best of 2007: best foreign language film, best animated film
The Oscars are barrelling down on us -- the ceremony is this coming Sunday, February 24 -- so it’s time to close out Movie Year 2007. Between today and tomorrow, I’ll share with you my own picks for the bests of the year, plus my predictions for Oscar night.
After the jump, the top 5 best foreign-language films and best animated films of 2007.
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BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
1. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: When a Paris journalist suffers a stroke and finds himself unable to move any part of his body but one eyelid, he discovers the meaning of life. Strange but true... actually true, based on the real story of the editor of French Vogue.
2. The Kite Runner: Childhood traumas are echoed in the cultural tragedy of the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in this all-around heartbreaking film. [buy at Amazon]
3. Lust, Caution: Can espionage cross a line into colloboration? This is a daring tale of the Japanese occupation of China in World War II, and one woman’s double life as a rebel. [buy at Amazon]
4. The Host: Korean horror done up as both family drama and political satire... and it features one of the coolest monsters you’ll ever see onscreen. [buy at Amazon]
5. The Orphanage: Is the old Spanish house haunted by the ghosts of the orphans who once lived there, and do they have something to do with the disappearance of a little boy? Cree-pee. [preorder at Amazon]
BEST ANIMATED FILM
1. Ratatouille: A delightful exhortation to follow your dreams to whatever crazy place they take you, even if you are a rat. [buy at Amazon]
2. Persepolis: A girlhood in progressive Tehran is interrupted by the Islamic Revolution, but this strikingly animated film reminds us that there’s no place like home, no matter how tough things get.
3. Meet the Robinsons: All families are weird, but few are as weird as this one, in the best way possible. Here’s the rare film that manages to be heartwarming and hilarious at the same time. [buy at Amazon]
4. The Simpsons Movie: It can’t sustain its mania, but the first half of the film is as grand a slam-bang array of pop cultural commentary as the show has ever produced for the small screen. [buy at Amazon]
5. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters: Too bizarre for words, this is stream-of-consciousness weirdness taken to the Nth degree. [buy at Amazon]
(Technorati tags: Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Kite Runner, Lust Caution, Host, Orphanage, Ratatouille, Persepolis, Meet the Robinsons, Simpsons Movie, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters)
