The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Holy hell, what a picture. Especially what a final act, but the whole thing was really compelling. 2007 is such a ridiculous movie year that I tentatively only put it as the fifth-best movie that year, but I could even see moving it up even though there’s a pretty impenetrable top four in the way. Right now I’d rate that year out at:
There Will Be Blood
No Country for Old Men
Michael Clayton
Zodiac
The Assassination of Jesse James
Throw in 6. Superbad as one of the best comedies of the past two decades as another part of the 2007 movie year.
4.5/5
(I’d still have tried to find a shorter movie title, but now I’ve warmed a bit to the ridiculously long one they went with.)
I think that The Dark Knight might be the best answer for me. Batman Begins is a fun super hero movie. I’ve got The Dark Knight as the best super hero movie of all time. It might be overrated if people are putting it as the #3 movie of all time, but overrated doesn’t mean not fantastic. TDK subverting superhero tropes left and right, like the Joker stealing all that money just to light it on fire, and the ferry bombs and the hostage/hostage taker swap scenarios that the hero can’t just get strong enough to punch or shoot his way out of is riveting.
I still like the original Godfather more than pt II, but I can at least grant that people can see it the other way. There’s not a chasm between them, though.
I have TGTBATU as the best western of all time, and it’s way better than the other two Dollars movies, but it’s not strictly a sequel. Not only is it the third film, but Lee Van Cleef plays different characters.
Yeah, Empire is the best Star Wars movie, but I still really enjoy ANH.
If I were to nominate some things that haven’t been mentioned, there’s Captain America and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but the gap isn’t as big with TDK. There’s also Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, but I like the former too much to say there’s a huge gap there.
If you enjoy The Room and other terrible outsider art movies, I gotta recommend Fateful Findings (2014), which is just as weird and has fewer incel vibes than The Room. Watch with a group!
That movie is goddamn amazing, and obviously another great How Did This Get Made.
Although I will say I get a bigger kick out of movies with real budgets and actors that are still bewildering, like The Lake House, Serenity, Moonfall, etc.
