The Proprietor’s Favorite Films of 2007
This is my first-ever attempt at an end-of-year favorites list. Some of these were actually released prior to 2007, but this is the year I stumbled on them. One of the many blessings of marriage is that it teaches you how to love and understand (or at least try to understand) a person who is very different from yourself. Jamie and I have loads in common, but our brains could hardly have been wired more differently. For example:
–I’m a singer/songwriter who could talk about music for hours (and do).
–Jamie’s only ever bought one CD in her life, and it was the Titanic soundtrack.
–I’m a movie junkie.
–Jamie falls asleep with her head on my lap in every movie we watch, even when I rent something girly. If she does stay awake, she forgets everything about the movie within 36 hours.
–Not only am I a voracious reader of novels, I have (wonder of wonders) written a book.
–Jamie doesn’t like to read. Well, that’s not entirely fair. Before we had kids she read quite a bit. Nowadays, she reads books but they have pictures and are about the Poky Little Puppy or Olivia the pig.
Don’t get me wrong–she’s a really smart lady. But different things light her up, like good conversation over a mug of hot chocolate, or kick-boxing classes at the YMCA, or teaching kids to read. She handles the checking account, is so organized her friends have often suggested she go into business, and is the best teacher I could ever ask for my children. Folks are usually surprised to hear that she’s not terribly into music, especially in light of her former career as my background vocalist, but it’s true: she never really wanted to be a singer. She wanted to be a mom and a teacher, and by the grace of God that’s exactly what she is (not to mention a great cook, a great wife, and a great jogging partner).
I say all that to say this. Her sensitivity level is much higher than mine when it comes to language, violence, and intensity in movies. So in light of the demographic that surely exists in my listenership, to spare any of you from being exposed to something you might find objectionable, I offer (mainly for movies) the Jamie Rating System:
JWAOIW= Jamie Would Approve Of Its Wholesomeness
JWEIBIMRHD = Jamie Would Endure It, But It Might Ruin Her Day
JWREAC = Jamie Would Rather Eat A Cat
After some thought, these have been abbreviated to:
JWA = Jamie Would Approve (great for the whole family)
JPW = Jamie Probably Wouldn’t (not for kids)
MEOW = Jamie Would Rather Eat A Cat (for film aficionados only)
Here we go, in no particular order.
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
This movie managed to be terrifying and beautiful at the same time. It’s a work of formidable imagination that shouldn’t be read too much into, methinks. Taken at its most basic level, it’s visionary, shocking, surprising, and deftly executed. Of course, there are hours of conversations that could be had about its symbolism, its use of myth and faerie, and the meaning intended by Catholic writer/director Guillermo del Toro. RATING: MEOW
Ratatouille
I loved this movie. Beautiful to look at, rife with meaning. There’s a great review of it by Jason Gray here. RATING: JWA
No Country for Old Men
This was either one of my favorite movies or one of the most frustrating movies I’ve ever seen. I’m a fan of writer Cormac McCarthy as well as the Coen Brothers so I was giddy when the lights went down in the theater. During the first 75% of the movie I thought to myself (in between shudders) that it was a masterpiece, but the end was so odd, unconventional, abrupt, I rethought my opinion. I really want to see it again so I can pay closer attention to what’s being Said, with a capital S. Here’s a Rabbit Room review. RATING: Double MEOW
3:10 to Yuma
Because I’m a sucker for a good old-fashioned cowboy movie. And that’s exactly what this is. RATING: MEOW
Rescue Dawn
As Curt has pointed out before, one of the great things about independent film (and music) is that it often surprises you. Director Werner Herzog is a strange bird (have you seen Grizzly Man?), so I knew going into it that this wouldn’t feel like an ordinary war movie. I was right. I love seeing a story unfold in which anything might happen. RATING: JPW
Bridge to Terabithia
Except for the occasional cheeze (why couldn’t they have checked with me before they included those scenes where the teacher is singing with her class?), this was a delightful, emotionally satisfying film. (My little boy Aedan read the book before the movie came out and cried and cried.) RATING: JWA
Freedom Writers
This is one I only watched because I was stuck on a plane coming back from Sweden earlier this year. I’m still amazed that the Teacher Inspiring a Classroom of Misfit Kids genre is still alive. I’m even more amazed that I liked this movie. Even Jamie liked it. O Captain, my Captain. RATING: JWA (Note: this isn’t for kids.)
Reign Over Me
It’s been a while since I watched this, but I remember being really moved by it. Jamie and I watched it on a bona fide double-date with Jason Gray and his wife, and I’m pretty sure all our eyes leaked. Adam Sandler. Who knew? RATING: JPW (Jamie enjoyed it, but probably doesn’t remember a thing about it.)
Honorable mention: I Am Legend, Amazing Grace, The Bourne Ultimatum, Michael Clayton
Coming up next, the list of favorite books read in 2007…
——
Addendum:
I just watched Once tonight, and loved it. It’s set in Ireland, so the language might be a little much for some folks (though the f-word with an Irish accent doesn’t seem so much like a wordy dird, does it?), but the music was great and the story was sweet and sad all at the same time. I almost wrote “sweet and sad at…once.” But if I had done that someone might have thrown up.
A.S. Peterson has crafted a work of compelling historical fiction which begs the question, “Can this really be a debut novel?” With dogged fidelity, Peterson captures the spirit, manners, and social conditions present during the American Revolutionary War. We meet colorful, credible characters who navigate the high seas of life and love, dependence and independence, war and peace, truth and consequence, and despite forays into dark places, The Fiddler’s Gun is beautiful, lyrical, and redemptive.
Walt Wangerin, Jr. strikes again.
Janner Igiby lives in Glipwood, a nothing little village in the land of Skree, on the edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. Manhood is on the horizon, but Janner finds it hard to feel much hope for the future. Skree is ruled by foreign oppressors, snake men called the Fangs of Dang, servants of a shadowy emperor named Gnag the Nameless. The Skreeans are weak and weaponless. They’re even tool-less. Any Skreean who needs to use a hoe has to borrow one from the Fangs (and fill out the requisite paperwork). And from time to time, the Black Carriage arrives in Glipwood to carry young Skreeans toward an unknown fate across the Dark Sea.
I am not a fan of Civil War literature; in fact, I have always thought of it as one of those weird sub-genres for obsessive types. They’re almost like Trekkies with their re-enactments and maniacal devotion to detail. It’s just not my thing (although I’m secretly jealous that they get to dress up and shoot cannons).
A Randall Goodgame song is like a great independent movie. Characters deliver lines like they were lifted from a break room, a truck stop, or a downtown diner. Seemingly incongruent scenes are juxtaposed and plot isn’t obvious; in fact, narrative–a good story–is often more evident than linear plot lines. An indie movie, like a Randall Goodgame song, seems to tell itself. Rather than being rudely yanked by a chain through a sequence of contrived events, with a Randall Goodgame song, I have the sense that I’m being allowed a willing, but vicarious sneak peak into the real lives of his real characters.
Sara Groves irritates me just a little bit. With each album she makes, she moves from strength to strength and is always raising the bar with the quality, depth, and lyrical ambition of her work. And as a fellow artist, that’s just a little irritating since it means the rest of us are going to have to work harder if we hope to keep up.
I am outside on my front porch. The yellowed leaves are methodically falling from the black walnut in the yard, my breath is chalky visible in the recent cold snap, and lately I have been exploring the unpleasant nuances of the dark night of a soul - my own, to be exact. It is a strange passion we live out on this over-glorified orb of rock hurtling through space at some rate that I’m sure would astound me were I to know what it was. It is an odd series of days, I am realizing, when you question your own faith more than you question your own doubt. And, indeed, it is these nagging questions which have prompted me to share my thoughts on Andrew Peterson’s 2003 album, Love and Thunder.
11-year old Reuben Land, a character in the 2001 book Peace Like a River, provides narration that is clear-eyed and insightful, yet retains the magic, wonder, and innocence of youth. I found it easy to entrust my imagination to the author’s clever method of telling the story through the sensibilities of a pre-teen boy. An author with lesser skill would have either made the boy too smart-alecky for his own good or impossibly cute.
I just finished a book that upon closing it, I felt like it finished me in a sense. A quiet meditative book that reached down and stirred the deep waters in me. It’s Marilynne Robinson’s 2005 Pulitzer prize winner Gilead, given to me by my friend Andrew Peterson.
Eric Peters’s body of work addresses a diverse range of topics, but hope is a recurring theme that gently percolates in the midst of it all. And yet, somewhere between the 2001 masterpiece Land of the Living, and Scarce, the flavor of hope that Peters’s work emits has evolved closer to a tone that is more resolute than what came before. And though the complexion of hope has a broad range, the lyrics from Scarce–while intermittently contrite and timorous as in previous efforts, are now strengthened and bolstered by roots that have grown deeper, radiating an underlying grit and security.
Having read The Great Divorce many times over the years, I’ve found this classic from the great C.S. Lewis to be full of startling clarity and depth on the differences between Heaven and Hell. The only thing both have in common is that both begin in the human will; we can either let Heaven enter us and rule in us to blossom into love and goodness, or allow Hell to infect and reign in our hearts by the daily refusal to submit to Heaven.
Even if you haven’t heard Room to Breathe, its still likely you’ve heard Andy Gullahorn. He’s what I’d call a heavy lifter by trade. He writes lyrics, plays guitar, arranges vocals and adds production help to the work of artists like Jill Phillips and Andrew Peterson.
Allow me to preface this by telling you that I am a great despiser of gushing reviews. I’d much rather write (or read) a scathing dismemberment of the latest Brett Ratner film or Terry Goodkind book than suffer through four hundred words of overblown hyperbole about even the best of things. But when asked to write some thoughts on Frederick Buechner’s Godric, no amount of distaste for high praise was able to intervene. I hope you’ll take what I say with the understanding that I do not say it readily or lightly.
I saw all of these flicks with the exception of Rescue Dawn, which I’m going to watch at some point this weekend. If it were possible to include Pan’s Labyrinth in the year-end Best Of lists for every single year in history, I would — this is how much I loved that film.
I think you really need to see There Will Be Blood. I think it will open to a wide audience in January, but if you’ve got a chance to see it before then, I’d suggest it. It’s the best movie I saw this year, and this was a year when I first thought 3:10 To Yuma would be my favorite flick, followed by Ratatouille, No Country For Old Men, and Juno. It’s the best I’ve ever seen Daniel Day Lewis, and that should be saying something considering the weight of his work in film.
You’re a Coen brothers fan? Now I can’t wait to casually drop a reference to The Big Lebowski to you in conversation.
LOL
I love your rating system (the first one!)
FUNNY!
Andie
Andrew….you must see “Miss Potter”. As someone who is into children and writing both song and book aimed in that direction I promise that this movie will move both you and Jamie. It’s based on the life of Beatrix Potter and is set in England. There is so much to this film and I’m guessing Jamie will not fall asleep!
You need to see Once, AP
Thanks for the recommendation, Silly Joe. See the addendum above.
How about Gone Baby Gone?
Andrew,
I must agree with my friend Steve Gimbert. You and Jamie would love “Miss Potter”. It is beautifully shot and well acted.
I just noticed that you saw “Freedom Writers” on a plane. I saw it last year on the way home from Ireland and thought I would hate it, and wound up weeping at 34,000 feet. Vicki and I rented it the other night and she loved it also.
Have you seen “Sweet Land”? It is a favorite of mine and Alex’s.
No Country and Ratatouille are definitely favorites of mine as well. I really identified with Tommy Lee Jones character in No Country … sick of all the darkness in the world and not knowing how to react. “Rife with meaning” is absolutely correct about Ratatouille. I love what it says about the purpose of art and the motivation behind criticism. Not just kids fare.
Juno is my favorite of the year, but There Will Be Blood is most definitely the best in terms of craft and … urm … all-around cinematic ecstasy.