very simple

I’m not surprised at the low number of movies released in 2007 that I saw, particularly given that I was pretty much not in the country for the first four months of the year.  What I am surprised about is, of the 15 films that I did manage to see, just how many of them were overrated blockbusters.  Oh well.  The list…

Alpha Dog:  Saw this on cable.  It was actually pretty good, if a little over the top with the crazy kids (although it was based on a true story).  Biggest surprise?  Justin Timberlake being one of the best things about the film.

Catch and Release:  Netflixed.  After Deadwood, I would watch Timothy Olyphant spend two hours reading out of the phone book.  Juliette Lewis was annoying, but otherwise, I thought this was pretty charming.

Music and Lyrics:  Saw this one on cable…last night.  Cute, contrived (of course, as all cheesy chick flicks are).  I did laugh out loud at the completely, hilariously, cheesily over the top 80’s music video that started and ended the film.  Of course, I couldn’t help but dissect the "New York realism" aspects.  Apparently Hugh Grant’s character lives 2 blocks from me (they kept showing the corner of 72nd and Broadway), but when they "go out for a snack" they end up at the City Bakery.  Which is about 50 blocks away.  Stuff like that just annoys me. It’s also geographically impossible for the view from his apartment (which they kept showing incessantly to mark time) to include the Beresford to the south.  Oh well. 

Outlaw:  They showed this on HDNet the other night, and given that it had Sean Bean in it, I couldn’t resist.  I also had to watch it twice, as I fell asleep about 10 minutes in to the first viewing.  Kind of ridiculous, kind of stupid.  I thought it was going to be a lot more "Sean Bean kicking bad-guy ass", and a lot less "we’re a bunch of men with emotional problems".

The Hoax:  The first movie I actually saw in a theater after I got home from Italy.  Very enjoyable.  Although I have finally come to the conclusion that Richard Gere doesn’t really have a whole lot of range.

Spider-man 3:  Blargh. 

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End:  Blaaargh.

Oceans 13:  The boy’s are back!  How is it possible that George Clooney continues to get better and better looking as he gets older?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:  At least the kids have finally learned how to really act.  Really enjoyed this one, particularly since I had just re-read the book before seeing the film. 

The Bourne Ultimatum:  By far the best "sequel" this year.  I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Superbad:  OK, this was really funny.  Painfully funny, as everyone in the theater flashed back to their own awkward high school years.

Michael Clayton:  This was filmed in my office, so even if it had been bad, I would have been one of the first people in line to see it.  Fortunately it was also really really great.

American Gangster:  Another film where the truth is crazier than any writer could invent.  At times a bit too violent just for violence’s sake, but the acting was pretty superb.

I’m Not there:  I’ve already discussed this one.

I Am Legend:  Saw this last weekend.  WHY do filmmakers insist on changing the endings to books?  It’s almost always a disappointment.  The first 2/3rds of this were really great, particularly the thought of an empty Manhattan (and particularly when seeing the film around the Holidays, when the streets here are packed to the gills with people), and then the ending was just kind of ridiculous. 

So that’s it for movies this year, unless I manage to get myself to one this afternoon, which is a distinct possibility.

As far as 2007 movies that I would have liked to see but never got around to?  the following are going in my Netflix queue right after I post this entry (some of the later stuff is still in theaters, so I may actually not be out of time on those):

Zodiac
Blades of Glory
Live Free or Die
Waitress
28 Weeks Later
Knocked Up
Transformers
In the Valley of Elah
The Kingdom
The Darjeeling Limited
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Gone Baby Gone
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
No Country for Old Men
Enchanted
Juno
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Youth Without Youth
Charlie Wilson’s War
Persepolis

Tags: movies