be Blood - 4 (Screenplay, Actor, Original, Ending); No Country For Old Men - 2 (Director, Supporting Actor); Shoot 'Em Up - 2 (Entertaining, "Bad" Movie); Michael Clayton - 1 (Supporting Actress); Juno - 1 (Actress)

And the Acting PBs go to...

Best Actress
The nominees for Best Actress are: Ellen Page in Juno, Keri Russell in Waitress, Joan Allen in The Bourne Ultimatum, and Naomi Watts in Eastern Promises.

And the PB goes to...

Ellen Page for being hilariously entertaining and emotionally engaging as the "forshizz up the spout" title character in Juno. Page brought the timing and presence of a much older actor/comedian to the role. She undoubtedly has a bright career ahead of her.

Best Actor

The nominees for Best Actor are: Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, Ulrich Muhe in The Lives of Others, Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises, Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum, and Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men.

And the PB goes to...

Daniel Day-Lewis, for a performance as There Will Be Blood's Daniel Plainview that will remembered as one of the best ever. On screen for nearly every second, Day-Lewis carries the film and demonstrates that he has more acting chops in his spittle than most actors have in their whole bodies. His delivery of lines such as "I've abandoned my boy," "bastard in a basket," and "I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!" alone could have won Day-Lewis this award.

Agree? Disagree? Post a comment with your pick.

And the Screenplay and Directing PBs go to...

Best Screenplay

The nominees for Best Screenplay are:

Diablo Cody for Juno, Brad Bird for Ratatouille, Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton, Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood, Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen for No Country for Old Men, and Stephen Knight for Eastern Promises

And the PB goes to...

Paul Thomas Anderson, for crafting the most gripping cinematic story of the year. Despite intense competition from fellow writer-directors Joel & Ethan Coen and Tony Gilroy, there was no denying Anderson and the strength of his original tale. The screenplay's epic dimensions and heart-wrenching grittiness made There Will Be Blood this year's best.


Best Director

The nominees for Best Director are:

Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood, Ridley Scott for American Gangster, Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton, Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen for No Country for Old Men, and Paul Greengrass for The Bourne Ultimatum

And the PB goes to...

Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen. They chose ideal backdrops for their story. They struck the perfect balance of drama, suspense, and (occasional) comedy to produce a Western-like morality tale. They inspired award-worthy performances from their actors. And in the end, they shocked and awed the audience.

Agree? Disagree? Post a comment with your pick.

We'll be announcing our final awards today as we countdown to Sunday night's Oscars. Stay tuned for Best Actor and Best Actress coming up next.

And the Supporting PBs go to...

Best Supporting Actress

The nominees for Best Supporting Actress are:

Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton, Ruby Dee in American Gangster, and Kelly Macdonald in No Country for Old Men

And the PB goes to...

Tilda Swinton, for simultaneously portraying Michael Clayton's Corporate evil-doer Karen Crowder with surprising humanity and a ruthless lack of compassion.

Best Supporting Actor

The nominees for Best Supporting Actor are:

Robert Downey Jr. in Zodiac, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson’s War, Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men, Dillon Freasier in There Will Be Blood, Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton, Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men, and Woody Harrelson in No Country for Old Men

And the PB goes to...

Javier Bardem, for creating one of the most startlingly original characters in recent film history and for making No Country for Old Men's Anton Chigurh the scariest badass villain since the Terminator. On a side note, how much would you enjoying seeing Javier Bardem accept his (likely) Oscar in character?

"Look at this Oscar. It has been traveling for 80 years to get here. And now
it's here. And it's mine. You can't have it now. That wouldn't be fair. It's
mine. You're gonna let me have it. That is the best deal you're gonna get. I
won't tell you you can save yourselves, because you can't. Call it, friend-0."

Pulls out a silenced shotgun and BLAM!

Agree? Disagree? Post a comment with your pick.

We'll be posting two or more awards a night leading up to Sunday's Oscars. Stay tuned for Best Screenplay and Director coming up next.

PB Award Nominees: The Complete List

B's Nominees

P's Nominees

Our Combined List:

Best Screenplay
Diablo Cody – Juno
Brad Bird – Ratatouille
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen – No Country for Old Men
Stephen Knight – Eastern Promises

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Ridley Scott – American Gangster
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen – No Country for Old Men
Paul Greengrass – The Bourne Ultimatum

Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton
Ruby Dee – American Gangster
Kelly Macdonald – No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Downey Jr – Zodiac
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War
Tommy Lee Jones – No Country for Old Men
Dillon Freasier – There Will Be Blood
Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton
Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
Woody Harrelson – No Country for Old Men

Best Actress
Ellen Page – Juno
Keri Russell – Waitress
Joan Allen – The Bourne Ultimatum
Naomi Watts – Eastern Promises

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Ulrich Muhe – The Lives of Others
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
Matt Damon – The Bourne Ultimatum
Josh Brolin – No Country for Old Men

Most Entertaining Movie
Shoot 'Em Up
Superbad
Hot Fuzz
300
Bee Movie

Most Original Movie
Once
There Will Be Blood
Beowolf 3-D
Hostel Part II

Best "Bad" Movie
Transformers
Shoot 'Em Up
Mr. Brooks

Best Ending
The Lives of Others
Bourne Ultimatum
Hostel Part II
There Will Be Blood

Breakthrough Performer of the Year
Michael Cera
Josh Brolin
Shia LaBeouf
Jonah Hill
Justin Timberlake

And P's Nominees Are...

Best Screenplay

• Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen – No Country for Old Men: While the Tommy Lee Jones monologues may have caught the Academy’s attention, my favorite scenes involved Javier Bardem (as stungun-wielding Anton Chigurh) scaring the s--- out of someone: forcing a gas station clerk to stake his life on a coin flip, and having a heart-to-heart at gunpoint with Woody Harrelson.
  
• Stephen Knight – Eastern Promises: Knight delivers on his promise to illuminate the shady world of Russian ex-pat mobsters, from their biographical tattoos to their sometimes conflicting beliefs in family and honor.

Best Director

• Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen – No Country for Old Men: The Cohen Bros. have just turned out one of the most tense and intelligent horror (that’s right, horror) movies of all-time. That’s an award-worthy feat in and of itself.
  
• Paul Greengrass – The Bourne Ultimatum: He gives hope to novice directors everywhere with his hand-held camera masterpieces, and Ultimatum is the director’s handycam tour-de-force. Case in point: Bourne’s breathtaking rooftop sprint to save Julia Stiles’ damsel in distress.

Best Supporting Actress

• Kelly Macdonald – No Country for Old Men: Her simple, down-to-earth manner makes her the perfect complement to both the hero and the villain.

Best Supporting Actor

• Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men: Anton Chigurh: most intelligent monster since the original Freddy Krueger, and probably the scariest as well. Oh, and Tommy Lee Jones: he put your coin-flipping psychopath Two Face to shame.
• Woody Harrelson –No Country for Old Men: I love it when the Academy nominates a supporting actor or actress with only minutes of screentime. On that note, my vote goes to Harrelson as the slick bounty hunter who thinks he can talk his way out of any sticky situation. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, but not when “everybody” includes a killer with a silenced shotgun.

Best Actress

• Joan Allen – The Bourne Ultimatum: As B and I discussed, it was kind of a slow year for female acting performances. I’ll give Allen a nod for her third time portraying CIA honcho Pam Landy, if for no other reason than the fact that she’s finally a major player in this installment.
  
• Naomi Watts – Eastern Promises: Watts could have turned in an over-the-top performance, but her restraint is refreshing. She’s definitely a great foil to the stone-faced Viggo Mortensen.

Best Actor

• Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises: Speaking of Viggo, the man’s got this rogue thing down (c.f., The Lord of the Rings, A Perfect Murder). Why he had to be part of a nude shower fight scene, I don’t know…but I’ll forgive Viggy in time.
  
• Matt Damon – The Bourne Ultimatum: Damon doesn’t get the props he deserves for being a believable actor and an unbelievable (in a good way) action star.
  
• Josh Brolin – No Country for Old Men: My No Country love fest rolls on with a nom for the film’s reluctant “hero”. “Solid” is the word B used to describe his performance, and I’ll second that. It’s hard to make a country bumpkin who steals a bag of money from drug runners into a likable character, yet Brolin makes it nearly impossible not to root for the guy.

And last but not least, the original categories...

Most Entertaining Movie

• 300: This is the cinematic equivalent of “World’s Craziest Car Crashes”. Take the 20 coolest gladiator-esque fight sequences you can find, film ‘em in front of a green screen, and queue ‘em up on the IMAX projector/DVD player. Play. Watch. Enjoy.
  
• Bee Movie: I had low expectations, which is why I didn’t see this film until I was on an airplane recently. To my surprise, this movie was amusing and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. Its depiction of the hive society was quite creative, and Jerry Seinfeld was gold, solid gold.

Most Original Movie

• Hostel Part II: Can a horror movie sequel qualify for the “Most Original” award? It can if it flips the script, as Part II does by letting the audience tag along with a pair of sadistic Wall Streeters. I may be alone on an island in asserting that Part II surpasses the original, but let me explain. Hostel gave us a rather conventional introduction to the hostel and it’s torture-for-profit operation. Part II gives slasher auteur Eli Roth the opportunity to change our frame of reference.

Best "Bad" Movie

• Mr. Brooks: Forget the casting choices for a second (AHEM…Dane Cook…Demi Moore). The concept is intriguing and the script is smart. And who better to play Mr. Brooks’ serial-killing alter-ego than the ever-creepy William Hurt? Mr. Brooks may not be Patrick Bateman or Dexter Morgan, but he was interesting enough to keep me captivated for two hours. The ending, because it comes out of the blue, feels oddly satisfying.

Best Ending

• Hostel Part II: To quote the tagline of Wayne’s World, “I laughed, I cried, I hurled” (not literally, of course…except for the laughing part). Director Eli Roth knows how to bring the house down (c.f., the Grindhouse faux trailer for “Thanksgiving”).
• There Will Be Blood: A fitting coda for one of the most entertaining (but violent) films of the year.

Breakthrough Performer of the Year

• Shia LaBeouf: It was a Disturbing yet Transformative year for the next Young Indiana Jones. (“I made anutha funny!”) First he gets to make out with a hot chick in a remake of Rear Window. Then he gets to make out with a hot chick in a sweet car that is actually a forty foot-tall alien robot. You’ve come a long way from digging holes, my young apprentice.
  
• Jonah Hill: Overshadowed by his Superbad co-star, Jonah probably doesn’t have a prayer here. Can’t the fat guy with the Jew ‘fro get some love around here? There’s no denying Jonah’s scene-stealing ability; the “bare-ass fart causes pink eye” explanation in Knocked Up was equally hilarious and nausea-inducing. Here’s hoping there are a few more Apatow vehicles for Jonah on the horizon.
  
• Justin Timberlake: Just kidding, though I have to admit he was pretty decent in Alpha Dog.

And B's Nominees Are...

And now for the post you have all been waiting for - The First Annual PB Award Nominees, Part I (B's Nominees). We'll be posting nominees in two parts, first my nominees, then P will post his sometime over the next week (from what I gather, P saw no more than 3 quality movies this year and is in the midst of a week-long 2007 movie-catch-up marathon). We'll be nominating for awards in the standard categories Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, and Best Actor, plus a few PB originals, like Most Entertaining Movie, Most Original Movie, Best "Bad" Movie, Best Ending, and Breakthrough Performer of the Year.

P and I will not be maintaining a requisite number of nominees per category. If we feel there were a ton of excellent performances in a particular category (e.g. Supporting Actor), there will be a ton of nominees. Likewise, if there was a dearth of quality in a category (e.g. Supporting Actress), we aren't going to give out charity nominees.

This year was a terrific year for quality film. After a few years in a row with only sporadic highlights, 2007 kept the good flicks and excellent performances coming one after the next. Without further ado, these were the best of the best:


Best Screenplay

• Diablo Cody – Juno: Hilarious but poignant dialogue in the mouths of Ellen Page, Michael Cera and J.K. Simmons takes Juno from a Knocked Up-esque summer comedy to a serious award-contender.

• Brad Bird – Ratatouille: The wittiest, most sophisticated animated movie I have ever seen. Particular highlights are the characters of Anton Ego, the food critic, and Gusteau, the deceased chef.

• Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton: The scribe of the Bourne screenplays, in his directorial debut, provided some of the best dialogue of the year in the extremely talky, but riveting Michael Clayton.

• Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood: The sheer weight of silence in There Will Be Blood magnifies the impact of what little dialogue there is.

Best Director

• Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood: A work of originality and genius that succeeds as both a captivating character study and a commentary on the dark faults of humanity. Anderson deserves a lion's share of the credit for bringing the story together with tremendous cinematography and editing.

• Ridley Scott – American Gangster: Ridley Scott pulls off yet another epic, deftly combining terrific performances, engaging action, and an authentic re-creation of 1960s Harlem.

• Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton: Michael Clayton is well paced, well acted, well shot, and extremely well written, all a credit to Gilroy.

Best Supporting Actress

• Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton: In my opinion, Swinton's performance as the all-too-human General Counsel for evil fertilizer company UNorth was the best female performance of the year, period.

• Ruby Dee – American Gangster: If you can steal scenes from Denzel Washington, you deserve an award. Plus, Dee plays the main role in the most unintentionally hilarious bit from the film and trailer (Mama Lucas: Whose house is that? Frank Lucas: It's your house mama!).

Best Supporting Actor

• Robert Downey Jr – Zodiac: Zodiac didn't nearly satisfy my lofty expectations, but Downey Jr.'s performance as journalist Paul Avery single-handedly prevented me from fast-forwarding through the first half of the 2 hr 40 min film.

• Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War: Hoffman is always a pleasure to watch, and his role as humorously irreverent CIA agent Gust Avrakotos is one of his best.

• Tommy Lee Jones – No Country for Old Men: As the "Old Man" in No Country, Tommy Lee Jones delivers one of the best performances of his career and provides the moral center to a film of violence and greed.

• Dillon Freasier – There Will Be Blood: While everyone seems to be giving Paul Dano all the credit for his supporting role as a small-town preacher, my vote for the best supporting performance in There Will Be Blood goes to the young boy Dillon Freasier who flawlessly plays Daniel Day-Lewis' character's adopted son in his first acting job ever (see how he got the role here).

• Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton: Wilkinson's dynamic performance as a mentally troubled lawyer with a newly developed conscience fuels the first half of Michael Clayton. In a lesser year, Wilkinson would walk away with this award. Unfortunately for him, this is the strongest slew of Supporting Actors I can remember.

Best Actress

• Ellen Page - Juno: I don't know where Ellen Page came from (supposedly she was in X-Men 3: The Last Stand, but I don't remember her), but I hope she's here to stay. She is hilarious and refreshingly frank as Juno's title character.

• Keri Russell – Waitress: Keri Russell is as delicious as the pies she bakes in Waitress.

Best Actor

• Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood: Daniel Day-Lewis' performance as There Will Be Blood's Daniel Plainview is easily the best acting of the decade, and possibly the best since Dustin Hoffman in Rain Main or even Marlon Brando in The Godfather. It is that good.

• Ulrich Muhe – The Lives of Others: The Lives of Others won Best Foriegn Language Film at last year's Oscars, but it wasn't released in the U.S. until 2007. Muhe's performance as an eavesdropping Stasi (East German Communist Secret Police) captain makes the movie a masterpiece. Sadly, Muhe passed away this past July, leaving the incredible The Lives of Others behind as his legacy.
  

Now for a few original categories...

Most Entertaining Movie

• Shoot 'Em Up: Per my review earlier this year, Shoot 'Em Up was by far the most enjoyable 90 minutes I spent in a movie theater this year. If you still haven't seen it, this needs to be at the top of your rental queue.

• Superbad: Hilarious in the theater and equally hilarious upon repeat DVD viewing. Instant classic.

• Hot Fuzz: While the first 2/3rds of Hot Fuzz was enjoyable but not spectacular, the final 20 minutes of over-the-top mayhem is non-stop laugh, cringe, laugh, cringe.

Most Original Movie

• Once: This small-budget independent Irish film features two musicians acting the lead roles of "Guy" and "Girl," lending serious authenticity to the songs that make up the bulk of the dialogue. Equally heart warming and heart wrenching, Once is a dysfunctional love story, a romantic comedy, an inspirational drama, and a rock musical all at the same time. The feature song, "Falling Slowly," deserves to win an Oscar and be in your iPod.

• There Will Be Blood: I had never seen anything like There Will Be Blood before and I don't think I ever will again. I can't even really describe what it is other than to say that it sticks with you.

• Beowolf 3-D: I hope the box office success of Beowolf means that we will see quite a few more high-quality 3-D films in the years to come. I hadn't watched a movie in 3-D since going to Epcot Center more than fifteen years ago. The quality entertainment of Beowolf assured me that I would be returning for another 3-D adventure far sooner than that (particularly if it features a digitally enhanced Angelina Jolie).

Best "Bad" Movie

• Transformers: As bad as Transformers was, I loved watching blatant product placement ads (e.g. the Mountain Dew machine) turn into murderous robots. Plus, Shia LaBeouf made the most of bad material, Megan Fox was hot, and John Tuturro, though entirely unnecessary, was extremely entertaining.

• Shoot 'Em Up: Some critics said that Shoot 'Em Up was bad - The NYT even went so far as to call it a "worthless piece of garbage" - and bad it was... bad ass!

Best Ending

• The Lives of Others: The film seems to end twice, and both endings would have been sufficient, but it is the unexpected final scene that adds a perfect post-script to a perfect film and keeps resonating long after the credits have finished rolling.

• Bourne Ultimatum: I'll try not to spoil it for those who haven't seen the final Bourne - suffice to say, I enjoyed the swimming.

Breakthrough Performer of the Year

• Michael Cera: 2007 was the year Michael Cera broke out. With "Arrested Development" firmly in rearview, Cera gave us memorably hilarious turns in Superbad and Juno, while also co-leading the internet comedy revolution (see Cera at http://www.clarkandmichael.com/, and check out http://www.funnyordie.com/ for more internet comedy).

• Josh Brolin: Josh Brolin is the one actor who gets no credit for his solid performance in No Country for Old Men, and he certainly gets no credit for his equally solid performance in American Gangster. Maybe it is because he is so good at playing unlikeable sleaze balls? Regardless, he gets his props here on PB & Movies.

Oscar Rewind: Brokeback Mountain

Each year, Entertainment Weekly includes a retrospective article in its Academy Awards preview issue. For me, it's kind of a hit-or-miss component of the preview. I was definitely excited to read an account of Rocky's underdog performance at the 1977 Oscars, but for the most part, I don't really care that much about award shows that took place before I was born.

To me, the recent history of the Oscars is much more compelling. For example, I'm sure you remember the controversy surrounding Brokeback Mountain, which ultimately earned 7 noms and 3 Oscars in February 2006. But how is the movie perceived today, two years removed from that triumphant night? Has anyone who didn't see the movie at the time even watched it?

For the benefit of our loyal readers, I sacrificed one of my Blockbuster queue spots and finally sat down to watch Brokeback this week. My initial post-viewing thoughts:

• It's a well-crafted film - definitely worthy of the Best Director award (Ang Lee).


• Not as graphic as bible-thumping critics had suggested, but I'll admit the Heath Ledger-Jake Gyllenhaal sex scene was a bit...weird. If it had been two no-name actors, it probably would have been less so...


• The screenplay was decent but the story was a bit slow. It was clearly the acting that elevated this movie near to Best Picture level. Emphasis on "near", because to me this just didn't feel like a Best Picture. It had the "epic" cinematography and score that Academy voters love, but honestly, if I had seen this movie before reading or hearing any reviews, I would have said, "Good movie - well-acted, well-directed, but ultimately not that entertaining."


• It's not nearly as iconoclastic as fans and critics made it out to be. First off, it takes place in the 1960s and 70s, so it makes it easy to write off the type of homophobia (and homophobia-related violence) depicted in the film as signposts of a bygone era. Second, it's way too tragic and depressing to be a touchstone for gay rights advocates (in my humble opinion). Maybe the fact that a movie about "gay cowboys" entered the mainstream consciousness at all was seen as victory enough for the gay rights movement at the time. However, so many people trivialized this movie as "the gay cowboy movie" that I don't really see it having a long-term impact on American culture - or even on Hollywood, for that matter. It'll probably be the first film mentioned in the review for any future movie featuring gay protagonists that flirts with mainstream acceptance. Is that really a victory after all?

Brokeback Mountain: 2 PB Jars

It made me nauseous, but I liked Cloverfield anyway

I probably should have put on sea bands or popped some dramamine before heading to the multiplex for a late-night showing of Cloverfield last weekend but, to be honest, I didn't really believe that the entire movie was going to be shot in first-person handycam. I am not a J.J. Abrams fanatic, I don't watch "Lost," and I had not been frequenting the Cloverfield clues blogs prior to checking out the film, so all I knew about Cloverfield going in was what I had gleaned from the trailer - a monster strikes NYC, threatening the safety and love lives of a few early-20-somethings. Frankly, I thought the first-person camcorder footage in the trailer was more of a trailer concept than a feature-length concept. That said, and despite my traditionally unstable stomach (I don't fare well on roller-coasters and even OmniMax films make me queasy), I was completely enraptured by Cloverfield's 85 minutes of herky-jerky mayhem.

While the novelty of an entire movie shot from a first-person-holding-a-camcorder point of view may have worn off about 30 minutes into the film, I was impressed with Cloverfield's religious dedication to maintaining its concept. From the opening color bars to the start of the end-credits, the film is presented as a single videotape that has been catalogued by the U.S. government as evidence regarding the destruction of New York City by a mysterious monster, code-named "Cloverfield." (note: the picture below is not an actual frame from the film, as the film only contains frames that would have actually been shot by the camcorder.) There are no real sub-plots, but the film does ingeniously interweave a parallel narrative by occasionally cutting to previous footage on the same videotape, footage that has for the most part been filmed over during the monster attack. The primary narrative follows the events of a few friends who are thrust from the banality of a going-away party into a frightening fight for their lives as their city is besieged by a giant monster.

Ignoring obvious reality-check issues such as battery life and the ability of a camcorder to withstand a serious beating, I loved the originality of the film's concept. While the first-person handheld video camera concept movie was introduced by The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield takes it to another level by throwing serious special effects and big-budget action into the mix. It felt fresh, personal, and immensely entertaining. By focusing on the plight of its protagonists rather than the details of the monster, Cloverfield actually becomes a lot more realistic and a lot scarier than most of its monster-movie brethren. I imagine that Cloverfield is roughly equivalent to what my or my friends' home movies would look like if we found ourselves holding a video camera at the moment that our lives became threatened by terrifying evil - whether that evil was a monster, a war, a natural disaster or a supernatural encounter.

Check it out, but don't forget the dramamine.

Cloverfield - 2.0 PB Jars