1. The Dark Knight
   I am not one of those people who usually put action movies in their top ten lists. I like dramas. I especially like depressing dramas. I love action films, too, but when it comes to the best films of the year, they rarely rank well. 2008 was an exception for two reasons: 1) the year, in general, was weak. There were some hilarious comedies and some great action movies, but few absolutely stunning dramas. In other words, there were no There Will Be Blood’s this year. This opens the door for… 2) one of the most amazing action films ever made. No, The Dark Knight is not the best action film out there – in terms of your typical action movie. However, few films manage to transcend the genre and deliver drama, suspense, crime and action in such a seamless, brilliant format. Christopher Nolan really outdid himself, and it is unlikely we’ll see another comic book movie top this one anytime soon, if ever. Oh yeah, and Heath Ledger is halfway decent in the movie, too.
2. The Wrestler
   If not for The Dark Knight, this one would be #1. Well, duh. The Wrestler is an incredible piece of work, a movie that is entertaining, dramatic, powerful and sad all at once. Darren Aronofsky, who was once rumored to direct the next Batman film, comes back down to earth after the strange The Fountain to direct his most normal film yet, but the director elevates an otherwise simply story to another level. The film looks great, but it’s Mickey Rourke’s performance that makes the picture worth it. With incredible acting, superb direction and stellar screenplay, it’s a real shame that The Wrestler isn’t getting honored with more Oscars – but leave it to the Academy to ignore great films.
3. Tell No One
   This French film is not the typical Top Ten selection: it’s a thriller about a man who begins to suspect that his wife, who was murdered several years earlier, is actually alive. Unfortunately for him, the police also think that he’s responsible for her death – and a series of other murders that have emerged. Tell No One is a clever, carefully crafted thrill ride with great acting, a suspenseful story and lots of cool twists. The movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, yet it is also engaging on a level that transcends its genre. Why France elected to have The Class be its representation in the Oscar race confounds me.
4. Doubt
   Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play and written and directed by the author, Doubt is a captivating tale of suspicion and stubbornness that leads to the destruction of real people. Some people may be put off by the theatrical dialogue, but John Patrick Shanley lured me in with his every word. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Viola Davis were all nominated for Oscars for their performances in the picture, and Shanley for his screenplay, which begs the question: how does a movie with incredible acting and an award-winning screenplay not get nominated for Best Picture? What more do you need?
5. Revolutionary Road
   Perhaps the worst reviewed movie on this list, the Sam Mendes movie is a disturbing look into a hollow marriage in the 1950’s. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet turn in some of the best performances of their already sparkling careers as a couple whose marriage deteriorates over a number of years. It’s a troubling film that is more depressing than everything else, but it’s pretty spellbinding. The supporting cast, most notably Kathy Bates and Oscar-nominated Michael Shannon, do a lot to assist the leads where possible.
6. Milk
   Sean Penn turns in yet another unforgettable performance in Milk, which makes the race for Best Actor a close one with Mickey Rourke. Penn plays gay activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was fatally shot early in his career. The movie looks, feels and acts like a Best Picture winner, and given that my top five movies were not nominated for the coveted award, it is my choice to win. Will it win? Probably not, but it deserves to. The subject matter is eerily similar to the current political climate, with churches and “liberals” facing off over a bill that parallels today’s Proposition 8. Great acting from everyone involved and superb direction from Gus Van Sant makes this a must-watch film.
7. WALL-E
   Wall-E is an animated film, but it is so much more than that. Few, if any, cartoons are as unique as this picture, which is both perfect for children and captivating for adults. What’s so remarkable is that Pixar, the studio that continues to defy expectations, managed to make a movie with so little dialogue so damn entertaining. The visual effects are amazing, the title character is cute, and Pixar delivers a disturbing message about environmental collapse and America’s reliance on consumer goods. Whether you prefer shots of a devastated New York or a scene that involves hundreds of fat people rolling over each other, Wall-E has it all.
8. Gran Torino
   Come the middle of 2008, everyone expected Clint Eastwood’s Changeling to be a front runner for Oscar glory, but that movie failed to deliver. Gran Torino, however, doesn’t. Eastwood turns in an excellent and hilarious performance as a cynical, racist grandpa who instinctively decides to protect his Hmong neighbors from a local gang. The movie, while by no means an action movie, give Dirty Harry fans something to feast on, and gives everyone else a downright bitter screenplay full of tongue-in-cheek racial slurs that will have you rolling in your seat. Gran Torino doesn’t leave as much of an impact as some of the other movies on this list, but it is genuinely entertaining and worth watching multiple times just to remember some of the funnier lines. And yes, it’s a drama.
9. Slumdog Millionaire
   The front runner for Best Picture, it will be surprising if the Danny Boyle drama-romance doesn’t win. While Boyle deserves a directing Oscar, the movie, about a young man on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” who is on the verge of winning the top prize despite growing up in the slums of Mumbai. The picture is flashy, unique and entertaining, but it lacks the power I was expecting given its early buzz. The movie is a product of its own hype, but it’s still a quality film with some memorable moments, terrific directing and an original score.
10. Let the Right One In
    It was the year of the vampire, but of the three vampire productions that hit audiences in 2008, Twilight was the least significant. HBO’s True Blood turned out to be a pleasant surprise, but it was Let the Right One In that turned heads. While I debated long and hard on which movie would take this tenth spot, I finally settled on the little Swedish vampire flick – which is unfortunately being remade in English in 2010 – due to its uniqueness. The movie couldn’t have cost much to make, but there isn’t a cheap thing about it: the story is intriguing, the atmosphere spooky and the ending is downright bad ass. Recommended.

The Best of the Rest

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  Brad Pitt stars as a man who ages backwards, and that’s pretty neat. The movie is a pleasing fairytale that spans decades, and is an all-around good film. Still, compared to Forrest Gump, it doesn’t quite hit the emotional chord.
• The Visitor
  Richard Jenkins turns in a great performance and the movie itself, about a guy who gets into drums, is surprisingly captivating. Ultimately, the picture lacks the power needed to be among the year’s best, but it works for what it is.
• Defiance
  James Bond… er, Daniel Craig… stars as a man who defies the Nazis and flees into the woods with hundreds of Jewish survivors. The movie looks great and offers fine performances from its stars, but is missing just that special something. Edward Zwick has the knack for making good films that don’t quite click on all cylinders.
• Frost/Nixon
  I’ve been hating on this movie for no good reason, other than that it isn’t as good as the buzz indicates. Ron Howard was nominated for directing the picture – and the movie itself was nominated for Best Picture – yet aside from the last 30 minutes, it isn’t anything more than your average end-of-year film. Still highly recommended, but other than Frank Langhella’s fine performance as Richard Nixon, there’s nothing award-winning here.
• Body of Lies
  This Leonardo DiCaprio/Ridley Scott venture got ravaged by critics, but I found it to be an engaging and slickly directed thriller about terrorism in the Middle East. The ending is a little weak, but it’s still an understated film that should appeal to fans of the genre.
• Man on Wire
  This documentary about a tightroping individual who attempts to cross a wire connected between the two World Trade Center buildings sounds like it’d be pretty boring, but it’s actually one of the most engaging and entertaining films of 2008.

View a full list of movies reviewed in 2008.

Note that “disappointing” is different from “bad” or “worst.” Some of the movies on this list are just plain bad (The Happening), and most of them aren’t that great, but there are a few on here that I would watch again – they just simply didn’t live up to expectations. The higher up the list they are, though, the more they disappointed.

Without further ado…

1. The Happening
   Easily one of the worst movies of 2008, The Happening also showed promise. Sure, M. Night Shyamalan has been making progressively worse movies every year, but aside from Lady in the Water, his movies haven’t been disastrous. This one, starring the typically fun Mark Wahlberg, looked to get Shyamalan back on track – at the very least, The Happening had to be better than Lady in the Water. Right?
   Wrong, biotchs! The Happening is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It is laughably bad. The writing is terrible. The acting is terrible. The direction is terrible. And our print of the movie even revealed the boom mike much of the time, which at least had my friends and I rolling in our seats giggling. Without that poor boom mike, I don’t know if we could have been able to sit through this disaster. And I’d been looking forward to it.
   Yes, The Happening is the most disappointing movie of 2008 – and the worst.
2. The X-Files: I Want to Believe
   I am a huge X-Files fan. Yes, the last couple seasons weren’t so great, but the first several were awesome. In fact, I’d say the series is one of the best to ever grace the small screen. While some people didn’t like the first X-Files movie, I thought it was pretty damn good – and compared to its sequel, it’s Schindler’s List.
   I was pumped for the sequel. Sure, the previews weren’t that great and the title I Want to Believe is absolutely terrible, but this is X-Files. How bad can it be? The producers had also promised that this would be a stand alone picture, promising to be a scarier, less confusing film.
   Unfortunately, The X-Files: I Want to Believe is more of a drama than a horror flick. The producers got so caught up with the characters of Mulder and Scully that they forgot to give fans (because, let’s face it: no one else showed up) a compelling story. The movie is pretty boring, isn’t scary and, most importantly, does not feel like The X-Files. There isn’t much at all of a supernatural slant to the movie, so… what the hell is the point? What a letdown.
3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
   Many people will surely be putting this one at the top of their list. In hindsight, I was mildly entertained. It had enough Indiana Jones moments, and overall it was fun to see Harrison Ford back in one of his trademark roles. Still… the only reason Indiana Jones 4 is not in the #1 spot is that the movie trailers, from the beginning, suggested that there was just something slightly off about the picture, which dampened my expectations from the beginning. After all, could such a movie, even if it were directed by Steven Spielberg, be as good as the first three? The odds were against it before it ever hit theaters.
   Nevertheless, expectations were still high, and Spielberg, George Lucas and Ford did not truly deliver. There was the “nuking the fridge,” scene, which killed it for a lot of audience members right then and there. Then there was the stupid-looking crystal skull, which looked goofy as hell. Don’t forget the jungle-swinging scene, full of dancing monkeys and Tarzan-like goofiness. Oh, and the killer ants. An uninteresting performance by Karen Allen. And, most importantly, aliens and spaceships, which begs the question, What the f**k was Spielberg thinking?
   Ultimately, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull could have been a lot worse – but it could have so easily been a lot better.
4. Semi-Pro
   You can never expect too much from a Will Ferrell movie, but you still expect to laugh. With Ferrell starring as the owner of a horrific and cheesy 70’s semi-pro basketball team, it looked like a gimme that Semi-Pro would follow in the vein of Anchorman and Blades of Glory. Unfortunately, the movie is amazingly unfunny. Boring even. All of the good parts are shown in the previews, and the rest is just a complete and utter waste of time. Truly disappointing.
5. Blindness
   Not a bad movie by any means, Blindness is the perfect example of expectations run amok. Fernando Meirelles is the director of City of Gods and The Constant Gardener, two visually stimulating and superbly done films. Logic would dictate that Blindness, about a contagion of blindness that sweeps the globe, would follow this trend. I was expecting this to be an Oscar contender and a legitimate thriller.
   Again, Blindness isn’t a bad movie – it just isn’t anywhere as good as it could have been. The picture is poorly directed and edited at times, and goes in a few directions that I wouldn’t have taken it. It picks up near the end, but other than that… rather disappointing.
6. Leatherheads
   George Clooney and Jim from “The Office” star in this throwback football film could have been an instant classic. Clooney is always funny, and the previews made the picture out to be a goofy dramedy about the beginning of the NFL. Unfortunately, Leatherheads isn’t nearly as funny as it thinks it is, gets bogged down in a rather disappointing legal storyline about a war hero who isn’t quite what he appears to be, and just feels overly long. All in all, it’s pretty boring.
7. Appaloosa
   I like modern westerns. When done right, they can be gritty, entertaining and exciting. When I saw that Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris were starring in an old-fashioned western about two lawmen who take on a large group of thugs in a small plains town, I was excited. Directed by Ed Harris, Appaloosa couldn’t possibly be bad. When it opened, it received positive reviews, which only drove my expectations higher.
   Unfortunately, Appaloosa is rather dull, has inconsistent pacing and lacks the proper shootout it so desperately needed. In his attempt to make an old-fashioned-looking movie, Harris made Appaloosa old fashioned – and that’s not a good thing.
   The movie was still OK, but not the entertaining western I expected.
8. Quantum of Solace
   After the absolutely amazing Casino Royale, expectations were high for this James Bond sequel. While the movie did deliver with lots and lots of action, it was missing the character development and complexities of its predecessor. The new director, not accustomed to action films, didn’t quite get it at times, and thus Quantum of Solace came off as feeling a bit empty.
   Upon second viewing, though, I liked it much more than at first… but still, it could have been a lot better.
9. Son of Rambow
   I went with one of my buddies to go see this one. No, it’s not another Rambo sequel; it’s a comedy about a couple of boys in Britain who set out to make their own homemade Rambo film. The previews were funny and cute, and this looked like a winner.
   Instead, Son of Rambow is one of the most boring movies I’ve seen in a long time. It has its moments, but many of these moments are shown in the previews. Otherwise, the picture just lacked the charisma and entertainment value I was expecting.
10. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
    OK, in reality, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of this movie. The second Mummy movie was awful, with an overly cheesy approach and terrible special effects. But I did have moderate expectations for the movie. God-awful director Stephen Sommers was out, replaced by Rob Cohen. Imotep the mummy, who had been the villain for the last two movies, was gone, replaced by Jet Li. Egypt was replaced for China. And Brendan Fraser was returning. This one had the promise to be moderately entertaining, but…
    The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is cheesy, stupid and boring. The characters – and actors – seemed disinterested, as if they were dragged back to the picture through some blackmail deal that Rachel Weisz somehow managed to avoid (smart girl). Maria Bello turns in a terrible performance, and Cohen can’t decide whether Fraser or his on-screen son is the star of the show. Oh, and when yetis show up to act look like football players, all chances of success go right out the window.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean there will be nothing to watch this September. Below is a list of movies I’m looking forward to in September:

1. Burn After Reading – September 8
   In their follow-up to the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers return with a crime comedy that looks pitch perfect. Brad Pitt, with zany hair, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton and George Clooney are among the cast of misfits. The Coen brothers do idiotic characters well, and this movie is chock full of them. The trailers have been funny, and I foresee this doing good business.
2. Towelhead – September 12 (limited) / September 26 (wide)
   Alan Ball, best known for writing American Beauty (one of my favorites), returns to write and direct this movie about youth and racism in suburbia. The film focuses on an Arab-American teenager who is starting to discover her sexuality (and that her creepy neighbor, played by Aaron Eckhart, has the hots for her) and that even when you’re all American, you won’t necessarily be viewed as such. The trailer isn’t as powerful as I would have liked, but I’ve heard good things and the subject is definitely interesting.
3. Lakeview Terrace - September 19
   A hit-or-miss concept, this movie is about a mixed race couple who move into a suburban neighborhood. Unfortunately, their next-door neighbor (Samuel L. Jackson) isn’t exactly fond of their presence, and starts to harass them. Tensions raise and retaliation escalates, but the cops are useless: after all, the neighbor is one. I love the concept, and Patrick Wilson leading up the film, Little Children comes to mind. Again, this is one of those movies that could just be absurdly stupid, but it sure looks pretty good.
4. Righteous Kill - September 12
   Robert De Niro and Al Pacino team up as police officers investigating a serial killer who murders criminals. Loyalties are torn as all evidence points to another police officer as the culprit, and the fact that the guy is in some ways helping them out isn’t exactly a motivating force. Trailers have been surprisingly weak for the film and the fact that it’s being released in early September doesn’t bode well, but I love me a good serial killer film – and the teaming of two acting greats is hard to pass up.
5. Eagle Eye – September 26
   Shia LaBeouf continues his efforts to be the ultimate action star in Eagle Eye, which also stars Billy Bob Thornton and Michelle Monaghan. LaBeouf and Monaghan both become unwilling players in a game of cat and mouse, as they are setup by an unseen group of criminals and forced to do whatever they are told. The rather revealing trailers leave a lot of questions on the table, but there is the suggestion that there is a bigger plot and work (I’m thinking political assassination). The marketing has been good and prominent, suggestion the studio thinks this one could be big, but only time will tell. Still, this should be one of the biggest films of early fall.
6. Choke – September 26 (limited)
   Chuck Palahniuk, the author behind Fight Club, finds another one of his books being adapted into a film, this time the Sam Rockwell-starring movie Choke, about a sex addict who finds true love. The movie looks vulgar, R-rated and funny, and his legion of fans should help make this film some money. Still, the appeal will be rather niche, and I’m not sure if the trailers have been memorable enough.
7. The Duchess – September 19 (limited)
   The presence of Kiera Knightley is enough to drive me to theaters, but The Duchess looks pretty good. A period piece about a woman who is married to a rich dude (Ralph Fiennes) but who gets involved in politics in an age where women were merely meant to supply babies, the movie looks to have some decent drama. Nevertheless, the September release date suggests that this film – which really won’t make much money – isn’t strong enough to compete with the big boys later in the year.
8. Miracle at St. Anna – September 26
   Spike Lee continues to expand his focus with a World War II film about a bunch of American soldiers – many of them black – who take refuge in a small Italian village when they are surrounded by Germans. Beyond that, it’s hard to determine exactly what the movie is about. The trailer does a great job of showing things without revealing the overall plot (it starts off with a murder twenty years later), and that has me intrigued.
9. Battle in Seattle – September 19 (limited)
   It’s rare that Seattle, my location of residence, gets much notice in Hollywood, but the WTO riots of 1999 (I was in high school at the time) are good fodder for a film. The movie examines the politicians, police officers and protestors involved in the craziness, and packed with a lot of well known names (ranging from Ray Liotta to Charlize Theron), Battle in Seattle shows promise. I do find it funny that one of the taglines that is used in the trailer is, “The event that changed a city,” since I’m pretty sure that once everything was cleaned up, nothing really changed. Still, if only for the fact that this movie is about a real event in Seattle that I lived through, I’m interested.
10. Ghost Town – September 19
    This is probably one to wait for until DVD, but Ghost Town, starring Greg Kinnear as a ghost, Tea Leoni as his ex-wife and the funny guy from the British version of “The Office,” looks quite amusing. It’s about time that Ricky Gervais gets a leading role; I really hope this one helps jump start his career, as the guy is a riot.
11. Bangkok Dangerous – September 5
    OK, I said “10 Movies to See in September 2008,” so what the hell is Bangkok Dangerous doing on here… in eleventh place. The assassin movie starring Nicolas Cage really doesn’t look good at all – or at least formulaic as shit – so I wanted to include it for the sole reason of pointing it out. If I’m really desperate for a film, this one could be entertaining, but I’m definitely planning on waiting until DVD for this one.
12. My Best Friend’s Girl – September 19
    I’m pretty sure Dane Cook made this movie last year, and it was called Good Luck Chuck. That movie didn’t exactly fare well among critics or audiences. This one looks about the same, except for this time Cook plays a jackass who guys pay to date their ex-girlfriends to convince them that they were better off before. Jason Biggs foolishly hires the much better-looking Cook to date his ex (Kate Hudson), and of course Cook and Hudson fall in love. Hilarity ensues. Maybe.

Other films are being released on a limited stage, including Appaloosa and Blindness, but since those films are receiving wide releases in October, I haven’t included them on this list.

11. Ratatouille (UPDATED: I moved this to #11)

I normally don’t place animated films in my Top Ten, but Pixar came along, delivered a comeback after the horrible movie Cars and provided audiences with the best animated picture in years. Ratatouille is the perfect example of why Pixar is better than any other animated comedy; unlike the other companies, they actually try (and normally succeed) to do something unique. They don’t rely on modern day satires, spoofs and references, and instead go about creating memorable, high quality stories. Ratatouille is a well-written, witty and entertaining animated picture, and a sure lock for this year’s Oscar in the category. On top of that, the visual effects are simply stunning; the Pixar team really outdid themselves this time.

10. I’m Not There

I had trouble deciding where to place I’m Not There on this Top Ten List. I found I’m Not There pretty confusing at times and didn’t find it as entertaining as some of the other pictures on the list. That being said, the movie is easily the most ambitious film of the year. Writer/director Todd Haynes really deserves props for managing to pull this feat off, as his movie stars not one but six actors (including Richard Gere, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Cate Blanchett and even some little black kid) as Bob Dylan. To make things even more confusing, each actor represents a metaphorical stage in Dylan’s life and career, and if you’re like me and don’t know a thing about Dylan, you’ll be lost. Still, for Haynes to actually develop a coherent film out of this chaos is absolutely amazing, and he makes it look easy.

9. Lars and the Real Girl

I normally don’t place feel-good movies on my top ten lists as I generally tend to lean toward serious dramas, but I have two on here this year. Lars and the Real Girl stars Ryan Gosling as a socially awkward young man who finally gets a girlfriend – unfortunately, his girlfriend is a life-size sex doll. To help Lars get over his psychological issues, the townspeople decide to pretend that his girlfriend is real. The movie features some great comedic performances, and, in general, the movie is quite funny; it’s also sweet, touching and sad all at once.

8. Charlie Wilson’s War

Funny and politically charged, this movie based on the screenplay from “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin stars Tom Hanks as a womanizing, cocaine-snorting U.S. Representative who decides to covertly fight the Russians by funding Afghanistan militants. It doesn’t sound like a comedy at first glance, but the movie is at times quite hilarious. Hanks is the best we’ve seen him in years, but Philip Seymour Hoffman is the scene-stealer. Charlie Wilson’s War isn’t for everyone, but for those who like a little dose of politics with their comedy, this one is a must-see.

7. Once (UPDATED: I added this movie to the list on 1/23/2008)

I forgot to add Once to this Top Ten List because based it on a list of movie reviews I had done for 2007. However, I hadn’t yet written a review for Once, a film I had already intended to put on the list. Hence, I forgot. Once is an incredibly simply but mesmerizing film. The song, which is nominated for an Oscar (it better win!), is simply astounding, and pretty much makes the film. Regardless, the chemistry between the two leads is terrific.

6. No Country for Old Men

And now come the heavy hitters. No Country for Old Men is still a front runner for Best Picture, as it has already picked up several awards over the last month and a half. The movie, easily the best Cohen Brothers film in years, is a dark and depressing action-drama about a man (James Brolin) who discovers a bunch of drug money and finds that by taking it he has unleashed the wrath of one of the nastiest, most psychotic assassins in the history of cinema. Javier Bardem is absolutely stunning as the madman killer. Still, as good as the movie is, I feel it was slightly over-hyped; the ending left a lot of audiences wanting more, and in all honesty, it isn’t a very satisfying conclusion to such an exciting, suspense-filled film. Nevertheless, No Country for Old Men leaves you on the edge of your seat the entire time, and that’s worth something.

5. Juno

The other feel-good movie of the year, Juno is tearing it up at the box office and has critics singing praise with its excellent screenplay and terrific acting from young star Ellen Page. The screenplay, from writer Diablo Cody, is one of the top candidates to win Best Screenplay, and Page has an outside chance at winning Best Actress. The dialogue is what makes this movie – about a pregnant 16-year old girl who decides to give away her baby – so good, as its sharp wit flies so fast that’s it hard to keep up with all of it. Juno also has its sweet side to it, which will delight the female members of the audience.

4. Zodiac

David Fincher’s Zodiac may long be forgotten as the film was released way back in March, but those of you who saw this picture hopefully realized that Fincher has developed quite a masterpiece. While the movie, based on the real Zodiac serial killer investigation, isn’t your typical crime thriller, Fincher somehow managed to make a suspenseful drama out of a three-hour, dialogue-driven screenplay. Not everyone loved Zodiac, but it is one of the best serial killer films in a long time.

3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Few people have seen this Brad Pitt/Casey Affleck drama, and even fewer would probably place this film in their top ten list, but The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an amazingly engrossing and deep drama. The film is nearly three hours long and features almost no action, which may surprise people expecting an action-western, but for those of you who know better, the picture is an impressive character study of two drastically different men. Brad Pitt is stunning as the outlaw James, even if you don’t realize how good he is for most of the movie. Casey Affleck, however, is absolutely captivating, and delivers the best performance of his career, knocking off his previous best – from Gone Baby Gone, which just missed out on making this top ten list. Needless to say, 2007 was a good year for the younger Affleck brother, and Jesse James is an excellent movie, highlighted by a shockingly good final half hour.

2. There Will Be Blood

The top two films of 2007 really set themselves apart from the rest. There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece, is a bold and powerful examination of one man’s rise and fall. The movie is excellent, but Daniel Day-Lewis delivers his best performance ever – and that’s saying a lot. Day-Lewis transforms himself into a mesmerizing character who hates everyone and is greedy beyond belief. Like I say in my movie review, if he doesn’t win an Oscar, I will turn my back on the awards show forever.

1. Atonement

While There Will Be Blood was amazing, it will not appeal to everyone. Atonement, on the other hand, is a bit more mainstream, but thanks to incredible direction from Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice), Atonement is the best movie of 2007. Its widespread appeal is not the reason Atonement is the best movie of 2007; the movie is simply captivating from beginning to end. A near-thriller to begin with, the film turns into a war romance in the second half, but the film carries more than a few punches that catch you off guard. Wright does a marvelous job of crafting a story that makes you optimistic and then crushes your emotions, and then starts all over and does it again. Atonement is a sad movie, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t great.

Why did I choose Atonement over There Will Be Blood? It was a close decision, but I felt There Will Be Blood dragged in a few small sections while Atonement did not; there were a few parts where Blood seemed to lose focus, whereas Atonement is just a bit more consistent. There Will Be Blood has better acting, but Atonement pulls at your emotions slightly more. Still, it was a tough decision, but I stand by it.

Stay tuned for other top ten lists over the coming weeks!