Best Movies Watched in 2007

(This is my seventh such list.)

My favorite movie from 2007 was No Country for Old Men. A very close second was Michael Clayton.

"No Country" is a powerful movie. A treacherous criminal on the chase, a hero on the run, and an old cop on the watch are the principal characters in the Coen Brother's finest work. Perfectly paced, minimally scored, and as serious as a choke hold, the movie is just too good. Praise is coming from everywhere on this movie, and it's deserving.

"Michael Clayton" is the other compelling offering from 2007. A forlorn lawyer, played by George Clooney, has to come to grips with the limits of his own ethics, and his firm's. A criminal plot involving one of his colleagues forces him to act, but it strains his reserves. This is a dark and brooding film, the kind I like. But its touch of clarity makes it less ambiguous than "No Country", which pushes that film to the top.

• Best DVD Commentary: Seabiscuit, Saw, Old School


• Favorite Male Acting: Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Infernal Affairs)


• Favorite Female Acting: Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)


• Finally Glad I Watched: "Stranger Than Fiction", "Old School", "Finding Forrester", "A History of Violence", "Saw"