As 2007 comes to a close, it's time for the now-obligatory 10 Best Movies of the Year listing from yours truly despite serious deficiencies in filmgoing and availability here in Central Florida. So, of the films I have seen in the past calendar year in theaters or at festivals, the following list (in no special order) represents my favorites:

1) No Country For Old Men
2) Persepolis
3) In The Shadow of The Moon
4) Once
5) The King of Kong
6) Juno
7) The Savages
8) My Winnipeg
9) Control
10) The Host

The following dozen titles (in alphabetical order) are all films I have not yet seen but suspect could have made their way onto my top ten had I done so. These titles may have never opened in Orlando, played already and I blew it by not making them a priority, are going to be opening soon, or opened recently while I've been up to my eyeballs in Florida Film Festival submissions and unable to leave the house or office screening room:

1) 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
2) The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford
3) Black Book
4) The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
5) Eastern Promises
6) The Great World of Sound
7) Into The Wild
8) Michael Clayton
9) No End in Sight
10) Sweeney Todd
11) There Will Be Blood
12) Zodiac

Looks like not such a bad year after all...Happy New Year everybody!

--Matthew