I started watching movies, really watching movies, in 1999, the year considered by most to be the best in recent film history. Judging from the trouble I had compiling my 2007 list, I’d say last year was an even greater achievement than 1999 for filmmaking as a whole. I’ve never seen so many movies in one year, and I’ve never loved so many of them. I’m even skipping the bottom five list I usually put together. (Lucky for you, Next.) What’s the point when there is so much to celebrate? Without further ado, here is TheFilmChair.com’s Top 10 for 2007.

1. No Country for Old Men – Perfect isn’t a word you can ever use in describing a human creation. I’m sure the Coen’s film isn’t technically perfect. But it feels perfect. Every move it makes is calculated, leaving the audience punch-drunk from the opening sequence. Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh is an iconic villain. Tommy Lee Jones’s Sheriff Ed Tom Bell is a hero for our time, once unflappable, but now only bewildered. Perfect.

2. I’m Not There – Todd Haynes motion picture inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan is pure cinematic artistry. No other film this year so effectively presented what you can do with film, though no other subject would demand nearly as much from the medium. If you want to call it a biopic, then you would certainly use the word unconventional. If you call it what it is, then you can start like this: I’m Not There is a transcendent, experimental masterpiece

3. Ratatouille – In any other year, I think Ratatouille would be my pick for Best Picture. Hell, it taught me to spell the word ratatouille. In terms of classical cinematic storytelling, no other picture achieves what Brad Bird’s animated film about a rat who aspires to be a French chef achieves. In terms of animation, you’ve never seen computer animation used with such a painterly touch.

4. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – This epic Greek tragedy in the Old West defies its genre. And it’s the most starkly beautiful film set to celluloid this year.

5. Juno – A film that looks like every other hip teen indie proves to be the closest thing to a solid American drama we get this year (see number 7 for more on this). Funny, smart, and oh so poignant.

6. There Will Be Blood - Watching Paul Thomas Anderson’s towering film about a misanthropic oilman is like being involved in an abusive relationship. It accosts you. It seduces you. It has a hypnotic manner, drawing you in until landing a vicious punch. Daniel Day-Lewis is astonishing as oilman Daniel Plainview.

7. The Lives of Others & After the Wedding – At a time when American dramas are focused anywhere but on their stories, two foreign dramas, one in German and one in Dutch proved to be two of the most emotionally evocative films of the year. The Lives of Others tells the story of an East German Stasi who must spy on a playwright, and After the Wedding shows what happens when a secretive business man challenges the principals of an idealistic aid worker. These engrossing stories are fine example of what can be done when simple story ideas are executed flawlessly – by the directors, the actors and everyone else involved.

8. Michael Clayton – The year’s biggest surprise. I never thought anyone could channel Lumet like Gilroy does here, but this socially conscious thriller is as riveting as it is intelligent. George Clooney proves once again he’s not just a star; he’s an actor.

9. Into the Wild - Sean Penn’s films never moved me before. Of course, none were as celebratory as his drama about a young man who gives up a life of privilege to pursue a nomadic life, traversing America in search for simple human truth.

10. The Wind that Shakes the Barley – A deeply moving and evocative film, Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner brings the director’s realist touch to a film with the emotional scope of the grandest epic.

Honorable Mentions:
Romance & Cigarettes | Once | Black Book | Lust, Caution | The King of Kong | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Brand Upon the Brain | Charlie Wilson’s War

Best Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Actress – Ellen Page, Juno

Best Supporting Actor – Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There

Best Director – Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men

Best Ensemble – The cast of Hairspray

Best Song - “Falling Slowly,” Once

Quote of the Year – “In my opinion, the best thing you can do is to find a person who loves you for exactly who you are. Good mood, bad mood. Ugly, pretty. Handsome, what have you. The right person will still think that the sun shines out your ass. That’s the kind of person that’s worth sticking with.” — Mac MacGuff, Juno

Short of some the completely disposable bottom 50, the AFI 100 Years, 100 Movies 10th Anniversary List did what it was supposed to do. It made up for many of the glaring mistakes from the 1997 list, like positioning both Vertigo and Raging Bull in the Top Ten, while moving Singin’ in the Rain into a better place.

The AFI, did make an interesting about face with the inclusion of D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance and the exclusion of the silent film master’s Birth of a Nation. Griffith said that he didn’t make Intolerance, an epic telling four stories of bigotry through history, because he made the notoriously racist, but historically important Birth of a Nation. I’m sure the AFI contributors will say that Intolerance is the better film (which it is), but I’m sure there were political reasons to keep it off the list as well.  All I’m saying is, if Toy Story makes the list for being the first computer animated feature film and Snow White makes the list as the first animated feature film, then the first feature film Birth of a Nation should be on there somewhere.

I can’t think of many movies from the first AFI 100 Years, 100 Movies list that should be replaced in the historical sense. But here we are 10 years later with a “Sight and Sound”-style update of the 100 Greatest Films list. All I know is if Citizen Kane isn’t number 1 at the end of the night, bad things will happen. The film gods will have surely provide Arthur Jenson-style smackdown on the AFI.

100. Ben-Hur-1954 (down from 72)
99. Toy Story-1995 (new) A good historical choice.
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy-1942 (up from 100) Still love this movie after all these years. Glad to see it didn’t get dropped.
97. Blade Runner-1982 (new) One of the great sci-fi movies
96. Do The Right Thing-1989 (new) Oh when Spike Lee Made great and important movies
95. The Last Picture Show-1971 (new)
94. Pulp Fiction-1994 (new) Only 94…after 13 years?
93. The French Connection-1971 (down from 70) Shrug..
92. Goodfellas-1992 (up from 94) This is all the movement for Goodfellas?
91. Sophie’s Choice-1982 (new) The power of Meryl
90. Swing Time-1936 (new) Solid
89. The Sixth Sense-1999 (new) Oh Jesus. Ahead of Goodfellas. Ahead of Pulp Fiction. Ahead of Do The Right Thing?
88. Bringing Up Baby-1937 (up from 97) Worthy. I love this movie. I could watch it over and over again. Cary Grant and Kate Hepburn are fantastic. That’s chemistry.
87. 12 Angry Men-1957 (new)
86. Platoon-1986 (up from 89) Sure, but where’s Full Metal Jacket.
85. A Night at the Opera-1935 (new)
84. Easy Rider-1969 (up from 88) Great movement.
83. Titanic-1997 (new) Yeah. The love story sucks. Hollywood choice.
82. Sunrise-1927 (new) Inspired choice
81. Spartacus-1960 (new) Oh boy. Wouldn’t have guessed this. There is a reason that it’s not part of the Stanley Kubrick collection.
80. The Apartment-1960 (up from 93) Wonderful rise.
79. The Wild Bunch-1969 (up from 80) Great Peckinpah film.
78. Modern Times-1936 (up from 81) Where’s Keaton?
77. All The President’s Men-1976 (new) Love it…but 77?
76. Forest Gump-1996 (down from 71) Well at least it went down. Win an Oscar, Get on the AFI list
75. In the Heat of the Night-1967 (new) They Call Me Mr. Tibbs!
74. Silence of the Lambs-1991 (down from 65) Won’t argue this point.
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (down from 50)
72. The Shawshank Redemption-1994 (new) Classic
71. Saving Private Ryan-1998 (new) ?
70. A Clockwork Orange-1974 (down from 46) Below Tootsie?
69. Tootsie-1982 (down from 62) How far can I pull back?
68. Unforgiven-1992 (up from 98) Wow.
67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf-1966 (new) Always reminds me of the holidays.
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark-1981 (down from 66)
65. The African Queen-1965 (down from 17?!)
64. Network-1976 (up from 66) FOX News predicted…and we have Eva Mendez inspired by Faye Dunaway. Good Stuff.
63. Cabaret-1962 (new) The movie that taught me the word decadent.
62. American Graffiti-1973 (up from 77)
61. Sullivan’s Travels-1941 (new)
60. Duck Soup-1933 (up from 85) Got some comedy fans with taste voting on this list.
59. Nashville-1975 (new) This wasn’t on the first list?
58. The Gold Rush-1925 (up from 74)
57. Rocky-1976 (up from 78) Ugh. Should have stayed down.
56. Jaws-1975 (down from 48) A Top 40 film moving down on the list.
55. North by Northwest-19 (down from 40) A Top 20 film moving down on the list. This is really getting interesting.
54. M.A.S.H-1970 (up from 56)
53. The Deer Hunter-1978 (up from 79)
52. Taxi Driver-1976 (down from 47) I swear of “Lord of the Rings” makes it ahead of this movie…
51. West Side Story-1961 (down from 41) From Travis Bickel to Maria…gotta love Hollywood.
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring-2001 (new) Okay…at least it wasn’t “Return of the King”
49. Intolerance-1916 (new) !! Great
48. Rear Window-1954 (down from 42)
47. A Streetcar Named Desire-1951 (down from 45)
46. It Happened One Night-1934 (down from 35)
45. Shane-1953 (up from 69)
44. The Philadelphia Story-1940 (up from 51) Now that’s classic.
43. Midnight Cowboy-1969 (down from 36)
42. Bonnie and Clyde-1967 (down from 27) Halle Berry loves Bonnie and Clyde and it goes down on the list?!
41. King Kong-1933 (up from 43)
40. The Sound of Music-1965 (up from 55)
39. Dr. Strangelove-1964 (down from 26)
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre-1948 (down from 33)
37. The Best Years of Our Lives-1946 (no change)
36. Bridge on the River Kwai-1957 (down from 13)
35. Annie Hall-1977 (down from 31)
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs-1937 (up from 49)
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest-1975 (down from 20) I’m starting to wonder what the top 25 will look like. They are starting to bleed films.
32. The Godfather, Part II-1974 (no change)
31. Maltese Falcon-1941 (down from 23) Another top 25 bleed.
30. Apocalypse Now-1979 (down from 28) I was expecting this to move up. Quite a surprise.
29. Double Indemnity-1944 (up from 38)
28. All About Eve-1950 (down from 16)
27. High Noon-1952 (up from 33) Still overrated.
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington-1939 (up from 29) This is where you get the term Capra-esque
25. To Kill a Mockingbird-1962 (up from 34) Great addition to the top 25. I’m naming my first son Atticus.
24. E.T. The Extraterrestrial-1982 (up from 25) Still the only best picture nominee to have the term “penis breath” in it.
23. The Grapes of Wrath-1940 (down from 21)
22. Some Like It Hot-1959 (down from 14)
21. Chinatown-1974 (down from 19)
20. It’s a Wonderful Life-1946 (down from 11)
19. On the Waterfront-1954 (down from 8 )
18. The General-1917 (new) Damn Straight.
17. The Graduate-1967 (down from 7)
16. Sunset Boulevard-1950 (down from 12)
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey-1968 (up from 22) Kubrick’s finest. It should have been here (or higher) on the first list.
14. Psycho-1960 (up from 18)
13. Star Wars-1977 (up from 15)
12. The Searchers-1956 (up from 96) WAAAYYYY up. Biggest Jump.
11. City Lights-1931 (up from 76) Sure, but “The General.”
10. The Wizard of Oz -1939 (down from 6) Would have like to see this move ahead of Gone with the Wind.
9. Vertigo-1958 (up from 61) This film has could take the Sight and Sound survey over Citizen Kane the next time around. Glad to see the AFI has wised-up.
8. Schindler’s List-1993 (up from 9)
7. Lawrence of Arabia-1962 (down from 5)
6. Gone with the Wind-1939 (down from 4)
5. Singin’ in the Rain-1952 (up from 10)
4. Raging Bull-1980 (up from 24) Another appropriate correction. Higher than I expected.
3. Casablanca-1942 (down from 2)
2. The Godfather-1972 (up from 3) Good spot
1. Citizen Kane-1941 (no change)

Happy Earth Day everyone! And it’s what an Earth Day it is. It’s the first one in my memory where everyone appears to be behind the environment not for a single day, but for the long haul. The tide has turned in favor of those of us who want to make a effort to take back some of the damage we are doing to our planet. Since this primarily a film site, it’s a good idea to share a list of Earth Day essentials. These movies are rousing illustrations for building the determination we will need and justifying the sacrifices we will have to make. The right-wingers are right about one thing: the Earth will fix itself if we don’t. That just means wiping out the problem–us. Keep that in when you leave a light on.

Planet Earth
The Discovery Channel Event is only worth buying in its full HD glory.
or

An Inconvenient Truth
The film that made it hip to be square.

FernGully: The Last Rain Forest
A classic from my childhood.

Koyaanisqatsi - Life Out of Balance
Important and essential.

The Lorax
Thanks Dr. Suess

The Man Who Planted Trees
Beautiful