My expectations were too high. My anticipation worked against me. It was too exclusive. Whatever the excuse or reason, “There Will Be Blood” is not the best movie of 2007 as I’d hoped, but hell, it sure is a damn good piece of dramatic filmmaking that flexes every single muscle of raw acting talent from each of its cast members involved. “There Will Be Blood” is likened to masterpieces such as “Citizen Kane” and “Giant,” and in many ways Paul Thomas Anderson aims his film down those roads but ends up with his own masterpiece of a man’s rise to power, and fall into his own lust for greed, oil, and his amoral misdeeds in the process.
Tag Archives: Drama
The Snow Queen (2007) (DVD)
One of the appealing aspects of “The Snow Queen” that instantly won me over the unorthodox atmosphere present within this fantasy world. Director Julian Gibbs never quite opts to provide a set and strive for a period piece, instead he makes a noticeably unrealistic set piece and alters it enough to make the world of “The Snow Queen” from the impoverished village to the winter wonderland look like a moving painting as done from a surrealist of a sort. The pastels and shades to “The Snow Queen” are so utterly appealing to watch, and while I could notice the CGI, I absolutely loved what Gibbs was going for with this.
I Am Legend (2007)
Let me just put this on you right now. I have never read “I Am Legend,” I love the previous incarnations, I’m not a fan of Richard Matheson because I’ve never read his work, I had no bias’ going into this movie, and I looked forward to this loose adaptation of Matheson’s beloved novel. Is that all a plus or a negative? I’m not sure, really. The first hour of “I Am Legend” is fantastic, and I say this as someone who was comfortably middle ground when it came to the film and expectations.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
I won’t lie when I tell you that it was a shame to see the Coen Brothers in such a slump. They gave us in no specific order “The Ladykillers,” a now infamous remake of a much better film, and then “Intolerable Cruelty” a week and dull dark comedy that was too glam for the duo. I’m glad to report that “No Country for Old Men” is just where they belong. It’s grit, edge, dark humor, and sheer menace in one package of incredible performances and results in a hybrid that’s basically my favorite film of 2007 and soon may just become one of my favorites of all time. Of course, this is not new for the Coens as “The Big Lebowski,” and “Fargo” currently rank in my top list.
10 Seconds to Midnight (2007)
Jason Roberts’ science fiction thriller was a thinker, and by that I mean that I simply didn’t get it. At all. I sat there in the end dumbfounded, confused, and ultimately unsatisfied. And then I thought, and thought, and then figured out that perhaps writer Aretha Donnelly was asking the audience to decide for themselves what she was trying to get across.
The Orphanage (El Orfanato) (2007)
Too often we’ve found films that some great director is presenting and too often we’ve been let down, disillusioned and left to wonder why said director would approve of such a horrible title. This is thankfully not the case with “The Orphanage.” Executive Producer Guillermo Del Toro, currently the best director in modern film, presents a film that’s very much in the gamut of the man’s past titles. “The Orphanage” has the touch of Del Toro all over it, and like the previous films, Bayona’s supernatural drama is a wonderful tale about innocence lost, and children ravaged by cruelty.
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
You take two of the greatest actors of modern American cinema, grab a slew of all-star performers all providing excellent performances, match it with the stylish and epic direction of James Mangold, and you have yourself “3:10 to Yuma” a remake of the great western film that’s a contender for one of my favorites of 2007, and damn near superior to its predecessor. Mangold’s film packs an abundance of quality and power with it and that’s due to the fantastic writing by the adapting screenwriters, who takes the simplistic yet original story and turns it something much more unique. It’s the story of a man trying to reclaim his dignity, a story about a man who is very well the devil reincarnated learning about respect, and the story of a young boy discovering that everything he thought he once knew now suddenly was all just a fraud. “3:10 to Yuma” brought with it the stylish marketing and appeal to the modern audiences, but don’t sell it short.