Movie writer Bob Longino's Top 10 of 2007

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Movie writer Bob Longino's Top 10 of 2007

TOP 10 OF 2007 Longino's year-end movies

A violent, nerve-wracking Coen brothers drama, the pounding conclusion to the "Bourne" trilogy and a cute, computer-animated rat stoke my list for the best movies of the year. 1. "No Country for Old Men" - A haunting, vibrant, violent drama in the best tradition of the Coen brothers. Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin are good. Javier Bardem is amazing. And the dog ... You gotta see the dog.

2. "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" - A challenging, enthralling French film about a real-life magazine editor who, after a massive stroke, is paralyzed everywhere except in his left eye. I know, it sounds unwatchable. But it's as mesmerizing as it is devastating.

3. "Atonement" - Director Joe Wright has followed one good English drama ("Pride & Prejudice") with a great English drama. Based on Ian McEwen's World War II era novel, "Atonement" throbs with the pangs of love found and lost. Plus, young supporting star Saoirse Ronan is the find of the year.

4. "There Will Be Blood" - Daniel Day-Lewis barrels through director Paul Thomas Anderson's turn-of-the-20th-century drama, eating up everyone in sight with an oil baron character so finely realized there's no doubt he deserves Oscar's top acting prize. (Expected to arrive in metro Atlanta on Jan. 11).

5. "The Bourne Ultimatum" - Director Paul Greengrass' you-are-there approach elevates this third installment in the fine action spy trilogy to must-see status. And star Matt Damon does more with few words than just about anybody.

6. "Knocked Up" - There was nothing funnier in 2007, nothing more in tune with modern young-adult sensibilities and nothing that gave as much hope in the midst of an unwanted pregnancy.

7. "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" - A prime example of an insensitive studio - namely Warner Bros. - gutting the chances of its own, remarkable drama because the movie's artistry is a tough sell to mainstream audiences. The film may be long but it earns every second. And Casey Affleck's performance is genius.

8. "Lars and the Real Girl" - You may not think you want to see a movie about a grown man and his life-size female doll (far right) but it's a near-perfect fable sold on light-hearted charm and the ever-amazing acting talent of Ryan Gosling (second from right). (Actors Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer are also pictured.)

9. "Gone Baby Gone" - Maybe Ben Affleck can't act, but he can sure direct as he proves with this gripping tale of child abduction in the mean streets of Boston. Brother Casey Affleck makes a suitable lead, and supporting star Amy Ryan delivers the film's performance payoff.

10. "Ratatouille" - It's not just a happy, watchable computer-animated film with a rat from Pixar. It contains perhaps the supreme moment on film for 2007 - the sense memory that erupts when uppity food critic Anton Ego (voiced by Peter O'Toole) tastes the title dish.

1/10

A violent, nerve-wracking Coen brothers drama, the pounding conclusion to the "Bourne" trilogy and a cute, computer-animated rat stoke my list for the best movies of the year. 1. "No Country for Old Men" - A haunting, vibrant, violent drama in the best tradition of the Coen brothers. Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin are good. Javier Bardem is amazing. And the dog ... You gotta see the dog.

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