Jim Piper’s top films of 2007

An annual Filmworks tradition, here is board member Jim Piper’s list of the best films of the year.

1. In the Valley of Elah. Paul Haggis directs one of the subtlest anti-war films you’ll ever see.

2. No Country for Old Men. A drug deal gone bad. A valise full of money. Murder. All of these plot elements seem but metaphors for evil. Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen.

3. Away From Her. Sarah Polley directs Julie Christie as an Alzheimer’s victim and Gorden Pinset as her baffled husband.

4. God Grew Tired of Us. Director Christopher Dillon Quinn’s documentary is about the wanderings of a group of Sudanese boys sentenced to death by the renegade Sudanese government. Four make it to the United States.

5. Killer of Sheep. This ethnographic study of Watts, directed by Charles Burnett, is not about riots, drive-by murders, or rap music. Instead, the film looks at quiet desperation—you get a flat but you don’t have a spare.

6. Waitress. A pie-shop lady bakes pies to take her mind off things. Directed by Adrienne Shelly.

7. Into the Wild. Director Sean Penn tells the story of a young man who graduates from college, gives away all his money, and strikes out for Alaska.

8. The Lookout. Scott Frank directs one of the most original films noir in a long time.

9. Michael Clayton. George Clooney stars as his law firm’s “fixer.” He gets all the dirty jobs. Directed by Tony Gilroy.

10. 3:10 to Yuma. James Mangold directs an old-fashioned Western. “Man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.”

January 2008