Things I Loved in 2007

Scary, Sexy, Smart

Vacancy Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson play a couple trapped in a seedy motel. 70 minutes of terror add up to my favourite film of the year. Also:

Zodiac David Fincher's ambitious and winding journey through decades and cities in pursuit of a killer.

Om Shanti Om There wont be a more superficial and heedlessly orgiastic exercise in filmmaking to top this until Farah Khan returns to the director's chair. A loving look at the movies and why we love them.

A Mighty Heart Angelina Jolie shows us why she isn't yesterday's news just yet in Michael Winterbottom's remarkable post 9/11 film that's as contemplative and devastating as United 93 was last year.

Ratatouille The pure heart of Pixar and its genius for storytelling scale magnificent heights in this gorgeous rodent tale.

Things I Liked

300, a feat in post-production that looks unlike anything I've seen before
Jab We Met, simply for making Kareena Kapoor tolerable (this must also be a feat in post-production)
Knocked Up, Judd Apatow's fuzzy, wild romp through the pregnancy comedy genre

Chak De India, with Shah Rukh Khan and an electric team on and offscreen
The Bourne Ultimatum, with that Moby song I simply love

Spiderman 3, for not sucking as much as everyone said it did
Taarein Zameen Par, by which means my tear ducts have been hung out to dry
Die Hard 4.0, in which unspeakable dialogue and unbelievable action are spoken and believed

Disturbia, which may not be Rear Window but sure is a lot of fun
Freedom Writers, since Hilary Swank can make any material a pleasure to watch
Music and Lyrics, because it took throwback seriously instead of turning it into camp, adding great music and Drew Barrymore to the mix

28 Weeks Later, which doesn't skip a beat rejuvenating the horrors of its predecessor

And Then There Was This Stuff

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Rob Zombie's Halloween, Premonition, Lucky You, Bhool Bhulaiya, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Ocean's 13.