10 Years Later: An Introduction
It’s time for us to re-evaluate 2007
I once heard someone say that the most accurate way to determine the best movie of the year is to hold the Oscars ten years later. That way, time can tell us which film stands out as the best. For some reason, this has always stuck with me. Three months after the Oscars, you might remember the winner, but it will probably be a little hard to recall at least five other movies that were nominated. Two years later, you might not be able to even name two. Time definitely affects movies. A lot of times, when people revisit movies, they might say, “It doesn’t hold up,” or “Time doesn’t help that film.” The movie might be great for the time, but it might not be able to keep up its relevancy as time passes. If a movie can pass the test of time, that’s when it’s really special.
When I’m at my local video store (yes, they still exist), my friends and I occasionally have debates about the best years in film. I recently decided to look back at what came out in 2007, and I noticed some interesting trends, including trends that are still relevant today. It’s really interesting that ten years ago, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Spider-Man 3, and Transformers were being released, and now in 2017 we have Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the second reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, and Transformers: The Last Knight premiering soon. In 2007, those three franchises were the biggest hits of the summer, and exactly ten years later we’re getting new installments. 2007 wasn’t the first time franchises dominated the year, but it was one of the biggest years for franchises up to that point in time. Since then, Hollywood has continued this trend of pushing franchises over original stories.
2007 was also the year I decided I wanted to be a filmmaker. I was 15 years old and a freshman in high school when I saw Martin Scorsese win his Oscar for The Departed at the 79th Academy Awards in February of 2007. That was the year I started watching the Oscars religiously, and I haven’t stopped. The movies that came out in 2007 were the films that were a major part of my high school years. The summer blockbusters were the ones my friends and I would discuss, because you didn’t need to be a film historian or literary fanatic to talk about how much you loved the new Harry Potter movie. My friends and I were major fans of actors like Denzel Washington, Johnny Depp, and Will Smith. The Oscar favorites like No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood were the films I watched on my own and had no one to discuss with. It was the year when I was introduced to the greatness of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright with their film Hot Fuzz, a film my older friends begged me to see so we could talk about it. Superbad was released in 2007, and it was the first R-rated movie I saw in theaters with my friends, even though the ticket taker almost threw me out when he saw I wasn’t seventeen. Some of these films I haven’t seen since 2007, and some I have watched countless times.
It’s fascinating to take a look back at the releases from 2007, because it was a year when movie stars were still ruling the industry, even though franchises were quickly starting to take over. It was a year when an actor could have a major franchise film alongside an Oscar favorite. It was a year George Clooney could release a box-office hit like Ocean’s Thirteen and an Oscar darling like Michael Clayton. Johnny Depp was releasing the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie while also starring in the Academy Award-winning horror/musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Actors ruled both the box office and the Oscars. Today, you don’t see that as much; it’s hard to dominate both the box office and the award shows.
With this 10 Years Later series, I’m diving into the films that were released in 2007, re-evaluating them as a film, talking about why they were important to audiences and myself at the time, and asking if some are still relevant today. I’ll even take requests. So, let’s start this personal journey, shall we?
First Up: Michael Clayton
