John Michael Decker's top ten films of 2007

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John Michael Decker's top ten films of 2007
Written by John Michael Decker
Jan 12, 2008 at 06:28 PM

It's time, once again, for my biased list of favorite films of the past year. Overall, I have to say that out of the approximately 55 flicks I saw in 2007, I enjoyed most of what I viewed. There were, of course, a few stinkers like The Reaping, Ghost Rider and Transformers, but thankfully these were the exception and not the rule. 2007 was a good year for comedies. Ratatouille, Knocked Up and Superbad were all awesome, but they didn't quite make my list. In fact, there were plenty of movies that I would have liked to include on my list including the crime drama American Gangster, the animated adventure Beowulf, and the fun Korean monster flick The Host, but I only had ten slots to fill. Now here is the list of my ten favorite films of 2007, arranged in descending order from ten to one.

#10: Shoot 'Em Up

Synopsis: In this action comedy, Clive Owen plays Mr. Smith, the angriest man in the world. Through a series of mishaps, Smith ends up as the guardian of a newborn infant who is pursued by seemingly every scumbag and hitman in the government's employ. With the aid of a hooker sidekick (played by the beautiful Italian actress Monica Bellucci) and a number of guns, Smith shoots his way through this 86-minute film. Now you may think that the relentless amount of gunfights and carnage would get tired after a while, but director Michael Davis imbues this movie with such a zany energy that it was hard not to get swept up in what is essentially an adult cartoon.

I know I'm going to take a lot of heat for putting this flick on my list. It's not what one would consider a particularly deep or meaningful film -- just a mindless escape, really. But damn, I had fun watching it.

#9: Bug

Synopsis: This film is almost the complete opposite of Shoot 'Em Up. It's a deep and disturbing psychodrama about a couple's descent into madness. There are few characters and locations in this film, which gives it a very intimate feel. It was almost more like watching a play than a movie, which makes sense because it is based on the play by Tracy Letts.

Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon give raw, Oscar-worthy performances as two lovers who manage to feed off the negative aspects of one another to the point where each enables the others insanity. William Friedkin directs in a way that really gets under your skin.

For more, check out my original review of Bug.

#8: Stephen King's The Mist

Synopsis: A mysterious fog rolls into a small town, bringing with it creatures that would give H.P. Lovecraft nightmares. A band of citizens hunker down in a supermarket for their mutual protection, but before long, sociological and economic differences have the survivors at each others throats.

In my opinion, Frank Darabont had directed some of the finest Stephen King adaptations ever put on celluloid. Both The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile were excellent, but this is the first time that Darabont had adapted a true King horror tale. The results were magnificent.

I love films where the human protagonists end up being just as horrible as the monsters they are fighting. This movie also has one of the most unnerving endings I've ever seen in a horror film.

#7: Sicko

Synopsis: Rabble-rousing documentation Michael Moore is at it again, and the target of his latest film is the American health care industry. What I liked so much about this particular documentary was that it did more than just make me angry. There were some real moments of humanity and courage thrown into the mix. There were still a lot of the stunts for which Moore is famous, but they didn't seem as cheap to me in this picture as they have in his past work.

Love him or hate him, Moore is a talented and provocative filmmaker, and it is hard to view his work and not be moved somehow -- even if you are moved to put your fist in his face.

#6: Stardust

Synopsis: When a young man named Tristin promises the village beauty that he will track down a falling star for her, he finds himself in a mystical realm populated by all manner of magical creatures and colorful characters.

This whimsical adventure is based on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. It reminded me a lot of one of my all time favorite films, The Princess Bride. This is really just a fun, old-fashioned, swashbuckling fantasy-adventure with lots of memorable performances, particularly from Michelle Pfeiffer as Lamia, a wicked witch obsessed with youth, and Robert De Niro as Captain Shakespeare, a flamboyant buccaneer.

#5: Hot Fuzz

Synopsis: Simon Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, the toughest, most relentless, most hard-boiled cop in London. But Angel has to face his greatest nightmare when his jealous colleagues have him transferred to Sandford, the village with the lowest crime rate in England. To make matters worse, in Sandford, Angel is partnered with Danny Butterman (played by long time Pegg collaborator Nick Frost), a bumbling oaf who is obsessed with American action films. But before long this odd couple realize that there is more going on in this idyllic little town than an escaped goose and underage drinking.

The actor/writer/director uber-team of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright join forces once again to do for cop films what they did for horror flicks in Shaun of the Dead. This was a great send-up of the American action film, with some real character moments and enough of its own action to fill up three other movies.

Check out my original review of Hot Fuzz.

#4: 300

Synopsis: Another adaptation of a comic book graphic novel, this film is a liberally interpreted account of the battle of Thermopylae by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. Although I would hesitate to call this "history," it is a balls-to-the-wall action flick with great characters and wall-to-wall action.

Although some may be turned off by the graphic battle sequences throughout the film, I found the movie's kinetic energy hard to look away from, and there is substance in the idea of a few brave men fighting for an ideal bigger than all of them. Zack Snyder is turning out to be quite a fine director, and I can't wait to see his next film project, an adaptation of Watchmen, the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Check out my original review of 300.

#3: The Simpsons Movie

Synopsis: The lovable moron, Homer Simpson, inadvertently causes an ecological disaster in his hometown of Springfield that is so horrible that the EPA feels the need to place a giant dome around the town and cut it off from the rest of the world. Hilarity ensues.

The Simpsons is one of my favorite animated television shows, but I have to confess that over the past few years it's lost its edge. But the show debuted on December 17, 1989, and one has to expect some slump in quality after 19 seasons on the air. I am happy to report that when I saw The Simpsons Movie, the old magic was back in spades. This movie gave me several of the best belly-laughs I've had last year.

#2: No Country for Old Men

Synopsis: Llewelyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin) is hunting near the Rio Grande when he stumbles across a group of dead bodies and a satchel filled with over two million dollars in cash. Before long, Moss finds himself on the run with the money, being pursued by deranged serial killer Anton Chigurh (played with real malice by Javier Bardem) and honest Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (performed by veteran character actor, Tommy Lee Jones). The film then unfolds, essentially, as a character study of three men. The poor hunter who thinks he has struck it rich, but is in way over his head (Moss). The stone-cold killer with his own twisted sense of honor (Chigurh). And the law man who can't quite believe that an evil force like Anton Chigurh can exist in the world (Tom Bell).

The Coen brothers are two of the finest filmmakers working in Hollywood today. They may have surpassed themselves with this crime thriller based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. The plot twists and turns and never quite leads us where we think it will. This is a very thoughtful film. The characters are real and unpretentious. I have heard that a lot of people were underwhelmed by the ending, but I loved it. It haunted me and I was still thinking about it days later. To me, this is the mark of a fine movie.

And now, my favorite movie of 2007...

#1: Grindhouse

Synopsis: Grindhouse is a good old-fashioned double feature. The main body of the film consists of "Planet Terror," an end-of-the-world, zombie picture directed by Robert Rodriguez, and "Death Proof" a unique slasher flick where the killer's weapon is a car rather than a knife, directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Although both "Planet Terror" and "Death Proof" are very enjoyable, if I had viewed them independently, I don't think they would have even made my Top Ten list. Certainly neither of these films independently is as good as No Country for Old Men. What blew me away about Grindhouse was that Rodriguez and Tarantino crafted the entire movie into an experience. Specifically, the experience of seeing a couple of exploitation films at an old grindhouse theater sometime in the 1970s. It was the little details that really sold the illusion. The scratchy film quality. The missing reels. And especially the fake trailers that were thrown into the mix, each written and produced by top directors Eli Roth, Edgar Wright, and Rob Zombie. I can honestly say that the experience of seeing Grindhouse was the most fun I had at the movies last year.

Check out my original review of Grindhouse.

Summary

And there you have it, my top picks for the year that was. Feel free to get in touch and argue with me or tell me about a great film I may have left off the list. And remember, each person views a movie through the lens of their own experience and personal taste. Just because I love something doesn't mean that you have to feel the same.

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John Michael Decker is a struggling actor and self-avowed comic book geek. This is his ninth top ten films list.

Copyright 2008 John Michael Decker. No reprints without written permission.