The Strike is over.  Woe is me.

Of course I am glad that the writer’s strike has finally ended, after all, I really need new episodes of The Office as much of LOST as I can get this year (13 episodes).  It’s good news for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.  Both of those programs struggled without a writing staff and understandably so.  But it was a different story over at NBC and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.  Conan may have had the only show on television that actually got funnier without writers.

It should come as no shock to anyone that the worst parts of Late Night have always been written.  Jokes are hit or miss.  Always have been and always will be.  Conan’s first night back with his writers showed that particular television law to remain unbroken.  The “Conologue” was back with its usual variable quality.  I don’t know that I should say that Late Night has bad writers, but the show’s writers certainly write bad jokes.

If only we could go back to the glory days of the strike.  It couldn’t have been more amusing that an entire segment of the first show back with writers was taken up by a montage of moments from when the show did not have writers.  It will take more than a year for a Late Night with writers to build up as many laugh out loud moments as that sole month contained.   But at least Conan’s strike stretch ended on a high note, with him finally beating his record ring spin using teflon and a MIT physics professor.

It started last week with “The Beginning of the End” and continues tonight with the second episode of an eight episode reserve that survived the writer’s strike. The powers that be ( “Darlton” ) seem to have taken a different approach when kicking off this, their fourth, season. Past years begin with mind-blowing BANGS! Just look back to the pilot, “Man of Science, Man of Faith” with Jack entering the infamous Hatch, and “A Tale of Two Cities” with our introduction to the Others. One thing is for sure, each opener established the plot and tone for its season, so expect the same to come from BotE. These “rescuers”, whoever they are, and the division of the lostaways into the JACK PACK and the LOCKE FLOCK will no doubt resonate throughout this season…or however much of this season we get.

Thankfully, things are looking better on the writer’s strike front. Could we be getting good news within a week? As it stands, it is probably too late to salvage the full season, but we just might get a few more episodes and a good finale out of this. That’s IF things go well and the whole strike is called of very soon. In the meantime, I’ll be savoring every second of LOST I get.

Introduction

The year 2007 was the strongest year for film that I’ve witnessed since movies became a small hobby of mine. I’m not sure when I began reading about film on the internet, but I do recall racing home from my first viewing of The Fellowship of the Ring to see what the message boards were saying about it. I had no expectations going in, no prior knowledge, and the experience was so great that I had to seek out others to discuss it with. I think that was the beginning, as best as I can recall, and since then I’ve been following film with greater interest each year. This interest of mine reached a peak in 2007, only I hope that it continues to climb. Not only did I see more films in 2007 than I believe I have ever seen before (65), I saw more new releases and had more theater viewings than ever before. There are two reasons for this, I think. Firstly, as I said before, my interest has been building over the years, and this is simply the highest that it has yet reached. But also, this was a good movie year. A very good year for film. And when you have a good year, you can’t help but see more movies.

2007 was the first year during this period that a single “franchise” film has not stood out to me as one of the best of the year. For a few years it was LOTR, then Spidey 2, Batman Begins, and Casino Royale. There isn’t a single film I would refer to as a “franchise” film in my top ten. That’s a bit of a surprise. I saw 8 of them. Is it because of the strength of other films or the weakness of the franchises? I’d say both. Not that there are not franchise films from 2007 worth viewing, but none rose above the pack for me. So you’ll notice a lack of the type of film that you might usually associate with a very high spot on my end of the year lists.

I’ll get to my top ten list a little later (a list that is and probably will continue to be in flux), but right now I’m going to give out a couple of “awards.” A few distinctions that I thought I would make. I’ll pick my favorite “franchise” film of the year, my favorite comedy, and my favorite animated film. So…

FRANCHISE FILM OF THE YEAR (2007)
Winner: THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
Hon. Mentions: Live Free or Die Hard, The Simpsons Movie, TMNT

I’m not a huge Bourne fan. I don’t have anything against the films, not even that shaky cam. But it is hard for me to deny that the third and supposedly final installment of the film series was the best franchise film of the year. It’s a tense, intelligent thriller that puts to shame nearly every other action movie released this year. It’s the best, but not my favorite. My heart really lies with my three honorable mentions in this category. None of these three are great movies, but they are solid enough and represented their respective franchises with honor. The biggest similarity between these three, is the adversity that each faced on the road to release. Live Free or Die Hard was a high-number sequel to one of the best action films of all time, saddled with the age of an old franchise and a rating no one was pleased with. The Simpsons Movie was only a decade too late. Even though the show is still airing, the glory days are long behind us and nearly everyone agreed that the best time for this movie was 10 years ago. Few believed the staff still had it in them to give us a good Simpsons tale. And TMNT, a stab at the revitalization of a once believed, long gone franchise. Whether the film succeeded in sparking more interest in the series is still unknown, but it was certainly a favorable entry into a franchise that hadn’t had a good film in 17 years.

ANIMATED FILM OF THE YEAR (2007)
Winner: RATATOUILLE
Hon. Mentions: The Simpsons Movie, TMNT

I have no problem admitting that I probably haven’t seen all of the animated fare I should have in 2007, but there is still no excuse to not recognize Pixar’s latest cinematic achievement. The animation in Ratatouille is breathtaking, but the glorious pictures are rivaled by the quality of writing and voice acting to bring this picture to life. I’ll get back to this film later, so I won’t dwadle. It was truly a thrill this summer to see Springfield and its denizens brought to life on the big screen for the first time in The Simpsons Movie. TMNT also produced some stirring visuals, particularly in bringing amazing, kinetic motion to the mutant turtles in a way fans had never seen before. The heroes moved so fluidly, in a way that I had imagined in my head for decades.

COMEDY OF THE YEAR (2007)
Winner: SUPERBAD
Hon. Mentions: Hot Fuzz, Knocked Up, The Simpsons Movie

Comedies are forever the red-headed step-children of the cinematic world. Dramas will always dominate when it comes to end of the year accolades it seems. But no matter, I saw several comedies this year and enjoyed many of them tremendously. Top of the list, without a doubt, is Superbad. This was a film so funny I had to see it twice before it left theaters. Honestly, it has been a long time since I have laughed this much during any film. In giving out this distinction, I’m going for pure hilarity, and Superbad brought it more than anyone else. That doesn’t mean that they were not other successes this year, however. Hot Fuzz, Knocked Up, and The Simpsons Movie all brought an above average number of smiles to my face. I commend each of them.

One month into the new year. I’ve seen eight films for the first time, experienced two theater viewings, and caught my first 2008 release. It’s been a strong month, dominated, as usual, by the prior year rather than the present. My sole ’08 viewing was Cloverfield, an unusual, but strong, entry into the monster-attacks-city genre. Coming out of the movie, my only complaint was the nausea.

’50s: 1

’70s: 1

’90s: 2

’00s: 4

Aside from seeing a couple of classics like Schindler’s List and Young Frankenstein, the biggest addition to my movie database was my introduction to Akira Kurosawa. His Seven Samurai was the first of his filmography that I have sampled. While no doubt a solid film, I’m still struggling to rate it. It is one of those I nearly find impossible to rate. However, I will say that I enjoyed it and look forward to seeing more of the Japanese legend’s work.

Rewatches: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (’01), This is Spinal Tap (’84), TMNT (’07)