best film: There Will Be Blood from Paul Thomas Anderson
- By 2007 Paul Thomas Anderson has done Altman and Scorsese but There Will Be Blood unquestionably leans more towards Kubrick perhaps even Welles. Yet, it is his work entirely—especially with The Master (2012) backing it up as a companion piece. The Master makes There Will Be Blood even stronger- and vice versa.
- The film is a meditation on capitalism, greed, and monomania.
- 2007 is a tremendous year- certainly worthy of all the praise form retro podcasts and articles—all due and warranted– a towering year for cinema with that top top six to seven below especially. There are many years where The Assassination of Jesse James would be the best film of the year.
- Called by many (even at the time in 2007 which is astonishing) the great American novel on film of the 21st century—so many of them saying “this thing will be studied” or that equivalent.
- There is a bit of John Huston’s Noah Cross (damn what a villain) in Chinatown with Daniel Plainview and a little of Elmer Gantry in Paul Dano’s Paul Sunday full of it evangelical preacher. Anderson brilliantly weaves the two characters together.
- The silent opening is a bemouth, the landscape architecture as character and metaphor, it is physical and violent.
- Set in California like all his previous work
- Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood’s first score pairing with PTA and the results are miraculous—there is crescendo’ing and synthesized orchestra—it echoes 2001’s opening- building slowly, piece by piece, and all without words (fifteen minutes here to open)—it is a magnificent short film within the larger film masterpiece. Determination. Elliptically edited. Confident.

Other references—filmed in the same location as Stevens’ Giant, the obsessions match nicely with The Treasure of Sierra Madre and von Stroheim’s Greed.
- One could argue that Daniel Day-Lewis squashes the supporting cast and the film could benefit from someone a little larger in any of the supporting roles—like how Pesci plays off De Niro in Raging Bull (despite saying it does not compare as much to Scorsese– this is clearly PTA’s Raging Bull if Boogie Nights is his Goodfellas). Tarantino complained about Dano and Dano’s work is not one of the best of 2007 and with a role that that it should be (look at the dueling leads in The Master). But, one can also see that it seems highly unlikely that anyone could stand up to DDL. But what if that were Heath Ledger squealing at Day-Lewis in the final scene?
- Complex relationship with son and brother (faux brother it turns out) as son surrogate—multiple layers of PTA’s father/mentor obsession as an auteur
- The score manifests itself clearly- audacious—does not want to hide in the background
- Hypocrisy and mirroring
- In many ways there are stretches much more stylistically quiet than Punch-Drunk Love

PTA’s greatest work moving the camera may have come in the 1990s– but here, he is patient, and can not only pull over the perfect tracking shot– but pause and compile and endless supply of perfect frames

ambitious in every facet- from the performances to the staging to create this composition
- The shot of DDL in water, isolation, after the “peachtree dance” test his brother fails. Pure genius.
- Countless standout shots and sequences. The long tracking shot alone the pipeline with DDL reuniting with his son— both long in the length of take and long shot.
- Biblical references all over the place- “orphan from a basket”, the Dano twins,
- On top of all this there are a ton of black comedy moments with DDL and not just the perfect ending which absolutely smashes the viewer
- Plainview is also becoming (or perhaps always was) an alcoholic- clearly deteriorating as the film goes on
- Ok it is a little odd that Dano looks 28 years old at the end of the film when he should be about fifty- small thing that has always bothered me
- Not as opaque as The Master but it is closer than I had realized—not a critique- just observation
- At separate points both Dano and DDL make each other bow to one another—they have different paths they follow (like The Master – PSH with his religion and Phoenix with sex/drinking) but are looking for meaning
- It is a bit of a stretch but unlike the bone used by the ape in 2001 to smash the head this ending has DDL with a bowling pin—and then the “I’m finished” with strings. Large…daring…brilliant
most underrated: For years the answer to this category in 2007 was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford from Andrew Dominik. Like most often happens over time, Dominik’s masterpiece has been gaining traction on the TSPDT consensus list and it now sits at #7 for 2007. So, the film is still underrated– but that is not egregious. Far more egregious are Atonement from Joe Wright at #27 of 2007 on the 21st century list and The Darjeeling Limited from Wes Anderson at #36 of 2007. This marks Joe Wright’s second straight mention (this is his second film overall) in this underrated category. The Dunkirk oner shot is the jaw-dropper– but the typewriting machine editing sequence, the writing, the performances and as one can see below- the film is amongst the most painterly of 2007 as well.

Accentuated sound effects—reminiscent of early Aronofsky—loud and blends with the score and usage of typewriter and other diegetic sounds from objects in the film.

The Dunkirk tracking shot or oner is an all-timer. It starts with real acting in it- genuine performances. Then, it goes to the shooting of the horses, the water, the countless extras and the Ferris Wheel set piece in the background — all of this is captured during the magic hour. It is one of the best shots in recent cinema.

Atonement is painful tale of life and love cut short- these images were just a few cinematic paintings amongst the many to select from

Hotel Chevalier to open the film is part of Darjeeling the larger feature. It is a prologue- and a stunning one at that.-Even in 2007, Wes is thinking about gorgeous and plush European Hotels (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

The film’s mise-en-scene and décor are exploding in colors: teal, yellow, green—and Wes is rolling the tracking shots back and forth in the carts with gorgeous wallpaper in all of it. Symmetry and the bookmarks– catching the train at the end—literally the three sons cannot make the train if they continue to hold onto their father’s baggage (luggage- designed by Louis Vuitton)- which is weighing them down.

Slow motion is used heavier here than in Wes’ other works. He uses it in the hotel and Bill Murray’s scene trying to catch the train. Laminated itinerary, father issues, comradery… Wes’ auteuristic traits. The slow motion shot (above) of the three men walking to the funeral a career highlight for Wes Anderson- plain and simple. It is a moving painting with the characters in profile—it flows well into the flashback of their father’s funeral. It is a breathtaking cinematic scene. There are elements of Greenaway with the mise-en-scene tracking//moving painting and certainly elements of Scorsese with all the gorgeous slow motion to inspired needle drops (The Kinks here mainly).

Do yourself a favor and go back and watch Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Thirteen. it is an art film masquerading as pop entertainment.

long tracking shots, montages of the luxurious hotel (the best character in the film), playful compositions like the frame within the frame here– certainly one of the most underrated films of 2007– the TSPDT consensus does not have it among the top 53 of 2007– that is absurd.
most overrated: The TSPDT consensus misses on a few films noted above but overall they do a great job on 2007. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly needs to move down– it is currently #6 from 2007 on the TSPDT consensus list. Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There needs to make way for superior films as well- it sits at #9.
- I’m Not There has a fascinating structure- it is a a collage, kaleidoscope—an impressionistic biopic that avoids the dry conventional biopic like the plague (sort of the anti-Ray or Walk the Line)
- Fun to see Joker (Heath Ledger) and Batman (Christian Bale) both playing Bob Dylan the year before The Dark Knight.
- Haynes sets it up early with a montage of his lead actors playing versions of the Bob Dylan character—you have an older version (Richard Gere), woman (Cate Blanchett), etc.—calls them the “poet”, “ghost”, “fake”, “outlaw”, and so on.
- voice-over by Dylan friend (co-star on Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid) Kris Kristofferson
- Lots of BW 16mm
- The film struggles in sections and fascinates in others— it is buoyed by that dream cast (which you could argue is largely spoiled) and the wall to wall brilliant music (by Dylan of course)—the cast includes Blanchett (who steals the show), Gere, Bale, Ledger, Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore- some of the best actors of the era—Moore specifically- a frequent collaborator and semi-muse of Haynes is given almost nothing to do here—she does the faux documentary sequences and these should be done away with entirely—Haynes did this as one of his three mini-films in debut Poison (1991)
- Blanchett’s gender bending (keeping with Haynes as a feminist artist, a figure of Queer cinema) performance is awesome- it goes beyond just gimmick—she is electric—angered
- Michelle Williams as Edie Sedgwick is inspired casting- however, she is not in much here- wish she had been cast in the Edie biopic Factory Girl (2006) with Sienna Miller
- The film is long- very contrary, antagonist and speaks in riddles- much like Dylan
- The “Goin’ to Acapulco” song/scene is inspired- not only the performance by Calexico but the staging and mise-en-scene from Haynes
gems I want to spotlight: Edgar Wright is a director capable of a masterpiece who has not delivered one (worried now that he never will). He is five movies in now and usually it happens by five movies in. But, one thing is proven, he is a spectacular editor. Hot Fuzz does not have the following/reputation of Shaun of the Dead but it is the slightly stronger film and the editing is the main reason why. Wright is creative and purposeful with each and every transition. He is clearly an admirer of the cop and action genre but he has created his own style blend here marrying music with exaggerated sound mixing to create his unique voice beyond the soundtrack, camerawork and pairing with comics like Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It is easy to forget about James Gray and We Own the Night in a crowded year like 2007. This is another shockingly underrated film from Gray. I hate to admit it, but the French (who adore Gray) are definitely correct in anointing him as a major auteur even when the critics in the US (metacritic score of 59) misevaluate him. The cast is wonderful- Robert Duvall is just one of the many nods to Francis Ford Coppola and The Godfather again from Gray. The film’s narrative is really like a reverse version of The Godfather – instead of Pacino’s Michael, who is straight, getting pulled into the family business of crime—Phoenix plays the sketchy night club guy who gets pulled into the family business – being a cop. It’s shockingly similar. Another Brighton Beach/Brooklyn Gray film. A film of alternative patriarchs –Shakespearian (and Coppolaesque). Gorgeous lighting and sumptuous set design. Amazing work from Phoenix- his bloated face from drug use and bloodshot eyes. Gray is indeed an uncompromising auteur- apparently the film was delayed years and cost much more money because he refused to shoot in Toronto instead of real locations.

Gray’s trademark lighting — 1970s American cinema- heavily influenced by Gordon Willis– certain David Fincher is a cousin. We Own the Night has one of the greatest car chases (another 1970s influence- The French Connection is the lineage) in cinema history.
trends and notables:
- 2007 is undoubtedly one of the best five to ten years in cinema history. Having There Will Be Blood at the top does not hurt. 2007 has perhaps the greatest Paul Thomas Anderson film (and he is the greatest auteur of his generation), Mount Rushmore films from David Fincher, The Coen Brothers and the inarguable peak of the Romanian New Wave (4 Months, 3 weeks, 2 Days) help make 2007 what it is.

Astounding work from David Fincher and Harris Savides (cinematographer) on Zodiac. Fincher’s films do not have highlights so much as they are wholly dipped in sumptuous natural lighting (married with rigorous period detail here).

Cristian Mungiu’s harrowing masterpiece- 4 Months, 3 weeks, 2 Days

No Country for Old Men– the narrative grabs ahold in a way very few films in film history can. It is unrelenting in its narrative propulsion.

a meditation and exploration of fate- the coin toss, the car accident

Roger Deakins had quite possibly the greatest single year from any cinematographer- collaborating on both No Country for Old Men and with Andrew Dominik here on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. With all due respect to the former, the Dominik film is superior and quite possibly the best work of Deakins’ career.

the great Sidney Lumet made his seventeenth (17th) and final archiveable film in 2007 with Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead— exactly fifty (50) years after his first archiveable film- 12 Angry Men (1957)
- Another reason 2007 is so special is many of the greatest auteurs of this era actually made a film in 2007. It is quite simple. Paul Thomas Anderson had not made a film since 2002, Roy Andersson since 2000, Bela Tarr since 2000 as well. One could argue these are the three greatest geniuses working at the time in cinema and they all have longer gestation periods.

Only when sandwiched between Werckmeister Harmonies (and this was seven (7) years in the making after that film which was six (6) years in the making after Satantango) and The Turin Horse does Tarr’s The Man From London disappoint. Still, a Bela Tarr B-side puts most of the rest of the cinema world shame with its genius. Rhythmic long takes– with languid camera movement, spectacular black/white photography.

The opening is a 13-minute hypnotic shot (set to eerie organ music)—Tarr is really just setting the scene of the upcoming crime taking place like Rear Window. (in the next shot). Tarr’s camera starts with a reflection in the water, goes up the boat, through the window from pane to pane to a dock/train setting. The second shot is five minutes long where the crime takes place through Tarr’s atmospheric fog and lighting. Tarr’s average shot length is more than six minutes per take at this point. It drops a little over the rest of the film but it stays about four minutes per shot. This is Bela Tarr cinema—meditative. The seventh shot (above) is awe-inspiring photography. Light pouring in from the window, Krobot’s character taking his shoe off, the chair, the bird cage on the right—beautiful museum piece shot

You, the Living is Roy Andersson’s second in a trilogy that starts with 2000’s Songs From the Second Floor and concludes with 2013’s A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence. Formally rigid- no in scene cuts, no camera movement, attention to background as much as foreground, Ozu-like open doors, Jim Jarmusch-like scene construction, Tati-like mise-en-scene detail. The train station sequence (above) is a standout.

You, the Living confirms the genius (yep, genius) behind Songs From the Second Floor was no fluke or happy accident but an auteur in complete control, a meticulously constructed—beautiful frames, painterly, rigid editing structure and aesthetics. A hazy overcast gray pervades most frames- characters are pale like zombies, lifeless world around them — matches the sorrow that permeates each vignette.

a breathtaking tableau of the Louisiana brass band playing upbeat music to a massive thunderstorm at the 37 minute mark. One of 30 or so sustained shots here that belong on a wall in an art museum. Many of the frames are among the best images in cinema 2007 (indeed, even in 2007), some appear to be duds (like the opener) but come back around later as they are connected to one of the other 49 vignettes.
- For up and coming cinema artists, Joanna Hogg makes her first archiveable film in 2007 with Unrelated (Hogg is a late bloomer- already 47 in 2007). Jeff Nichols’ Shotgun Stories manages to stand out even in 2007- his first archiveable film (and the best role for Michael Shannon to date in 2007). Those two would collaborate again often.
- Saoirse Ronan is certainly an actor worth noting for her first archiveable film Atonement here in 2007 at the age of thirteen (13).
- Box office success and quality cinema seems worlds apart in 2007 with films like Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Transformers and another Pirates of the Caribbean taking the top four slots. Luckily 2008 and 2009 would remedy this a bit with some outstanding films at the top of both years.
best performance male: For this category in 2007 there is Daniel Day-Lewis and then there is everyone else. There is a chasm in-between. DDL gives one of the best performances in cinema history. The runner up in 2007, after leaving a long enough pause after Day-Lewis… is actually Casey Affleck for Jesse James. Third would be Brad Pitt in the same film. Both Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. earn a spot for their work in Zodiac and No Country for Old Men has as many as three actors that have to be mentioned: Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin. In a year this extraordinary year it is no surprise that there are more actors yet to recognize. James McAvoy has never been better than his work in Joe Wright’s Atonement and after 2006 with The Departed, Matt Damon cannot be overlooked again and The Bourne Ultimatum is as good a time as any to make sure he gets another mention.

Daniel Day-Lewis’ achievement here cannot be overstated. It is the greatest performance of the century to date. He was always going to be a great actor but this puts him on a different plane. It is his Raging Bull performance.

The Coens and Javier Bardem (along with Cormac McCarthy of course) have created one of the more memorable characters/villains in recent film history with the Anton Chigurh character.

It is worth stopping to acknowledge the run Brad Pitt started in 2006 with Babel. It is almost as if Pitt took a step back in 2005 with the recent artistic failures of Troy and Mr. & Mrs. Smith and at that point made a concerted effort to work with auteurs and aim for more artistically significant works. After Babel and Jesse James- Pitt still has The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Burn After Reading (2008), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Moneyball (2011) and The Tree of Life (2011) yet to come.
best performance female: Anamaria Marinca owns this category in 2007 for her work in Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months 3 weeks, 2 Days. She is head and shoulders above the rest (which includes Laura Vasiliu also from Mungiu’s film). Saoirse Ronan starts her phenomenal (still young) career in Atonement. The first half (with Ronan) is stronger than the second.

a sublime composition of course- but Anamaria Marinca’s performance is essential to the scene’s power
top 10
- There Will Be Blood
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
- Zodiac
- 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
- Atonement
- No Country for Old Men
- You, the Living
- The Darjeeling Limited
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- Flight of the Red Balloon

Café Lumiere (from 2003, one of Hsiao-Hsien Hou’s strongest efforts) was an outward homage to Ozu while still staying true to Hou’s voice and brand as an auteur himself— this is much the same with a nod to Lamorisse’s 1956 short film The Red Balloon – these two films (both superb) are companion pieces. Long takes for HHH- a stylistic indicator. HHH’s other trademark is being able to beautifully set the mise-en-scene and this film has it in abundance—eight (8) minutes in we have a great shot of a red door, red garbage, red artwork on both sides of the door. The color choices are clear in the film’s title but it’s not just the balloon- it’s much more– it’s believable production color scheme design throughout the mise-en-scene like Kieslowski’s colour trilogy (Binoche- the star here also stars in Kieslowski’s Blue of course)

The film cannot quite squeeze an overstuffed top ten- but Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a fine resume builder for both Burton and Depp– and this here makes for a brilliant cinematic painting.
Archives, Directors, and Grades
28 Weeks Later- Fresnadillo | R |
3:10 To Yuma- Mangold | R |
4 Months, 3 weeks, 2 Days- Mungiu | MP |
A Mighty Heart- Winterbottom | R |
American Gangster- R. Scott | R |
Atonement – J. Wright | MP |
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead – Lumet | R |
Boy A- Crowley | R |
Charlie Wilson’s War- M. Nichols | R |
Chop Shop – Bahrani | R |
Control- Coraci | R |
Death Proof – Tarantino | R |
Eastern Promises – Cronenberg | HR |
Enchanted- Lima | R |
Flight of the Red Balloon – Hsiao-Hsien Hou | HR/MS |
Gone Baby Gone – Affleck | R |
Hot Fuzz – E. Wright | HR |
I‘m Not There – Haynes | R |
Into the Wild – S. Penn | HR |
Juno – J. Reitman | R/HR |
Knocked Up- Apatow | R |
La Vie En Rose – Dahan | R |
Lars and the Real Girl- Gillespie | R |
Michael Clayton– T. Gilroy | HR |
No Country for Old Men – Coen | MP |
Ocean’s Thirteen – Soderbergh | HR |
Once – Carney | R |
Paranoid Park- Van Sant | R |
Persepolis – Paronnaud, Satrapi | R |
Ratatouille- Bird | R |
Secret Sunshine – Chang-dong Lee | R/HR |
Shotgun Stories- J. Nichols | R/HR |
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street- Burton | HR |
The Assassination of Jesse James – Dominik | MP |
The Bourne Ultimatum -Greengrass | MS |
The Counterfeiters – Ruzowitzky | R |
The Darjeeling Limited – W. Anderson | MS |
The Diving Bell and Butterfly- Schnabel | HR |
The Edge of Heaven – Akin | R |
The Lookout- Frank | R |
The Man from London – Tarr | HR |
The Orphanage- Bayona | R |
The Savages – T. Jenkins | R |
The Secret of the Grain – Kechiche | R |
The Visitor- McCarthy | R |
There Will Be Blood– P.T. Anderson | MP |
Unrelated – Hogg | R |
We Own the Night – Gray | HR |
You, the Living – Andersson | MS |
Zodiac – Fincher | MP |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-See- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
Excited to check out The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It has fairly moderate reviews, 74 on RT and 68 on Metacritic. But it seems to have picked up some steam over time similar to The New World (2005) which had moderate RT and Metacritic reviews but started to appear high up on many critics best films of the decade lists.
Is Andrew Dominik a one hit wonder? I have not read a great deal about him.
@James Trapp- I think you’ll be very impressed. Dominik currently has three archiveable films- this, Chopper (2000) and Killing Them Softly (2012). Chopper and Killing Them Softly do not approach The Assassination of Jesse James though I do have high expectations for his 2022 film Blonde which stars Ana de Armas and is coming from netflix. It is about Marilyn Monroe.
@James Trapp – I haven’t seen Chopper yet and my watch of Jesse James was pretty long ago, but I recommend checking out Killing Them Softly. Low-life crime drama that bluntly critics capitalism.
@Drake – Yeah, Blonde is an interesting project, but I’m a bit worried because it’s seems that it has been stuck in post-production for a every long time.
@MadMike@Drake – thanks for the responses I am going to watch it today or tomorrow and I’ll post my thoughts.
@James Trapp-I wouldn’t call a certified fresh rating moderate. James Gray’s We Own the Night(2007) which is rated as a HR here is still rotten on RT.
@Malith – I guess I just meant moderate in comparison to its reputation amongst cinephiles. It’s a film I have heard mentioned a few times on this site so I expected it would be something like in the 90s on RT and 80s on Metacritic. To be clear I view those sites as a gage as to whether or not something is watchable but is not great for distinguishing great films from each other.
Its so cool to me how Tilda Swinton has been in films from Bela Tarr and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, but was also in Avengers endgame which is one of the biggest films of all time
I Think more actors need to do what she does… I think Willem Dafoe also does a good job of being in weird art films as well as big blockbusters
@Big chungus- Easy for us to say as it isn’t our time and money we’re sacrificing — but I agree 100%- I so admire the projects she chooses to work on.
Doesn’t feel right not mentioning Viggo in the best male performances for Eastern Promises. It’s an incredibly solid film, he pulls off the Russian accent, good at showing the struggles of being a double agent and it’s also an incredible physical performance with how he intimidates but also moves and fights in the iconic sauna scene.
You’ve got 11 names before him and I can’t see that.
@Harry – Do you think Vigo is superior here compared to his performance in A History of Violence?
He’s essentially playing the same character in both and portraying the same emotions. A History of Violence he’s a violent man hiding his real life from his family. Eastern Promise’s he’s a violent man hiding his identity from the Russian mafia. A History of Violence might be the superior movie but he’s given more to play with as an actor in Eastern Promises I thought, the Russian accent and the physical combat.
They are equal to me but I’d lean towards the 2007 film as having his better performance.
@Harry – so I think it is ten (10) names- but your point is taken. You would not get a long argument from me if you wanted to include Viggo on your short list for 2007. I took a long look at both Viggo and Vincent Cassel actually- both do strong work. Eastern Promises does finish as maybe what? the 14th best film of 2007? Still a respectable landing spot in a great year but it is extremely rare I dip that far down for my mentions in the acting categories.
@Harry,@James Trapp, @Drake- I have recently rewatched some of his movies, and I changed the list of his performances a little (there is another on Best Actors page):
1. A History of Violence
2. Eastern Promises
3. The Lord of the Rings
4. The Road
5. Green Book
6. Captain Fantastic
7. A Dangerous Method
8. Apaloosa
9. Far from Men
10.The Indian Runner
I will also like to know what do you think about Mark Kermode`s comparison of Viggo Mortensen and young Robert De Niro. He said that Mortensen reminds him of young Robert De Niro.
Have you ever thought of reassessing your ranking system? I have a way of doing it myself but it’s slightly different. It looks something like this:
S tier ≈ top 50
A tier ≈ 50 – 300
B tier ≈ 300 – 850
C tier ≈ 850 – 1700
D tier ≈ over 1700
F tier ≈ not worth ranking
When ranking and comparing directors I only count tiers S, A and B. C tier is strictly to separate if two directors are neck and neck with each other. In other words I’m big on quality > quantity, I don’t care if Woody Allen has a bunch of C tier movies, I don’t value mediocrity. Also, It’s logical for the structure to have a pyramid shape, having the same number of MP and MS is just not logical, nor do I think Apocalypse Now is worth the same as #300 rated movie. Of course your system is also better in some ways especially when you get to lower ranked directors with hardly any movies in S, A and B tiers. Also one hit wonders like Gondry look better in my system which I’m not sure about sometimes.
@JH13 – Thanks for sharing. I have been pretty happy with my system- I’ve thought about making some small tweaks (not sure I can call a HR a top 10 of the year quality film anymore when they more often than not end up like 11-15 of the year). Our systems seem pretty similar overall. I take small issue with calling the 850th best film of all time “mediocrity” but overall I like what you’ve done here- thanks again for sharing.
@Harry- thanks again!
I love Roger Ebert as much as anyone but check his top 10 for 2007…yikes!
1. Juno
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
4. Atonement
5. The Kite Runner
6. Away From Her
7. Across the Universe
8. La Vie en Rose
9. The Great Debaters
10. Into the Wild
Left out are There Will Be Blood, Zodiac, and The Assassination of Jesse James…
@James Trapp- Yeah I remember this one. Rough. His top 10 of the 2000s decade is not much more inspiring.
Any chance you can put together a list of everything you’ve called a MP? Perhaps this exists already..
@Elliot- Thanks for visiting the site and the comment. I do plan on updating the top 500 page here http://thecinemaarchives.com/2019/04/10/the-best-500-films-of-all-time/ soon- these are not all MP’s- but most of them are collected here
I just finished my mini-Guru Dutt study which has inspired me to explore some more contemporary Bollywood films. My partner is half-Indian so I have been exposed to some of the popular ones over the years, but many which I don’t find archivable (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Koi Mil Gaya, Fanaa). I do recommend a look at 2007’s Om Shanti Om though if it isn’t one you haven’t got to yet – it is a fascinating narrative structure based around two reincarnations of our hero, and there are some truly dazzling musical number set pieces. Starring Shah Rukh Khan of course, who is a reliably good star.
Are there any that you would recommend chasing down?
I think you should seek out Lijo Jose Pellissery films. He is the best auteur working in India. He’s not Bollywood. He belongs to what’s called “regional cinema” in India. But yeah his films are definable worth it.
Thanks for the recommendation, any specific films of his worth starting with?
@DeclanG- Good for you on Guru Dutt. I’ll let others chime in here- but aside from a film here and a film there, I have spent very little time on the world of Indian cinema outside of Satyajit Ray and Dutt.
@DeclanG – Sorry I am very late here, but when talking about Bollywood you must remember that they have been mainstream cinema in north India almost since the inception of cinema in the country and there is a clear line between what is commercial(Bollywood) and what is arthouse, so don’t go into contemporary Bollywood films expecting something groundbreaking they are exclusively made for mass consumption and are very cookie cutter. But that said filmmakers in Bollywood themselves want to make something great but they are afraid to take any big risks.
I don’t want to go off on what is current state of Bollywood (which is pretty bad btw in the current pan-India era of filmmaking) so let’s answer your question, Sanjay Leela Bhansali make some very melodramatic films(not always in a bad way) but they are usually best made Bollywood films, Ashutosh Gowarikar is pretty good as well as Anurag Kashyap.
Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur is considered a masterpiece by many Indian critics but I don’t know if it will connect with foreign viewers like it did with Indians(mostly language barrier, some of the best and most iconic dialogues in Indian cinema, don’t know if it will translate well).
But if you want to go for some quality Indian cinema look no further than Malyalam films.
Hey Drake, just curious as to why ‘Once’ is in the archives? I’d heard the good reviews and a mate recommended it but I’m truly baffled by the reputation. Sure the songs are decent but it looks like it was filmed with a Nokia. The cinematography is really uninspired, even stuff like blocking etc. And the budget was 150k which is enough to make something look half decent. Quite shocked
Just saw it has a 90 on metacritic and Roger Ebert gave it 4/4… Worried I’m the one missing something now
@Joel- Yeah, I mean you can read through the reviews- I do not have a page for it. I have it as a simple “recommend” though- and it does not deserve to be discussed with the best films of 2007- if that helps
Hoping for another Zodiac type(or even better) role for Downey Jr. in the Oppenheimer
@Malith – me too – https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/robert-downey-jr-oppenheimer-best-film-1234884271/
So what is the better RDJ performance? Zodiac or Oppenheimer?
I still think the better film is Zodiac but his best performance is in Oppenheimer.
Gun to the head, what is the better Robert Downey Jr. performance Zodiac or Oppenheimer?
@Malith- tough one, but those are the right two options
Drake, have you seen Om Shanti Om by Farah Khan? What are your thoughts?
@Bullweather- I have not seen this one yet
Have you seen At Eternity’s Gate-2018 directed by Julian Schnabel(The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) starring Willem Dafoe(Oscar nominated here)?
Have you seen At Eternity’s Gate?