Sequels, sequels and more sequels. This year had them by the spades and even though most of them were downright awful (but still managed to make crazy money) there were a few of them that didn’t completely suck. At least one of them probably landed on everyone else’s top ten lists and possibly with good reason. Some might even have had a chance of landing in my usual top ten list, but not this year.
This year my list is sequel free. Screw you Hollywood and your plot-whoring, money-grubbing dependency on turning the movie theater into the cinematic equivalent of a vomitorium. Originality was the name of the game for me and these were my top ten favorites, none of which were spawned by a previous blockbuster.
Directed By: Michael Apted Written By: Steven Knight Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Barbara Wilberforce, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rufus Sewell, Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones, Youssou N'Dour
My first introduction to Ioan Gruffudd was the Horatio Hornblower movies where he played a British naval officer during the Napoleonic era. Of course, most people only know him as Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four, but I’ve always thought he looked uncomfortable in that role. Stretchy super-heroes just aren’t his forte. On the other hand, when you watch him in the Hornblower films or in Amazing Grace it’s clear he’s one of the most natural period-piece actors on the planet. Mix him in with a cast that includes Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell, and Ciarán Hinds and you wind up with the strongest cast of the year. With it’s compelling story about Britain’s brilliant, and near bloodless abolition of the slave trade it’s my favorite for 2007. Of course, like most great movies, no one saw it. In this case it’s probably because the title makes it sound like a stuffy religious flick about the author of a popular Christian hymn. That description couldn’t be further from the truth.
Most-Nearly Related 2007 Sequel That Made Far Too Much Money: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. I actually liked Surfer, but I find it sad that Gruffudd probably got paid ten times as much to play a role where he used one-tenth of his talent.
Directed By: Brad Bird Written By: Brad Bird Voices: Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm, Peter O’Toole, John Ratzenberger
It’s a story about a rat that becomes one of the greatest chefs in all of France. Only Pixar could have taken that concept and turn it into an endearing film. Not only that, they also used their unrivaled skills as master computer animation artists to create the most visually stunning, full-length computer generated movie to date. I’ve loved Pixar movies from the first moment I laid eyes on Toy Story, but Ratatouille is their best so far. You might note that this is the only animated choice in my top ten. As far as I’m concerned, apart from The Simpsons Movie, this was the only animated film this year worth seeing. If it doesn’t win every single animated film award category then someone out there is spending millions in bribes. In fact, if the Oscars hadn’t split animated movies off into their own category, I’d say this would be the first animated piece worthy of getting a “Best Picture” nomination since Beauty and the Beast.
Most-Nearly Related 2007 Sequel That Made Far Too Much Money: Shrek The Third. Face it: Shrek 3 was awful. When you consider that the first two Shrek movies were so darn clever and hilarious, the failures of the third installment are that much sadder. I blame Justin Timberlake. Thank goodness Pixar isn’t in the business of shilling out their characters for pointless sequels.
Directed By: Craig Brewer Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, John Cothran Jr., Justin Timberlake, S. Epatha Merkerson
I’ll admit this movie looked completely unattractive to me from the moment I heard about it right up until I popped the DVD into my player months after it disappeared from theaters. The title was enigmatic, the concept was unclear, and the plot sounded odd at best. A cuckolded aging black man who takes in a young nymphomaniac white girl? I expected to see “National Lampoon’s” to appear somewhere in front of the title. To boot, it co-starred Justin Timberlake, whose acting career has held little to no interest for me. So, anyway, back to the moment that I pushed the close button on my DVD player. From start to finish the movie is intense and honest. The script’s frank exploration of sexual abuse and the spiritual and emotional condition of damaged human beings is something no other movie has equaled this year. The ending is touching and uplifting without slipping into the saccharine realm of “feel good” finishes and the performances from every single actor, including the dubious Timberlake, are flawless. Yet again, another incredible movie that nobody saw. In this case, though, I can’t say as I blame them. There’s little about the movie to attract you. You just have to take a leap of faith and put yourself out there for it.
Most-Nearly Related 2007 Sequel That Made Far Too Much Money: None. I’m not even going there The subject matter tackled by this movie was far too serious and challenging to deserve a comparison to any of the sequel drivel out there this year.
Directed By: Matthew Vaughn Written By: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn Starring: Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais, Jason Flemyng, Rupert Everett, Peter O’Toole, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro
Fantasy films are in dangerous territory, running the serious risk of turning their entire genre into a cliché. Thanks to the incredible success of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films, every single studio on the planet has been scrambling to snatch up the rights to fantasy novels in the hopes they’ll be able to translate them into the next big franchise. The worst part is that few of them show any imagination. Take the recent Golden Compass. Whatever life the story may have had in literary form was completely sapped away and replaced with overdone animated creatures and boring dialogue delivered by famous people. Fancy special effects and an all star cast alone do not a fantasy movie make. Enter Stardust, a movie that ignored the clichés and realized that the point isn’t to make a good “fantasy movie”, but to just make a good movie. The storyline is unique and quirky, the casting is based on who fits the character not whose name will draw the biggest headlines, and the special effects serve the movie, not the other way around. It’s the best fantasy movie you didn’t see and one of my favorites, not just this year, but of the decade to date.
Most-Nearly Related 2007 Sequel That Made Far Too Much Money: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End . Captain Jack Sparrow was such a great character when he started out. Now look what they’ve done to him. In Stardust Robert DeNiro plays a cross dressing Captain Shakespeare, a character more interesting to watch than what Sparrow has been reduced to. Sad, but true.
Directed By: Kevin Lima Written By: Bill Kelly Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Rachel Covey, Susan Sarandon
With all the sequels floating around this year it was hard to find anything unique and original. Disney, whose studios haven’t had much in the way of unique and original in a long, long time, finally pulled together something exceptionally distinct by poking fun at all the creative work Walt himself put into defining the cinematic fairy tale. Best of all, they did it while telling a real life fairytale that actually works in our modern day world where “till death do us part” has been callously replaced by “as long as love shall last”. What does that even mean anyway? I could go on and on about all of the movie’s amazing dance and song numbers (the likes of which haven’t been seen on screen since the days of Fred and Ginger) and the cleverness of the tongue-in-cheek comedy, but when it comes right down to it, this was the most fun movie I saw all year.
Most-Nearly Related 2007 Sequel That Made Far Too Much Money: Every Single Direct-to-DVD Sequel Disney Dumped This Year.
As much as Walt loved a good yarn, I suspect even he would have thrown up in his mouth a little at the thought of a movie where Cinderella’s evil step-mother steals the fairy godmother’s wand and pulls a Biff Tannen by traveling back in time to try and change the past.
6. I Am Legend
Directed By: Francis Lawrence Written By: Mark Protosevich, Akiva Goldsman Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Willow Smith, Charlie Tahan
Zombie movies have been out of control in the last several years with nearly everyone trying to outdo the previous one with the result being a string of stories that only out gore each other. Blood and guts don’t really scare me all that much anyway and if your movie about humans eating brains doesn’t do something to engage my brain, you’ve lost me from the first frame. I Am Legend not only gave Will Smith the chance to play an action role without looking and sounding like Big Willie, it proved that a zombie story can be smart, entertaining, adrenaline-pumping and frightening without trying to break Quentin Tarentino’s record for most fake blood used in a single movie. Smith get extra kudos for combining the charisma that makes him a great action star with the dramatic acting chops that make him an Oscar nominated performer. This is the only action movie on my list this year, possibly because it’s one of the few non-sequel action movies of the year. Granted, it’s a remake, but the movie goes beyond just adding special effects.
Most-Nearly Related 2007 Sequel That Made Far Too Much Money: Resident Evil: Extinction. The only concession I can make here is that Will Smith isn’t nearly as sexy as Milla Jovovich doing slow motion round-house kicks while shooting two fully automatic machine gun rifles into oncoming hoards of virus-induced zombies. Otherwise, RE:I can’t hold a candle.
Directed By: Joe Wright Written By: Christopher Hampton Starring: James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saosin Ronan, Romola Garai, Brenda Blethyn, Vanessa Redgrave
Atonement would have been a lot higher on my list if it hadn’t felt so incredibly long. Setting that aside, this was easily the best example of visual storytelling in any movie released this year. Director Joe Wright is one of the few moviemakers out there who realizes that the greatest gift of the camera isn’t the fact that you can start and stop it whenever you want to and stitch together the pieces later. As he did with Pride and Prejudice, Wright uses long single-shots to tell parts of the story far more effectively than they could have been told with fifty separate shots patched together in the editing room. The story behind the movie is engaging enough without Wright’s mastery behind it, but the guy knows how to get the best out of his actors and how to get his story told in an engaging and evocative way. It’s my hoity-toity artsy pick of the year, but it’s one that deserves to be on any top ten list.
Most-Nearly Related 2007 Sequel That Made Far Too Much Money: Rush Hour 3. OK, so the only thing the two movies have in common is that they’re about two characters separated by a misunderstanding. I really just want to point out that there’s absolutely no explanation why Rush Hour 3 made over $140 million.
8. Dan in Real Life
Directed By: Peter Hedges Written By: Pierce Gardner, Peter Hedges Starring: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, John Mahoney, Dianne Wiest, Alison Pill, Brittany Robertson, Marlene Lawston
Maybe it’s because I appreciated the clever and honestly comical family relationships in the film, or maybe it’s because I was so impressed by Steve Carell’s ability to play the guitar and play a gut churning dramatic scene at the same time. Whatever the reason, I walked out Dan in Real Life feeling like I had just seen a romantic comedy that truly ignored the usual rules of the genre and created something heartwarming and surprising, even it was a bit on the syrupy side. As much as I love Carell’s comedy, the guy has an underappreciated gift for drama. I hope to see more of his serious side in the future.
Most-Nearly Related 2007 Sequel That Made Far Too Much Money: Are We Done Yet?. Here we have two semi-comedic movies about the difficulties of family relationships. Dan In Real Life is semi-comedic because it’s also a drama. Are We Done Yet? is semi-comedic because it was only semi-funny. Granted, Are We Done Yet? didn’t make that much money, but it still made more that Dan In Real Life. There’s definitely something wrong there.
Directed By: Bruce A. Evans Written By: Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon Starring: Kevin Costner, Raynold Gideon, Jim Wilson Written by: Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon
Thrilling and chilling, here’s a movie that offers a brilliantly conceived way of looking into the mind of a murderous multiple-personality psychopath. Maybe looking into the mind of a murderous multiple-personality psychopath doesn’t appeal to you, but you have to admit that it’s still a challenge to incorporate that concept into a movie. The way Mr. Brooks handles it is eerie, elegant and all done without any computer generated special effects. At least someone in Hollywood isn’t running to Industrial Light and Magic for all their non-traditional dramatic needs. It takes a lot for a movie to give me the goosebumps and there have been precious few psychological thrillers in the last decade that have managed it. Costner isn’t particularly interesting, and neither is Hurt, but when you put them together it’s a two-in-one character that deserves an award. Too bad the Academy doesn’t have a category for something like that.
Most-Nearly Related 2007 Sequel That Made Far Too Much Money: Spider-Man 3. Both movies involve showing two sides of the same coin, and for all of Raimi’s special effects, Spider-man 3 still doesn’t tackle the topic quite so well as Mr. Brooks. Bizarre jazz-emo Peter Parker didn’t help either.
Directed By: Danny Boyle Written By: Alex Garland Starring: Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Troy Garity, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh
Here’s a movie that’s everything The Core should have been but couldn’t be. Both are sci-fi movies about the death of Earth’s sun and a desperate effort by mankind to try and sustain it. But what makes Sunshine so much better is its focus on characters, not fancy fictional technology. The movie is as much a psychological thriller as it is science fiction, and the cast, headed up by Cillian Murphy, give performances that make it hard to take your eyes off the screen. It’s the best thing to happen to the science fiction genre since Kubrick’s 2001. Space odyssey movies of this caliber are few and far between.
Most-Nearly Related 2007 Sequel That Made Far Too Much Money: Saw IV. Both movies involve a character running around trying to kill people in an effort to teach them some wacked out moral lesson. A key difference: Sunshine tells its story and gives a solid, intense, satisfying, earth-warming if not heart-warming, ending. The Saw franchise is just a tired string of flicks that are only tolerable because of their holiday release dates.
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