Good/interesting 2007 films that didn't quite rise to "Best of" level, Part I

These ones might not make the pantheon (for me) but each had either some great elements or some strikingly fresh approaches and/or subjects:

The Darjeeling Limited: Strange for me to leave a Wes Anderson film off the "Best of", I know. And it's not that there's anything wrong with this film, so much as that it feels so much less fresh now. Even with a few new touches here and there, even with the exotic locales, it still felt familiar. That said, it still contained some fantastic moments, and the short film prologue (sometimes shown before the film, sometimes not) Hotel Chevalier is absolutely fantastic.

Bug: This is an intense disturbing little descent of a film. Ashley Judd delivers a raw performance and Harry Connick Jr. is terrifying as her ex-con boyfriend. Danger and paranoia just oozes from the screen, and the finale doesn't cheat you.

The Host: This is a great monster movie import from South Korea. Suspenseful, surprising, and, as with most of the best scary movies, packing some rather cutting social/global critique beneath the chills.

Eastern Promises: Viggo Mortensen and David Cronenberg team up again on this film about a lonely nurse, a baby, the flesh trade, and the Russian mob. There are fewer missteps in this film than in their A History of Violence, but it's also less formally inventive. It's a solid crime thriller, though, with many unexpected moments, and the most armrest-grippingly unbearably intense fight scene ever filmed when Viggo's character has to take on two knife-wielding foes naked in a steam room. (Also, though I can't judge this for myself, I've heard that Viggo's Russian accent is flawless.)

Zodiac: David Fincher's latest found him expertly balancing style and substance. (Some might whisper to themselves, "At last!") The police procedural/serial killer might seem like something that's pretty played out at this point, but Fincher's exploration of an unsolved case brilliantly maps (and models) those times in life when the answers remain elusive, and there are too many possibilities, rather than too few. He also expertly manipulates and plays upon our expectations to generate suspense and suspicion. Add in a good performance from Jake Gyllenhaal and a fantastic performance from Robert Downey Jr. (do you remember how good he can be?) and you've got a worthy flick.

To be continued...