The University News

Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Culture

Media Credit: MCT Campus Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe in "American Gangster."

Media Credit: Picturehouse Edith Piaf (Marion Cotillard) and Momone (Sylvie Testud) in "La Vie En Rose."

Media Credit: MCT Campus "Ratatouille" should win for best animated film.

There will be Oscars. The threat of not having an Academy Awards ceremony has been the most suspenseful news story of recent memory. The writer's strike is over and we can breathe a sigh of relief and get down to the usual process of speculating. Forget the presidential race; for me, it's all about the Oscar race.

In terms of nominations, for once, I was proud of the Academy. Sure, they didn't nominate some of my favorite films enough or at all, but they were able to spread the wealth around. Only a few nominations were given out just based on name or a long career. There was a good balance between new, emerging artists and the old guard.

But do the Academy Awards really name the best actor or director or picture of the year? Of course not. It's the opinion of a few thousand people in the industry. They have very specific tastes. Those who predict often find themselves confounded. But that doesn't stop us from trying.

However, in the midst of those "What were they thinking?" moments, we can find consolation in our own opinions, which is where the inevitable top 10 comes in. It's sort of an unwritten rule that as a critic you must make one every year, but I agree with those critics who admit that picking just 10 films is really an arbitrary and silly process.

This year was an especially hard year. I tried to take into account both artistry and my own personal reactions. There are many who would probably scoff at my listing of the sublime "Ratatouille" above "No Country for Old Men." It's true, "No Country" may be the better film in terms of artistic accomplishment, but there's little to match the way the Pixar film makes me feel.

But again, 10 is an arbitrary number. There are lots of other films I'd list as among 2007's best. Take the brutal Romanian drama "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days," or the genuine emotion of "Lars and the Real Girl." There's the surrealist Beatles trip "Across the Universe," or perhaps the totally baffling musical approach of the little-seen "Romance and Cigarettes."

In terms of action, you couldn't get much better than "The Bourne Ultimatum" or "3:10 to Yuma." "The Savages" and "Juno" mixed true heart with witty humor, and "Into the Wild" and "Michael Clayton" gave us moments of harrowing drama.

I also have to give credit to movies that may not have been good artistically, but were just downright entertaining. That's why I usually award one film with "The Guilty Pleasure of the Year Award," and this year it would go to Michael Bay's rock-em sock-em epic "Transformers." Maybe it was nostalgia for my childhood. Maybe it was just giant robots fighting each other. Either way, I had a blast.

My pick for worst film of 2007 would have to be a tie between "Waitress" and "Year of the Dog." There's a lot of love for these two films out there, but not from me. Luckily, not even they can get me down when I think about the past year.

Overall, I think it's safe to say that 2007 was a great year for film. There were films that challenged the medium ("I'm Not There," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"), films that reminded us of our cinematic past ("Jesse James," "There Will Be Blood"), and films that reminded us of how good it is to watch great artists at the top of their games ("Sweeney Todd," "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead").

dcoley@unews.com

Top ten movies of the year

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
3. Ratatouille
4. I'm Not There
5. No Country for Old Men
6. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
7. Atonement
8. Once
9. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
10. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

And now for the predictions:

Best Picture
Will Win: "No Country for Old Men"
Should Win: "There Will Be Blood"

Best Director
Will Win: Joel and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Should Win: Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Best Actor
Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Should Win: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"

Best Actress
Will Win: Julie Christie, "Away from Her"
Should Win: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"

Best Supporting Actor
Will Win: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Should Win: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"

Best Supporting Actress
Will Win: Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"
Should Win: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"

Best Animated Film
Will Win: "Ratatouille"
Should Win: "Ratatouille"

Best Original Screenplay
Will Win: Diablo Cody, "Juno"
Should Win: Brad Bird, "Ratatouille"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Will Win: Joel and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Should Win: Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Best Documentary Feature
Will Win: "No End in Sight"
Should Win: "No End in Sight"

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