Top 10 Films SEEN in 2007 (1 of 5 parts)

I thought this would be a great way to kick off my blog. Usually, critics release their year-end Top 10 films of 2007 releases. But since I haven't seen many of the late releases of 2007 so instead, I'm gonna post the Top 10 best films I've seen this year for the first time regardless of release date. I've seen so many great films this year, it was extremely difficult to whittle down the list to a mere 10. This is in order of which I've seen them.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro

This is my favorite film of 2006. Writer-director Guillermo Del Toro's masterpiece is an adult fantasy about a young girl (Ivana Baquero) who retreats to a imaginary (?) world where she goes on an extraordinary journey that reflects her real-life coming-of-age. The juxtaposition of the horrific violence with extraordinary beauty and the innonence of childhood makes for one unique cinematic experience. (4/28)

Pickup on South Street (1953)
Directed by Samuel Fuller

During the Cold War Era of the 1950's, Hollywood has produced a number of anti-Communist propoganda films, one of them is this masterpiece from director Samuel Fuller. When a pickpocket (Richard Widmark) inadvertently steals a top secret microfilm from a young woman in a train (Jean Peters), he becomes embroiled in a tug-of-war between enemy Communist spies and the U.S. government, torn between an easy score (the Communists) and his sense of patriotism for his country. Truly an exemplary film noir and this film has since climbed near the top my favorites-of-all-time list. Widmark gives an extraordinary performance but almost stealing the whole film is character actress Thelma Ritter as an ill-fated police informant/tie saleslady. (6/24)

Overture

This is it. This is my blog.

After much pressure from certain people, I've finally created this blog for the new year. I hope to get more readers in this one. I had a blog in Myspace but I realized hardly anyone gave a shit about it so this is my attempt at a wider audience.

What can you expect from my blog? Mostly musings on cinema and pop culture. From time to time, I will comment on politics, religion, current events and various other subjects I'm interested in, but all in all, it will be mostly about cinema. Former readers of my myspace blog will be familiar with my Weekly Film Roundups where I write brief reviews of films I've seen for the week. You will not be seeing that here. Instead, I will write longer, more thought-out, more elaborate reviews and essays on film, providing my own unique perspective.

I plan to post at least one new blog a week. Here's looking forward to the new year.