2007, a year of promise Pt. 2

Like music, movies were sub par in 2006. Actually, movies were much worse. I remember thinking when the Oscar nominees came out, "These were the best movies of this year?" Apparently someone thought so. I thought Pan's Labyrinth was the only really great movie of 2006, and it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture. Of course, I had to see it in 2007 because of the interminable drag between first release dates and release dates here. In related news, why isn't anyone talking about that great new movie The Godfather that just opened. Kidding. Sort of. I will be seeing The Lives of Others this weekend, so maybe I will be able to add one to the list. I must admit I'm torn whether to put movies on the list of the year I saw them or the year they were officially released (especially when it is almost April).

Anyway, even if I give 2006 all it's official releases, the list of movies I really liked is pretty short. Top 5:

1. Pan's Labyrinth
2. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
3. The Matador
4. Borat
5. The Departed

And only the first three would make my top ten lists from the past few years. Granted, I went to the movies a lot less in 2006. I counted it up and I went to about 15 fewer movies in 2006 than in any of the three previous years. But I think that says something about how excited I was to see any of the movies that were coming out.

By comparison, 2007 is a ray of hope. Granted, I haven't seen anything really great yet. Actually I have, but as I said I am still catching up on the movies released at the end of 2006. Nevertheless I feel like 2007 offers hope, if for no other reason than it isn't 2006.