Top 100 of 2007 (61-70)

61. Things We Lost in The Fire
While by no stretch a masterpiece, I think the studio bungled this film's release by attempting to counterprogram against an overstuffed weekend and it backfired. Halle Berry hasn't been this good since Monster's Ball (though, there isn't much to compare it to, considering her career as of late.) Benecio Del Toro, as usual, is excellent in his role. It's a film that treaded a very fine line between human emotion and mawkishness, and for the most part, I think it stayed on the right side of that line.

62. Gone Baby Gone
Juuuuust a little too predictable in this case. The performances are top notch, Story, not so much.

63. Margot At The Wedding

Make no mistake: Margot is an insufferable little twat. But the study of someone so passive aggressively spreading bile made for an interesting character study.

64. In the Shadow of the Moon

Well made in every regard. But I felt like I already knew this story. It might be nice for a kid who hasn't heard all of this or someone who wants to relive it, but for me... eh. But it's exceptionally well done.

65. The Namesake

Good, but there was just something safe and easy about it that kept me from buying it. Kal Penn, Irfhan Khan, Tabu, and the rest are all great. Just wished the script matched.

66. The Mist

As a kid, I grew up reading Stephen King, and this was one of my favorite novellas. And I think it translates well. Not perfect, but Harden is in one of those roles where it's over the top but it works. And the ending is pretty damn shocking.

67. Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

This is just one of those films that works, but I can't hurl any superlatives in that direction. Acting nice, story solid, etc. But I'm just not enthusiastic. But Timothy Spall was quite incredible.

68. Jindabyne

This was an interesting one that not only covers the Raymond Carver fishing storyline from Short Cuts, but also, the race and class relationships in Australia. Interesting, but not wonderful.

69. Hot Fuzz

Speaking of zombie movies, Shaun of the Dead is a great one. Partially because it combined two genres that you'd never see mixed before. Yet, as enjoyable as this was, it lacked the freshness and the genre crossovers the prior film had.

70. 28 Weeks Later

Now, this is no match for the first one - let's just lay that out there right now. However, as far as horror sequels go, this was actually pretty good. Not great, but better than what we usually get. Kind of curious to see if there is a third one.