Halftime Report '07: Cinema is Alive!

Usually around this time of year, I'm pretty blah on the fare released in the last six months. The second half tends to be better, what with studios saving their loftier fare for Oscar season, Cannes films finally seeing the light of day (unless they win the Palme d'Or, in which case they invariably take a year to hit Philly) and the combination of January dumping grounds and two months of financially burdened summer fare. So color me a sheepish optimist, because I think 2007 So Far has been pretty fucking amazing.

Hell, I don't even mind ordering the list so far:

01. Zodiac
02. Regular Lovers
03. Grindhouse
04. Knocked Up
05. Offside
06. Black Book
07. The Host
08. Woman on the Beach
09. Hot Fuzz
10. Bamako

Simply in terms of arbitrary grade ranking, that's eight (8) films I've given an A- or higher. And two (2) I've given higher than an A-. I wish most years were this good, let alone the first half of most years.

Of course, if you want to be a stickler, a number of those debuted -- internationally speaking at festivals or in other countries -- last year. That would mean stricking from the list nos. 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10.

Altogether now: Yeesh. But don't fret, because a "pure" list -- released for absolutely the first time anywhere in the last six months -- would be if not as tasty, still pretty tasty. Like so:

01. Zodiac
02. Grindhouse
03. Knocked Up
04. Hot Fuzz
05. 28 Weeks Later
06. Black Snake Moan
07. Ratatouille
08. Tick Tock Lullaby
09. Vacancy
10. In the Shadow of the Moon

I can get happily behind all of those. And keep in mind I have yet to see the following: Alexandra; Boarding Gate; 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days; Go Go Tales; Joshua; The Man From London; A Mighty Heart; My Blueberry Nights; No Country For Old Men; Paranoid Park; Sicko; Silent Light; or QT's expanded version of Death Proof.

Bring on Half the Second in my opinion.