The best of 2007

by LES EVERETT

Top 10 songs

Someday by Brett Dennen - "Some day/ Some day in a cloud of grey/ I will.../ I'll make my great escape." From So Much More.

Our Song by Joe Henry - a lyrical lament. From Civilians.

Lawless Soriez by Gill Landry - a sprawling end-of-the-line ballad set off by some super trumpet by Victor Nash. From The Ballad of Lawless Soriez.

Knockin' on Heaven's Door by Antony and the Johnsons - a great song strummed to within an inch of its life by buskers and others is tenderly spine tinglingly revived by the magnificent Antony. From I'm Not There Original Soundtrack.

Hurricane Season by Kula Shaker - if Dylan had teamed up with Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore. From Strange Folk.

No Return by Brakes - the heartbreaking final track on The Beatific Visions.

Old Dan Tucker by Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band - makes you want to jump and holler. I'm not usually big on crowd participation but here it adds excitement. From Live in Dublin.

Girls in Their Summer Clothes by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. "Love's a fool's dance/ I ain't got much sense but I still got my feet." From Magic.

Can't Find the Way by Mary Gauthier - I love the atmosphere of this one including the great drumming by Jay Bellerose. From Between Daylight and Dark.

Ocean of Noise by Arcade Fire - wonderfully dramatic as is the Arcade Fire style. From Neon Bible.

Top five movies 2007

1. No Country for Old Men - I saw a lot of movies in 2007 but none that really blew me away until Anton Chigurh (Javier Barden) came along with his gas cylinder and got me right between the eyes. It was the last movie I saw in 2007.

2. Once - I could have stayed with this guy (Glen Hansard) and girl (Marketa Irglova) a lot longer.

3. Bobby - The sense of hope Bobby Kennedy generated in the USA is beautifully captured by director Emilio Estevez in this film. It's hard to imagine the younger Kennedy couldn't have helped to make the super-power, and therefore the world, a better place.

4. Control - Interest in Joy Division is not prerequisite for appreciating this bleak and beautiful film. The concert scenes are excellent and a reminder of Peter Hook's great bass lines.

5. Clubland - I don't want to sound too much like a wimp but I liked the fact the young people in this weren't drug addicts (quite a few aren't in real life too you know) while Brenda Blethyn's self-obsessed character was superbly portrayed.

Others I liked: The Lives of Others, September, Waitress, The Darjeeling Limited, Into the Wild, Delirious, Perfume: the Story of a Murderer, Lady Chatterley...and a special mention to the tense Oz flick Boxing Day that was part of the Revelation Film Festival.

Ones that gave me the shits: Inland Empire: Life's too short and precious to spend three hours with this. The Bet: Where can a movie go when the acting is this bad? The Fountain Where can a movie go with a plot this bad?

12 January 2008

If you'd like to comment on this story email us and we'll put your contribution on our new-look letters & comments page.

australianrules.com.au

dennen

Disclaimer