10 Great Movies from 2007 that you probably missed.

Ah 2007, we barely knew ye....before now.

The original title to this hub was 10 films of 2007 thatare better than Juno & No Country for Old Men and this is a slight stretch of truth.

I have no beef with either film in the old title of this Hub. I just find it unfortunate that with all the avenues we have to get information out there, seemingly every single publication talks about and praises all the same films. Did these two films deserve all the praise they got? Probably, but what about the OTHER 114 films released last year? They can't all be SNL spinoff comedies or action movies starring wrestlers and rappers.

That's where I, your resident VIDIOT come in. My brothers buy me a Netflix subscription every year for Christmas because they know what I love and that's movies and music. (If you search the Netflix database for your favorite band or singer, you may be surprised at what you'll find.)

If you like original storytelling, it really wasn't such a bad year. Auteur Mike White's Year of the Dog with Molly Shannon was a weirdos wet dream of a movie. (I Loved It!) Rob Zombie's Halloween continued his elevation of the horror genre. King of California and Dan in Real Life were both formulaic but they were also two of the most easy-going and fun movies to sit through.

THE TOP 10 MOVIES AS PROMISED ARE:

1) LARS and the REAL GIRL

Since becoming rediscovered in Sandra Bullock vehicle "Murder by Numbers" back in 2002, Ryan Gosling has been on some kind of roll. He has done one amazing film every year since....starting with the absolutely stunning film, "The United States of Leland" 2003 with Don Cheadle. "The Notebook" 2004 was another surprisingly great film considering the cheezy DVD box that makes it look like a cheap romance novel. 2005, we were amazed by the little-seen "Stay" with Ewen MacGregor where we are constantly wondering whether Gosling's mysterious character is dead, alive or a ghost or a dream or what? "Half Nelson" garnered him his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. And now this.....

To say that this film is about a delusional young man who finds love & heartache in the form of a sex doll named Bianca that he takes around a small town (including church) pretending to talk to is like saying that Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy is about hobbits. Like all of Gosling's characters, we are hypnotically and magnetically drown to Lars. Indie stalwart actress Patricia Clarkson said she did it just to work with "the future of our profession as actors." A great film about tolerance among a hundred other things.

In case you didn't realize it yet, there is a new Affleck in town! Ben's little brother Casey is having one helluva year. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Robert Ford in the Brad Pitt western "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" which was good but needed an editor so baaaadly.

Then we come to this hauntingly real kidnap drama about what's legal and what's right. Dilemmas abound. What a solid directing debut for Ben Affleck as well. Amy Ryan was nominated for an Oscar for her role in this film as a junkie mom who goes through an emotional transformation over the course of the film. The rest of the cast is A-List as well - Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Michelle Monaghan, etc.

Bottom line is...If you liked "Mystic River", and/or watch Law and Order:SVU, you will LOVE this film!

3) BUG

I never thought I'd say this but Ashley Judd is awesome in this! This was a famous play and every leading actor in Hollywood wanted the male lead, but the legendary director William Friedkin vetoed them all in favor of Michael Shannon. Shannon, who had done Tracy Letts' play for two years straight leading up to this incredibly engaging and creepy film was of course the ONLY choice. You simply can't tell the guy who made "The Exorcist" that he's wrong about anything when it comes to horror. Harry Connick Jr. (pictured right with Judd) co-stars.

4) TALK TO ME

If you don't already know about the legendary Detroit DJ / radio personality Petey Green who calmed the masses during the race riots and fires that almost consumed the Motor City, well this is a great place to learn. You'll be blown away by Don Cheadle, Taraji P. Henson and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The scene on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson will stay with you forever. Promise. Cedric The Entertainer, Mike Epps and Martin Sheen are all great in subtle support of the three leads.

5) WAITRESS

If you have never seen Adrienne Shelly in a film then you won't be as emotional as I am when talking about her. I loved her soul which she seemed to wear on the outside of her body like...hm..oh, like Joni Mitchell.

Hal Hartley's classic Trust is when I fell in love with her. Hartley is a Long Island filmmaker who's Henry Fool, Amateur & No Such Thing have all won awards along the way was the one who discovered Adrienne Shelly. You can read about her senseless murder here but I can't talk about it.

Re: the actual film. Romantic comedy about another 'unhappily-pregnant character' except she is married and her husband is the white Ike Turner. One of the most satisfying endings in recent memory as well.

6) INTO THE WILD

Sean Penn adapts and directs one of the greatest non-fiction books of our time. John Krakouer's best selling book about the real adventures of Christopher McCandless is about personal exploration and the bounds of freedom as it relates to nature.

Read it before you rent it or you'll regret it.

John Krakauer's non-fiction book has been a huge best-seller since it's release in 1996. It is an expansion of Krakauer's 9,000-word article, "Death of an Innocent", which appeared in the January 1993 issue of Outside.

It is a 203 page paperback and you can read it in a day, easy. The cover of which (pictured right) shows an abandoned bus in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. This is the bus in which Chris lived and died in his last few months and days on this Earth.

Just like with all of life's great explorations, it's not the destination that matters, it's the journey that makes all the difference in the world. The road less traveled can be a dangerous one and true happiness must be shared.

7) AUGUST RUSH

Some movies will startle you with their ability to fly under the radar and August Rush is one of those. Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Terence Howard and Robin Williams all play a significant supporting role in this film about the incredibly talented Freddie Highmore. This kid will stun you with the things he does musically. The first time he even touches a guitar we get goosebumps.

About an orphaned young boy who unflinchingly believes that somehow, somewhere out there his parents are coming for him. When he impatiently feels the need to seek them out instead of waiting, he's all the while seeking his musical destiny as well and he does so in beautiful NYC.

8) ALPHA DOG

Both Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone are used sparingly in this great film about young guys and the consequences of acting out your teenage gangsta fantasies. Emile Hirsch and Justin Timberlake are both great here but the film is stolen by a young actor named Ben Foster.

9) BLACK SNAKE MOAN

Films like this are never appreciated in their own time but here's your chance to get on board at the ground floor. If you doubt my abilities in this capacity just know this...I saw "The Usual Suspects", "Bottle Rocket", "Office Space" and "Waiting for Guffman" IN THE THEATERS! Christina Ricci as a nymphomaniac chained to a radiator while Sam Jackson reads her the bible and tell me you're not having a good time. Justin Timberlake co-stars as Ricci's lost and feeble boyfriend.

10) BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD

Melodrama has become a dirty word in the vernacular of the modern actor. They think of Charleton Heston or William Shatner and shudder. This suspense-thriller about two brothers who botch the robbery of their own parents' jewelry store will change their perception of this word forever.

Directing Icon Sydney Lumet (Network, Dog Day Afternoon, 12 Angry Men) will make you redefine this word because he cast actors capable of delivering it as it once was and should be. Melodrama by definition means high stakes for all characters involved in any given scene. This can be most readily viewed on daily daytime soaps, where the acting is always over the top.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Amy Ryan, Michael Shannon and Albert Finney are all theater actors and therefore the only people capable of doing this kind of work without making the audfience roll their eyes. Once you get past all the succulent nudity of Tomei (for half the film) and the powerhouse intensity of Hoffman you will that the bright shining star of this film is none other than Mr. Ethan Hawke. Take everything he's done to this point, (Dead Poet's Society, Alive, Tape and Training Day) add them up and they don't equal this stunning performance.

Lumet told each of the actors to push the envelope as far as they could and that it was his job to recognize if it entered Scarface-ish cheezyness and if so, they would just do it over again. With the bar set so high all the actors took a huge leap of faith and none so far as Hawke. No more cocky smirks and pretentious monologues here, this character's life is a punching bag / trainwreck from beginning to end. I have never ever before been watching a scene with Philip Seymour Hoffman in it and thought that he was being outclassed by the other actors. He is a notorious scene stealer if anything. Not this time though. Albert Finney portayal of the father will stay with you as well. A Four Star affair.

You are now free to go directly to Netflix.

If you do decide to take my advice on any of these please come back and let me know what you thought even if you hated it. Or if you've already seen these and think they suck go ahead and let me have it, because I'll post your comments either way.