So what did everybody think of the movies of 2007?

[BobThePizzaBoy]

With the end of the year near, I can say that this was quite a year for the American cinema. There was a little bit of everything, I don’t get out to the movies that much but here are my reviews of the films I saw in 2007.

Here is my rating system (borrowed from Mr. Black):

5 stars – Top 1% of all movies made, recommended it to anyone of any demographic

4.5 stars – Almost all elements of a great movie, but was missing one or more small things

4 star – Strongly recommended movie very entertaining to most people, good theater experience

3.5 stars – Good movie that should be entertaining to a lot of people

3 stars – Good for its targeted demographic, those interested shouldn’t be disappointed

2.5 stars – Hit or miss, this movie will be liked, but nothing to run out to the theater for if you are not interested

2 stars – The target demographic may like it ok, but the rest of us might not be into that much.

1.5 stars – Free pass only, not worth your money

1 star – When it comes out on DVD, look it up if your other choice is taken

.5 star – Wait until it is out on cable and then, maybe

0 stars – this movie was flat out horrible, IMO. Nothing worth seeing unless it was free and you can’t sleep

So, let’s get on with this in the order of the respective movie’s release dates…

SPIDER-MAN 3: 3 stars out of 5
I know a lot of people hated this movie, I personally think it’s far from a masterpiece but it was an at least satisfying finale to this trilogy. The story could have been much better and didn’t need to have non-stop humorous sequences. For what it was, it was a decent film, I wouldn’t really ever watch it again, but it was still an acceptable movie.

SHREK THE THIRD: 2 stars out of 5
This movie could have had so much potential, the first two Shreks are far from the animated movies ever (give me anything from Pixar over the ogre any day) but they still have a certain charm to them. Unfortunately, that certain charm caused all of DreamWorks’ post-Shrek films to be way too dependent on fart jokes and pop culture references. The third chapter in the Shrek saga is no exception to that dependency and the movie loses itself relatively quickly, “Shrek the Last” would have been a much better title. I never even want to hear the movie’s title again I hated it so much.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END: 2.5 stars out of 5
Again, like Shrek, this movie had so much potential. Dead Man’s Chest left me with hope that the Pirates trilogy would have a worthy and emotional finale, unfortunately, At World’s End did not live up to that worthy and emotional finale I had hopes for. At World’s End has so many different subplots going on at once it’s hard of it to determine which one to keep going with and any movie that opens with a hanging that has nothing to the actual movie, it’s bound to be trouble.

RATATOUILLE: 5 stars out of 5
Pixar has never disappointed me at all with any of their movies. Even their weaker films like Cars and A Bug’s Life are still excellent films that are better than some of the other nonsense they came out against. Whereas Shrek the Third completely got rid of my trust in DreamWorks, Ratatouille only increases my faith in Pixar more and more. Unlike DreamWorks, Pixar isn’t afraid to take risks and make each film different from the last. Ratatouille took an extremely bizarre and simple concept (a rat who wants to be a gourmet chef) and made it an engaging story with appealing characters and a great social commentary. Ratatouille isn’t exactly life-altering but it is easily the movie of the year and arguably Pixar’s best yet.

HAIRSPRAY: 5 stars out of 5
Musicals usually go ignored by the general public who’d rather see epic movies everybody ends up hating but when Hairspray came out, everyone flocked to see the film adaptation of the 2002 Marc Shaiman musical based on the 1988 John Waters movie both of the same name. Hairspray is a perfect movie musical, no performance had any flaws and sure, it’s more of a chick flick but I could watch it over and over and never get tired of it.

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE: 4.5 stars out 5
Since the release of The Rugrats Movie nine years ago, taking TV cartoons to the big screen has become commonplace. But one of the most famous TV cartoons, Fox’s smash hit The Simpsons, went years without a movie. Even less popular cartoons like The Wild Thornberrys and Teacher’s Pet managed to make it to the big screen before Homer and family. But The Simpsons Movie was definitely worth the 18-year wait. The movie is a perfect callback to the earlier episodes of the show’s run and while the storyline could have been a lot better and the finished project pales a bit in comparison to the South Park movie, the Simpson’s big-screen debut is still one of the best non-Disney/Pixar/Aardman animated films I’ve ever seen. Too bad the show nowadays can’t be as good.

ENCHANTED: 4.5 stars out of 5
As Who Framed Roger Rabbit being one of my favorite films period, I was absolutely excited about Disney doing another live-action/animation hybrid especially since this would be Disney’s first major release with traditional hand-drawn animation in several years. The good news is: they finally got it. While the animation sequences of Enchanted are only brief as the majority of the film is live-action, Enchanted fits in great with Disney’s other films and is an absolutely sweet and engaging film I’d recommend to anybody. Disney, you have my trust again, expect to see me opening weekend for all your upcoming animation releases.

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET: 4 stars out of 5
I’ve never really been a Tim Burton enthusiast, but I’ve enjoyed all of his films that I’ve seen. Sweeney Todd serves as one of his best films to date. It’s not necessarily a work of art but it has some great musical numbers and a chilling storyline. I will say that the start of the film might be a bit dull for some but the farther you get into the movie, the more you’ll get caught up in it. One reason a lot of people might be stepping away from this movie is the excessive gore and violence, the violent portions are brief and not as frequent as expected but it’s still rated R for a reason. If you like Tim Burton, Johnny Depp or musicals, this is a must-see movie.

So what movies did you all see in 2007 and what did you think of 'em?

 

[D'Snowth]

How in the world can you give Shrek the Third only two stars? It's AT LEAST a 3.5! Well, anyway, here's for what I saw for 2007...

1. Bee Movie - 5 Stars.
Jerry Seinfeld REALLY had some kind of great idea when he said he had an idea about a movie about bees, and call it "Bee Movie"; I felt it had really likable characters, an entertaining story, and great animation. What really makes this movie special is that it seems like in most cases, DreamWorks animated movies just never seem to work if they're non-Shrek, but in this case, it's just the opposite - it's non-Shrek, and it was great!

2. Ratatouille - 5 Stars!
With the exception of A Bug's Life and Cars, I've never seen a Pixar film I didn't like, and this movie was GREAT! It was such a masterpiece, a little edgier than most Pixar movies (but then again, Brad Bird's work does always seem to have just a little bit of edge to them), but it was truly an inspirational movie! In fact, if you ask me, I think describing this movie itself as being inspirational is an understatement!

3. Shrek the Third - 4.5 Stars.
When I saw the first Shrek movie for the first time, I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite movie. Then when Shrek 2 came out, I thought it was so much better than the first one... and then when the third one came out, I was excited about it, because surely if the second one was better, then the third one has to be either just as good, or even better than that! Well, I really enjoyed the third installment of the trilogy; it REALLY is such a laugh fest, I'll give it that, but storywise, this one's just a bit more cheesy and sappy that the previous two.

Well, that's it. I don't get out much, do I?

Now then, I haven't seen these movies yet (one of which I never plan to), but here's my PRE-reviews of them...

1. Alvin and the Chipmunks - 2.5 Stars.
To be honest, it doesn't look TOO promising, but I will be seeing it with my mom sooner or later, as she's a big fan of the Chipmunks, and who knows? I might like it... to a degree.

2. Fred Clause - 2 Stars.
Okay... all these years, there was only just Santa... then they gave him a Mrs. Claus... well that's understandable... but now, all this time Santa had a brother that we didn't know about? And not only that, but Paul Giamatti does NOT make a very convincing Santa!

3. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium - Negative 0 Stars.
Even if I had an OUNCE of interest in seeing this movie, it would've been because of Kathy Greenwood... but now that she's not in it anymore, I have no interest whatsoever, and I absolutely REFUSE to watch even a split second frame of this movie!

 

[Xerus]

I thought Meet the Robinsons was a great movie. A CGI movie about an orphan boy who travels to the future and meets a cool futuristic family and the truths he learns along the way.

Shrek the Third was kind of a disappointment.

I thought Ratatouille was pretty good film about cooking and a guy and a rat who try to make it big.

Underdog didn't really impress me that much.

I didn't get to see the Transformers movie yet. But I plan to rent the DVD soon.

 

[Winslow Leach]

Here are my top movies of 2007, all of them 5 out of 5 stars (in no particular order):

No Country For Old Men - IMO, this is easily the best Coen Bros. flick since O Brother, Where Art Thou, a brilliant, dark thriller based on Cormac McCarthy's novel. Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones are excellent; Javier Bardem steals the film as a merciless killer.

I'm Not There - I saw this at a tiny 4-screen theater with sticky floors and popcorn that looked as if it had been in the machine since 1970. But it was worth it. Todd Haynes created a strange, daring "biopic" of Bob Dylan, using six different actors to represent Dylan's constant changing of "selves," including Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and Richard Gere. Awesome soundtrack, too.

Zodiac - David Fincher's thriller about the real-life serial killer who terrorized San Francisco from the 1960s to the 1980s is a meticulously detailed recreation of the era in which Zodiac stalked; Fincher uses actual locations of the crimes, and the excellent all-star cast is headlined by Jake Gyllenhaal, as newspaper cartoonist Robert Graysmith (who subsequently wrote two books on the case, on which the film is based), Robert Downey Jr. as a flamboyant reporter, Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards as detectives working on the case, and John Carroll Lynch ("The Drew Carey Show," "Fargo") in a chilling role as a prime suspect. IMO, Fincher's best film, along with Fight Club.

Sweeney Todd - I already raved about this film elsewhere, but it really is a visual feast, Tim Burton's homage to the Universal horror films of the 1930s and 1940s. Brilliant adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's classic musical.

Grindhouse - Ridiculously fun throwback to trash cinema of the 1970s, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino created a 3-hour show, composed of two feature films, plus faux trailers directed by Eli Roth, Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright and Rodriguez himself. The prints of the films and trailers presented are purposely scratched and beat up; it looks as if these films really had run endlessly since the 70s, and are on their last legs (complete with "missing reel" cards). Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" is a looney zombie flick, while Tarantino's "Death Proof" is a fun-ride (ha ha) slasher flick about a psychotic stuntman (Kurt Russell, in one of his best roles ever) who uses a car instead of a knife to catch his prey. Great soundtrack (as always for a Tarantino film), including a nice bit from Ennio Morricone's score from Dario Argento's "Cat O'Nine Tails" (1971).

The Simpsons Movie - Well, "The Simpsons" is my favorite television show; the movie was great fun, and it was a treat to finally see Springfield and its citizens on the big screen.

The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford - Possibly my favorite film of the year, I finally got to see this one at the same small cinema where I saw the Dylan film. Brad Pitt is an excellent Jesse, superstar outlaw, while Casey Affleck is perfect as the suckup who befriends Jesse, then betrays him, much to his eventual regret. Director Andrew Dominik fills the screen with beautiful exterior shots that recalls the work of filmmakers such as Terrence Malick ("Days of Heaven").

3:10 To Yuma - Another excellent Western, based (and expanded on) Elmore Leonard's short story. Director James Mangold ("Walk the Line") keeps things moving at a fast pace, and Russell Crowe makes a memorable villain.

Overall, I think this year turned out to be a satisfying one for movies. Some of the others I enjoyed were Spider-Man 3, Mr. Bean's Holiday, We Own the Night, The Bourne Ultimatum and Ocean's 13. I'm still interested in seeing Walk Hard.

 

[Son of Enik]

Disney scores 2 out 3 with me this year. Underdog was a classic case of good idea, poor execution...I liked the idea of using real dogs but the script was just weak. Ratatoullie and Pirates Of The Caribbean both were excellent. furthering the Disney Legacy of great film making. I also enjoyed Shrek The Third, but there's no topping the original...Shrek was such a surprise hit and while I did enjoy the two sequels, the first will always rule!
As for The Simpsons...Matt Groening's gotta be laughing all the way to the bank as we rolled in the aisles! Like South Park and Beavis & Butt-Head before, The Simpsons made a great big screen laugh-fest...I hope Family Guy follows suit here.
All in all 2007 was a great year in the family and comedy genres, and I look forward to next year's offerings, Happy New Year to all!

 

[Winslow Leach]

As for The Simpsons...Matt Groening's gotta be laughing all the way to the bank as we rolled in the aisles! Like South Park and Beavis & Butt-Head before, The Simpsons made a great big screen laugh-fest...I hope Family Guy follows suit here.

And he's still laughing. The DVD is already one of the highest-selling of the year, and it was only released 11 days ago.

 

[Luke]

I only saw a few movies (that i can remember), Simpsons Movie - which i thought was ok but should have been better given the wait, it just seemed like a lot of skits put together rather than a decent plot. I Am Legend, which i thought was again ok, but dragged a bit at the start and didn't live upto Omega Man. Transformers i thought was brilliant, best movie all year as the Transformers were good, the story was good and it was done well. Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium, i thought was an excellent family movie. I know people have knocked it for the effects or the story but actually i thought it was acted well, i thought Portman and Hoffman (and the boy) were great, and it was a nice story in a nice setting.

I probably did see other movies but i can't remember right now what they were, lol so thats all for now.

 

[Winslow Leach]

I forgot to add Halloween to my list of my favorites of '07. This is one horror remake, IMO, that works, and stands apart from other remakes/reimaginings, such as The Fog, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Sisters, Night of the Living Dead, The Omen, The Hills Have Eyes, When a Stranger Calls, and the absolute worst of the lot, again in my opinion, Gus Van Sant's Psycho.

I think Rob Zombie's take on Halloween is the best horror remake since 2004's Dawn of the Dead, which is almost as good as the original. Zombie's film was denounced as soon as it was announced by John Carpenter fans and film buffs who regard the 1978 original as an untouchable masterpiece.

Well, if Psycho could be remade, and Casablanca colorized, then I guess anything goes. I'm a huge Carpenter fan, and do regard his Halloween as a classic. But I really appreciate what Rob Zombie and co. did with the material. At least it's better than any of the lousy sequels to the original.

Halloween is a visceral, intense film, headed by Malcolm McDowell, and featuring appearances from genre stars Dee Wallace, Brad Dourif, Sid Haig, Bill Moesley, Tom Towles, Udo Kier, William Forsythe, Clint Howard, Ken Foree and even Monkee Micky Dolenz in a funny cameo, as a gun shop proprieter. Adrienne Barbeau was in the film, but her brief scene with McDowell was cut. 7-foot tall Tyler Mane makes an impressive, brutal Michael Myers, and Zombie makes good use of John Carpenter's original, iconic score.

Overall, Halloween is an entertaining picture. It's not a sequel to any of the other films in the series. It's a stand-alone.

But now the pipeline is filled with more remakes of genre films, mostly greenlit because of the success of the Zombie film. In the next year, expect remakes of Friday the 13th, Prom Night, Terror Train, Escape From New York and possibly A Nightmare on Elm Street.

 

[Barry Lee]

Here are my thoughts of SOME of the films that came out this year.

• Ratatouille 5 out of 5 This is by far my favorite Pixar movie. The animation & story is absolutely beautiful. The film is just so rich, in the looks & story & characters. Its just simpy fantastic.
• The Simpsons Movie 4 out of 5 This film was just a riot. I love everything about it, I wish they include more of Burns & Smithers. But we might just have to wait until the second film.
• Walk Hard 4 out of 5 Now i for one am a big fan of Judd Apatow, and his films. This movie was absolutely hillariously raunchy. The music in the film is great as well. The spoofs of the Beatles & Buddy Holly & Elvis were all great as well. Also, cameos by Jewel & Jackson Browne? Honestly, this was a great funny movie.
• Shrek the Third 3 out of 5 Yuuuck, it was funny, but seriously, the story itself was misplaced. But I still want to see the 4th movie just to see how they work out with this one.
• 300 5 out of 5 When i saw this in theaters, my heart completely stopped, you felt the booming sound in the theater, and the visual cinemetography is absolute eye candy. FANTASTIC film!
• Spiderman 3 2.5 out of 5 I sware, I loved the first two films, but this film just completely bad. Too many villians! Its like they rushed the whole film. I was very dissapointed.
• Knocked Up 5 out of 5 This is honestly a modern comedy classic. Its a fantastic hillarious sex comedy. Except for the realistic birthing scene. How, fantastic ha.
• Hairspray 3 out of 5 This film was wayyyy to corny for me
• Harry Potter & The Order of the Pheonix 4 out of 5 Despite being 20 minutes late of the movie, overall the visual affects and story was very good.

 

[D'Snowth]

How in the world can you give Shrek the Third only two stars? It's AT LEAST a 3.5! Well, anyway, here's for what I saw for 2007...

1. Bee Movie - 5 Stars.
Jerry Seinfeld REALLY had some kind of great idea when he said he had an idea about a movie about bees, and call it "Bee Movie"; I felt it had really likable characters, an entertaining story, and great animation. What really makes this movie special is that it seems like in most cases, DreamWorks animated movies just never seem to work if they're non-Shrek, but in this case, it's just the opposite - it's non-Shrek, and it was great!

2. Ratatouille - 5 Stars!
With the exception of A Bug's Life and Cars, I've never seen a Pixar film I didn't like, and this movie was GREAT! It was such a masterpiece, a little edgier than most Pixar movies (but then again, Brad Bird's work does always seem to have just a little bit of edge to them), but it was truly an inspirational movie! In fact, if you ask me, I think describing this movie itself as being inspirational is an understatement!

3. Shrek the Third - 4.5 Stars.
When I saw the first Shrek movie for the first time, I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite movie. Then when Shrek 2 came out, I thought it was so much better than the first one... and then when the third one came out, I was excited about it, because surely if the second one was better, then the third one has to be either just as good, or even better than that! Well, I really enjoyed the third installment of the trilogy; it REALLY is such a laugh fest, I'll give it that, but storywise, this one's just a bit more cheesy and sappy that the previous two.

Well, that's it. I don't get out much, do I?

Now then, I haven't seen these movies yet (one of which I never plan to), but here's my PRE-reviews of them...

1. Alvin and the Chipmunks - 2.5 Stars.
To be honest, it doesn't look TOO promising, but I will be seeing it with my mom sooner or later, as she's a big fan of the Chipmunks, and who knows? I might like it... to a degree.

2. Fred Clause - 2 Stars.
Okay... all these years, there was only just Santa... then they gave him a Mrs. Claus... well that's understandable... but now, all this time Santa had a brother that we didn't know about? And not only that, but Paul Giamatti does NOT make a very convincing Santa!

3. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium - Negative 0 Stars.
Even if I had an OUNCE of interest in seeing this movie, it would've been because of Kathy Greenwood... but now that she's not in it anymore, I have no interest whatsoever, and I absolutely REFUSE to watch even a split second frame of this movie!

Okay, we just saw Alvin and Chipmunks, so here's my rating...

As I predicted: 2.5 stars. It had its moments. It had its laughs. It was... well... predictable... But other than that, not something you'd be rushing out to the theaters to see.

Even my mom hated it, and she LOVES the Chipmunks... but she loves the Chipmunks she grew up with.