Reflection On “The Big Picture” 2007 Movie Draft

Looking at this reflection of “The Big Picture” 2007 Movie Draft, I have 95 movies that were released that year. Not a ton of movies this season, but still plenty of options to pick from. We can see

2022 has been a down year, but like I said, I am going deep into the past.

This is my 14th reflection on a The Big Picture’s draft. Thus far I have Chris Ryan and Sean Fennesseey are tied for the lead with Amanda Dobbins has two wins. Guest Joanna Robinson picked up the win in her celebratory appearance. Are we going to have a tiebreaker, or is Amanda going to sweep in and take it?

Now let’s head into the horror movie draft. Going into this blind, so let’s see who it transpires.

Drama

Confession time. I have not seen The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. Apologies Chris Ryan.
Gone Baby Gone knocked my socks off the first time I saw it, but I have only seen it once. Zodiac on the other hand. I have seen that multiple times, and every time I like it more. David Fincher creates a decade spanning mystery that is palpably creating unease and nervousness. The little things like using a different body for ever Zodiac killer kill are an amazing touch. this may be my favorite Robert Downey Jr. performance, and Jake Gyllenhaal is steps up to the plate along side him and portrays a different type of obsession.
Sean Fennessey draws first blood and goes up 1-0.

COmedy/Horror

Chris Ryan is in a bad spot. I haven’t seen Walk Hard: A Dewey Cox Story either. I am putting him behind the eight ball.
Not going to lie to you readers. This was an easy choice. While Knocked Up is a fine watch, it does not have the re-watchability factor that Hot Fuzz has. That aspect combined with the fact that I think Hot Fuzz is just a better movie.
The “loading up” scene in Hot Fuzz is all-time. And I still remember the jumping fences bit really well.
DId you know that Hot Fuzz has cameos from Peter Jackson and Cate Blanchett?
Sean Fennessey jumps out to a 2-0 lead over Chris and Amanda.

Oscar Winner

Holy shit, what an absolutely stacked category. Absolutely stuffed. Sean gets his baby in There Will Be Blood. Chris gets his ethos with No Country For Old Men, and Amanda sneaks up with an all-time sleeper pick in Michael Clayton. Each of these movies have iconic moments and fantastic characters.
To the chagrin of Sean, I am going with Chris. No Country For Old Men has one of the most iconic bad guys in movies I have ever seen, and that gets it over the finish line. This is as close as it gets. There Will Be Blood is Daniel Day Lewis at possibly his peak, but overall…but still. It also can not go unsaid that Michael Clayton is a very good movie, and its ending is remarkable. Whoof that ending.
This is maybe the most stacked category in my Big Picture draft reflections.
Chris Ryan gets his first point. He is trailing Sean 2-1.

Sequel

Another trio of good movies. This draft is treating all the participants well. No bad viewings here.
I recently rewatched 28 Weeks Later and had a very good time. Still scary, but nothing compared to the original 28 Days Later. Ocean’s 13 is a return to form for the franchise after the disappointing Ocean’s 12. Is that a hot take? I don’t know, I don’t think so.
The Bourne Ultimatum is so good, and the ending is fucking great. I have rewatched that music coming in while the television news cast is blaring over the TVs. It is a remarkable conclusion. The action is insane throughout. This is just a great third part to a very fun trilogy.
Chris Ryan, sticking true to his guns, gets the vote with The Bourne Ultimatum. Ryan is now tied with Sean 2-2. Amanda still looking for her first.

BLOCKBUSTER (100 MILLION OR MORE DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE)

I am not picking Transformers. Sorry Sean. While the first movie is the best one, it is still not very good. It’s best part is Megan Fox, and yes, that is because I was in high school when I saw this movie.
Chris Ryan is on a roll because I am going with Superbad. Why? Because Superbad is fucking hilarious. It still holds up. I remember when I first saw this movie. I was traveling with a baseball team and my dad was with me. We did a team outing to see Superbad with the kids in one area and the parents in the other. It was a crazy theater with a ton of laughs. I remember thinking “what the hell is my dad going to think”, but he enjoyed the movie. I think he tried to get my mom to watch it, but she was like “nope.”
Chris Ryan wins his third straight category. He is cooking with gas! He has a 3-2 lead over Sean. Amanda can just play spoiler.

WILD CARD

The final category…the Wild Card category…is a dud. I have not seen Sunshine or I’m Not There. Therefore, it is going to Sean.
Death Proof is Sean’s choice, and you are telling me we can get Quentin Tarantino in wild card? Even if Death Proof is not your cup of tea, Death Proof is still damn entertaining. It is still fantastically written. Death Proof proves that Tarantino is fool proof.
It appears that we have a tie. Sean, winning this category by default, gets three votes and Chris Ryan has three. Apologies to Amanda Dobbins. I really like Michael Clayton. I enjoyed Gone Baby Gone, Knocked Up, Ocean’s 13 and Ratatouille…but just not as much.

So we are down to Sean Fennessey and Chris Ryan. Much like I had to do with the Horror Movie draft recap, we go through the list and compare those two. And with those ru;les. this is a pretty easy decision.

Sean Fennessey wins the 2007 Move Draft because I have seen all of his movies. It is a bit by default. It takes the fun out of it. The movies that Chris Ryan picked that i have seen are amazing, but the list as a whole…I have to objectively pick the list that I know more about.

I get this result. I get it. If I were a more educated movie watcher and had the time to watch everything, I think I would be on the same page.

	STANKO PICKS (All Movies Eligible)	STANKO PICKS (No TBP Movies)
Drama	No Country For Old Men	Eastern Promises
Comedy/Horror	Superbad	30 Days Of Night
Oscar Winner	There Will Be Blood	Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sequel	The Bourne Ultimatum	Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
Blockbuster	300	300
Wild Card	Eastern Promises	The Bridge To Terabithia

HONORABLE MENTIONS: 3:10 To Yuma, American Gangster, Blades Of Glory, Disturbia, Shooter, Smokin’ Aces, The Mist

Drama

I have already spoken about how good No Country For Old Men Is, and i think I would love it even more now that I have read the book. Yea, I am a nerdy book guy. I just want to watch Javier Bardem terrorize people again.
Have you seen Eastern Promises? This movie is absolutely gnarly! I don’t care if that is strange word choice. It is the only word I can think to describe how insane this movie is. Viggo Mortensen literally bares all in in Oscar nominated performance. Director David Cronenberg creates an atmosphere around the Russian mob that is both intoxicatingly fascinating and dangerously addictive. Eastern Promises is awesome. Check it out.

Comedy/Horror

Superbad is an all-time comedy classic. If I don’t pick, I would be lying to myself. Still quotable to this day and will be forever and always.
I am a sucker for a great premise. Based on a three-issue horror comic book miniseries written by Steve Niles, 30 Days Of Night hooked me and sank its teeth into the me the first time I saw it. Yea, terrible writing, very punny. I listened to the book on Audible lately and it is very good. But back to the movie. 30 Days Of Night fits perfectly into the mid 2000s horror lexicon in terms of its style, but it is slightly elevated from the classic horror remakes. Anytime we can get Ben Foster being an imprisoned harbinger of doom, then count me in.

Oscar Winner

I mean, have you seen There Will Be Blood? Holds up like fine wine. Also is has the whole “afterbirth” bit and the “drinking of a milkshakes” where you can not look away from the pure evil and mesmerizing acting ability happening on screen. What a beautiful movie about a capitalistic monster.
I got fucked with this. Looking at all of the Oscar winners from the 2008 ceremony, all of the movies I have seen that won were already selected by Sean, Chris or Amanda. So the last movie I had left of the winners that I have seen is Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. This movie was fine, I don’t have a ton of good memories about it. I remember thinking the premise was incredibly strange.

Sequel

Watch the ending to The Bourne Ultimatum and tell me that isn’t one of the best needle drops in an action movie. It is perfect. Screw it, I am going to put it here.

I am going to get in the hopper for this, but Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix is my favorite Harry Potter by quite a bit. It was the first time the action drew me in, and the way Sirius Black died was really well done. This movie has more entertaining parts in it than the first three combined, and for sure part six and the first part of seven. I will pay respect to it here, because I can not pick 28 Weeks Later which would have gotten my vote.

BLOCKBUSTER (100 MILLION OR MORE DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE)

I can only resist the urge to deep impact on one’s chest for so long. When 300 came out in theaters, every single male in my universe suddenly wanted to become a Spartan warrior and just scream toward the heavens. THIS IS SPARTA became a mantra screamed in the hallways. This is when Zack Snyder’s slo-mo could woo anyone into thinking special effects were the shit. I do not care if 300 is good or not, or if you like it or not, because 300 for me is still an all-time pump-up fight the asshole invaders masterpiece. Inject visual steroids into my retinas and let me rampage in my mind as I am wielding a spear through the heavens.

WILD CARD

As I wrote above, Eastern Promises is not what you expect. You will not expect what is coming at the end. It is a fantastic ending the forces the audience to reconcile whether or not you agree with the character Nikolai’s (Viggo Mortensen) decision.
I had a major debate with this spot. I had many movies that I could tell a story too, but I am going with The Bridge To Terabithia. Why? Because there is absolutely no reason this movie should go as hard as it does. This is a kids movie for christ’s sake, and I was crying like I just had just seen my pet put down. I remember watching this movie on a plane and I had tears coming out my eye balls thicker than the clouds we were flying through. If you need to cry, watch The Bridge To Terabitthia. And besides the emotion, it is just a good movie as well.

Sean Fennessey – 6 Wins
Chris Ryan – 5 Wins
Amanda Dobbins – 2 Win
Joanna Robinson – 1 Win

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