Movie Standouts of 2007

If you can make it through the first 15 minutes without tossing your cookies, then you're in for an incredibly moving and surprisingly uplifting experience. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is based on the true story of former French Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (played by Mathieu Amalric), a successful, popular and charismatic man who suffered a debilitating stroke at the age of 43. The film traces the last year in Bauby's life as he blinks out his memoir, one letter at a time.

Arrested Development helped launch his career but Superbad made him into a force to be reckoned with on the big screen. Cera followed up Superbad with a supporting role in the indie darling Juno, and overall had a fantastic 2007.

I'd be remiss if I didn't also recognize Saoirse Ronan for her amazing performance in Atonement. Ronan not only held her own but stole scene after scene in the critically acclaimed period drama.

A rat who can cook? What a bizarre idea for an animated feature film. Strangely enough, by the time the credits roll you've totally bought into the idea of rats hanging out in a kitchen, whipping up gourmet dinners. Plus, Pixar tops themselves with the animation in Ratatouille. You can see every little hair on the lead rat's body, which is not as icky as it sounds.

3:10 to Yuma is an example of a perfectly cast film, and you can solve the who's better argument between Christian Bale fans and Russell Crowe supporters easily enough. Bale and Crowe were equally terrific, with each actor handling American accents without a hitch.

In addition to 3:10 to Yuma, there was a batch of movies that could have nabbed the 'Best Ensemble' title. 3:10 to Yuma tops the list but it's followed very closely by Juno, Across the Universe, Hairspray, Knocked Up, American Gangster, and No Country for Old Men.

Writer/director Edgar Wright followed up Shaun of the Dead, his homage to zombie movies, with Hot Fuzz, a cop/buddy comedy that pokes fun at police dramas. Lots of recognizable British actors fell for Shaun and wanted to be a part of Hot Fuzz, which apparently was fine with Wright and his co-writer, actor Simon Pegg. But Wright and Pegg didn't just want to blurt out the fact they got Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett to put in an appearance in their film. No, they wanted to make audiences really work to figure out who Blanchett played in Hot Fuzz. The gimmick worked so well viewers never did see Blanchett's face in the movie.

How important is a score? Sometimes we downplay the role music plays in a film, but it sets the mood and helps move the story along - if it's done right. Don't even get me started on how an annoying score can spoil a great movie i.e. There Will Be Blood. In the case of Atonement, Dario Marianelli's score is truly its own character in the film.

John C Reilly was nearly pitch-perfect as a hard-living guitar player in the musical biopic spoof, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. However, the spotlight was stolen by four actors made up as The Beatles. Jason Schwartzman, Justin Long, Jack Black, and Paul Rudd dressed up as the four lads from Liverpool and pulled off the best scene in the movie.

Ben Foster has his 'psycho' act down pat. Not to say Foster's scary in real life, but you wouldn't want to run into any of the characters from his 2007 films in a dark alley. Foster started his 'psycho' year off with a bang in the dramatic film Alpha Dog. He followed that up by playing Russell Crowe's loyal follower - a man who'd just as soon shoot you as look you in the eye - in the Western, 3:10 to Yuma. Finally, he finished off his psycho trilogy as a guy who creeps out even vampires in 30 Days of Night. He's so good at playing a wacko, but let's hope Foster takes on something a little lighter next year so he's not stuck playing those 'weird dude' roles for the rest of his career.

Granted, there are a lot of Beatles purists who cried foul over the way their classic songs were brought to life in Julie Taymor's trippy musical. But for me, Across the Universe served to renew my interest in The Beatles. Plus, the music fit each and every scene in such a way that it would have made absolutely no sense to use the original recordings.

Honorable Mentions: Once and Juno

The best buddy team in 2007 wasn't a guy and a guy or a girl and a girl or a guy and a girl. It was a guy and his dog in the horror/thriller I Am Legend. Will Smith fell so hard for his leading canine that he did everything he could to try and get the trainer to let him adopt 'Sam' (actually played by a German Shepherd named Abbey). Smith says she even hit her marks when he didn't. Abbey is definitely one smart dog.