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Official 2007 Mid-Year Movie Showdown

August 9, 2007
by Alex Billington

Mid-Year Movie Showdown

The summer is just about over and we're creeping closer to the start of the fall movie season where Oscar hopefuls hit and big Thanksgiving / Christmas tentpoles debut. It admittedly hasn't been the best year for movies so far, but it definitely has been an enjoyable one. I've already seen around 86 movies (not counting all of Sundance) and without writing full-length reviews for each and every film, I'm instead providing a quick-and-easy showdown of what's good, what's bad, and everything in between. Without further ado, let's dive into the most comprehensive mid-year movie showdown you'll ever find.

Don't forget that this showdown is my own personal taste and opinion. It's a combination of what I've liked the most and what I think is the best as well as what I believe is the worst.

Note: All 86 movies are in at least one category. If you can't find one then I haven't seen it yet unless it's in a category of those I'm still waiting to see.

Top 10 Movies So Far (in order):
Grindhouse, Transformers, Death at a Funeral, Sunshine, 300, Disturbia, Superbad, The Bourne Ultimatum, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Talk to Me

Personal Favorite Gems:
Hairspray, Mr. Brooks, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, The Host, Delirious, Ira & Abby, King of California, Angel-A, Michael Clayton, Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Above Average / Worth Seeing (no order):
Alpha Dog, Black Snake Moan, Breaking and Entering, Fido, Hot Fuzz, Hot Rod, Interview, Introducing the Dwights, Knocked Up, Ocean's 13, Ratatouille, Reign Over Me, Rescue Dawn, Rocket Science, Shoot 'Em Up, The Simpsons Movie, TMNT, Waitress, Zodiac, My Best Friend, Sicko, The Brave One, In the Valley of Elah, 3:10 to Yuma

Way Better Than Expected:
28 Weeks Later, Hostel: Part II, In the Land of Women, Pride, Reno 911: Miami, The Kingdom

Tolerable But Nothing Great (no order):
Blades of Glory, Bridge to Terabithia, Eagle vs Shark, Hannibal Rising, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Live Free or Die Hard, Music and Lyrics, The Tripper, Once, Paris Je T'aime, Slipstream, The Nines, Everything’s Gone Green, Fay Grim, An American Crime, Year of the Dog, Stardust, Resurrecting the Champ, Halloween

Most Forgettable:
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man 3, Fracture, I Think I Love My Wife, Meet the Robinsons, Miss Potter, Surf's Up, The Number 23

Below Average / Bottom of the Barrel (no order):
1408, Bug, Catch and Release, Gray Matters, Happily N’Ever After, Next, I Know Who Killed Me, Lucky You, Nancy Drew, Red Road, Smokin' Aces, The Astronaut Farmer, The Good Night, The Reaping

Worst 5 Movies So Far (in order):
Arthur and the Invisibles, Pathfinder, Shrek the Third, The Ten, Balls of Fury

Already Released But Still Need To See:
A Mighty Heart, Black Book, Breach, Evening, First Snow, Freedom Writers, Shooter, The Hoax, The Invisible, The Lookout, The Namesake

Best Looking Upcoming Wide Release / Blockbusters (no order):
Across the Universe, American Gangster, Bee Movie, Death Sentence, Hitman, 30 Days of Night, I Am Legend

Best Looking Upcoming Limited / Independents (no order):
Run Fatboy Run, We Own the Night, Gone Baby Gone, Reservation Road, No Country for Old Men, Southland Tales, Juno, Be Kind Rewind, Sweeney Todd

Update - August 15 - 90 Movies: Recently seen: Stardust, Sicko, My Best Friend, and Resurrecting the Champ

Update - August 31 - 98 Movies: Recently seen: Michael Clayton, The Brave One, In the Valley of Elah, The Kingdom, Balls of Fury, Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 3:10 to Yuma, Rob Zombie's Halloween

Don't forget that this is my own opinion for the benefit of the readers of FirstShowing.net. I love movies and I love seeing every last one of them and when discussing them here it's my opinion that I am writing and mine alone.

Although my best of the year list is very solid, there are some big contenders coming up this fall, including my own favorite recent trailer - Be Kind Rewind. I've enjoyed a lot of this year's movie so far, but there are still plenty of exciting ones to come. Feel free to leave your own opinion below and let me know if you agree, disagree, or have your own favorite gems that need to be mentioned. And maybe if I have a chance, I'll try and see one of two of them before the year's over…

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Reader Feedback - 8 Comments »

1

cool listing! in a way, it will serve me as a good guide.. however, we do differ on how we view hostel 2.. damn! this movie sent me to dreamland… the adrenalin rush hostel 1 gave me backfired in hostel 2..

miracle disease on Aug 9, 2007

2

I suppose you know all the criticism and disagreements are coming since you wrote this…but I have to be the first one. "1408" and "Fracture" are way out of place. I'd put them on the above average flicks. John Cusack gives one of the best one man acting performances of the year, and Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling shine with talent. There is NO reason you should even be writing a middle of the year review if you haven't seen everything, and ESPECIALLY not "The Lookout" or "A Mighty Heart". Two good movies. "Hostel II" was TERRIBLE, and I mean that in every sense of the word. And "Once" was without a doubt one of the best movies of the year. I am not alone in thinking that. Otherwise, I I only see a few slight disagreements. I can see your top ten, and even your bottom five (Although I think "I Know Who Killed Me" should get its own category called: Crappiest Movie That Will Inevitably End Its Star's Career).

Nate on Aug 10, 2007

3

I don't always agree with all your choices but I'm a sucker for these kind of lists. So here my personal top ten of the year (so far):

1) Die Hard 4.0

2) Grindhouse

3) The Good Shepherd

4) Zodiac

5) Apocalypto

6) The Good German

7) Blood Diamond

8) Transformers

9) Shooter

10) Crank

Greetings from Belgium

Kenneth on Aug 10, 2007

4

Man Alex….gonna make me disagree with you again.
28 Weeks was terrible compared to its predecessor.
The same with Hostel. Nothing new more of the same…

Smokin Aces was a great action flick.

Black Book is a fantastic film.

No Goya's Ghosts?

Heckle on Aug 10, 2007

5

I agree with most of your picks except for Hostel II. To me that was one of the worst movies I've seen this year, and not because of the film's content. And I'm glad someone other than me actually thinks Smokin Aces sucked.

PG on Aug 11, 2007

6

Why is everyone so angry with Hostel 2? Was it that it was "torture porn" that you couldn't handle or was it honestly that you thought it was a bad movie?? Torture porn aspect aside, the filmmaking was great… I love the way Eli tells his story and it's very brutal and vicious yet you actually have some connection to the characters…

Nate - I REALLY want to see both The Lookout an A Mighty Heart - I'll try and get watching real soon… As for Fracture, honestly it was just forgettable. I was more impressed than I expected, but Gosling wasn't great nor was Hopkins… And the twist wasn't so redeaming…

Heckle - I haven't seen Goya's Ghosts… and Smokin' Aces was an "ok" drama flick, but action? It had about 10 minutes, that's it?!

Alex Billington on Aug 11, 2007

7

Thanks for the responses Alex. For the record I really like the fact that you can handle disagreements and are willing to reply to us. Whether I agree or not, love to hear your opinion. I think Hostel II was just flat out a bad movie. I won't lie, I don't like the genre, but I will give the original Saw a thumbs up because it was original and a decent movie. Hostel II offers nothing new or interesting. They focused TOO much on the torture and porn.

Nate on Aug 12, 2007

8

This is my sort of chopped up list…. (please let me know what you guys think)

A = 4/5 stars:
namasake
transformer
28 weeks later
chapter 27 (don't ask me how I got it)
Bourne ultimatum
angel a
Once
Sicko
grindhouse
sunshine
300
the lookout
across the universe
310 to yuma
michael clayton
bee movie
gone baby gone
assassination of jesse james
lust, caution
control
eastern promises

B = 3 stars:
evening
Away From Her
Waitres
interview
la vie en rose
into the wild
in the valley of elah


C = 2 stars:
romance & Cigarettes (2005) just been released
the ten
ocean's 13
Hot Fuzz
simpsons
Knocked up


D = 1 star:
The Host
The Number 23
disturbia (ehh remake)
zodiac
kingdom
rendition

scar on Nov 2, 2007

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