Best of 2007

Favourite 2007 films, in order of preference:

Foster Child (Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)

Dans la ville de Sylvia & Unas fotos en la ciudad del Sylvia (Spain, José Luis Guerin)

Slingshot (Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)

Black Friday (India, Anurag Kashyap)

The Bourne Ultimatum (USA, Paul Greengrass)

Zodiac (USA, David Fincher)

Rendition (USA, Gavin Hood)

Ratatouille (USA, Brad Bird)

Drained (Brazil, Heitor Dhalia)

Taare Zameen Par (India, Aamir Khan)

Euphoria (Russia, Ivan Vyrypaev)

Honorable mentions, in order of viewing:

Hot Fuzz (UK, Edgar Wright)
Summer 04 (Gemany, Stefan Krohmer)
The Big Sellout (Germany, Florian Opitz)
Happy New Life (Hungary, Árpád Bogdán)
4 Months 3 Weeks 2 days (Romania, Cristian Mungiu)
Khadak (Belgium/Germany, Peter Brosens & Jessica Hope Woodworth)
The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories (Bulgaria, Director Andrey Paounov)
The Edge of Heaven (Germany/Turkey, Fatih Akin)
Black Butterfly (2006, Peru, Francisco J. Lombardi)
In Memory of Myself (Italy, Saverio Costanzo)
Secret Sunshine (South Korea, Lee Chang-Dong)
The Girl Cut in Two (France, Claude Chabrol)
Import Export (Austria/France, Ulrich Seidl)
Bliss (Greece/Turkey, Abdullah Oguz)
Johnny Gaddaar (India, Sriram Raghavan)
No Smoking (India, Anurag Kashyap)
A Mighty Heart (USA/UK, Michael Winterbottom)


Older favourites (released prior to 2007), in order of viewing:

United 93 (2006, USA co-production, Paul Greengrass)

Children of Men (2006, UK/USA co-production, Alfonso Cuarón)

The House of Sand (2005, Brazil, Andrucha Waddington)

Notes on a Scandal (2006, UK, Richard Eyre)

Tropical Malady (2004, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

Pickpocket (1959, France, Robert Bresson)

L’Enfer (2005, France co-production, Danis Tanovic)

Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, West Germany, Werner Herzog)

Eraserhead (1977, USA, David Lynch)

Cobra Verde (1987, West Germany, Werner Herzog)

My life to Live (1962, France, Jean-Luc Godard)

Volver (2006, Spain, Pedro Almodóvar)

Crimson Gold (2003, Iran, Jafar Panahi)

The Straight Story (1999, USA, David Lynch)

Blue Velvet (1986, USA, David Lynch)

The Mahabharata (1989, multiple countries, Peter Brook)

Pixote (1981, Brazil, Hector Babenco)

Whisky (2004, Uruguay, Juan Pablo Rebella, Pablo Stoll)

North by Northwest (1959, USA, Alfred Hitchcock)

Camera Buff (1979, Poland, Krzysztof Kieslowski)

Army of Shadows (1969, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)

Spare Parts (2003, Slovenia, Damjan Kozole)

Dekalog (1989, Poland, Krzysztof Kieslowski)

Underground (1995, Serbia, Emir Kusturica)

Mirage (2004, Macedonia, Svetozar Ristovski)

Modern Times (1936, USA, Charlie Chaplin)

L'Avventura (1960, Italy, Michelangelo Antonioni)

L'Eclisse (1962, Italy, Michelangelo Antonioni)

Blowup (1966, Italy, Michelangelo Antonioni)

The Addiction (1995, USA, Abel Ferrara)

Bad Lieutenant (1992, USA, Abel Ferrara)

The River (1997, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)

Yi Yi (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)

The Bourne Identity (2002, USA, Doug Liman)

The Page Turner (2006, France, Denis Dercourt)

Dead Ringers (1988, Canada, David Cronenberg)

Le Trou (1960, France, Jacques Becker)

Touchez pas au grisbi (1954, France, Jacques Becker)

The Son (2002, Belgium/France, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne)

Distant (2002, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Bug (2006, USA, William Friedkin)

Grand Prix (1966, USA, John Frankenheimer)

Le Mani sulla città (1963, Italy, Francesco Rosi)

Salvatore Giuliano (1962, Italy, Francesco Rosi)

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003, India, Sudhir Mishra)

Life on Earth (1998, Mali/Mauritania/France, Abderrahmane Sissako)

Moolaade (2004, Senegal co-production, Ousmane Sembene)

Note: The funny nature of release dates sometimes puts some films in a bizarre limbo state when it comes to personal best of year lists. Children of Men was one of my favourite 2006 films but I did not get to see it in a theater until early 2007. And I just noticed that I didn't include the film in either my Best of 2006 or 2007 lists. As a correction, I have now included the movie in my older favourites 2007 list but it deserves better.

The same border-line release schedule continues this year as well. For example, There Will be Blood is only getting a limited Canadian release on Jan 4, 2008. But it might take another few weeks to make it out to my city.