2007: The Year in Review

It has been a good, looong year for movies, so I’m going to keep this wrap-up pretty short and sweet.

Here’s to 2007.

And here’s to 2008. May it be a beaming year.

Best Chemistry: Michael Cera and Jonah Hill (Superbad)

Best Dressed: Keira Knightley in Atonement (that green dress is just stunning!)

Best Hair: Keri Russell (August Rush)

Best Prop: Rose McGowan’s machine-gun leg in Grindhouse

Best Trend Gone Unnoticed: Female filmmakers having a banner year in Hollywood (Julie Delpy wrote and directed 2 Days in Paris, Sarah Polley wrote and directed Away From Her, Adrienne Shelly wrote and directed Waitress, Kirsten Sheridan directed August Rush – and that’s just off the top of my head).

Best Soundtrack: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Biggest Scene-stealer: Knocked Up’s Leslie Mann

Can't Get Enough – Female: Keri Russell (Waitress, August Rush)

Can't Get Enough – Male: Matt Damon (Ocean’s Thirteen, The Bourne Ultimatum)

Could Have Gotten More: Daniel Craig (The Golden Compass)

Should Have Gotten More: Adrienne Shelly (Waitress)

Guiltiest Pleasures: Summer’s threequels (“Spirates of the Shrekibbean,” Ocean’s Thirteen, Rush Hour 3, The Bourne UItimatum)

Most Ballistic Fun: Shoot ’Em Up

Most Disappointing: Lindsay Lohan (her personal life, Georgia Rule, I Know Who Killed Me)

Most Misunderstood: Southland Tales, although I’m just guessing since it didn’t open at a theater near me.

Most Promising: 2008 – a year with fewer DUI arrests, meltdowns, and rehab checking-ins, I trust.

Most Surprising: The success of Transformers

Most Underrated: Dan in Real Life

Best Performance by an Animal: Abbey, a.k.a. Sam the German shepherd in I Am Legend

Sweetest Performance: Amy Adams in Enchanted

Breakthrough Performance – Female: Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up)

Breakthrough Performance – Male: Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia, Transformers)

Best Supporting Actresses: Jennifer Garner (Juno), Emily Mortimer (Lars and the Real Girl), Julia Roberts (Charlie Wilson’s War), Saoirse Ronan (Atonement), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)

Best Supporting Actors: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War), Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild), Max von Sydow (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)

Best Actresses: Julie Christie (Away From Her), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart), Ellen Page (Juno), Keri Russell (Waitress)

Best Actors: Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men), George Clooney (Michael Clayton), Ryan Gosling (Lars and the Real Girl), Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises)

Best Directors: The Coen brothers (No Country for Old Men), David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises), Sean Penn (Into the Wild), Jason Reitman (Juno), Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

Best Film I Didn't See Yet: Once

10 Best Films of the Year: (in alphabetical order)

Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Eastern Promises
Grindhouse
Into the Wild
Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
Waitress

Honorable Mention: Paris, Je T’aime

Photos: Dimension Films (Grindhouse); Universal Pictures (The Bourne Ultimatum); DreamWorks Pictures (Disturbia); Fox Searchlight Pictures (Waitress).