Last year was an excellent year for American cinema.  A phrase rarely uttered, but entirely deserved by the year of 2007.  There were at least four or five films that each could have taken Best Picture honors at the Academy Awards if released in another year.  What is good for the film industry makes a critic’s job all the more difficult.  That’s not a bad thing.  So, without further adieu, here are TMA’s picks for the best films of 2007.

10. Once – A lasting relationship flourishes out of a common interest in music.  Director John Carney relies on simple but masterfully crafted songs to tell this familiar but inspiring story of love and hope. Minimalistic, intimate, powerful.

9. Ratatouille – Brad Bird, and the folks at Pixar have done it again.  Ratatouille follows the life of an aspiring gourmet, French chef.  He must overcome endless obstacles, most notably, the fact that he’s a rat.  The animation is mind-blowing, but doesn’t overpower the charming story.  Inspirational and funny.  A winning combination.

8. Michael Clayton - George  Clooney stars as a “fix-it” lawyer in this smart, but predictable law-thriller.  Clooney is good as the clean-up man, but Tom Wilkinson is great as his clean-up project.  Wilkinson plays an all-star attorney that decides to stand up and fly right (somewhat deliriously), thus becoming a liability to the firm.  Tony Gilroy’s excellent script is expertly acted producing fascinating and entertaining results.

7. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead -Sidney Lumet returns to form as he directs Kelly Masterson’s superb script.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman gives a commanding performance leading a dysfuntional New York family into a foredoomed heist resulting in untold tragedies.

6. Into The Wild – Sean Penn finds his voice as he directs Emile Hirsch’s brilliant performance in this non-fiction, rite-of-passage picture.  Based on the life of traveler, and freedom-seeker, Chris McCandless, Penn show great care and love for his subject as he artfully tells our sympathetic hero’s tragic tale.

5. Juno – Diablo Cody pours her soul into this smart, hilarious, and heartfelt teenage-pregnancy story.  Cody takes great care not to take sides on this touchy issue letting the events unfold naturally and realistically.  Ellen Page steals the show making it hard to imagine anyone else in the title role.

4. The Savages – Tamara Jenkins finally unleashes a fitting follow-up to the brilliant “Slums of Beverly Hills” (1998).  Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are mesmerizing as bickering siblings fighting over how to take care of their ailing father (Philip Bosco).  Bosco’s performance is endearing, painful, and absolutely masterful.

3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Julian Schnabel’s touching biopic of Jean-Dominique Bauby, famous editor of the French magazine, ELLE, is a breathtaking glimpse into the mind of a paralyzed genius.  Capable only of communicating with the blink of an eye, Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) enraptures us with his silent sarcasm, sense of humor, and endless wit.  Schnabel allows us to be sympathetic while still mindful of our protagonist’s considerable flaws.

2. There Will Be Blood - Daniel Day-Lewis is not human.  He is a chameleon.  His portrayal of increasingly evil Texas oil tycoon, Daniel Plainview, is utterly astonishing.   Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s THERE WILL BE BLOOD is a masterly, unflinching examination of a consummately evil man. Daniel Plainview (via a transcendent performance by the great Daniel Day-Lewis) is, as he likes to remind those around him, an oil man: he finds it, he drills for it, and he… Director Paul Thomas Anderson wisely steps back and allows the story to unravel naturally, and sometimes violently, in the hands of Day-Lewis.  This flick came within a hair of making our top slot for best film of the year.

1. No Country For Old Men - The Coens amazingly manage to surpass their timeless “Fargo” (1996) with this triumph of American cinema.  Cormac McCarthy’s acclaimed novel jumps off the screen in the hands of the two-headed director that is the Coens.  They took a great risk in leaving this film nearly void of music.  The gamble pays off, and the silence creates unbearable tension.  Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin are exceptional in this Texas cat and mouse thriller.  Javier Bardem turns in the performance of his life as the amoral assassin, Anton Chigurh, an emotionless, impossibly evil villain that is destined to go down as one of the most notorious antagonists in silver-screen history.