Jackassalope

Best Movies of '07: Part II

The rest of my list includes secondary accolades that I’m handing out because I can. These movies were good in their own way and here’s why.

Hot Fuzz: The Runner-up: In an industry that’s driven by the Hollywood machine, this English movie is a breath of fresh air. The creators of “Shaun of the Dead” follow up their semiserious zombie spoof with a semiserious action bonanza. “Fuzz” starts off by ridiculing the generic story lines of most action movies, but in a good way. By the end of the movie, “Fuzz” actually turns into one of the explosion filled pieces it mocks, but it does it well.

In the Valley of Elah: The Best movie about the Iraq war: Most of the films about the conflict in Iraq fell off the map. Largely because the population is tired of the fiasco we’ve seemed to have gotten ourselves into. “Elah,” however, doesn’t play the same wounded soldier tune. Instead it tells the story of a father trying to figure out what happened to his son while fighting for our country. It’s a moving film that definitely says its piece. I usually don’t like being bombarded with a message, but it works here.

Once: The Most unexpected good time: “Once” lets us into the lives of a lonely musician the woman who befriends him. I was weary about this documentary-type filming at first, but was completely sold on the story these two strangers had to tell. I usually don’t like movies driven by songs, but “Once” was more than a musical. The songs brought the character’s back stories into the forefront beautifully and added a definite richness to the film.

Meet the Robinsons: The Best cartoon: I thought a lot of cartoons fell flat this year. Either they weren’t funny or just dumb. I guess I was one of the few people that were disappointed by “Ratatouille.” Regardless, “The Robinsons” had me laughing most the way through. It did for me this year, what “Monster House” did for me last year. Of course, I was also let down by “Cars.”

Transformers: The Best worst movie: Michael Bay’s career is full of hits and misses where most of his hits are still littered with misses. But even his handy work couldn’t ruin the nostalgic pleasure “Transformers” brought to the screen; although he desperately tried. The action and sound editing was top notch, and Shia provided an unexpected but great comedic element. Even if some of the story lines were incomplete and every female was unrealistically bangin’ hot (I can’t honestly say I was disappointed by that), the movie still entertained. It’s hard to look past the fact that the only real emotional moment of the movie was between a boy and his dying car, but hey, did I mention his girlfriend is really hot.

Gracie: The Best only movie I was in: This embellished take on Elisabeth Shue’s childhood was exactly that; a story about a girl playing soccer in high school… Awww, how sweet. But because I made some background appearances on the soccer field, I have to recognize it on my list.

Well that’s it. If you feel I left something off the list the chances are you’re wrong, but tell me about it anyway. Until next year, enjoy.