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Staff Selections: 2007 The Year in Review

Andrew

Jindabyne
  1. Jindabyne Layered with small and significant moral conundrums, this is the film that got most under my skin.
  2. The PrestigeA work of pure genius that celebrates the craft and the joy of show business both in form and content.
  3. The NamesakeA melodrama that profoundly articulates the impact of culture and family on one's identity.
  4. Hot FuzzGeek chic! Who says a referential comic pastiche cannot be a masterpiece?!
  5. ShortbusSensational, ground-breaking sex comedy that will no doubt spawn a host of pale imitations.
  6. Pan's LabyrinthA jaw-dropping, beautiful and quite seamless hybrid of the fantastical and the grimly real.
  7. I Am A Sex AddictThe naked truth of male perversity has never been so entertainingly or so uniquely presented.
  8. BoratA subversive yet sobering reflection of the decline of Western civilisation. And bloody hilarious too.
  9. Children of MenAn action thriller for our times - technically astounding, riveting and intelligent.
  10. Out of the BlueA sensitive yet sure-footed handling of a dark piece of Kiwi history, this was the local film of the year.

Also running: Babel, Down in the Valley, The Host, Idiocracy, The Method, The Queen, Taxidermia, Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, Thank You For Smoking, and more docs; Who Killed the Electric Car?, 51 Birch Street, Double Dare, Overnight…

Tim

The Intruder
  1. The IntruderPure, concentrated cinema; Claire Denis' intoxication of imagery and esotery will have you in drunken raptures.
  2. Kings and QueenEmmanuelle Devos, breakdancing, Moon River, delusions of grandeur… life and its many derailments as only the French know.
  3. OffsideAbsurdist guerrilla comedy of neofeminism and football fanaticism. The feel-good movie of the year.
  4. The Cave of the Yellow DogDelightful, unobtrusively observed tale of Mongolian nomads. For children, the perfect introduction to subtitled movies.
  5. ZodiacDavid Fincher evolves with a murder mystery far from procedural and riveting in its obsessive-compulsiveness.
  6. Prime Suspect - The Final ActA fearless denouement, Jane Tennison's last rites are Helen Mirren's finest three hours in the role.
  7. The Bourne UltimatumThe ultimate chase vehicle - fast, athletic, and breathless in its pursuit (in spite of Matt Damon).
  8. KeaneA ferocious Dardenne Bros. knockoff bolstered by some gut-wrenching performances. Look out for The Wire's terrific and up-and-coming Amy Ryan.
  9. JunebugThe last laugh on indie dysfunction sobers rural-urban comedy and a hysterical Amy Adams with some seriously heartbreaking moments.
  10. Stephanie DaleyThe year's better film about getting 'knocked up' - remarkably hushed, and presided over by the ever-intriguing Tilda Swinton.

Back catalogue debutants: Bigger Than Life, Twenty-Four Eyes, Sex and Fury, The Seventh Continent, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, Blue Murder (Mini-Series), Lady in a Cage, 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Real Life, Satantango…

Will

The Science of Sleep
  1. The Science of SleepA novel, visually splendid love story.
  2. The Wind That Shakes the BarleyAn incredibly involving historical drama. Ken Loach confirms he's one of the best political filmmakers alive.
  3. In the Realms of the UnrealAn excellent doco about one of the most fascinating discoveries of the 20th century.
  4. ZodiacThe best genre movie of the year. It even scared me, and that doesn't happen often!
  5. The DepartedAn action-packed thriller, well-acted and directed.
  6. Mutual AppreciationWhile twenty-something dramas tend to fall into mediocrity, this restored my faith in indie cinema.
  7. Cocaine CowboysPretty much the closet a doco has come to an action movie. Some great characters.
  8. BoratInventive and brutally hilarious take on the road movie.
  9. An Inconvenient TruthEssential viewing - if you haven't already seen it.
  10. The Simpsons MovieLike watching a really long episode. One of the really good ones, from around Season 4.

Honourable mentions: The Ax, The US vs. John Lennon, The Last King of Scotland, Keane, I Am a Sex Addict…

Svenda

Five Days in September
  1. Five Days in September - The Rebirth of an OrchestraDetailed and insightful documentary on the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Peter Oundjian.
  2. Dracula - Pages From A Virgin DiaryFeatures the Winnipeg National Ballet and the captivating montage sequences of dir. Guy Maddin.
  3. Metal - A Headbanger's JourneyA jubilant celebration of one man's devotional relationship with metal music that will shock and delight.
  4. FatelessUnusual Holocaust remembrance about a Turkish boy who adopts a quiet and stoic acceptance of 'the Jewish fate'.
  5. Last Life in the UniverseSensuous Thai film centered on a suicidal Japanese librarian living in Bangkok.
  6. The Bothersome ManScary Swedish satire on modern life in which the quiet and beautiful Andreas discovers he's living in an emotionless dystopia.
  7. JindabyneRaymond Carver's 'So Much Water So Close to Home' is reconceived in Australia with chilling effectiveness and gothic beauty.
  8. The HostKorean blockbuster about a monster from Seoul's Han River who demonstrates a becoming gallop on land.
  9. Touch the SoundDocumentary about the supposedly deaf Scottish musician Evelyn Glennis, exploring her successful and varied career as a solo percussionist.
  10. TaxidermiaFantastically shocking and repulsive Hungarian weirdness to enjoy on that first date.

Bubbling under: Heading South, The Namesake…

Rob

Jackass 2
  1. Jackass 2One of the few genuinely inspired films to come out of Hollywood in years. Delightfully irreverent but nowhere near as dumb you’d think. Resembles the bastard children of Mack Sennett and Luis Bunuel.
  2. The IntruderMesmerizing and frustrating in equal measure, but impossible to forget. Rambling in parts but easily the most formally satisfying film of the year.
  3. Zidane - A 21st Century PortraitNinety minutes, 17 cameras, one man. Hypnotic and surprisingly moving, though unlikely to appeal to non-soccer fans, it also boasts the years best non-sequitur, courtesy of Zizou
  4. Prime Suspect - The Final ActA desperately sad end to a great series. A fitting end for both Tennyson and a great send off for naughty British character actor Tom Bell who died shortly after filming completed.
  5. KeaneFeaturing an exceptional performance by Damian Lewis, Lodge Kerrigan’s latest is far more daring formally than nine-tenths of American indie cinema and confirms him as a genuinely arresting talent.
  6. 49 UpThe continuation of a brilliant series. Only six more years to the next one.
  7. ZodiacIn which a previously overrated obsessional filmmaker finds a subject worthy of his talents, namely the perils of being obsessional. It also features some very good CGI and a surprising lack of ostentatious camera work.
  8. The ChildBy locating naturalism within a thriller structure, the Dardenne brothers have made their most compelling and most accessible work.
  9. A Prairie Home CompanionThough it lacks a little of Altman’s usual acidity it’s certainly not a bad way to go out. My favourite ending of the year.
  10. CrankThere hasn’t been an action film this stupid in a long time. An idiotic pleasure.

Best of Back Catalogue: Night and the City, Bigger Than Life, Fat City, Mamma Roma, Cutter's Way, Life of Jesus, The Seventh Continent, Fists in the Pocket, Dial M for Murder, Oasis…

Ian

Babel
  1. BabelIt certainly worked for me. A movie ambitious, angry and deeply humane.
  2. The Lives of OthersSpying and big brother in Communist-era Berlin. No flash: just a brilliant story, brilliantly told.
  3. The Science of SleepA tale about being young, creative and ever so slightly loony, which manages to twist epithets like quirky and romantic into new shapes.
  4. Little ChildrenA familiar story of adultery is elevated far beyond formula, thanks to an intelligent script and top notch cast.
  5. The DepartedA richly-plotted tale in which Scorsese reins in his usual stylistic flourishes, without in any way compromising his ability to deliver.
  6. Out of the BlueThe Aramoana tragedy is retold with both humanity and tension.
  7. KeaneAn in-your-face, in-his-mind portrait of a good man close to meltdown. And a tour de force performance by actor Damian Lewis.
  8. ShortbusA joyfully messy celebration of human carnality and human flaws.
  9. The Cave of the Yellow DogA film about innocence and harmony with mother earth. Plays like a documentary made by poets.
  10. An Inconvenient TruthIf films were placed judged purely by importance, this would replace Babel as my movie of the year.

Almost made it: The White Diamond, The Bourne Ultimatum, Little Miss Sunshine…

Plus here are 10 more: The Prestige, Shake Hands with the Devil, Apocalypto, The Host, Jindabyne, Fateless, A Scanner Darkly, Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, Miss Potter, Paris je t’aime

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