My picks as the best films of the year:

1. No Country for Old Men - I know almost everyone is choosing this movie as the best of the year, but it’s for a good reason. It is, as Roger Ebert put it, a perfect movie. Don’t think, just go see it.

2. Ratatouille - This was such a wonderful movie, a story about friendship that also addresses the nature of criticism and talent. I saw it twice and got a bit teary at the end both times.

3. Transformers - This is here for no other reason than it made me feel like I was 10 again, playing with my transformers. The movie itself was inane, with dialogue written by a 10-year old, and way too long, but I loved it.

4. Eastern Promises - The most intriguing film I saw this year, with an unreal performance by Viggo Mortensen (who is as far as he can get from Aragorn here). The extreme fetishist violence felt a bit out of place, but the movie as a whole was excellent.

5. Superbad - The most fun I had all year in the movies. McLovin!!

6. Michael Clayton - The only movie where at one point early on I exclaimed, out loud, “Holy shit!” Absolutely fantastic.

7. Blade Runner: The Final Cut - I know this technically isn’t a new release for 2007, but I had never seen the whole thing before and I saw it in a theater, so it counts. An incredible experience, both with the movie and the was it was presented (I saw it at the Coolidge Corner theater, one of the best independent theaters in the country).

8. Zodiac - Although it was long, Zodiac was so well done you didn’t feel its length. A great study of obsession, with just the right amount of David Fincher creepiness. 

9. 28 Weeks Later - The most intense movie I saw this year. There were a few scenes I couldn’t watch because they were just too much.

10. Waitress - This was just a really lovely movie, with a great performance by Keri Russell.

11. 3:10 to Yuma - I’m a sucker for a good western, and this was a great one, rivalling my favorite, Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. Russell Crowe gives a standout performance as the outlaw Ben Wade.

12. The Darjeeling Limited - I adored this movie. It reminded me of my own siblings, and made me wish I could go on the same type of journey with them.