In honor of the Oscars this week, my screenwriter buddy Lane published his 25 favorite movies of 2007. (He picked Gone Baby Gone as his number 1.)

The whole list inspired me whip up a list of my own. In doing my research, I was kind of shocked to see that I had seen a whopping 52 2007 movies before this week. I guess I really like movies!

Todd’s 10 Best Movies of 2007

1. No Country for Old Men
   
   I watched the whole movie on the edge of my seat. Yes, it’s dark and violent, but I’ve always thought that McCarthy’s best characters are the good guys. In this movie, Tommy Lee Jones shows us how in a world gone to hell, it take personal courage to try to do the right thing.

2. The Darjeeling Limited
   
   Wes Anderson’s best. Someday, I hope to watch a sunrise from a mountain in India. This movie makes you feel like that’s how life is supposed to work.

3. Ratatouille
   
   Just perfectly executed. This shouldn’t be consigned to any sort of cartoon ghetto.

4. Hot Fuzz
   
   Simultaneously a great action movie and a great send up of action movies.

5. Live Free or Die Hard
   
   So John McClain jumped from a truck to a fighter jet to the street. And the movie was actually good. God, I loved it.

6. Juno
   
   So I do think it’s kind of convenient that abortion is never really considered and that everything basically gets tied up in a neat little bow and everyone moves on with their lives. But this movie is just so charming, I can’t help but love it.

7. 3:10 to Yuma
   
   An excellent companion to No Country for Old Men. Another honest man doing whatever it takes to do the right thing.

8. Eastern Promises
   
   Powerful and tense. Viggo shows his acting chops.

9. Stardust
   
   You know what? My mom, and my grandma, and I all loved it. I’m not ashamed. Robert DeNiro is great – great – as a cross dressing pirate.

10. Smokin’ Aces
    
    An absolutely rip-roaring good time. This was the year that action movies proved they could stand with just about anything in terms of fun and excitement at the movies. I choose to ignore the last 30 seconds, because they were dumb.

BONUS! Top 5 Movies That Made Me Boil With Rage

1. There Will Be Blood
   
   Honestly, this movie was a joy to watch. But I can’t put it on the “best of” list because I just found the first two acts so disconnected from the last one. Plainview is ruthless and even violent. But he never seemed unhinged and evil until the last act. It just came out of nowhere.

2. Atonement
   
   First, she didn’t actually atone for anything. Second, we’re all supposed to think it’s OK because she wrote a nice story? It’s supposed to be thought-provoking, but it just turns out to be stupid.

3. Transformers
   
   So this was actually much better than I anticipated. But after yapping for 2 hours about how “There is no victory without sacrifice” and then pull the switcheroo in the final battle! What did anyone sacrifice!? The 10 bucks Megatron owed Prime?

4. Death Proof
   
   Actually, they should call it “Boring Proof” Tarantino is supposed to be better than this.

5. Superbad
   
   And they should call this one “SuperBoring” I just didn’t find it funny. My secret hunch is that’s because I am already this crude and hilarious with my buddies. I don’t need Judd Apatow to write dialogue for me.

BONUS BONUS! 5 2007 Movies I Still Really Want to See

1. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
2. In the Valley of Elah
3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
4. Gone Baby Gone
5. Sweeney Todd