2007 seemed like it was off to a great start. The first film I saw in theaters in January (Charlotte's Web) was the first to be added to this list; the summer film season was the best since Spider-Man and Jason Bourne gave us sequels in 2004, filling a record three spots among the top 10 of the year. The fall saw the release of one wonderful film after the other. But there was one problem. It was the last week in November and no film had yet to stand up and declare itself the absolute best of the year. But then came a film so tense, so unnerving, so lean, and so powerful that it soared passed the competition and now gladly rests at the top spot of the best films of 2007. First here are a few that didn't make the list but just as well could have, in no particular order: Rescue Dawn; The Namesake; Sherrybaby; Catch & Release; Flags of Our Fathers; Marie Antoinette; A Good Year; Unknown; Lars and the Real Girl; Fast Food Nation; Curse of the Golden Flower; Children of Men; Come Early Morning; History Boys; Last King of Scotland; Dreamgirls; Keeping Mum; Invincible; Letters from Iwo Jima; A Mighty Heart; Across the Universe; Jesus Camp; Deliver Us from Evil; Breach; The Hoax; Black Snake Moan; The Astronaut Farmer; The Proposition; Into the Wild; Driving Lessons; Zodiac; In the Land of Women; The Lookout; Lives of Others; Brooklyn Lobster; Heart of the Game; Away From Her; Sicko; Lucky You; Knocked Up; Eastern Promises; Bug; The Kingdom; After the Wedding; Once.

10. Volver- Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar has built himself up from a man making cheap trash pictures, to becoming one of the most distinctive filmmakers since Fellini. His films inhabit a special universe which is all his own, comprised of prostitutes, transvestites, homosexuals, rape, murder, incest, etc. But Almodovar is no reckless pervert as this summary might indicate. Instead he creates wonderful, absorbing, enjoyable films by making these characters feel like universal inhabitants in a unique world. We don't question their character because Almodovar doesn't either; to him they are as average as anyone else and that's all we need. Volver was compared by many to Fellini's Amarcord. It's rare for a film to get praise of such a high level, but even rarer for it to deserve it.

9. Babel- The best film from Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams), Babel tells a complex tale about how a group of seemingly random people from all around the world who are all connected to one another without knowing it, through a single rifle. The film is not heavy-handed about its narrative structure, but rather uses it to slowly build a complex web of interpersonal relationships between people who are not connected on a physical basis. The film features stunning direction and acting, and presents a powerful social message: we may be separated by age, race, language, or physical attributes, but our actions towards others are universal and can affect anyone, anywhere in the world, even without us ever knowing.

8. Diggers- The year's requisite hidden gem. Here is a film which revolves around the kinetic and tumultuous lives of a group of clam-diggers in a small harbor town in New York. We've seen films like this before, but there is something fundamentally rewarding about surrounding a viewer with a group of fully draw out characters, whose physical and moral turmoil resembles that of our own. Not only does the film provide us with a cast that we care about and observes them with warmth and care, but it captures the sometimes hopelessness and self-doubt that small town existence inflicts on a person's psyche better than anything since All the Real Girls.

7. Shut Up & Sing- Both a musical document and an infuriating analysis of a country crippled by its own ignorance, Shut Up & Sing is the best documentary of the year. Directed by respected documentarian Barbra Koppel, the film documents the Dixie Chicks' transition from the bestselling female group of all time to one of the most hated, with anger and passion; not only presenting the facts of the situation, but exposing the hypocrisies of the conservative American country music fans too. A lot of these people claim that the Chicks were unpatriotic in their comments against President Bush, but Koppel raises an important question: who is less patriotic, the country music fans for giving freedom of speech only to those whose beliefs are the same as theirs, or the Chicks for seeing a problem with the way their country is being run and questioning it?

6. Charlotte's Web- One of the greatest gifts any parent could give a child is the gift of literacy. Some of the best days of my childhood were spent between the pages of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the BFG, and of course, Charlotte's Web. The film is a wonderful family movie, which tells the simple and moving story of a girl who loves her pet pig Wilbur and a kind and gracious spider that helps save the pig from the slaughter house, without the slightest hint of self-indulgence or condescension. The great success of the film is in its respect for the source, keeping the original tale in complete focus, while bringing the lives and relationships of the characters to life with uncensored kindness and heart. It's a film that reminds us of the great power of storytelling and the even greater power of imagination.

5. Hairspray- The greatest feel good entertainment of the year. A lively, wonderful, colourful musical about the simple yet touching story of an overweight girl living in 1960s Baltimore and her journey to overcome adversity and become one of the most popular kids in town by securing a spot on the local dance/variety show. The film is a reminder of the time of innocence before America teetered on the verge of revolution. It also reminds us of the power and joy of a classic Hollywood musical spectacle, which effortlessly entertains us, moves us, reminds us of the joy of innocence, and, on top of it all, leaves us humming a catchy tune…or five.

4. The Bourne Ultimatum- The best film in the Jason Bourne series means business and doesn't take its time getting to it. The film is lean and determined, as it goes to great lengths to keep us on the edge of our seats without distraction. The film does this in part by creating a fascinating action hero who, unlike his contemporaries, is not a showoff, but a hard man who does what he has to with utter efficiency. By having no memory Bourne has no point of reference but himself and therefore does not get bogged down with the excess of typical action movie plots; his only purpose is to find his true identity and will do so at any cost. Thus, Director Paul Greengrass (United 93) does everything he can in order to make the film mimic its main character. There are no wasted moments here; no excess and no fooling around. The handheld camera, although controversial, works to put us in the excitement of the moment, knowing what it must feel like to be Bourne, making split decisions without a moment's notice. A scene in which Bourne jumps across the divide between two buildings and through a window is the best, most exciting thing in any action film this year.

3. American Gangster- A classic, epic, American crime film, but also a fascinating study in good business. Director Ridley Scott not only makes a fully complete, engaging, and suspenseful tale of a criminal's rise from obscurity to riches, and the cop trying to bust him (the thematic elements drawing from the very best qualities of the crime masterpieces by Martin Scorsese and Sidney Lumet), but also brings the heart of the story to the forefront: the business. American Gangster is not simply a genre film, but a study in how to build a successful business from the ground up; if the title character Frank Lucas hadn't been a criminal he could have been a professor of economics. Because the film concerns itself with the brilliance of Lucas' commerce, we grow to respect him despite his unhinged tendency towards violence; making the film not just a great crime picture, but a great character study in which we not only see a villain's rise to riches, but understand and appreciated the work and vividness that went into the journey every step of the way.

2. Ratatouille- I did not care more about a single character on an emotional level this year than I did for Remy the rat. Ratatouille can proudly sit on the shelf next to the great 3-D animated films of all time with Toy Story, Shrek, and the Polar Express. It is a film of vast humour, imagination, and humanity, creating a deep emotional connection to a rat who, under his idols belief that anyone can do anything with just a little love, ventures off in hopes of becoming a famous chef in Paris, and the bond he creates with a bumbling restaurant employee. But the true greatness of the film is not its humour or its animation, but in that wonderful way that it creeps up on us, making us fall so deeply in love with this rat, that we get to thinking about one of life's most impossible and poetic of paradoxes: If anything is possible for anyone then why could a rat not rise above the restriction of his species and, with the help of his human friends, become a world class chef? We can all learn a lot about human nature from Remy.

1. No Country for Old Men- Here is a film that is perfect from beginning to end. The film doesn't have one bad scene, not one wasted moment, not only falsesly delivered line, not one missed opportunity to wring every last drop of suspense out of the audience. It creates one of the most haunting and sadistic villains in screen history in Anton Chigurh, and creates unimaginable terror through atmosphere and tone. Take this masterful scene for example: Llewelyn sits at the edge of his bed in a dark hotel room; he is on the run from Chigurh after stealing a case of money from a drug deal gone bad. He has tipped the clerk in the lobby, telling him to call him if anyone else shows up. He sits in silence; he hears something; he phones the front desk; the muffled drone of the phone rings on and on without answer in the background. He hears footsteps; cut to a shot of the door, the light peering in from underneath; we see the shadow of feet stop outside the door. The unbearable tension mounts because we know who it is on the other side and what he is capable of. Llewelyn clutches his shotgun. The feet move away from the door; we wait in silence; and wait; and wait; and wait, and then BAM, violence erupts and we are left with a perfect scene. But the film is not all style and mood. It is also the sad and painful tale of a generation spinning out of control, the youth being corrupted by the violence and carelessness of the generation before them, and the melancholy and dismay that that gives the local Texas sheriff who is tracking Chigurh, and whose opening voice over is laced with so much ache and sorrow that it haunts the very depths of our humanity. And then director Joel Coen (of the infamous Coen Brothers) sidesteps the generic conventions of the thriller completely by providing us with an ending that is both poetic and lingering, leaving us with a moment of both futility and optimism. The only hope for the future is if the past influences the youngest generation before the present can corrupt them with money, power, violence and greed; the dramatic allegory and unending suspense meshing seamlessly into a complete whole. No Country for Old Men is an undisputed masterpiece; a reminder of the very reasons I go to the movies in the first place.