Sunday 30 December 2007

What the flick?

I've just read through Empire's list of their top 25 films of 2007 (chosen by their writing staff as opposed ot a public vote or something else). I just thought I'd make a few comments whilst the list is fresh in my mind...

I've only seen six out of the twenty-five, which I consider fairly pathetic. I've also never heard of several of them, which took me by surprise. I consider myself a film fan but this list from a mainstream film magazine has shown up my failings as a viewer. I intend in the year ahead to try and remedy this as much as possible. That said, lots of them did take my fancy just from the brief note on each film provided in the list, so hopefully this will give me lots of films to watch should I ever feel stuck for choice.

The list is by no means infallible however. Omissions which surprised me include American Gangster and 300, whilst films which I've seen such as Knocked Up (which was good but didn't strike me as outstanding), Superbad (which I didn't rate highly at all) and Ratatouille (which I seem to be in the minority in thinking is at best average compared to previous Disney/Pixar outings) have been included. There are films in there that I totally agree with however (Notes On A Scandal and Hot Fuzz are both superb). It just goes to show that even when looking at professional film reviewers' ratings, it all boils down ultimately to opinion. It may also signify that, although there have been smatterings of excellence, 2007 hasn't been a cinematically stellar year. Once again however, that pretty much comes down to opinion.

An interesting list to read (I won't reveal what's number one), if only to inspire reflection on your own opinions on films.

2 comments:

TheTelf said...

I reckon I pretty much agree with that summation. I'd heard of all but two of them, but only saw eight, so there are more than a few up there that I intended to see but never did, which is pretty sad.

300 and American Gangster are definite absentees, and the order seems a little weird - Superbad and Knocked Up are really pretty high up the list for what they are.

Glad to see that the 'trilogy' blockbusters were ignored, though, so they got something right.

Unknown said...

I've only seen three out of the 25, which hopefully will go some way to making you guys feel better about yourself. I can't say I'd heard of most of the films in their list, but then I'm not overly in tune with the film world, despite enjoying both watching and making films.

I can't say I agree with the number 1 but I can hardly suggest an alternative either (mainly because I can't remember what films where released this year that I really liked) so I'll not complain too much.