Best Film @ MindSay

Last night I saw a film that utterly and brutally got to me: The Messenger (2009/I). It was so well done.

Basically, it is about a Sergeant and a Captain assigned to personally deliver the news of fallen soldiers to their families. In the film, they said that during Vietnam, families were notified of their sons' death through a telegram.  In this day and age, why not an email or a telephone call?  Every "delivery" was a stunning revelation of human behavior. 

Steve Buscemi plays the father of one of the soldiers who has died. His reaction is unexpected and intolerable. This may be a spoiler, but, I'll say it anyway: he does not go away. He comes back later in the film and wow.

In the preview, it seems like this may be a romance between Ben Foster and Samantha Morton. It should have been developed that way possibly, or not promoted as a romance, and maybe more of a bromance between Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster.  One of my friends thought that this was completely deceitful.  However, if Hollywood is able to overlook that this film is semi-related to the Iraqi War, then maybe, just maybe it could be a contender for Best Picture.  Maybe some of the actors will be nominated.  It IS a longshot.  However, the quality completely exceeds any misconceptions I had about the movie.

On a personal duty, my brother did two tours in Iraq, and volunteered for a third.  Everytime my mother called during those two years (approximately), I would be jumpy. And she called a lot! I can just imagine getting the news and being as destroyed and incredulous as some of the people in the movie. At least two of the women in the movie screamed their guts out upon finding that their sons or husbands had been killed.

It's highly recommended.  However, if you don't like emotional dramas, this is not for you.  I can say that I haven't loved any other of the Iraqi war movies.  I liked Lions for Lambs, but it did not do well at the box office, and Tom Cruise gets on my nerves. The Kingdom wasn't that great, with the exception of a few performances. Grace is Gone was a tad boring, kind of alright, but definitely not to die for.  

However, this film isn't about the Iraqi War, per se. It's just about humans.  The movie has the perfect imbalance of humor and drama.  From the beginning, it's a tearjerker.   When it finally lets up, and I mean finally, there is a scene or two of intense humor.   I have to say the ending might be a letdown, however, I have already explained that Ben Foster and Samantha Morton's relationship is not the focus.

See it or don't.  If the Academy ends up nominating it, take their word and not mine.

I'm gonna do this in two parts, mainly because it's easier. So without further ado, here goes:

Best Film

There's been some cracking films over the past year, that's for sure. For me, the year started off on a high with Smokin' Aces, and then continued onwards with Sunshine, Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, The Simpsons Movie, Transformers etc etc.

However, my favourite movie of the year, and one which I feel is very deserving of the title "Best Film of 2007", is 300. After watching Sin City, and then hearing that 300 was being adapted, I started to get very interested in the film, and thankfully it didn't disappoint in the slightest, though it could've done with being a bit less bronzed. Regardless, it's one of those films which should win an Oscar, but won't.

Best Game

Again, this catagory's been jam packed. Guitar Hero III, Halo 3, Forza 2, God of War 2, Final Fantasy XII, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and lots more. In fact, I could possibly write an entire blog entry about this catagory alone, but I won't.

At the end of the day, my decision is pretty much tied between two simply fantastic games: Super Mario Galaxy on Wii, and BioShock on Xbox 360, and as I can't decide between the two, they're both winning it as a joint award. Super Mario Galaxy wins it because it is quite easily the best platforming game I have ever played, and successfully got me hooked onto Mario platformers (I was always a Sonic kid prior to Galaxy). BioShock..well..it's just very atmospheric, and a game that I'm not wanting to touch again until I get my HD telly. After playing it downstairs in the summer, I don't want to go back to crappy Standard Definition :(

Best Gig

Muse, no question. OK, so the supports were 2/3 good (The Streets being the only exception), but when Muse hit the stage, it was undoubtedly brilliant. What made it even better was that Mena came with me to see them, and I even managed to get my Dad into them, if only for a day.

2007 wasn't a great year for gigging (I only saw three bands, excluding supports), but out of those three, Muse @ Wembley wins by a colossal cake walk.

Best Album

Now this one's going to be a killer. Trying to remember albums that were released in a specific year is something I don't do very well, but I'm going to give this a go.

If I was going to award this based on debut albums alone, I'd go with Take to the Skies by Enter Shikari, but I'm not, mainly because that would be unfair on other bands, and there have been some good albums this year. Allow me to quickly list a few:

Funeral for a Friend - Tales Don't Tell Themselves
Hard-Fi - Once Upon a Time in the West
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
InMe - Daydream Anonymous
Atreyu - Lead Sails Paper Anchor
Newton Faulkner -  Hand Built by Robots

The list could go on for some time, but I'm here to mention the best album of 2007, and it's this: The Shadow Line, by Story One. It sucks that the album never charted, as it rightfully should've done, and it sucks further that their record label went bust after the album came out, but it doesn't change the fact that The Shadow Line is the best album I've heard all year, and was well worth the wait, in my opinion.

Key tracks are Trebuchet, Done and Dusted, AM 180, and Uncharted, but every track on the album is a killer, and there's not a dull track on the album. As if you don't need enough reasons to buy it, it's also very cheap, with most places selling it around the £7 mark. Buy it, play it, love it.

Come back tomorrow, when I'll be naming and shaming, with The Worst of 2007.
-=Gavvie=-