Best Movies Of 2007 #40-#31

#40 - No End In Sight - The best documentary to be made about the War In Iraq, No End In Sight avoids the usual pitfalls by staying objective and analyzing the facts to make it's case, you know, like a documentary is supposed to. It didn't win Best Picture and it didn't lose to Michael Moore's Sicko, which means that the winner "Taxi To The Dark Side", which I haven't seen, must be one HELL of a great movie. Can't wait.

#39 - The Namesake - Mira Nair's epic film about life and conflicting cultures among several generations of an Indian family that immigrated to the United States. Kal Penn turns in a great performance in a rare dramatic turn and the direction and cinematography is first-class.

#38 - Beowulf - The movie departs greatly from the book, but I prefer the storyline in the film anyway. The technology used to create the animation is light years ahead of it's previous use (the creepy inhuman monsters with the dead eyes from The Polar Express) and the action and humor is surprisingly sharp.

#37 - Before The Devil Knows You're Dead - A sharp and quickly paced film about a robbery gone horribly wrong, Before The Devil has great twists, fantastic story pacing and brilliant performances from leads Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei and as always Philip Seymour Hoffman.

#36 - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford - If this movie were, say, an hour shorter it would have been a serious Oscar contender. Brad Pitt turns in his usual excellent performance, but it's Casey Affleck who delivers the performance of a lifetime as Robert Ford, who wasn't really a coward, but did kill Jesse James.

#35 - Into The Wild - Another movie that slapped an extra hour in the middle and paid a big price for it (both in terms of awards and box office), though it was ridiculously nominated for Editing. That being said, the performances are great, the story is interesting and the direction and cinematography is outstanding.

#34 - Paris Je T'aime - An interesting collaborative film featuring more than ten of the world's greatest directors and just as many of it's finest actors in a series of short films that serve mainly as love letters to the city of Paris.

#33 - The Mist - A fascinating character study of what happens to a group of people under the most intensely stressful situation imaginable. Everyone bitches about the ending, but I thought it was brilliant and makes the film all the more moving.

#32 - The Golden Compass - The best of the Lord Of The Rings wannabes that have been prominent in recent years, this movie took a lot of flack from religious organizations for being "anti-Catholic" and "anti-religious". Of course, these complaints came long before the film was available for screening, but that goes without saying these days. The story leaves a lot to be desired and the movie tanked so there won't be any sequels, but it was a fun ride while it lasted.

#31 - Sicko - The year's highest-charting documentary, Sicko is the latest from Michael Moore and it's an improvement on Fahrenheit 9/11. As always, the facts are a bit iffy and there's no pretense of objectivity, but the case Moore makes is compelling nonetheless. If only he'd acknowledge that his movies were editorials and not documentaries.