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There seems to be no dearth of excellent films this year and certainly no shortage of depressing ones. The body of work in 2007 seemed plagued with all possible decrepitudes of form and dilapidations of function. Whether it be the stroke victim trapped in the cocoon of his own body in “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” Julie Christie as an aging woman who fights Alzheimer’s in “Away From Her,” or the woman in “Atonement” who must face the tragic consequences of her youthful misunderstanding, films this year skillfully embraced tragedy. And while all of these films were wonderful, and in any other year may have made the cut as one of the top 10, 2007 proved to be brimming with films worthy of year-end recognition.

Watch Daniel Day-Lewis’ transformation from young prospector to aging, crumbling millionaire with a heart as pitch as oil in “There Will Be Blood.” It is riveting from first frame, where he crushes his left foot, to last, where he sits winded and decaying in the basement of his mansion. “No Country for Old Men” is a captivating, dust-covered trail of bodies, with Josh Brolin only one step ahead. “Eastern Promises” casts Viggo Mortenson as a London gangster willing to do almost anything to climb the ranks of the Russian mob. These films are almost entirely washed out, their muted hues mirroring their bleak outlooks.

There were bright spots, happier outlooks, amidst the darkness. “Ratatoullie” is a vibrantly-colored relief, joyous and brilliantly rendered, unanimously adored by critics despite its good-hearted jabs at the noble profession. “Juno,” too, is colorful, though not only in palette. The razor-sharp dialogue and performance of Ellen Page lend a sweet, witty side to this lively picture with an indie soul.

“Once” is a refreshingly simple view of two ordinary people, and it shows you can wager nothing but still make gains. “Lars and the Real Girl” is similarly sweet, though much stranger: its people are far from ordinary, in a good way. It, too, features the body in a state of decline-though in this instance this body belongs to a life-size sex doll.

Which brings us back, not too sadly, to our washed-out world with the body in danger. “The Lives of Others,” a German masterpiece set in 1984 East Berlin is about an outspoken playwright and the loyal secret police officer who volunteers to surveil him. As the officer becomes more entrenched and involved in his subject’s life, he slowly begins to realize the folly of his own ways. Directed with a sure hand and melancholic flair by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, it is a bleak view of the entrapment of not just a body but of a voice of protest.

And if it’s voices of protest you’re looking for, check out the incredibly whiny, totally captivating real-life characters in “King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” which documents two men’s struggles to become the champions of the classic Donkey Kong arcade machine.

Small challenges also loom large for Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character in “The Lookout.” Playing a former hockey star with “Memento”-esque memory problems, Gordon-Levitt brilliantly portrays a young man’s frustrations and ambitions in the midst of a proposed bank heist he can’t quite grasp mentally.

While these 10 films represent our collective favorites of 2007, below are the individual choices each of us lobbied for unsuccessfully. These eight films represent other remarkable films that may appeal to a smaller niche audience.

Cecilia Razak’s picks

1. “Bourne Ultimatum”

“Bourne Ultimatum” is an action movie. Admitted. But perhaps it deserves more than a quick glance-though that’s really all Christopher Rouse is planning to give you. Paul Greengrass steps up for his second stint in the director’s chair and Matt Damon suits up for the third installment, but the film belongs to Rouse, an editor three “Bourne”s in the making. The quick pace, nearly disorienting flashes of visceral information, combined with the now-signature shaky-cam movements make this the best of the “Bourne”s and the best action movie to come out in a long time.

2. “3:10 to Yuma”

With a knack for composition slightly reminiscent of (if not entirely influenced by) John Ford, director James Mangold has made what Hollywood, for the last few years, seems to have given up on: a good Western. Add a little bit of composer Ennio Morricone’s music, blink and “3:10 to Yuma” becomes like the films of old (perhaps because it was a film of old? The original came out in 1957), even without Clint Eastwood. Russell Crowe and Christian Bale are outlaw and farmer, respectively, with hearts of gold. In creating a world where even the most dreaded outlaws are good, Mangold suffuses his characters in sunny light and they come out on the other side a bit the worse for wear, but with their heads and morals solidly intact, and with a film that’s just about as golden as they are.

3. “Into the Wild”

A film rooted in such abstracts as “Into the Wild” could easily become preachy and cloying. It is, after all, about idealistic young Chris McCandless, who is so disillusioned with the world that he discards all of his belongings and sets off into nature to recapture his wild roots, while trying to convince the people along his path of his enlightenment. But the movie resists its preachy possibilities and resists the temptation to generalize Chris’ plight and worldview. Instead we are met with sweeping landscape, muscular rivers, what director Sean Penn called “Nature on steroids,” and we are swept away by its grandeur, much like Chris.

Brian Stitt’s picks

1. “Lust, Caution”

Ang Lee’s follow-up to the superlatively acclaimed “Brokeback Mountain” certainly broke the spell he had cast over critics. “Lust, Caution” currently sits at 69% on rottentomatoes.com, certainly not a panning, but I still think it is remarkably underappreciated. It was very long and slowly paced, but to me was even more intriguing than David Fincher’s excellent “Zodiac” (an equally deliberate but more universally praised thriller from earlier this year). Lee’s exploration of the themes implied by the title was invigorating and the breakthrough performance by Wei Tang was brave and powerfully moving. “Lust, Caution” evokes an old Hollywood feel while staying true to its Chinese roots. Certainly not an overlooked film but a beautiful, intimate epic worthy of at least an Art Direction Oscar nod.

2. “The Darjeeling Limited”

On first glance, “The Darjeeling Limited” seems to be just another product of the Wes Anderson movie machine; intelligent characters with father issues quirk themselves through colorful backgrounds while wearing tight clothes and listening to a killer soundtrack. But Anderson really has grown as an artist, I promise. His camera makes precisely blocked moments seem candid, and his writing forms engaging conversations from obviously scripted dialogue. (To all the haters, for an explanation of his intentions, watch his MasterCard commercial on YouTube, “I’m telling you, it sounds fake.”) “The Darjeeling Limited” and its companion piece “Hotel Chevalier,” create a mournful mood, but one filled with a mature understanding about acceptance of our parent’s imperfections and the fight to rid ourselves of the baggage we inherit from them. Sure, it’s another movie about hip New Yorkers moping about their daddy problems, but its an endlessly engaging one.

3. “Knocked Up”

This summer, the public divided into two rabidly devoted groups: those who preferred “Superbad” and those who preferred “Knocked Up.” I obviously fall into the latter of the two camps but that doesn’t mean I didn’t think “Superbad” was authentic and uproarious and endearing. I just thought “Knocked Up” was all of those things, but more so, and with greater depth. The plot-girl and guy hook up, girl accidentally becomes pregnant and then they fall in love over the next nine months-sounds like a standard Hollywood rom-com, probably one starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. But Judd Apatow and crew turn it into an adorably raunchy movie so funny that laughter drowns out much of the brilliant dialogue on first viewing. And second viewing. I still haven’t heard everything Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen say during their quick back and forth referencing of “Back to the Future.”

Matt Karlan’s picks

While the films of 2007 tended to get a little serious, my favorites were those that successfully and intentionally (that’s not you Paul Haggis!) toed into the forbidden realm of melodrama.

1. “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”

I don’t care what the Chinese calendar reads, 2007 was the year of the Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Three extraordinary performances, and none as gripping as the pitiful criminal he portrays in this cautionary tale for fledgling jewelry store thieves. Octogenarian director Sidney Lumet defies age and reinvents a genre. There is profound retribution without any semblance of a happy ending; there is a cheap editing trick pervading the feature without any loss of tension; there is a lot of Marisa Tomei without any form of clothing. Give that man an award of some sort!

2. “The TV Set”

Hollywood insider Jake Kasdan not only directs but also pens this screenplay that I found even more funny, incisive and truthful than Diablo Cody’s “Juno.” David Duchovny leads as the television writer who sees his art being compromised. Sigourney Weaver is the emotionless network head that threatens to shelve his pilot unless he makes the show more broad, less niche. Would the writer rather be true to his craft and the poor husband of an expectant wife, or paid while “making the world more mediocre”? The proper decision may seem trite and obvious but, to attest to the writing (which has become so appropriate in this writer-deprived day and age), the answer grows to a surprising weight.

3. “After the Wedding”

In this Danish, Oscar-nominated film, all characters wear their concern and sorrow so openly that I began to wonder if Scandinavians greet each other by vigorously weeping. Mads Mikkelsen, the villain from “Casino Royale,” intimately embodies the humanitarian in a Bombay orphanage whose trials with love become the entangled happenings typically associated with American daytime television. Written and directed by the Dane Susanne Bier, the picture’s plot always remains more moving and novel than admittedly unrealistic. Bier also wrote and directed the drippy Halle Berry vehicle “Things We Lost In The Fire” in 2007. I would advise Susanne to stick with her native tongue. The lone film this year to move me to tears, “After the Wedding” proves the transcendence of palpable human emotion above any language barrier. (Maybe melodrama is contagious?)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Cadenza. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.