If you’re one of our more regular visitors to the site and have been checking us out since the early days, then you’ll know our love for lists. MarBelle and I have already dedicated a post to the list earlier in the year, when I wrote about a book dedicated to filmic lists (Faber and Faber’s Ten Bad Dates with De Niro: A Book of Alternative Movie Lists) and MarBelle went on to tell us about the BFI organized event Listmania at the London Film festival, where people were invited to submit their hand picked filmic lists to the gathered masses.

For every year I’ve known MarBelle, there has always been a Films of the Year list, whether this was discussed over beer in a public house somewhere, emailed to a select list of family and friends or scribbled down on a scrap of paper in a competitive manner. Well last year we’d decided it was time to share these lists with you guys and we posted them on this very website, which certainly made interesting reading (for me at least!). Year after year it would seem there would always be similarities in the lists, as well as many a surprise. Last year myself, MarBelle & Miss D all agreed on including Hidden (Michael Haneke) and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Park Chan Wook) in our top tens and then hopefully threw up a couple of surprises that we and you didn’t expect or maybe haven’t even seen or heard of.

To start off with a bit of a moan, personally I struggled with my list this year! I don’t know whether it is was because I didn’t feel the films released this year were up to the quality I’ve seen in previous years or just because a lot of the best films didn’t get released in my area; cinemas in Luton only release the mainstream films, so I have to travel to see the more independent off-track films, although I’m sure I’ve moaned about this many times on Directors Notes before!). For example, one film I was sure I would love and would be included on my Top Ten for this year was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (which would also be included in my top ten list of longest film titles EVER!), however the film never came to Luton and alas I didn’t get to London to watch it. To be totally honest, I could have made a top ten list of the films I really wanted to see this year, but missed since they didn’t come to my area - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Control, 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 days, The Counterfeiters, Into the Wild, Two Days in Paris, The Ghosts of Cite Soleil - ok not quite 10.

Moaning aside, I did see some good film this year and here’s my top ten:

1. The Lives of Others - Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
Even though The Lives of Others was receiving glowing praise from all around the globe, for some reason I wasn’t looking forward to it with great anticipation. I don’t know whether my preconceptions of a film about East Berlin in the 1980’s got the better of me, but I wasn’t expecting to like this film that much and maybe that’s why it’s my number 1 for 2007. This debut from writer / director Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck is a beautifully crafted, powerful political drama relying on strong performances and exceptional character development. The writing from Von Donnersmarck is superb, he has constructed a story that builds with tension throughout its 2 hour plus running time and stays with you long after the film has ended. The film really was a complete joy to watch from beginning to end and I don’t remember ever being as impressed with a performance in a foreign language as I was with Ulrich Mühe’s captivating turn.

Watch the Trailer

2. Hallam Foe - David Mackenzie
Sometimes you know you’re going to like a film from its title sequence and this was definitely the case after watching David Shrigley’s opening for Hallam Foe, which instantly set the tone and feel for the next 94 minutes. David Mackenzie’s film manages to be darkly funny, tragically sad and always entertaining throughout its running time and with one of the performances of the year from young Jamie Bell, it is a great advert for British talent.

Watch the Trailer

3. Rescue Dawn - Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog has long been known as a well respected, if unpredictable director of ‘Art House’ movies, but with his latest outing Rescue Dawn, we see him create a film that is arguably much more accessible to a mainstream audience, yet still contains flashes of his directorial genius. Taking the subject of his 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Herzog turns the true story of Dieter Dangler’s escape from a Prisoner of War camp, during the Vietnam war, into a tense drama of one man’s determined struggle to make his way home from a war zone. Herzog has always been known for putting his cast & crew through some extreme situations (the most notable being Fitzcarraldo where a full scale ship was transported through the jungle - no CGI or special effects involved!) and Rescue Dawn was no exception. Not only do actors Christian Bale, Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies slim down to shocking effect, but in the lead role we see Christian Bale catch a snake and then bite into it, stuff handfuls of maggots into his mouth and have huge leeches attached to his body. Herzog encourages great performances from his actors, especially Bale and his tale is told in a low key but realistic manner, which only adds to the believability of this dramatic retelling of true events. Although many may argue that Rescue Dawn doesn’t have the same kind of impact or even artistic value as Herzog’s earlier ‘Art House’ work, I still believe he has created one of the films of the year and I still believe Herzog is a director like none other out there.

Watch the Trailer

4. Tell No One - Guillaume Canet
With his second feature film, young French director and actor Guillaume Canet (you might remember him as Étienne in Danny Boyle’s The Beach) has taken American author Harlan Coben’s novel and turned into a tense French thriller of almost Hitchcockian qualities. With the sudden disappearance of his wife Margot, Alex’s life is turned upside down and 8 years later, still haunted by his loss, events take a surprising turn when we find out Margot may still be alive. Doing what many American thrillers fail to do, Canet’s film is a true rollercoaster ride that keeps us guessing until the very end. What set this film apart from many recent thrillers, is that although it speeds along at a relentless pace and is full of action, we still get plenty of character development and personally I was willing Alex along throughout the movie.

Watch the Trailer

5. This is England - Shane Meadows
Shane Meadows’ last film Dead Man’s Shoes is in my opinion one of the best British films of recent times, so obviously I was expecting a lot from one of Britian’s finest filmmaking talents with his latest film This is England. However, it is not just the talented director that makes this film such an enjoyable watch, the acting is near perfect and in particular performances from Thomas Turgoose as 12yr old Shaun and Stephen Graham as unstable gang member Combo, are an absolute pleasure to watch. What I loved most about this film was how it really takes the viewer through a range of emotions, one moment you’re laughing along with the characters and seeing a side of Skinheads that’s rarely portrayed and next you’re on the edge of your seat as you can feel the violent nature of certain gang members begin to bubble through the surface. It’s great to see such a talented British director creating films which are distinctively British and hugely enjoyable, especially when they’re as personal as This is England.

Watch the Trailer

6. Eastern Promises - David Cronenberg
I was never a big Cronenberg fan for most of his career, his horror films never really did anything for me and it was only a couple of years ago with A History of Violence, that I finally found a Cronenberg I really enjoyed. Carrying on from the look and feel of his previous film, Eastern Promises delivers another gritty, no holds barred story featuring another outstanding performance from Viggo Mortensen. The director paints a vivid impression of the London underworld and all to often his vision of London feels almost shockingly real, yet it is this reality that gives the film it’s real edge and it’s this realism that made me love this film so much.

Watch the Trailer

7. The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson
Lets face it, I don’t think Wes Anderson has it in him to make a bad film and although The Darjeeling Limited isn’t my favourite Anderson film, it’s certainly a unique one. As usual, it’s the attention to detail that makes Anderson’s films so likeable, the sets and costumes are beautifully crafted and coordinated, the flowing cinematography is an absolute pleasure to watch (especially one shot which tracks along train carriages filled with different character from the film) and as always the ecletic mix of songs on the soundtrack beautifully compliments his well constructed film.

Watch the Trailer

8. Sunshine - Danny Boyle
Throughout the year, we’ve seen Hollywood churn out numerous science fiction ‘epics’, from Transformers to the Fantastic Four, yet, in my opinion none of them came close to Danny Boyle’s stunning Sunshine. Made at a fraction of the cost of most science fiction films, Boyle’s dark tale of a journey to the heart of the sun is right up there with the sci-fi classics (Alien, 2001, Solaris, etc). With effects and visuals better than most coming out of Hollywood, Boyle really has created an awe inspiring, jaw droppingly beautiful piece of science fiction, with imagery like nothing you have seen before. Although the narrative is a bit familiar to the sci-fi genre (a mission to save our dying Earth), the acting is good, characters well developed and those visuals, my god those visuals!

Watch the Trailer

9. Earth - Alastair Fothergill
Although not groundbreaking in the field of the documentary, Fothergill’s Earth is in no other words, visually stunning to watch on the big screen. The narrative flow for this documentary is somewhat loose and at times needs a good shove along to keep it moving, however, I found the footage so mesmerizing and fascinating that these narrative frailties, along with Patrick Stewart’s occasionally annoying voice-over, never got in the way of my entertainment. I won’t say any more about this film, as I think I said it all in a post earlier this year.

Watch the Trailer

10. The Science of Sleep - Michel Gondry
Although slightly disappointed with the narrative of Michel Gondry’s fourth feature (if you count Block Party), how can you not love a film that includes cardboard cityscapes, a patchwork horse and people with massive hands. Watching Gondry’s film is almost like regressing into your childhood imagination and although the film’s structure has no real shape, its dreamlike quality means you can wander off and let your imagination loose. The Science of Sleep just had to be somewhere in my top ten for sheer creativity and filmmaking talent, we need more people like Gondry in the industry to push the boundaries of cinema and remind us all of the magic of film.

Watch the Trailer

Those were my cinematic highlights of 2007, with Lust, Caution, Be Kind Rewind, The Dark Night, Funny Games, Semi Pro, Sweeney Todd, No Country for Old Men, There Will be Blood, Juno, The Savages and much more already scheduled for release in 2008, it’s going to be a good year.

• MarBelle 2007 Top Ten
• Miss D 2007 Top Ten
• Filmstock #8
• Mercy - Candida Scott Knight
• LFF07: The Top Ten of Top Tens

As a Lutonian and a devoted film fanatic, I rarely get excited about the choice of films I get to view in my hometown. However, once a year I get 11 days to get truly excited about, the Filmstock festival. For those of you that don’t know what Filmstock is…shame on you!

But Fear not, here’s a brief history. Neil Fox and Justin Doherty, another couple of Lutonians with a great passion for the movies, conceived Filmstock in 1999. However, instead of moaning and whinging about the lack of decent films to watch in Luton, Neil and Justin actually did something about it and the first Filmstock began in the summer of 2000. Over the 8 years Filmstock has been running, there have been visits from legends such as Barry Norman and Ray Harryhausen, preview screenings from Christopher Nolan and Jason Reitman, as well as lots of special screenings (Jaws in the Pool, Romeo + Juliet in a candlelight church). This year’s Filmstock has moved back from the summer months and into the first couple of weeks of November, I mean who remembers Guy Fawkes anyway. As usual, the Fox and Doherty collaboration has outdone itself with what’s on offer to the film loving public:

• 94 shorts from nearly 20 different countries
• Polskistock – Filmstock embraces Luton’s ever expanding Polish community with a collection of films fresh from Poland
• Filmschlock –Filmstockers unite and discuss the worst films to ever grace the big screen
• Le Voyage dans la Lune –A night where live music meets film
• An Endurance session of extreme cinema
• A collection of Experimental films
• Documentaries both Short and Feature length

Over the 11 days I took in as much Filmstock as possible, instead of giving you a round up and review of the events, here’s my festival diary:

Day 13
As a bit of research (yeah I’m getting all professional and serious about my postings now!) I went down to one of Neil & Justin’s Filmelab events, to hear them talk about setting up and running Filmstock (and also got the added bonus off watching Julien Temple’s excellent The Future is Unwritten – hopefully you’ve already read that post though). Neil’s the one to take the stage tonight and it’s obvious within 5 minutes how much he truly loves films, The Clash and films about The Clash. I think the most important thing Neil gets across tonight is that although they put a lot effort into conducting Filmstock, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to put on similar events ourselves. Instead of asking others to screen particular films, why not put on a screening yourself? He’s got a good point!

Day 1
Filmstock 8 has now begun! The bar is buzzing, a lot of mingling is going down and everyone is talking about films. Awesome!I leave my mark on the Filmstock wall, which I’m pretty proud of.

I pick up my pass, say hello to Neil and Justin and sample a couple of beers from the full stocked bar. I turned down my ticket to the opening film tonight, as I’ve already seen Robert Rodriguez’s ready made cult classic Planet Terror, I enjoyed it and it seems to go down very well with the Filmstock audience. Since Filmstock has not only a selection of world films, but a fine selection of world beers, I feel it also my duty to sample these along with the films…well it’d be rude not to!

Beerwatch –Punk IPA (had to be done for the name and label) & Lone Star

Day 2
I start my 2^nd day at Filmstock with short films and live music, in my eyes an almost perfect combination. La Voyage Dans la Lune is a night of engaging visuals and intriguing music featuring the likes of “Don’t Move, Play Dead!”, Creeping Jaw Society and DJ Engram. In particular, the music of “Don’t Move, Play Dead!” [MarBelle: band member Ginger John has long been a friend of Directors Notes and in fact provides the theme music for the show. He's still bloody great though!] really hits the right notes tonight, they play haunting melodies over a twisting, looping short film. The tunes keep coming through the night, as do an array of visuals, the people seem happy.

Anyone who knows me will know my love for short movies and every year the short film programme at Filmstock is something I really look forward to. The first session of shorts gets us off to a good start, the quality of the films is high, but to me one movie really stands out head and shoulders above the rest:

La Desgracia Ilega En Sabres Papel Madera – A quirky little short from Argentina, that for many reasons reminds me of Amelie, in both style and story. Director Andy Feldman delivers the story of Hernan, a boy with an irrepressible need to pull a silly face every time a camera is near, with great panache and bags of laughs. Even from the moment I saw the title sequence, I knew I was going to really enjoy this film and I did.

There were some other good films in the session and in particular Hello my Name is struck a few good notes with me, shot in crisp black and white and with a funny little story, it’s worth a watch.

Beerwatch – Sierra Nevada Wheat Beer & Sierra Nevada Pale Ale –Decided to work up from the bottom of the list. Lets see how long that lasts though!

Day 3
Unfortunately, this is the one day of Filmstock I don’t make! As it’s one of the 2 main short film days, I’m pretty gutted. Had a couple of friends go to the sessions, so I talk with them later in the day. They say the day was a real success, saw lots of films and the beer was flowing. In particular everyone seems to be raving about short film Hooded, hopefully it’ll win an audience award and I’ll get to see it again Sunday.

Day 4
Ok, so yesterday I obviously didn’t see any films, none at all! Today I make up for that with a couple of short film sessions, again the quality is really good. Not everyone hits the mark, but the when they do, they really hit hard.

English Language (with English Subtitles) definitely gets the El Vez award for film of the day. Tim Plester writes, directs and stars in this tenderly offbeat comedy about love and communication or lack thereof. As an actor Plester is hugely watchable as Mulligan (a typically English man), with a lack of dialogue from his character throughout the film, he still manages to convey a full range of emotions and makes Mulligan a truly believable character. As a Director, he flicks between styles and mediums with ease, effortlessly switching from sharp black and white images used dominantly throughout the film, to rich, warm tones of super 8 home movies. It’s as a writer though where Plester really makes his mark and the real star of this movie is his ingenious use of subtitles.

A crazy tale of boring jobs, deadly insects and masturbation at work makes Sucker - Keir Black an entertaining watch. The story is definitely the biggest attraction of this twisted short, as we come to find out how a jaded car park attendant wakes up with a strangers finger in his mouth.

Beerwatch – Blackened Voodoo (what a name!)

Day 5
There’s only one thing that can spoil a film festival right on my doorstep….WORK! So over the next five days I’m not only going to attempt to squeeze in films after I’ve finished my day job at 5pm, but also a bit of film watching in my lunch break. Taking advantage of my first lunch break of the week, I head down to Filmstock to watch the first half of Statysci/Extras - Michal Kwiecinski. As the film is repeated Thursday lunch time, if I stretch my lunch a little I should be able to see it in two instalments, not ideal viewing, but better than missing it. The first half of the film is very intriguing, as we get to see how a Chinese film crew, shooting a movie in Poland deals with a totally different culture and misjudged impressions of a nation. Definitely looking forward to the next half.

The evening brings us a Filmelab (Film Education for Luton and Bedfordshire) event called Past-Caring, a time travel trilogy made by young people as part of the First Light Movies scheme. Unfortunately, I don’t make it down for the event, which is a shame as I thought it was a good idea and would have liked to support the event.

Beerwatch – None (didn’t know if a beer on my lunch break was a good idea, looking back now I think it would have been!)

Day 6
From the moment I started writing this diary, I decided I was going to be honest and to be honest; I’m not a massive fan of experimental cinema. I like my boundaries and preconceptions to be pushed and challenged, however I also need something to keep my interest from waiving. A lot of the films in the Filmstock experimental session tonight were very well made, but not many managed to hold my attention for their full duration. I know the point of these films is to experiment with the form of film and as art their aim is to provoke a reaction from their audience (whether that reaction is positive or negative), however I felt too many of the films were too random and wandering for my tastes. Canidae –Chapter 1 - Robin Van Rijn [MarBelle: Robin joined us for an interview in EP 026] however, was one film I did enjoy on a visual level, the mix of images combined effectively and along with a hypnotic soundtrack, it managed to entrance me for its 25 minute duration. On the other hand, the last film in the session seemed almost as if it was made to test my patience, over at least a dozen points I thought the film was going to end, however, the false endings kept coming and my interest in the film was totally gone. I rarely walk out of a film before it ends, however with the start of the Endurance session looming I left the last film playing with the lonely street sweeping poet mumbling on about a paedophile puppet.

I knew the Endurance session was going to make for an interesting night and I always believed over the years I had exposed myself to some of the extremer moments of cinema…I was wrong! I arrived at the screening to find it already three quarters full, however I managed to find myself a nice coffin sized space to lay on the floor…did I forget to mention this session involved laying on our backs watching the films projected on the ceiling? After getting myself reasonably comfortable, I tried to get my brain adjusted to my new viewing angle and settled in for some family fun.

Film 1: We Fuck Alone - Gasper Noe – The pounding heartbeat and strobe effects of Noe’s film is so disorientating, it’s almost like someone has slipped something into my drink. It’s a full on assault of the senses and the barrage of masturbatory images makes this a pretty extreme start to the endurance session.

In between the first and second film Justin warns people about texting whilst the films are on. I wonder to myself exactly what these people are texting during the film:

CANT TALK! LAYING ON MY BACK WATCHING A GUY WNK ON THE CEILING! LOL!

Film 2: Cantata in C Major - Ronnie Cramer – It’s nice to see a submitted film in the Endurance session and Cramer’s idea is a good one. Using scenes of screaming from classic movies, he builds a ‘scream opera’ which builds to a crescendo over 11 minutes. Too be honest I was a little disappointed with the film though, I felt the editing could have been snappier and the screaming could have been at more consistent level, instead of the peaks and troughs it hits through the movie. It definitely could have been a more extreme experience, but top marks for the experimentation Mr Cramer.

Film 3: The Right Side of My Brain (Richard Kern) – A black and white piece of experimental/extreme cinema from the eighties, Kern’s film wanders through its female leads internal monologue as we experience her love/hate relationship with sex. Personally, I connected with this film least out of all those on show tonight, I found the structure too lose for my liking and the imagery wasn’t anything I found inspiring either. It did feature Henry Rollins though, which is always a good thing (He’s a liar, yeah he’s a liar!)

Film 4: Haze - Shinya Tsukamoto –We follow the story of a man who wakes confined to a tiny concrete room, he has a life threatening stomach injury and no idea where he is or how to get out. A film of intense horror and paralysing claustrophobia, this is certainly a film that can push its audience to its limits. This is definitely the right film to watch lying in a dark cold room on your back! One particular scene involving a rusted pipe had me shuddering on the floor. A lot of the audience left after Haze, I wasn’t sure if this was a reaction to the film, or just because they were so disorientated from the experience, they just forgot there was still one film left.

Film 5: Aftermath - Nacho Cerda – In regards to subject matter, this is definitely the most extreme film of the bunch. Dealing with the life of a morgue employee and his particular work related perversions, if you’re looking at extreme cinema and how the viewer will react, then a film with necrophilia and dogs eating human organs is a good choice. However, if you look past the subject of this film, it is a well made piece. With a slow pace that’s quite unusual in extreme cinema, it exhibits the work of a filmmaker confident with his subject matter.

Beerwatch – Charles Wells Banana Bread Beer (Banana bread and Beer - two of my favourite things!)

Day 7
For the start of the evening I decided to actually miss the screening of Mojave Phone Booth and head to my local Cineworld. Paris Je T’aime was playing as a one of the Art Wednesday screenings and I’d been wanting to see it for a long time. When I got down there I found out the screening was cancelled, that’ll teach me for abandoning my local film festival. Lesson learnt!

The night of Day 7 featured a double bill of documentaries focusing on some of the unseen lifestyles of modern day China. Beijing Bubbles focused on the struggles of wannabe punk rock musicians, as they try to live out the ultimate dream of becoming the next rock n roll superstars. Although funny in places, I found it hard to really like the film as I didn’t particularly care for the subjects. Their desire to become the next Jim Morrison or Sid Vicious made me sympathetic to them, as I felt it was a dream they would never fulfil. At the same time, I also felt a little angry with them and wanted to give them a shake and shout “go out and find your own identity!” I suppose everyone needs to have dreams though and I think I probably shared a lot of theirs when I was younger, that last comment was probably the old man in me coming out. The film was fairly well made though, had a certain punk ethic to its creation and the cameras were always in the right place at the right time to pick up all the best action. I found the second part of the double bill Women at the Wheel a lot more likeable, not that I didn’t like the first part, I just related and connected to this film more. Throughout this documentary we follow the lives of female taxis drivers in Xian, a medium sized town in China. Unlike in Beijing Bubbles where some of the attempting rock stars chose to live a life of poverty to chase their dream, in Fang Yu’s film these women cab drivers work long hours and at times put their lives at risk, just to make enough money to survive. I found throughout the film, I really cared about the subjects of this documentary; their jobs were not glamorous, at times it was dangerous, yet they all seemed to have come to terms with their situations as they knew it was necessary to support their families. The positive spin they seemed to find in their life and their glass half full approach was something I really found inspiring and this is definitely a film to make you glad for what you have. The film making again was nothing spectacular, however, the filmmakers got us very close to our subjects and it almost felt at times we were living their lives with them. The thing I enjoyed most about the films tonight and the thing I often enjoy about documentaries is that a lot of the time we get a glimpse of a life/world we may never get to see if it wasn’t for these films.

Beerwatch –Sun Lik, Sleeman Honey Brown Lager & Three Hearts Stockholm fine Festival (I was thirsty tonight!)

Day 8
My plan was to watch the second half of Statysci/Extras on my lunch break today. Unfortunately, this never happened! My lunch break slowly dissolved away sorting problems at my computer…as it often does. I guess I may never find out how this little Polish gem of a film finishes. If anyone out there knows, get in touch.

“These are the journals of Kenneth Maya: artist and psychotropic man.”

Absentia is another cinematic treasure the boys at Filmstock have managed to uncover. This science fiction puppetry epic is definitely one of a kind, produced on a budget of £5,000 over a two year period, it really is a marvel to behold. The story follows reclusive artist Kenneth Maya on an inward journey as we are taken to the depths of the human soul and beyond. I was totally stunned by this film, the array of materials used to create the film and the level of detail was amazing and in particular the use of videoed human mouths overlaid on the puppets, worked to great effect. However, this film wasn’t just an aesthetic pleasure for me, the story and dialogue was like a cross between a Chris Morris sketch, an episode of The Mighty Boosh, a David Lynch script, a Pink Floyd album and the film Innerspace on Acid. At times hilarious, often disorientating, always original, it was great to watch a film where the story challenged its viewers so much. If you get a chance to see this film, take it, you may never see anything like it again!

Filmschlock is an event that’s been running at the festival for the last 2 years and is back once again this year due to public demand. The bar area is full of people waiting with great anticipation for a night that celebrates all that is rotten in cinema, as Justin says “if you’re here for anything except Schlock, you’re in the wrong place, this isn’t the award winning films”. The night plays out with great humour and the audience really joins in with the spirit of Filmschlock, people are shouting at the screen, busting ribs with laughter and are generally amazed by the level of cinema on show. Tonight we get to witness R.Kelly in a closet, Hulk Hogan in speedos, Predator Island and The Horrible Doctor Bones, it’s so bad it’s almost good, but not quite. It’s good to see a Film Festival that’s not afraid to have a bit of fun and really a night like this should be inspiring to all the filmmakers out there. If films like this are getting made, there is hope for us all.

Beerwatch –Brok, Zbur (A good Polish double)

Day 9

After a week of watch