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F R I D AY, J A N U A RY 2 5 , 2 0 0 8The Best Movies of 20071. The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford2. Lars and the Real Girl3. Zodiac4. The Wind That Shakes The Barley5. There Will Be Blood6. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly7. L’Iceberg8. Michael Clayton9. Ratatouille10. Once11. The Host12. This Is England13. Superbad14. Control15. The Bourne UltimatumAnd here's why:1. The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward RobertFord -- Sure this western is beautiful and gauzy in a Terence Malickway. Sure you can tune it out as soon as t starts waxing poetic. Butdespite it's remarkable technical accomplishments and eye for detail (Istill remember the shot of gravel starting to vibrate as a train comesdown the tracks), what really sticks with me are the performances.Brad Pitt can be a fine actor and he's very good here as the wary Jesse.But Casey Affleck is just magnetic as Robert Ford, a weasely, whiny,heartbreakingly vulnerable kid who just wants to be accepted but maybe too awkward and thin-skinned to ever feel like he really has been.One of the questions of the movie is what might have happened ifeveryone hadn't picked on Robert at one point or another. Just aremarkably assured, intelligent drama. And despite everyone makingnice, I have to feel there's an even longer, even better version bydirector Andrew Dominik waiting to be released. Why else would thedirector of one of the best movies of the year be so invisible in themedia and not even provide a commentary track for the DVD of amovie he spent seven years working on?Next Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G . C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: The Best Movies of 2007http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2008/01/best-movies-of-2007.html
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FAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (15)▼ July (2)Swimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (6)► 2008 (87)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SBiboyAaronMichael in New York POPSURFING.COM: The Best Movies of 2007http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2008/01/best-movies-of-2007.html
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POPSURFING.COM: The Best Movies of 2007http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2008/01/best-movies-of-2007.html
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