2001 / Wes Anderson > The Royal Tenenbaums is ridiculous yet tactful, endearing when necessary and endlessly cathartic. It spends some time intriguingly setting up the familial landscape before falling back to let the action commence. It’s not immediately apparent that there’s anything here beyond Anderson’s peculiar directing methods until he blitzkriegs into the last third of the film. One scene after another crescendos—without pomp—into a collusive, heartwarming and/or heartbreaking whole that delivers the knockout punch. A stellar cast and spotless performances, a concise and elegant screenplay and pitch perfect cinematography contribute to a sly and wry final product that supersedes its components into the annals of film history.

2007 / Greg Mottola > Superbad is a lot of fun but, unlike the subtle brilliance that’s persisted in previous Mottola/Rogen works, childish jokes make up a bulk of its content. It straddles an awkward middle ground where it’s neither intelligent nor stupid, and while that might work for some, I found it hard to position in my list of adolescent comedies. Cera’s fine—his work on Arrested Development suits him better, but this is by no means a stretch. There are moments that are nice and cuddly yet not cheesy, which is a pleasant surprise. But ultimately, the storyline fails to stand out—as the “get laid before high school ends” plotline is anything but uncommon—and the afterglow is made less memorable by the fleeting nature of its juvenile jokes.

2006 / Barry Levinson > Immense is the level of frustration involved in watching Man of the Year. Levinson drops the balls on a premise that we’ve always joked about, packing it tightly and sweetly at the front and then quickly letting the air out of the bag until there’s nothing left in the bag. It’s a film about problems, but not solutions. It would have been impressive to actually see what a comedian does once he takes the oval office, but here the action is curtailed into an incredulous scenario which does nothing to advance the initial premise. The endgame is one that reads like an amateur parable, filled with one-sided morality and Hollywood cliche. After the wondrous Wag the Dog, this is a truly misguided film that could learn a lesson or two from Warren Beatty’s Bulworth. Skip this, watch Robin Williams: Live on Broadway instead.

2007 / Craig Brewer > The “Black Snake Moan” scene is one of the most memorable this year, but aside from that, the film is a hard nut to crack. Brewer deserves notice for trying something different, but it may just be that he’s wrapped this up in something fancy as to hide the fact that there’s nothing inside at all. Surely, the story seems to unwrap that way, where by the end, nothing much has happened, but there is something almost taunting about the film that keeps you from turning away at times. Ricci is as strong as ever, Jackson is, well, himself and Timberlake, unfortunately, really drops the ball and makes me want to erase him off his scenes. Still, with Hustle & Flow and this under his belt, Brewer might be credited with a little more praise than he deserves, but thankfully his vision remains fresh and undiluted.

2007 / Steven Soderbergh > I had such distaste for the first sequel that I had little initial inclination to see this regardless of positive word of mouth. Thankfully, I let that slide because this is arguably more satisfying overall than even the original, albeit the level of disbelief you must suspend to thoroughly enjoy it is quite inexplicable. The overall show is as sharp and sleek as ever, and the addition of a spicy Ellen Barkin adds a nice bit of spunk on top. Ultimately, the fact that the bottom doesn’t fall out of the plot in the first twenty minutes is a great reason it should survive most attention spans, if not overwhelm them.

2007 / Paul Fox > Douglas Coupland’s screenplay has a subtle charm, that much is for sure, but what’s magically missing is any substance. The film rides the coattails of capitalistic stereotypes while mixing in weak ideals of individualism. On a pure entertainment level, it doesn’t shine, and on an inspirational level, it revels in its de-motivation by taking a one-sided view of ambition backed by a ridiculous plot.

2007 / Michael Bay > It’s a not a perfect film, or even a good one. It has silly dialogue, little character development and a storyline that leaves one wanting more. But it does have: 1) Robots in Disguise™, 2) lots of awesome explosions, and 3) Megan Fox. The basic sense of childhood nostalgia that brought me to the theatres walked out fully satisfied (and this includes me yelling at the top of my lungs during many parts of the show). I do, however, feel that that any further films in the series (and unfortunately there seems to be a green light for two more) will simply water down the enjoyment gained in this first one.

2007 / Brett Ratner > One was good, two was entertaining, but against the good grace that third time’s the charm, Ratner has thrown us a curve with one of the worst films of the year. Tucker may have put forth the single most annoying performance of the year, and Chan probably just enjoyed learning the secret to horses in pornography (see end credits for further clarification). The only thing that could save us now is a guarantee that there will be no fourth installation of such idiocy.