Listosaurus Rex

For the second time in three years, Roger Ebert has gone against the grain of film critic and not given us a straightforward, ranked top ten list of movies for the year.  His reasoning?  There are too many good ones to pick just ten.  He also has written many times through they years about how he’s not a big fan of ranking movies.  So we have a set of unranked favorites from the year.  Here are his twenty picks, alphabetically:

Ballast
The Band’s Visit
Che
Chop Shop
The Dark Knight
Doubt
The Fall
Frost/Nixon
Frozen Friver
Happy-Go-Lucky
Iron Man
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Shotgun Stories
Slumdog Millionaire
Synecdoche, New York
W.
Wall-E

Interestingly, I’ve noticed at least one movie on this list (Wall-E) that didn’t get four stars, only three and a half.  This is certainly not a complaint, as I love Wall-E and I hope all of its year-end love will help in the Oscars race for years to come; it is wondered whether, with the right push, it could become the second and animated movie and first since the Animated Movie award was introduced to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

That Wall-E was included is especially strange because some of his four-star reviews of the year (In Bruges, Lakeview Terrace) weren’t included as part of the twenty.

If I have a criticism with the list, it is that it’s coming out so early, and before a few of the Oscar hopefuls come out.  Movie studios tend to load the end of December with releases of artful, award-hopeful movies to have them fresh on people’s mind as the big awards are dolled out.  It’s not just a matter of respect, it’s a matter of money: an obscure film will get a lot more ticket sales if it gets nominated.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had much opportunity to get out so far this year, so I haven’t seen too many of 2008’s movies.  This list includes the favorites of the ones I’ve seen (Dark Knight, Wall-E) and some of the ones I most want to see (Frost/Nixon, Iron Man, Slumdog Millionaire).  Of these, I know W. got mostly mixed reviews, and Happy-Go-Lucky’s were only midly positive.  Most of these seem to be well-accepted by most, too.

It’s always fun to see movies ranked, but I respect Ebert’s choice not to.  Perhaps the days of his traditional Top 10 lists are at an end.  Ebert’s untraditional format is sort of refreshing given the ADHD, list-obsessed nature of many sites and news.  And though I love lists (obviously), it’s pretty cool to see something a little bit less hyperactive, more thoughtful.

Or maybe I just love everything Ebert writes and puts together.  It could be that too.

Roger Ebert is absolutely my favorite movie critic. I don’t always agree with him (for example: he gave The Usual Suspects only one and a half stars) but I always like the thoughtful analysis. “Roger Ebert loves movies more, and better, than almost any critic” says famous director Martin Scorsese, and from my limited observation of movie criticism, I’d have to agree. He has a warm heart and an open mind towards movies, never afraid to learn something new from them or about them, never afraid to be pleasantly surprised or unfortunately disappointed. He gives a lot of four star reviews, but I think that such an esteemed critic, such an experienced viewer, is able to see beauty in so many movies is a great thing. Most people lose appreciation for an art when it becomes a career, when they spend too much time with it, when they develop familiarity. Not Roger. He remains passionate and joyous towards the art of cinema.

It’s just a little bit overdue, as he released it a few weeks ago, but here is his list of his top ten favorite movies from 2007:

1. Juno
2. No Country For Old Men
3. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
4. Atonement
5. The Kite Runner
6. Away From Her
7. Across The Universe
8. La Vie En Rose
9. The Great Debaters
10. Into the Wild

Of these I have sadly only seen three. I’m working on it, though. A few are coming to the cheap local theater I usher at, so I’ll get to see them for free.

Movies are an art, and as such, Ebert tends to go with the movies that move him the most, as opposed to those that have the tightest scripts, highest technical achievement, and the most critical praise. We see some of this with Juno, a romantic dramedy, at number one, and oft-maligned Kite Runner and Across the Universe earning spots on the list.

He provides solid reasoning for each of his picks. I think the list is worth a look.

What movies did you enjoy in 2007?