The 100 Film Initiative

Being a TV enthusiast (I even majored in television), my knowledge of the film world has been lacking. In 2007, I decided to change this by watching 100 movies for the first time. Sadly, work, TV (both on cable and on DVD) and improv kept me from completing my goal. But can anyone scoff at seeing 80 movies in a year? Yes, some of you can. But for me, a movie every 4.5 days is a mighty accomplishment. This year has had its ups and downs, and here they are in order of least favorite to most favorite.

And for all you year-end list enthusiasts, my 2007 films will be in gold.

80. Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem
79. Transformers
When seeing utter crap like Aliens vs. Predator and Alvin & The Chipmunks, this stinkbomb was used as the measuring device. AVP-R was determined to be worse because whereas some creativity was used to make Transformers, none was used in AVP-R (although both had about the same amount of subtlety and class). A&tC was deemed better because it...well...didn't offend me as much. But really, I can't think of a worse time I've had in a theater during a movie that should have been all out stupid/glorious fun. The plot wasn't there, the acting was horrible, the humor disturbing, everything about it aside from the special effects was a misfire.
78. Zoo
77. Brick
Pretty painful to get through. I don't really enjoy noir to begin with, but I tend to enjoy anachronistic storytelling means re-imagined in high schools. And I would have enjoyed this more...if anyone in the movie had been at all believable as human beings existing on the planet earth anytime in the last decade. The script was 100% 1940s-derived, and if there's one thing I hate in movies, it's characters acting in ways you know they really never would (like Melinda & Melinda's world where everyone is a jazz enthusiast).
76. Battle Royale
75. Alvin & The Chipmunks
74. Melinda & Melinda
73. Bad Boys
72. Fire In The Sky
71. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
70. Trekkies 2
69. The Howling
68. Unbreakable
67. Starwoids
66. Die Hard 2: Die Harder
65. Beverly Hills Cop
64. Grindhouse
This would have been higher if there wasn't a good 30 minutes of Death Proof where I wanted to drive a car through the theater and murder people to make up for the lack of it on screen. Really, I don't care about 1960s garage rock bands and John Hughes references when Kurt Russell kills people with his car. Give me more car killings!
63. Strangers With Candy
62. Interstella 5555
61. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
60. Superman
Really underwhelming, especially considering the two decades of hype I've had stuffed in my brain. Slow, bordering on boring, and a totally laughable time-reversal at the end.
59. Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
58. Thank You For Smoking
57. Zach Galifianakis: Live
56. The Graduate
55. Cars
54. Singing In The Rain
53. Hairspray
52. Polyester
51. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
50. Night & Fog
49. Stripes
48. Matchstick Men
47. The Elephant Man
46. Barton Fink
45. Bottle Rocket
44. Super Size Me
43. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
42. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
41. Sid & Nancy
40. Dan In Real Life
39. Walk The Line
38. Pulp Fiction
37. Capturing the Friedmans
36. Grey Gardens
35. The Celluloid Closet
34. This Is Spinal Tap
33. Deliverance
32. Die Hard With A Vengeance
Isn't this movie awesome? I've started to appreciate movies more if they utilize Manhattan as a setting well. Plus Sam Jackson being angry never gets old.
31. The Big Lebowski
30. The Comedians Of Comedy
29. The Birdcage
28. Jesus Camp
Scary, both because of the intense subject matter and the memories it brings back of my childhood. One of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
27. United 93
26. Little Miss Sunshine
25. Rear Window
24. Waiting for Guffman
23. Amelie
22. Wet Hot American Summer
21. In & Out
20. Planes, Trains & Automobiles
19. The Darjeeling Limited
Did a movie polarize critics more than this one this year? People either Beatles-loved it or Limp Bizkit-hated it. I quite enjoyed it, if I do say so myself. It was entertaining, touching, funny, and I enjoy being manipulated by slow motion and old songs, especially if that old song is a Kinks one. I guess Wes Anderson's shtick is getting old to some people, but I think it worked long enough to make me a fan of this film.
18. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
17. Superbad
16. Die Hard
15. Adaptation
14. Inherit The Wind
13. Stranger Than Fiction
12. Citizen Ruth
11. Crash
10. Match Point
9. Coal Miner's Daughter
8. American Beauty
7. Children Of Men
6. Harold and Maude
5. Spider-Man 3
4. Fargo
3. DiG!
I don't even know how to describe this documentary. I know that watching a film about the struggling careers of two feuding 90s indie bands (The Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre) doesn't sound interesting to people who aren't familiar with either of those two bands, but I truly feel that the storytelling created through the editing and the characters captured so brutally real that they transcend the bias of fandom and speak on a purely thematic level powerful enough to appeal to anyone who enjoys rock and roll music.
2. Juno
This may be the first non-comic and non-Star Wars related film to actually make me giddy while watching it. This is what real people sound like. They speak with distinct voices full of their own slang and inside jokes. And the way Diablo Cody made every character three dimensional and even relatable is awe-inspiring. I hope that I can do that one day. Ellen Page deserves an Oscar and Michael Cera is gunning for one two.
1. Hot Fuzz
Okay, I was pretty giddy when I watched Shaun of the Dead because of the distinct new voice I was hearing. The boys Pegg and Wright hit another home run, topping Shaun by making a movie that I know was as much fun to create as it is to watch. And that's what I appreciate. Every detail in the story, every line, just everything, is fun a thousand times over without ever devolving into retardo-silliness. If I had it my way, these guys would make every movie to come out from now on. I'd love to see them do Transformers 2.