BY GLENN WHIPP > FILM WRITER

 

Movies in 2007 were full of stories about unplanned pregnancies ("Knocked Up," "Juno," "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days"), poorly planned wars (any of the innumerable Iraq docs, "Charlie Wilson's War") and elaborately planned acts of vengeance ("Sweeney Todd," "No Country for Old Men," "The Bourne Ultimatum").

What no one could have planned - or predicted - before the year began was that 2007 would turn out to be the best movie year of the young century, taking its place beside 1999 as a veritable feast for film lovers (even if a rat had a hand in preparing it).

A look back on the bounty (and a few of the less edible offerings):

 

INDELIBLE IMAGES OF 2007
Daniel Day-Lewis shaking Paul Dano's hand and saying something (you have to guess) following his church confessional in "There Will Be Blood."

Viggo Mortensen cracking heads in "Eastern Promises."

Josh Brolin waiting in the shadows of his hotel room for Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men."

The nighttime train robbery in "The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford."

Remy the rat's first view of Paris in "Ratatouille."

James McAvoy wandering through the beach at Dunkirk in "Atonement."

 

FAVORITE COUPLES
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova in "Once."

Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche in "Dan in Real Life."

Linguini and Remy in "Ratatouille."

Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in "Sweeney Todd."

Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford."

Michael Cera and Ellen Page in "Juno."

Michael Cera and Jonah Hill in "Superbad."

 

SMALL ROLES, BIG IMPRESSIONS
Hal Holbrook as the lonely old-timer in "Into the Wild."

Vlad Ivanov as the monstrous abortionist in "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days."

Long-lost Kevin J. O'Connor as the long-lost brother in "There Will Be Blood."

Woody Harrelson playing the confident bounty hunter in "No Country for Old Men."

 

DOUBLED OUR PLEASURE
(more so, in a couple of cases)

 

Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone" and "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."

Tommy Lee Jones in "No Country for Old Men" and "In the Valley of Elah."

Amy Adams, animated and flesh-and-blood, in "Enchanted."

Irfan Kahn in "The Namesake," "A Mighty Heart" and "The Darjeeling Limited."

Michelle Pfeiffer in "Hairspray" and "Stardust."

Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War," "The Savages" and "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."

 

POISON PAIRINGS
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino in "Grindhouse."

Jessica Alba and Dane Cook in "Good Luck Chuck."

Adam Sandler and Kevin James in "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry."

Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy in "Evening."

Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan in "Georgia Rule."

 

PLEASANT SURPRISES
"Hairspray"

"Dan in Real Life"

"Gone Baby Gone"

 

GOOD MOVIES, BUT LET'S NOT GET CARRIED AWAY
"Michael Clayton"

"Atonement"

"Juno"

 

BEST LINES
"Marriage is like a tense, unfunny version of `Everybody Loves Raymond,' only it doesn't last 22 minutes. It lasts forever." - Paul Rudd initiating Seth Rogen into the world of matrimony in "Knocked Up."

 

"Do I look like I'm negotiating?" - George Clooney to Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton."

 

"Spider-Pig / Spider-Pig / Does whatever a Spider-Pig does." - Homer Simpson's ode to that "magical animal" in "The Simpsons Movie."

 

"I have a competition in me." - Daniel Day-Lewis' misanthropic oil man, engaging in a rare moment of self-inspection in "There Will Be Blood."

 

"Astronaut!" - Cate Blanchett's "Jude" when asked if he has a word for his fans in "I'm Not There."

 

"You can't stop what's comin'. It ain't all waitin' on you. That's vanity." - Tommy Lee Jones' resigned sheriff in "No Country for Old Men."

 

"I am McLovin!" - Christopher Mintz-Plasse, the teenager embracing his new identity as the 25-year-old Hawaiian organ donor in "Superbad."

 

"Fear lulls our minds to sleep." - Danielle Darrieux, voicing the wise grandmother in "Persepolis."

Glenn's top 10

 

 

 

1. "There Will Be Blood":
Whether you read Paul Thomas Anderson's latest as a gut-punch allegory or a darkly comic character study is irrelevant. This is a movie masterpiece that will stay with you for the rest of your life.

2. "I'm Not There":
Todd Haynes kaleidoscopic look at Bob Dylan illuminates the artist and the nature of art itself.

3. "No Country for Old Men":
The Coen Brothers brilliantly adapt the bleakly humorous Cormac McCarthy novel, envisioning a Wild west where evil is an unstoppably lethal force.

4. "Ratatouille":
Pixar and Brad Bird cook up a delightful celebration of the powers of imagination and artistic excellence.

5. "The Bourne Ultimatum":
Paul Greengrass redefines the action movie in a brain-rattling thriller that boasts three chase sequences that might stick even with an amnesiac like Jason Bourne.

6. "Knocked Up":
Would a knockout really consider taking up with a pot-smoking schlub? You're laughing too hard at Judd Apatow's knowing look at love and marriage to care. (But since you asked, the answer is: It's possible, yes.)

7. "The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford":
Beautifully shot, poetic Western about an outlaw legend burdened with fame and his No. 1 fan, skittish and stewing in jealousy.

8. "Sweeney Todd":
Tim Burton proves an expert interpreter of Stephen Sondheim in this spellbinding musical where revenge is a dish best served in a pie.

9. "The Darjeeling Limited":
Wes Anderson loosens up on this travelogue tale of three brothers reuniting and gaining a touch of cosmic wisdom.

10. "Once" / "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story":
These two films came from very different places but ended up celebrating the same thing - a good song. And who doesn't want to leave the theater humming?

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Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672

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THE YEAR IN ENTERTAINMENT 2007
Chaos theory: Bad behavior and way too much drama ruled -- by David Kronke
Film critic Glenn Whipp's top 10
Film critic Bob Strauss' top 10