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My Favorite Year: 2007

A borderline homicidal gunman, a cantankerous oil tycoon, a disgraced attorney who took out the trash for wealthy clients and three points of the spectrum of character gunning it out for millions of dollars. These are not the characters you expect to see celebrated during the galas of award season, yet there we were, taking it all in.


At the end of the day, 2007 could very well compare with years like 1939 (Gone with the Wind, Stagecoach, Wizard of Oz, etc.), or 1948 (Hamlet, The Red Shoes, Treasure of the Sierra Madre). It is damn near the best year any era. We had Paul Thomas Anderson's magnum opus in There Will Be Blood,  the examination of celebrity and idolatry told withing the legend of Jesse James in The Assassination of Jesse James, the Coen Bros. look at the failure of good men in a world that needs them most in No Country for Old Men, Tony Gilroy's treatise of frailty in a corporate-driven world and David Fincher's taut portrayal of obsession in its many forms in

10 Words or Less: There Will Be Blood (2007)

Eli gets a crude awakening.

The Best of the Decade

Over the last ten years, the cinema has given us a great deal to be thankful for: a rebirth of the Batman franchise, a series of examinations of what it means to live in this particular decade, and a mass of character studies whether they be animated or popcorn thrillers. As much as I have enjoyed the offerings, a list must be culled together for the end of the year. Except this year is different, this year ten films must be selected from hundreds. Below are some of the best of the aughts. Enjoy!

10) There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas Anderson's magnum opus, a scathing look at extremism in America and the evils of greed and profiteering from religion. It also features the best performance of the decade with Daniel Day-Lewis as oil-man Daniel Plainview.

9)  Up
A beautiful tale that entrances all ages, Up managed to captivate children and tell a tale that adults cherish as well.

8) The Dark Knight
Maybe just a comic book film, but it is the best comic book film. Christopher Nolan did …

Hoffman is Master in PT Anderson's Latest

Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Punch Drunk Love) is starting  work on his new film The Master, $35 million period drama in which Hoffman will play a master of ceremonies nicknamed The Master, “a charismatic intellectual who hatches a faith-based organization that begins to catch on in America in 1952.” Variety has the scoop on plot details: The core is the relationship between The Master and Freddie, a twenty-something drifter who becomes the leader’s lieutenant. As the faith begins to gain a fervent following, Freddie finds himself questioning the belief system he has embraced, and his mentor. Anderson's last work was a definite condemnation on the extreme followers of religion and capitalism. It should be interesting to see whether The Master will be a philisophical sequel to There Will Be Blood, or not.