2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

The Top 10 of the Year:

1. Into the Wild - Sean Penn + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Adventure Movie of the Year + Best Youth Movie of the Year + Best Road Movie of the Year

2. Lust, Caution/色，戒/Sè, Jiè/Sik1Gaai3 - Ang Lee + Best Big Hit Movie of the Year + Best Taiwanese Movie of the Year + Best Erotic Movie of the Year + Best Period Movie of the Year + Best Spy Thriller of the Year

3. In the Valley of Elah - Paul Haggis + Best Political Movie of the Year + Best Crime Drama of the Year + Best True-Story Movie of the Year

4. American Gangster - Ridley Scott + Best Gangster Movie of the Year + Best Epic Movie of the Year + Best New York Movie of the Year

5. The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1/De Unge År: Erik Nietzsche Sagaen Del 1 - Jacob Thuesen + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year + Best Autobiographical Movie of the Year (Lars Von Trier, screenplay, as Erik Nietzsche)

6. Earth, documentary - Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield + Best Nature Movie of the Year

7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - David Yates + Best Adaptation of the Year + Best Fantasy Movie of the Year + Best Blockbuster of the Year (939.8 mil. $ world gross) + Most Profitable Movie of the Year (minimum 175.92 mil. $ range)

8. Death Proof - Quentin Tarantino + Best Los Angeles Movie of the Year + Best Car Movie of the Year + Best Car Chase of the Year (final girls vs. Stuntman Mike chase) + Best Comeback Actor of the Year: Kurt Russell

9. Eastern Promises - David Cronenberg + Best London Movie of the Year + Best Mob Movie of the Year + Best Villain of the Year: Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai + Best Fight Scene of the Year (the bath house fight) + Most Undeserved Flop of the Year

10. The Counterfeiters/Die Fälscher - Stefan Ruzowitzky + Best Austrian Movie of the Year + Best War Movie of the Year

Other great movies of the year (in alphabetical order):

The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson + Best Dramedy of the Year

Hostel: Part II - Eli Roth + Best Horror Movie of the Year + Best Gore Movie of the Year + Best Exploitation Movie of the Year + Best Comeback Actress of the Year: Heather Matarazzo 

Live Free or Die Hard/Die Hard 4.0 - Len Wiseman + Best Action Movie of the Year 

 

The Savages - Tamara Jenkins + Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Drama of the Year 

Sicko, documentary - Michael Moore 

Other good, recommendable movies of the year (in alphabetical order):

1408 - Mikael Håfström

Battle for Haditha - Nick Broomfield + Best English Movie of the Year

The Brave One - Neil Jordan

Cecilie - Hans Fabian Wullenweber

Charlie Bartlett - Jon Poll + Best High School Movie of the Year

Control - Anton Corbijn + Best Music Movie of the Year + Best Debut Movie of the Year: Anton Corbijn + Best B/W Movie of the Year

Daisy Diamond - Simon Staho + Best Feel-Bad Movie of the Year

Epic Movie - Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer + Most Under-appreciated Movie of the Year + Best Low-brow Movie of the Year

Fighter - Natascha Arthy + Best Kung Fu Movie of the Year

Flight of the Conchords - season 1 - James Bobin, Jemaine Clement, Brett McKenzie + Best Musical Comedy of the Year + Best New TV-Series of the Year

Fracture - Gregory Hoblit

Funny Games - Michael Haneke + Best Home Invasion Thriller of the Year

Gone Baby Gone - Ben Affleck

He Was A Quiet Man - Frank A. Cappello + Best Box Office Disaster of the Year

The Heartbreak Kid - Bobby & Peter Farrelly + Best Crazy-Comedy of the Year

Hot Rod - Akiva Schaffer

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry - Dennis Dugan + Best Crude Comedy of the Year + Best Buddy Movie of the Year + Best LGBT Movie of the Year

Lars and the Real Girl - Craig Gillespie + Best Canadian Movie of the Year

Shrek the Third - Raman Hui, Chris Miller

Sunshine - Danny Boyle + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year + Best Science Fiction Movie of the Year
 
  The Bottom 10 of the Year:

1. End of the Line - Maurice Devereaux

2. Dan in Real Life - Peter Hedges + Most Tasteless Movie of the Year + Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

3. Love in the Time of Cholera - Mike Newell + Most Deserved Flop of the Year

4. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Tim Burton + Most Overrated Movie of the Year

5. AFR - Morten Hartz Kapler

6. How to Get Rid of the Others/Hvordan Vi Slipper Af med De Andre - Anders Rønnow Klarlund

7. Halloween - Rob Zombie

8. Evan Almighty - Tom Shadyac + Most Expensive Flop of the Year (lost approximately 105.7 mil. $) + Worst Poster of the Year + Biggest Career Killer of the Year: Tom Shadyac 

9. I Am Legend - Francis Lawrence
 

10. Disturbia - D.J. Caruso

Other poor, mediocre and/or failed movies (in alphabetical order):

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days/4 Luni, 3 Săptămâni și 2 Zile - Cristian Mungiu + Best Romanian Movie of the Year 
28 Weeks Later - Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Blades of Glory - Josh Gordon, Will Speck
The Bucket List - Rob Reiner
Cassandra's Dream - Woody Allen
Eagle vs Shark - Taika Waititi
Hallam Foe/Mister Foe - David Mackenzie
Hannibal Rising - Peter Webber 

I'm Not There - Todd Haynes 
Lions for Lambs - Robert Redford 
My Blueberry Nights - Wong Kar-Wai
Shelter - Jonah Markowitz 

[57 titles in total]

Notes:

The second updated version of the 2007 lists adds 10 titles to the mix, most of them good, with one breaching the Top 10 and another getting a high placement on the Bottom 10 list.
Sean Penn's high-impact, true-story spiritual journey and American odyssey Into the Wild still ranks supreme as the year's masterpiece and best; followed by Ang Lee's spy thriller period adaptation, the erotic and sumptuous Lust, Caution. Paul Haggis' excellent, troubling Iraq War aftermath crime-drama In the Valley of Elah is the year's 3rd best film. The Top 10 goes on with Ridley Scott's huge gangster epic American Gangster; Jacob Thuesen's hilarious, subversive film school tell-all The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part I; Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield's majestic nature documentary Earth; David Yates' terrific magic fantasy and best Potter film of all, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Quentin Tarantino's girl-power-fueled, just-having-fun Grindhouse homage Death Proof; David Cronenberg's brutal and thrilling Russian mob-themed Eastern Promises; and finally new entry Stefan Ruzowitzky's evocative WWII drama The Counterfeiters, which boots Eli Roth's enthusiastically cruel horror Hostel: Part II from the list.
Among the year's other noteworthy, great films are Len Wiseman's fierce actioner Live Free or Die Hard, Michael Moore's health care system attack Sicko and Tamara Jenkins' terrific drama The Savages. Among the good entries of 2007 can be highlighted Nick Broomfield's harrowing Iraq War massacre story Battle for Haditha and a pair of silly American comedy offerings; Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer's spoof Epic Movie and Dennis Dugan's crude I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry: Both still funny and also both critically panned by most critics. Also of note; a new New York-set musical comedy series (Flight of the Conchords) and a visually captivating sci-fi (Sunshine).
On the other end of the spectrum, a small Canadian horror movie, Maurice Devereaux's quality-bereft End of the Line takes the cake as the year's unquestionably poorest film. It is followed by Peter Hedges' nauseating romcom Dan in Real Life and Mike Newell's disastrous romance adaptation Love in the Time of Cholera. Following are new entry Tim Burton's cataclysmically overrated, morose musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Morten Hartz Kapler's mockumentary rubbish AFR; Anders Rønnow Klarlund's amateurish comedy How to Get Rid of the Others; Rob Zombie's unredeemed Halloween remake; Tom Shadyac's major flop, Biblical FX bonanza Evan Almighty; Francis Lawrence's dumb apocalyptic hit I Am Legend, and finally D.J. Caruso's also dumb teenage romance-thriller Disturbia. Leaving the unenviable list in this update is Peter Webber's disappointingly flat Hannibal Rising.
Notice how Steve Carell in 2007 managed to star in two of the year's worst flicks, Dan in Real Life and Evan Almighty - and still hold his career firmly (and impressively) on its tracks.
Great and master filmmakers who gave us sub-par work this year include Woody Allen (Cassandra's Dream), Taika Waititi (Eagle vs Shark), David Mackenzie (Hallam Foe), Todd Haynes (I'm Not There), Robert Redford (Lions for Lambs), Rob Reiner (The Bucket List) and Wong Kar-Wai (My Blueberry Nights).

On the 2008 Oscars:

Jon Stewart returned (after hosting in 2006) to helm the night, which he did poorly, as the ratings dropped steeply from Ellen DeGeneres' headlining ceremony the previous year: 32 mil. viewers watched it all, down 22 % from 2006. The night was unusually clip-heavy, as a writers' strike had threatened to change the show radically, only getting resolved shortly before the event.
The most nominated films of the year were the similarly bleak dramas No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, both getting 8 nods. The night's biggest winner turned out to be No Country for Old Men with 4 statuettes, and The Bourne Ultimatum coming in 2nd with 3. - So not an Oscar night with one majorly Oscar winning movie.
It all played out like this:
No Country for Old Men won Best Picture and Best Director for its brother creators Ethan and Joel Coen. Best Actor went to Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood, and Best Actress to Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose. Best Supporting Actor went to Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men, and Tilda Swinton took Best Supporting Actress for Michael Clayton. Diablo Cody won Best Original Screenplay for Juno, and the Coens also took Best Adapted Screenplay for No Country for Old Men.
Best Animation Feature went to Ratatouille; Best Foreign Feature to The Counterfeiters, and Best Documentary to Taxi to the Dark Side. The short film Oscars went to Freeheld (documentary), The Mozart of Pickpockets (live action) and Peter and the Wolf (animation).
Dario Marianelli won Best Score for Atonement; Best Song went to Falling Slowly from Once, and both Sound Editing and Sound Mixing went to The Bourne Ultimatum. Best Art Direction went to Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Best Cinematography went to Robert Elswit for There Will Be Blood. Best Makeup went to La Vie en Rose; Best Costumes to Elizabeth: The Golden Age; Best Editing to The Bourne Ultimatum and Best Visual Effects to The Golden Compass.
An honorary Oscar went to Robert F. Boyle.

Biggest flops of the year:

[The loss is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account] 

1. Evan Almighty - 105.7 mil. $ range
2. Love in the Time of Cholera - 37.48 mil. $ range
3. The Brave One - 31.7 mil. $ range
4. Eastern Promises - 27.5 mil. $ range
5. Sunshine - 27.2 mil. $ range new entry
6. Death Proof/Planet Terror (not reviewed yet) - 22 mil. $ range
7. Hot Rod - 19.58 mil. $ range
8. Hannibal Rising - 17.16 mil. $ range
9. I'm Not There - 15.36 mil. $ range
10. Funny Games - 11.84 mil. $ range new entry
= Combined losses: 315.52 mil. $

Biggest hits of the year:

[The gain is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account] 

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - minimum 175.92 mil. $ range
2. Shrek the Third - 159.56 mil. $ range new entry
3. I Am Legend - 84.12 mil. $ range
4. Live Free or Die Hard - 43.4 mil. $ range
5. 1408 - 27.76 mil. $ range
6. Disturbia - 27.12 mil. $ range
7. The Bucket List - 25.12 mil. $ range
8. Halloween - 17.08 mil. $ range
9. Epic Movie - 14.72 mil. $ range
10. Lust, Caution - 11.8 mil. $ range
= Combined profits: 586.6 mil. $

2007 titles currently on the watch-list:

Kill Bulko: The Movie, Life Kills Me, You, Me and Him, Puffball: The Devil's Eyeball, Atonement, Michael Clayton, Charlie Wilson's War, The Golden Compass, Across the Universe, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, 3:10 to Yuma, Norbit, Once, August Rush, Enchanted, Even Pigeons Go to Heaven, I Met the Walrus, Madame Tutli-Putli, At Night, The Substitute, Freeheld, Salim Baba, Taxi to the Dark Side, No End in Sight, Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, War Dance, 12, Beaufort, Katyn, Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan, Surf's Up, The Visitor, Lavatory Lovestory, Oktapodi, Toyland, Manon on the Asphalt, New Boy, On the Line, Encounters at the End of the World, Meet Bill, XXY

Previous annual lists:
    
2018 in films - according to Film Excess  
2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2016 in films - according to Film Excess
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess    
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   
2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

 

What do you think of the 2007 lists?
What films of the year are your favorites and least favorite?
What essential title/s is/are missing on the watch-list?