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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford


Date: February 12
Location: Clifton Living Room

2007 could be remembered as the year of the Western, with astonishing films such as No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood topping critics lists and the Oscars. This gorgeous, meditative tale continues that trend. It’s a shame it was lost in the mix (save for Casey Affleck’s much-deserved Best Supporting Actor nomination). I’ve read and heard much criticism that the film is too “slow” — and I can see that, up to a point. It is definitely long, and more concerned with talk than action. But I was riveted from the first frame to the last.

The movie reminded me a lot of the book Manhunt, about the events surrounding Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. It has a fascinating attention to detail, both of the period and of the circumstances surrounding James’ murder. The events that follow the assassination were particularly fascinating (and new) to me.

Finally, major kudos to cinematographer Roger Deakins, whose work here is at least on par with his amazing work on No Country For Old Men. Deakins has been nominated by the Academy for both films and it will be a crime if he cancels himself out and the trophy goes to somebody else.

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The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Date: February 5
Location: Clifton Living Room

Over the past several years, there’s been a trend of great documentaries about the incredible competition and fascinating characters found in “geek sports” — spelling in Spellbound, crossword puzzles in Wordplay and now old-school video gaming in The King of Kong. This one could be the best of them, largely because it focuses on a single hero and a single villain locked in a heart-pounding battle for that ultimate prize, the highest score in Donkey Kong. At times it plays more like a work of fiction than a documentary — one player is so clearly the protagonist that the filmmakers even play the Rocky theme to highlight his comeback. It’s great fun, but at the same time I wonder if they didn’t go a bit far. Surely the “villain” isn’t as cartoonish as he’s portrayed here. And isn’t it the responsibility of documentary filmmakers to deliver something close to the truth? That’s a debate worth having, but this is a wonderful film regardless.

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Oscar gets it right


I predicted it a few months ago, and I’m happy to have been right: this is the best Oscar race in memory.

My top three films are up for Best Picture, and a fourth nominee is my #9. I haven’t seen the other film (Michael Clayton) but I very much want to, and by all accounts it is a worthy contender — and not the sort of cringe-worthy stuff the Academy sometimes goes for.

My two biggest disappointments are the lack of nominees for Zodiac, without a doubt one of the year’s best films, and the complete shut-out of Judd Apatow, who did such great work this year in different roles (writer, director, producer) on three great films (Knocked Up, Superbad, Walk the Line — I’m taking Amy and Dana’s word on the worthiness of the latter).

The biggest snub — Jonny Greenwood in the Original Score category — turns out to have been a matter of eligibility. The Academy deemed his score ineligible because it contained elements of other composers’ work. Yeah, yeah… whatever. I hope Michael Giacchino (who was snubbed for his extraordinary score for The Incredibles) picks up the award this time for his teriffic work on Ratatouille).

Nice to see Once get a nod for Original Song, though they could have had several nominated. Those songs were much better than the cute showtunes of Enchanted.

If I had my way, the winners from this group would be: No Country For Old Men for Best Picture and Director, Ellen Page for Best Actress, Daniel Day Lewis for Best Actor, Javier Bardem for Best Supporting Actor and Amy Ryan for Best Supporting Actress. Juno and There Will Be Blood would win the screenplay Oscars. No Country would take Cinematography and Editing and anything having to do with Sound. Ratatouille would win Score and Animated Film. No End in Sight would take Best Documentary. And the show would actually be written and broadcast because the strike was over.

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There Will Be Blood

Date: January 19
Location: Muvico Palace

Paul Thomas Anderson has cemented his place as the finest filmmaker of his very talented generation with this extraordinary, mesmerizing turn-of-the-century saga about a sociopathic oil man’s descent into hell. The most impressive thing about Anderson’s work in There Will Be Blood is how little it resembles anything he’s ever done before — it has none of the hip Scorsese stylings of Boogie Nights, none of the Altmanesque cross-cutting or brazen sentimentality of Magnolia. Instead it is a very straightforward (lack of) morality tale that brings to mind Citizen Kane more than anything else.

Plenty has been written about Daniel Day Lewis’ wonderful work as Daniel Plainview — he is, and has been, among the finest actors alive, and he’s doing his best work here. And just as much has been written about Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood’s amazing score. Anderson has always used music splendidly, from the 70s radio hits of Boogie Nights to Aimee Mann’s song-score of Magnolia, and here he’s allowed Greenwood to craft a score that practically becomes a character in the film. If he loses the Oscar, there’s no justice.

I have no doubt that Anderson has crafted an American classic that will be watched, written about and studied decades from now. I personally gravitate more toward Boogie Nights and Magnolia, which have a brazen pop sensibility that I thrive on, but I’m blown away by the powerful classicism he taps here.

Once again, I’m thrilled at what a wonderful year for movies 2007 has turned out to be — the best of the decade so far, by far. It’s interesting that my top six contains three dark, brutal, pessimistic films and three that are lighter than air. As for why There Will Be Blood wound up at #3, despite the “best of the year” level praise I’ve heaped on it — in a nutshell, when I walked out of No Country For Old Men, I immediately wanted to watch it again… when I walked out of There Will Be Blood, I immediately wanted to watch Juno.

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Eastern Promises

Date: January 15
Location: Clifton Living Room

What a great year for movies this has been. So great that this powerful, absorbing crime thriller can’t crack my top ten. Viggo Mortensen gives one of the year’s best performances as a driver for the Russian mob caught up in some particularly messy business. Everybody talks about the naked steamroom fight scene, and it is indeed a doozy, but it’s just one aspect of the extraordinary physicality Mortensen brings to this role. Between this film and A History of Violence it seems Cronenberg has found the De Niro to his Scorsese.