RT, Metacritic Midyear Reports

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Rotten Tomatoes has compiled a Midyear Report with an '07 Best Reviewed Movies list, and the top ten are Ratatouille, Away From Her, Once, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, Sicko, The Host, Zodiac, Waitress (Waitress?) and The Lookout (really?).

The top '07 releases in Metacritic's list of All-Time Best Reviewed Films is also Ratatouille, but the second best-reviewed is Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep, and the fifth best reviewed is Jafar Panahi's Offside, "a smart comedy illustrating the fight for women's rights in Iran" which Sony Classics opened in March.

The second, third and fourth best-reviewed '07 Metacritic films are Once, Away From Her and Knocked Up.

"Ratatouille" belongs in its own category<< previous | next >>Carney's "Town House"

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 17, 2007 at 12:32 PM

comment #1

Rod32303 says ...

I thought you liked Waitress, Jeff! It is, in its own way, a totally complete film. Adrienne Shelly did herself proud, and it's the best work I think I've seen from Cheryl Hines and especially Keri Russell.

Posted by Rod32303 at July 17, 2007 1:16 PM

comment #2

jeffmcm says ...

Waitress was, to me, by far the worst movie on that list. Cruddy story, cruddy direction, annoying supporting performances. Only Russell's smile 2/3 of the way in redeemed it.

Posted by jeffmcm at July 17, 2007 1:22 PM

comment #3

DotTheEyes says ...

Zodiac is by far the best film of the year thus far, in my opinion, so I'm glad to see it on RT's list.

I just wish it had a chance in the award race. Meh...

Posted by DotTheEyes at July 17, 2007 1:23 PM

comment #4

aquaon23rd says ...

The rotten tomatoes list is just a remnant of how it calculates its score. A "pretty good" movie like Waitress can get a really high score if everybody agrees that they like it (not necessarily love it), because all Rotten Tomatoes does is give a "1" for a positive review and a "0" for a negative review. Metacritic tries to measure of intensity of feelings, so something like Killer of Sheep--which many loved--will do better.

Posted by aquaon23rd at July 17, 2007 1:44 PM

comment #5

MiraJeffAICN says ...

Haven't seen Waitress (though I plan to), but The Lookout was merely alright. It featured some fine performances but ultimately it never hooked me enough to really care. The best part about it, other than Jeff Daniels, was the opening scene set to My Morning Jacket's One Big Holiday.

Posted by MiraJeffAICN at July 17, 2007 2:00 PM

comment #6

kingofnails says ...

Does The Lives of Others and Black Book count as 06 titles? Those are two of my favorite films of the year.

Posted by kingofnails at July 17, 2007 2:19 PM

comment #7

EDouglas says ...

Look for Killer of Sheep to end up on every pretentious film critic's top 10 list much like Army of Shadows did last year because everyone knows that they haven't made a single good movie since 1970

Posted by EDouglas at July 17, 2007 5:53 PM

comment #8

Larry says ...

I must be tough to please--or maybe my taste just isn't refined enough. Because I either didn't like or found disappointing Away From Her, Once, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, The Host, Zodiac, and The Lookout.

Posted by Larry at July 17, 2007 6:57 PM

comment #9

MiraJeffAICN says ...

Yeah... I think it's just you, Larry. I don't think you need refined taste to enjoy Knocked Up. You just need a working sense of humor.

Posted by MiraJeffAICN at July 17, 2007 7:01 PM

comment #10

BurmaShave says ...

So Larry, what do you like? Also, jeffmcm, can you find any other word to describe WAITRESS besides crummy? It's getting a little tiresome after 2 months.

Posted by BurmaShave at July 17, 2007 8:33 PM

comment #11

truefaith says ...

Loved WAITRESS. Thought AWAY FROM HER was overrated. Where's NAMESAKE?????

Posted by truefaith at July 18, 2007 11:10 AM

comment #12

Rosebudsthesled says ...

I am sorry, but why the hell did Killer of Sheep get good reviews? Few films have ever provoked as much deep-seated loathing from me as that one did. It tried to be a documentary with a plot and failed miserably because the plot was unbearably dull. The scenes in the factory of sheep dying were repetitive and stupid, none of the characters had any motivation, and I left the film realizing that I had just seen the absolute worst film of all time. And you can keep Plan 9 From Outer Space or Heaven's Gate. It SHOCKS me that this movie got reviews that are good at all. Killer of Sheep is an abomination and I will be pissed off if it makes lots of top ten lists.

Posted by Rosebudsthesled at July 18, 2007 1:16 PM

comment #13

BurmaShave says ...

I think everyone, those who were over the moon, and those who weren't completely impressed, will cop to the acting in KILLER OF SHEEP being amateurish. It's understandable, considering the actors in it were amateurs.

Yet you seem to have this conception that we're trawling the depths for every unseen film to release as the next unappreciated masterpiece. Really, it's a miracle KILLER OF SHEEP has ever seen the light of day. It's such a small film, and it's heart is truly in the right place, that your cries of worst film ever are absurd. It did a lot of what David Gordon Green and others are doing now, long before its time, and it's certainly worth a viewing. It will make a great companion piece to films like GEORGE WASHINGTON when it comes to DVD.

Also, many Bothans died to ensure that PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE remains the worst film ever made, and proudly so. No one really considers HEAVEN'S GATE to be particularly awful. If you really were into film, you'd understand that.

But whatever, it's a big world. I'm glad KILLER OF SHEEP has found an audience at last. I for one found it to be a hypnotic capsule of a particular time and place, finally revealed. Truly a dream deffered.

Posted by BurmaShave at July 19, 2007 3:20 AM

comment #14