Best of 2007, Part I

Such lists are a little silly of course, it being impossible to tell in this moment which films will stand the test of time, but here is my first attempt at listing what I felt were the great films of 2007:

There Will Be Blood: Director Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Boogie Nights) and star Daniel Day-Lewis deliver a unique and powerful portrait of capitalism and ambition. Anderson reins in many of his more showy techniques for this film, but the central character of Daniel Plainview commands plenty of attention anyway. Feel free to bet the farm that Day-Lewis will be nominated for an Oscar. A word of warning: this film doesn't telegraph to the viewer just what to feel, which can be a little unsettling at times. But the actions and fates of the various characters linger in the mind long after the final notes of the brilliant soundtrack fade. (Jonny Greenwood, lead guitar for Radiohead, composed the score, though you'd never have guessed he's in a rock band. Like the director, he seems able to stamp down his own idiosyncrasies when the project needs it.)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: This film surprised me with its power. Brad Pitt's performance as Jesse James is somewhat inscrutable, but this is the point, in a way. Casey Affleck does an incredible job as Robert Ford, a starstruck hanger-on whose eventual disillusionment can be read a number of different interesting ways. This is another film that is beautifully and fully realized. The soundtrack is by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is fantastic and absolutely vital to the mood and tone the film creates. (They also wrote a strong (but not this strong) soundtrack for The Proposition last year.) Roger Deakins' cinematography is absolutely fantastic. But in the end it's the heartbreaking (self-imposed?) isolation of the major characters that sticks with you. Director Andrew Dominik is clearly one to watch.

No Country for Old Men: The Coens perfectly capture the doom-soaked heart of Cormac McCarthy's novel. More fantastic performances here, and the suspense just keeps ratcheting higher. There are some challenging narrative choices made near the end (in keeping with the McCarthy novel) but I would contend that these narrative choices are precisely that which raises the whole affair from being merely a supremely well-made entertainment to being art. We leave the theatre forced into contemplation of what is important, what endures (or doesn't), and the nature of evil. (I should mention that Roger Deakins also shot this film, again brilliantly. The only way he loses the cinematography Oscar next year is if he gets nominated for both films (as he should) and somehow splits his voting block.)