Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Color me impressed! So far, the third movie held the benchmark for the series (a fun mystery, fantastic camerawork, and the series' first turn toward the darker aspects of its story) but I think this one might just have it beat. It's certainly darker (tell me the opening doesn't remind you of 28 Days Later), moodier (Voldemort is finally starting the feel like the Sauron-esque boogeyman that everyone says he is), and much more subtly paced. Sure, it loses a lot of the fun that the earlier entries have, but in its place are a genuinely powerful performance by Radcliffe as Potter, a deliciously forboding atmosphere, and the feeling that all the chess pieces are really sliding into place for the series' big finale. Wonderful stuff!

9 out of 10.

Transformers (2007)

Two hours of explosive, nerd-happy action. Honestly a movie like this doesn't need to be anything more than 140 minutes of Godzilla-bots beating the crap out of eachother. Mission accomplished.

9 out of 10.

Ocean's 13 (2007)

While it's certainly more original than the first of this trilogy (being that the first was a remake to begin with), it's still not quite as good, though infinitely better than the dull 2nd film. It's fun to see such a high profile bunch of actors getting together to Rat-Pack-it-up once again, though it's too bad Julia Roberts couldn't make the show, but I suppose Scarface is a decent sub. Fun plot, fun characters (again), and generally fun people having a fun time. I guess what I'm saying is it was fun. And with so many numbers still available... Lets just hope they stop before Ocean's 31.

8 out of 10.

Evan Almighty (2007)

Even having gotten in free, I wanted my money back. Sanctimonious, pseudo-Christian-tailored-to-be-market -friendly BS from start to finish. At least it looks like Sykes and Carell were having a good time. Everyone else was on auto-pilot, including Morgan Freeman cashing in a check as God. This movie would've been a lot better if everyone had drowned like the trailer promised they would.

2 out of 10.

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

A fantastic example of a completely missed opportunity, this B-Movie tries to be an A-List summer tent pole, and just collapses in on itself in the process despite its awesome title. Best parts of the movie are the bits the internet wrote for it in the lead-up. Superfluous nudity and graphic violence doesn't serve the movie, and actually only unbalances it. It's a good thing Sam Jackson's career is as bulletproof as Chris Walken's, I doubt we'll hear from anyone else in the movie ever again. Except maybe Anthony Anderson... I'm sure the movie world breathes a sigh of relief at that revelation.

3 out of 10.

Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End (2007)

Probably one of the better threequels to come along in a lengthy span. Packed to the 9's with your above-average assortment of Big Summer Movie action scenes that mostly deliver, special effects good enough to make you forget they're fake, and a cast of eccentric actors who bring it all to their characters. Surprisingly, also has one of the most satisfying love story conclusions I've seen in a mega-budget movie in quite some time. The biggest problem is that it has simply too much plot, even if it all mostly makes sense. Feels like some of the "who are these people really" revelations should've been put into the 2nd film to lighten the load a bit. Still great fun. Nice to see that guitar-playing pirate lord in there. Damn near steals the movie, he does.

8 out of 10.

The Last King of Scotland (2006)

A good movie wrapped around an astonishing performance by Forest Whitaker as Ugandan dictator Edi Amin. As much as the rest of the movie is excellent to watch, it's all completely blown out by Whitaker. Even poor Mr. Tumnus from Narnia, here moonlighting as a womanizing doctor, just can't keep his own. The film itself is a fascinating character study of a man many consider among the most evil of our time, portraying the brutality and also the idealism of Amin while adhering to the framework of a slow-burn thriller. It all works wonders to put you in a state of unease and uncertainty. Most everything here ranges from good to great, but it's Whitaker more than anything else that drives this movie.

8 out of 10.

Knocked Up (2007)

For being a comedy from the writer/director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, one of the funniest films of recent years, this is a remarkably good drama, and a damn fine comedy too. To be fair, it's not hard to be dramatic in a film about accidental pregnancy, but putting together such a heartfelt, believable, and quirky romance alongside such gloriously foul humor takes some serious know-how. The blame for such sterling results rests with its exceptional cast, including Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd. But it's really Katherine Heigl's film, and every bit of her in this film is a brilliant bit of radiance. While Rogan and Rudd (and a good number of others) provide the laughs, Heigl provides the emotional heart with a frank and sometimes embarrassing honesty unusual in a genre that thrives on dick-and-fart jokes. Actually—and it's almost a flaw—the film works better as a drama than it does as a comedy. While the laughs are hearty, the emotional evolution and journey is the more interesting and developed side of the film. It can cause a problem of expectation clashing with reality throughout its entire length, but the serious business of childbirth is given enough of a smile to make it a complete package. It's a foulmouthed wheelbarrow full of cleverly low-brow humor, with an honest love story at its core.

9 out of 10.