Before we begin, we'd like to wish you all a Happy New Year's Eve and, in case we don't get back to you tomorrow, a Happy New Year as well!
Yes, I say "we" because this post is brought to you by both Katie and Kevin!
Katie's not that into the music scene. Yes, she listens. But not with quite the ravenous love that I do. So she steers clear of that stuff and leaves it to me.
Now that we're talking movies, she's totally into it. So we're both working together to bring you Kapgar's Top Movies of 2007. We may even throw in some comments for you.
At first, we considered the possibility of doing this in Ebert and Roeper format with each of us presenting our own Top 10s, one at a time. But we then discovered a few problems... our top five movies were exactly the same, and my 7-8 were the same as her 6-7 with me adding one movie she hadn't seen to bump them down a bit, and, finally, she couldn't think of anything beyond #7 to fill out a full 10. This made things a bit weird. Not weird that we have almost exactly the same taste in movies, but just weird in that you'd be pretty much reading the same thing twice.
So we are bringing you one list where I have a few thrown in that are slightly different than what she would've done had she compiled her own list. We hope you enjoy it all the same.
And I'd like to note, for the record, that we saw a flippin' load of movies this year. I started putting together the list and it's just ridonkulous how many are on there. I don't even remember seeing this many. But I know we did see them.
Oh yeah, there's also a laundry list of movies we have yet to see as well including:
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Now on to what we actually did see:
10. Death at a Funeral
This was one I saw without Katie and I loved it. It truly cracked me up to no end and it was fun to see Alan Tudyk feigning a British accent. While this sort of thing may sound like it would be cliche'd, it really did work well and I was laughing throughout. I swear that nobody can make dark comedy quite like our friends across the "pond."
9. 3:10 to Yuma
Here is another one I saw without Katie. I'm not sure if she'd like this or not as it was quite long and slow paced. Plus, she's not much of a sucker for westerns like I am. Plus, I really enjoyed seeing both Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, two of today's better actors, together on the big screen.
8. Ocean's Thirteen
Katie and I both loved Ocean's Eleven and, upon first viewing, didn't much care for Ocean's Twelve. So we were on the fence about the third installment. Not that we were considering not seeing it, we just weren't sure how it would pan out. But the guys came back in fine fashion and added some new crew members, which just made for a fine outing at the cinema.
7. Enchanted
To be honest with you, Katie and I figured this film would be nothing more than an overly cutesy, Disney-fied flick. But it turned out so much better than either of us could have imagined. We actually wanted to see it again immediately afterwards. That doesn't happen too often. And Amy Adams was incredible. If Ellen Page doesn't win a Best Actress Oscar for Juno, the winner had better be Adams.
6. Hot Fuzz
Despite the fact that I never quite cared for Shaun of the Dead,
I did go ahead and watch this film that was produced, written, and
directed by the same crew (not to mention starring several of the same
cast members). and I absolutely loved it. I really think Katie would
like it, too, but she has yet to see it. Another British comedy, but
severely over the top and I couldn't stop laughing for a minute.
5. American Gangster
Wow. I never thought I'd see Russell Crowe on a top 10 list twice, but the guy certainly seems to know how to pick winners, wouldn't you say? And then, of course, there's Denzel Washington. He is never better than when he plays a guy who is either bad or straddling the moral divide between good and bad. We can't forget the return of Josh Brolin to big budget films. Some critics say he deserves some sort of comeback actor award for his roles in this and No Country For Old Men, but we have yet to see the latter.
4. Ratatouille
This was a first for us. We always see Pixar films in theaters. Always. No questions asked. Yet, for some reason, we never got around to seeing Ratatouille, but it turned out to be one of our favorite Pixar films ever. Luckily, we bought it just before we started compiling this list (we were hoping to receive it as a Christmas gift, but that never happened). A great film that we both highly recommend.
3. The Bourne Ultimatum
As much as I love Indiana Jones films and the Die Hard films and other great action adventure flicks, I don't think any action series quite compares to the Bourne films. All three of the films are consistently enjoyable and leave you breathless. And to see Matt Damon, who has otherwise played relatively meek or restrained roles, as badass CIA operative Jason Bourne is a revelation of casting. I don't know who came up with the idea of turning Damon into an action hero, but s/he should be worshipped.
2. Waitress
For nearly a month, I really believed this movie would wind up in the top spot on my list. It was only a couple days ago that it was bumped, but by a worthy competitor, for sure. I never thought a movie about adultery would be so endearing and enjoyable, yet it was. This is a film that deserves to be purchased and watched multiple times, not just once.
1. Juno
And here we have yet another questionable subject -- teen pregnancy -- turned around on its heels and made into a thoroughly enjoyable movie. There was not a single acting role in this film that wasn't perfectly cast and executed and the script is 100% spot on and viciously funny. As Katie says, there's not a minute of the movie you won't love.
There you have it, our top 10 movies for the year ending 2007. Of course, as we start to watch some on our not-yet-seen list, the order could change. But as of this moment in time, these be they. Heh.
