My favorite movies of 2007

As I thought about this list over the weekend (and yes, I am enough of a geek that I put a lot of thought into it), I found several movies that I really adored in 2007 had sunk enough to just miss the cut, most noticeably "American Gangster" and, yes, "Juno."

Now, that doesn't mean I love them any less, just that they've lost a little sheen with the passage of time and that stronger movies that came after them simply took their spots. There's still room here for one truly juvenile (but smart) teen comedy and, surprisingly, one movie about a lost soul that I admit I just didn't get until it had had a while to sink in.

So now, without any further qualification, here are my 10 favorite movies of 2007, in only alphabetical order (but if you have to know, my single favorite movie of last year remains "Ratatouille," with "No Country for Old Men" a close second.)

"Breach"
I went into this one expecting some high Washington intrigue but instead got a very intensely claustrophobic and psychological cat-and-mouse game between Chris Cooper as turncoat spy Robert Hanssen and Ryan Philippe as the agent who pursued him (with just enough Laura Linney thrown in for good measure.) It's a real shame that Billy Ray has only directed two movies, with no more on the horizon, because with this and "Shattered Glass," about the wayward journalist Stephen Glass, he's crafted two nearly perfect flicks.

"Into the Wild"
I offer this as an apology to Sean Penn, because my distance from the character of Christopher McCandless made me unable to appreciate this film fully at first. I still find little to identify with in his tale of searching, but this movie is packed full of great performances from Emile Hirsch, Catherine Keener, Hal Holbrook and others, and it's a deeply effecting flick.

"No Country for Old Men"
I would never even come close to writing off the Coen brothers, but I have to admit their output between the great "O Brother Where Art Thou" and this gem had me a little worried. By making Cormac McCarthy's meditation on violence all their own and mixing it with the most uneasy kind of humor, they managed to craft a movie that really only could have come from the Coen brothers. As far as I can tell, "Burn After Reading" should be next on their busy schedule, and I just can't wait.

"Once"
As with "Breach," I was a little off-base going into this one. I was expecting a full-scale musical, but instead got a perfect moment in time with two non-actors, Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard (from "The Commitments"), delivering captivating performances. But there are, of course, a lot of songs, and they all just fit right into this story that's as much about the creative process as it is about the power of love (cheesy, I concede, but it really does work.)

"Persepolis"
It's possible, I guess, that this just snuck in here because I saw it on the last weekend of the year, but I don't really think that's the case (Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood," which I admit I'm still digesting, for example, didn't make it even though it was viewed then too.) Using mostly a stark black and white palate, graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi and co-director Vincent Paronnaud nonetheless fill the screen with memorable images in this spirited autobiographical tale of Satrapi's life growing up in Iran and Europe. Highly recommended, if you can find it.

"Ratatouille"
I rewatched this again a few weeks ago and loved it just as much as I did the first time. That sequence which starts with Remy and Auguste looking down on Gustave's and finishes with Remy's first scamper through the kitchen remains my favorite of the year, and the movie is just full of enough magical moments to take my 2007 crown.

"The Savages"
Another one from the last weekend of the year, but if you've seen Tamara Jenkins' tender and often very funny family tale starring Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman, I seriously doubt you'll argue it doesn't deserve this lofty spot. Watching the return of "The Wire" (thank God!) last night, it finally hit me that the nursing home attendant Jimmy was played by Gbenga Akinnagbe, who also plays hitman extraordinaire Chris on "The Wire," which judging from last night's season five premiere is definitely set to go out on top.

"Superbad"
Yes, that's right, "Superbad." After laughing through just about every minute of this one with my brother in Minneapolis this summer, I watched it again a few weeks ago and was struck by how much I enjoyed the B storyline about Bill Hader and screenwriter Seth Rogen as those two cops who just refuse to grow up. I probably identified with them much more than any healthy middle-aged person should!

"Waitress"
I was cheering for this one out of the gate simply because it was written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly, who was murdered in 2006 for the simple offense of complaining about a neighbor's playing the radio too loud. Even without this depressing context, however, her romantic tale starring Keri Russell, Captain Mal and Andy Griffith was just the perfect counterweight to the summer blockbuster slate, and one that has lingered with me all year.

"Zodiac"
Although I misjudge these things all the time, I'm feeling a genuine surge for David Fincher's true-crime epic as a dark horse contender for a Best Picture nomination, and it's definitely got my support. There wasn't a better crime movie in 2007, or a better one about the power of obsession. I can't wait to see what Fincher does this year with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," F. Scott Fitzgerald's tale of a man who is born at age 80 and ages in reverse through the 20th century.

And there you have it. I've included a honorable mention that features just about every movie I liked in 2007, so maybe you'll get some rental ideas of any movies you might have just missed. Peace out.

Honorable mention: Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls, Starter for 10, 300, The Namesake, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, The Lookout, Grindhouse, The Hoax, Hot Fuzz, 28 Weeks Later, Knocked Up, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Simpsons Movie, Rocket Science, Shoot Em Up, Eastern Promises, The Kingdom, Michael Clayton, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?, Gone Baby Gone, American Gangster, Margot at the Wedding, The Mist, Charlie Wilson's War, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Juno, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, There Will Be Blood