Date: November 4
Location: Muvico Boca Raton

My father and I, the manliest of men, saw this manly movie together while our women went shopping. As it should be. As for the movie… it’s a great one, one of the best so far this year. 2007 has been a great year for throwbacks to a 70s aesthetic, from Michael Clayton to Black Snake Moan, Zodiac to American Gangster. The latter two, in addition to being filmed and plotted like great crime movies of the 70s, are largely set in that decade. They share a cinematographer and production designer, too, with award-worthy results. I’d rank both films among the best crime movies I’ve seen — if not the equal of The Godfather and Goodfellas, at least shoulder-to-shoulder with The Departed and L.A. Confidential.

Ridley Scott does great, subtle work here, content to let his actors carry the weight. And what a lineup of actors he has at his disposal — Washington and Crowe are note-perfect as always (both should vie for the Best Actor award), but just as impressive is the excellent work by Ruby Dee, Armand Assante, John Ortiz, Joe Morton and Josh Brolin. And Chiwetel Ejiofor has great taste and/or a great agent — he picks one winner after another and shines in every one.

I’m a sucker for movies like this — movies that feel gritty and real and put you right in the center of the depraved but fascinating lives of criminals. American Gangster goes a step further and puts you in the center of the lead investigation as well. The back-and-forth between these very different worlds, and very different central figures, is fascinating. And the climax is beautifully staged, delivering all the thrills of an action movie plus the heft of a tragedy. The movies runs 2 1/2 hours but I didn’t want it to end.

Date: October 20
Location: AMC Sunset Place

Wow, it’s been awhile since I saw a movie. Can’t let that happen again! I still don’t know exactly how I feel about this movie, at least in terms of placing it on the list. I can say that, for now at least, I consider it the weakest of Wes Anderson’s films. But that’s not saying much, because I consider all the rest masterpieces of varying degree and this one definitely has its place among them. Complicating things is the fact that all of Anderson’s films have grown richer and more effective for me over time, and I suspect future viewings of Darjeeling will continue that trend. I’d love to see this film again in the theater, and I will definitely buy the DVD the day it’s released.

That said, I can appreciate the criticism that Anderson has gone to the well one too many times, producing another film about broken families set against obsessively detailed mise-en-scene and peppered with slo-mo shots set to obscure 60s pop songs. He definitely does that here, perhaps a couple times too many.

However, I was surprised to see how much Anderson breaks from his signature style in this film — shooting on a moving train and on location in India lends a more organic feel to many of his compositions. The film has a looser, more improvisational feel. And the performances are lovely, with Owen Wilson a particular standout — he has always done his finest work in Anderson’s films.

Ultimately, while I feel this is a special film, I hope Anderson stretches his wings a bit more on the next one. His spectacular early success (artistic if not commercial) is working against him now, but I’m guessing 20 years from now his work will be studied and appreciated alongside the other great directors of our time. Five films into Steven Spielberg’s career, he was regarded as a boy who refused to grow up, but a couple Munichs and Schindler’s Lists later that criticism is forgotten. Wes Anderson is at a similar crossroads, and I for one can’t wait to see what direction he takes next.