Post by sai on Mar 10, 2007 13:58:04 GMT -5
I always construct my top 10 of the year throughout the year. I find that this way it's easier to recall the great stuff from early in the year and the list doesn't end up drawing only from about September onwards.
I'll update this as and when but here's the six best so far, based on UK release dates.
1: THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP (5/5)
Dir: Michel Gondry
Another stunningly original piece of cinema from Michel Gondry. This is an odd film, the oddest released by a studio in a great while but beyond the surreality and the free mixing of dreams and 'reality' lies a simple love story, beautifully played by Gael Garcia Bernal and the ever charming Charlotte Gainsbourg. Mad, yet sublime.
2: INLAND EMPIRE (4/5)
David Lynch's most determinedly obscure film to date is also one of his finest. It contains some blazingly original hallucinatory imagery but what is really extraordinary is Laura Dern's tour de force of a performance. It will take something truly special to show me a better piece of acting this year.
3: BLACK BOOK (4/5)
Dir: Paul Verhoeven
I love Paul Verhoeven's films unabashedly and so to see the auteur back to his best is an absolute joy. Black Book, his first Dutch language film since The Fourth Man is also his best in the 20 years since Robocop.
It's exciting, brilliantly shot, impressively acted and, most importantly, very recognisably a Paul Verhoeven film.
4; NOTES ON A SCANDAL (4/5)
Dir: Richard Eyre
Richard Eyre is an excellent director who has made three films in recent years that won some acclaim, but little notice for Eyre himself. Here again he draws fine performances from his actors and he injects thriller pace into a novel constructed almost entirely of unreliable narration.
5: The Last King of Scotland (4/5)
A deservedly Oscar winning Forest Whitaker aside this has been a somewhat underrated film. Shot with reality and urgency by documentarian Kevin MacDonald and filled with strong performances (notably from rising star James McAvoy, who will own 2007 if there's justice in the world, and from Gillian Anderson) this an intriguing melding of fact and fiction.
6: Venus (4/5)
Strong British comedy featuring a hugely entertaining turn from Peter O'Toole. The great find thugh is Jodie Whittaker as the titular Venus. She takes an unlikeable character and makes you care about and root for her all the way.
I'll update this as and when but here's the six best so far, based on UK release dates.
1: THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP (5/5)
Dir: Michel Gondry
Another stunningly original piece of cinema from Michel Gondry. This is an odd film, the oddest released by a studio in a great while but beyond the surreality and the free mixing of dreams and 'reality' lies a simple love story, beautifully played by Gael Garcia Bernal and the ever charming Charlotte Gainsbourg. Mad, yet sublime.
2: INLAND EMPIRE (4/5)
David Lynch's most determinedly obscure film to date is also one of his finest. It contains some blazingly original hallucinatory imagery but what is really extraordinary is Laura Dern's tour de force of a performance. It will take something truly special to show me a better piece of acting this year.
3: BLACK BOOK (4/5)
Dir: Paul Verhoeven
I love Paul Verhoeven's films unabashedly and so to see the auteur back to his best is an absolute joy. Black Book, his first Dutch language film since The Fourth Man is also his best in the 20 years since Robocop.
It's exciting, brilliantly shot, impressively acted and, most importantly, very recognisably a Paul Verhoeven film.
4; NOTES ON A SCANDAL (4/5)
Dir: Richard Eyre
Richard Eyre is an excellent director who has made three films in recent years that won some acclaim, but little notice for Eyre himself. Here again he draws fine performances from his actors and he injects thriller pace into a novel constructed almost entirely of unreliable narration.
5: The Last King of Scotland (4/5)
A deservedly Oscar winning Forest Whitaker aside this has been a somewhat underrated film. Shot with reality and urgency by documentarian Kevin MacDonald and filled with strong performances (notably from rising star James McAvoy, who will own 2007 if there's justice in the world, and from Gillian Anderson) this an intriguing melding of fact and fiction.
6: Venus (4/5)
Strong British comedy featuring a hugely entertaining turn from Peter O'Toole. The great find thugh is Jodie Whittaker as the titular Venus. She takes an unlikeable character and makes you care about and root for her all the way.
