The best movies of 2007

After seeing The Lookout last week (it opens this Friday), I was struck again by how good a year for movies this is shaping up to be. In only three months, I have seen at least six movies that are as good as most of what I had on my top ten list for 2006, and even many movies I haven't liked have had something interesting going on (I didn't care for 300, but it certainly has generated plenty of interesting conversations). I've always been a little wary of the seemingly arbitrary division of calendar years for ranking movies (or anything, really), especially since movies get delayed, or are released some places in one year and other places in the next, and so on. But whether it's a fluke of scheduling or luck or whatever, this year has started off incredibly strong. Noel Murray at the AV Club has the same idea, and he's mainly excited about what's to come. I'm looking forward to most of what he mentions as well. Even if the rest of the year levels off, it's still been exciting to see so much good stuff in such a traditionally dead season. In the spirit of positivity and all that, then, here are my insanely premature awards for the best in film in 2007, just to show you how much good stuff is out there right now:

Best Picture: Zodiac
Best Director: David Fincher, Zodiac
Best Actor: Chris Cooper, Breach
Best Actress: Christina Ricci, Black Snake Moan
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr., Zodiac (Jeff Daniels in The Lookout would be a strong runner-up.)
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Linney, Breach (Okay, so this is a weak one; Linney's always good, but this is a rather rote performance from her. That just means one category is wide open for the rest of the year.)
Best Screenplay: Scott Frank, The Lookout
Best Original Score: Scott Bomar, Black Snake Moan
Best Original Song: "Way Back Into Love," from Music and Lyrics (Say what you will about the movie, it's a damn good song, and an integral part of the story.)
I'd probably give more technical awards like cinematography, editing and production design to Zodiac as well, but it's kind of overkill on that one already. Seraphim Falls and The Astronaut Farmer both have excellent cinematography, though, and Breach has great production design.

The Six Best Movies of 2007
1. Zodiac
2. The Lookout
3. Breach
4. Black Snake Moan
5. The Astronaut Farmer
6. Seraphim Falls