ABOUT allDAY

allDAY is the official TODAY blog, your virtual window to Studio 1A and the people who make America's favorite morning show come alive. Whether it's exchanging views with the anchors and contributors or going behind the scenes with the producers, editors, camera people and more, we'll bring you the buzz here at 30 Rock, and we hope you will make this a regular part of your online routine. We want this to be a conversation, so please respond with your comments and questions directly to the blog, and we'll do our best to post what you have to say.



TODAY's Favorite Films of 2007

Posted: Monday, January 21, 2008 10:03 AM by Dan Fleschner
Filed Under:

The Academy Award nominations came out today with, as usual, some expected results and some surprises. You can watch the announcement HERE.

In the spirit of thinking about the best movies of 2007, I decided to ask a few TODAY personalities -- including Matt, Meredith, Al, Ann and Natalie -- and staffers for favorite films of the year.

I asked them not to pick what they thought would win the Academy Award for best picture, but rather just for the one movie they'd call their "favorite" of 2007.

By my count, I saw 20 movies released in 2007. From Superbad to 3:10 to Yuma to Michael Clayton to Into the Wild to Eastern Promises and Juno, I found a lot to like in the past year (though I did not like Atonement, which I saw yesterday...I thought it was a self-conscious, tedious bore).

But my favorite movie -- the one that blew me away both as a piece of entertainment and as a work of art -- was I'm Not There, Todd Haynes's take on the lives and personalities of Bob Dylan.

A few people shared their favorites with me, and you can check out their picks after the jump. We also invite you to post your picks in the comments section below.

The variety of selections from our staff shows how interesting a year it was at the movies, and how smaller movies really resonated with audiences -- at least among our group of apparent film snobs here at 30 Rock.

Here they are:

Matt Lauer - American Gangster and The Bourne Ultimatum ("I didn't see any of the Best Picture nominees," he says)

Meredith Vieira - Ratatouille

Ann Curry - none ("I was movie-deprived in 2007," she says)

Al Roker - 3:10 to Yuma and The Great Debaters (tie)

Natalie Morales - Juno and Atonement (tie)

Some staff picks:

Don Nash - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Noah Oppenheim - The Lives of Others (released in U.S. theaters in 2007)

Steve Thode - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Sean Reis - No Country For Old Men

Ryan Osborn - Gone Baby Gone

Jennifer Long - Atonement

Matt Greenfield - Juno
Zoe Marcus - Juno

Eric Jackson - The Bourne Ultimatum
Sarah Clagett - The Bourne Ultimatum

Paul Manson - There Will Be Blood

Steve Ascher - Once

MAIN PAGE

Email this EMAIL THIS

Comments

I also saw Atonement yesterday, and I must agree  "it was a self-conscious Tedious Bore"....

ge~pa (Sent Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:14 PM)

Everybody forgot about Amazing Grace.  In my mind one of the best movies of 2007.

Jordan Leesburg, VA (Sent Tuesday, January 22, 2008 3:31 PM)

Great year for movies, favorites in order, American Gangster, There will be Blood, and No Country.  Loved the chemistry between Denzel & Russell, Daniel Day Lewis just is "mad" good! No Country - scared the bjeezes out of me even though I didn't understand the ending. (Sopranos anyone???)  For once I finally saw some of the movies that have been nominated and won't know if I'll get to see anyone win?  But do think the strike is worth what they are fighting for!  This is one fight where the times we live in prove that the writers are correct!   Just like our government, hollywood has always been a slow-moving entity...thanks.   Go Daniel Day Lewis!

Margo, Mt. Laurel, NJ (Sent Tuesday, January 22, 2008 4:01 PM)

I was so touched by Into the Wild.  The acting was superb, the music by Eddie Vedder was soulful.  The ending broke my heart, but I'd say this was my favorite of '07

Erica, Pittsburgh PA (Sent Tuesday, January 22, 2008 4:07 PM)

I must  agree with Jordan, Leesburg, Amazing Grace is a good movie, . But, no always a good movie is nominated.

rita, Manassas - Viriginia (Sent Tuesday, January 22, 2008 4:13 PM)

You could find a lot of really good movies with 1 word titles this year - Juno, Superbad, Once, Ratatouille, Enchanted, Persepolis, Waitress and that's without including a couple I haven't seen that are supposed to be good - Atonement and Sicko.

Patrick, Houston, TX (Sent Tuesday, January 22, 2008 5:00 PM)

I've seen every film nominated for Best Picture. I was not impressed with Michael Clayton, although it tells a great story of corruption in business. I really disliked There Will Be Blood, the only element that saved it was Daniel Day-Lewis's performance. Juno was one of my favorite films of the year, but I don't see it winning the Oscar. I'm completely tied between Atonement and No Country for Old Men as my favorite films of 2007. Both great and worthy of seeing in theaters while you still can. Aside from the nominations, I agree with Matt and Meridith, Ratatouille and The Bourne Ultimatum were at the top of any 2007 list, as was Into the Wild.

Stephen Varhall, Knoxville, TN (Sent Tuesday, January 22, 2008 5:01 PM)

I'm a fairy tale fanatic & this year I was taken away by "Enchanted".  Amy Adams would have been my choice for best princess .. I mean actress.  "Transformers" was another that just blew me away.  Sound effects were tremendous.

judy reynolds, west richland, wa (Sent Thursday, January 24, 2008 3:09 PM)



SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Your name, city and state (John Doe, Seattle, Wash.): 

 Your e-mail address (jdoe@msnbc.com):

Your website (it's okay if you don't have one):

Remember me? (We'll keep it private)

More allDAY

Recent Posts:

Archives:

Categories

Syndicate This Site

Add allDAY to your news reader:
live.com xml
myyahoo msn
bloglines newsgator
google

MSNBC Weblogs

More Links