Lists, 1/7.

"I loved I'm Not There in such a personal, fierce way that it hurt to argue about it as I did whenever the subject was broached," writes Lisa Rosman. "Suffice it say that it was the first successful music biopic ever made because it wasn't so much about Dylan as about the 60s that bore him—the state of mind that really sprawled from Guthrie's 40s to the Vietnam 70s. It was about the last time Americans thought that not only they could change but that they could love their country and still seek to change it." And she's just getting rolling - after an amazing account of a lousy night.

Tim Robey's countdown - and up - is rolling.

"It would probably be better if I posted my Favorite Movies of 2007 in 2009 or 2015," writes Jeffrey Overstreet. "Further, the more I understand about art, the more I realize that it takes years and years of looking, looking closer, and looking again before I really begin to understand the significance of a particular work. Take The Station Agent, for instance. I saw it a few years ago, and included it in my list of favorites. But now the movie has become one that I recommend in conversations almost every week." But he's drawn up a list of 25 nonetheless, topping it with Into Great Silence.

"[W]hen drawing up a set of year-end favorite repertory/revivals, I thought I'd invite other local bloggers and cinephiles to weigh in with their own picks as well," writes Brian Darr. "I saw a lot in 2007, but I didn't see everything I wanted to see, much less everything I didn't even realize I wanted to see. This compilation of lists from Frisco Bay filmgoers who generously agreed to participate is intended to remind everyone, including myself, of just how rich the options are around here for those who enjoy using the cinema screen as a portal to the past as much as they enjoy watching the newest releases."

"[M]y favorite discoveries of the year encapsulate my year in film more than anything," writes John Adair. "The greater variety offered through rentals means that the choices are more personal and more likely to connect with my own sensibilities." Among them are Danielson: A Family Movie and Requiem.

"[I]t seems to me that this has been the year in which some of the greatest film art has been desperately trying to reflect America's loss of identity," suggests Damion Clark at Queering the Apparatus. His #1: No Country for Old Men.

Jim Emerson comments on the "consensus" as reflected in the indieWIRE and Village Voice / LA Weekly polls: "Were it not for DVDs - especially DVD critics' screeners - and, to a lesser extent, On Demand distribution channels like HDNet and IFC First Take, how many of these films would have had the chance to become critical favorites outside of New York (and maybe LA) by the end of 2007?... I think I'm impressed... unless, wait a minute, the success of such films is actually further evidence of insular critical hype and inbred groupthink. No, let's not think of it that way..." In a sort of followup entry, Jim notes that Alex Ross's The Rest is Noise, "without necessarily intending to do anything so specific, also provides a welcome perspective on year-end critical/historical summaries, polls, and the illusions of meaning we sometimes try to impose upon them, without much real evidence beyond our own hunches."

In New York, David Edelstein introduces a slide show that revisits "a few of my favorite female performances of 2007 - when we photographed these actresses, we asked them to evoke those haunting, revelatory moments."

More lists from Arthur: David Katznelson, Elisa Randazzo, Joe Carducci, Farmer Dave and Jennifer Herrema.

Online listening tip. "If you've got an hour or two," suggests Nick Davis, "Radio Allegro out of British Columbia hosted a year-end wrap-up radio show with me, Modern Fabulousity, Queering the Apparatus, and the Allegrist himself, Ashley Foot."

Posted by dwhudson at January 7, 2008 5:57 AM