(These are, in order, the 25 movies I enjoy, respect, desire, and love the most that I saw for the first time in the calender year 2007)
* possible objectionable content warning
Honorable Mentions:
-----------------------------25-21
--------------------------20-16
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15. The Illusionist - I can't decide which is more amazing, that two separate magician movies came out so close or that they both were so good. Obviously I consider The Prestige the better movie (as confirmed here and here) but this one is still worth watching. More thoughts on it in this post.
14. Bridge to Terabithia - One of my favorite childhood memories is reading this and I'm so glad they stayed faithful to the plot and tone in this film. The performances are really good here, but it is the heartbreaking final act that will always impact me the most.
13. Rocky Balboa - You may notice in my original post on this film that I originally graded it lower than The Illusionist. So why has it leapfrogged it in the countdown? Perspective. Both the perspective of 8 months of lingering impact but also the perspective of watching a few more Rocky movies. Seeing this movie without having seen the original Rocky is like only seeing the top few floors of the Sears tower. Sure it looks cool, but you lack the context to see the real impact. This film, it turns out, is the perfect bookend to the Rocky franchise and I'm glad too have a bit more understanding. (More thoughts here)
12. The World's Fastest Indian - I said pretty much everything I wanted to say in the full review. But it's such a pleasure to find a movie you missed and love it. I'm glad for every opportunity to see that Anthony Hopkins is still a genius.
11. Dreamgirls - Without Jennifer Hudson this movie may not even make my top 25. Standing a year out from seeing this you get the distinct feeling that this may not only be her career making role, but maybe the ONLY role of her career. It's Anthony Perkins/Psycho good (obviously different films but the concept works) in that she will be stuck in that role for her whole life. Lesson to upcoming actors and actresses, don't be this good in your first role you will regret it. Having said that I'm always up for a good musical and this was a good musical, made even more accessible by the fact that these people were actually supposed to be singing (unlike a certain group of snapping New York gang members I could mention).Back tomorrow with 10-6!
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