Now that I've given you my 10 favorite movies of the past year, it's time to start a list for 2007. I'll be much more organized this year.

Well, I'll number my quick-reviews.

And, I'll add reviews of close friends, including one I got today from my buddy K. I'll see about getting T to add to this thread, if he'd like.

Not sure why I've been in a movie-watching mood, but I have. I particularly love movies that cause me to think about my place in life, my goals, my aspirations, etc.

Perhaps that's why I've always appreciated sports and music movies, in which the athlete or artist is struggling to succeed or express. One such movie, an IFC flick, starred Matt Dillon as the alter ego of Charles Bukowski, a famous writer and an infamous drunk.

No. 1 (for 2007) The movie is called Factotum, and it was directed by Bent Hamer.

My understanding is that this guy Hamer is a Norwegian, whose films have typically been light and happy. Or perhaps it was that I had read that Norwegian films were generally sweet and fluffy. At least, my understanding is that they typically were not dark.

Factotum, which as a word I believe refers to a person -- particularly a servant -- who does a little bit of everything, such as odd jobs, is supremely dark.

However, it's not a dark comedy. It's just dark and desperate, the innerworkings of Dillon's Henry Chianaski (pronounced Juh-nah-skee) and his attempt to get any job that will allow him to do what he loves: write and drink and drink and smoke and write and drink.

Henry picks up a couple of lovers along the way, in the form of actresses Lili Taylor and Marisa Tomei. They're like Henry except they don't have an intellectual side. They merely survive on drink and sex.

At one point, Dillon's character -- who grows paunchier and ruddier throughout -- offers this soliloquy on the merit of trying. He says something to the effect of, "if you're going to try, then really, really try."

After watching the movie, I wasn't sure if he was expressing sorrow at his own wasted efforts or if he was proclaiming success at developing the self-destructive life he wanted. Bukowski is a cult icon, sure; however, I can only relate to his desire to pursue his art, his craft.

Hell, I can appreciate his love of fine booze and skanky women, too. Nonetheless, my level of ambition and my ability to minimize my own self-destructive habits separate the image I have of myself and the one held by Dillon in Factotum.

In other words, I'd have to judge the movie itself as opposed to how well I relate to Chianaski.

And, in that regard, the movie was pretty dismal. Lots of good dialogue and some memorable quotes, but I thought the film moved like troops marching in quicksand. I'd gladly watch it with a friend interested in Bukowski, but I doubt I'd sit through this again on my own.

Props though to Dillon who was quite good in this. Sean Penn was the director's first choice, but frankly I preferred Dillon.

Grade: C+

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No. 2 Zach Braff stars in The Last Kiss, a remake of an Italian movie that was called L'Ultimo Bacio. The gist of the film centers on Braff's desire to alleviate boredom by stepping out on his pregnant girlfriend.

Braff plays Michael, and Michael is hooked up with Jenna, played Jacinda Barrett. She's essentially the perfect girlfriend. Easy on the eyes. Easy on the wallet. Low-maintenance. Easy on the ego and the nerves, contrasted by Marley Shelton who plays Arianna, who ass-whips husband Casey Affleck (Chris) into leaving her.

Nevertheless, Jenna is what 80 percent of men would call the perfect girlfriend. At a wedding, Michael starts talking with a young U of Wisconsin co-ed named Kim (played by Rachel Bilson).

The conversation leads to a nightmare for Braff's character, one that he wholly deserves.

However, this relationship is parallel to one between Blythe Danner and Tom Wilkinson, who play Jenna's parents. The role is sort of reversed between the older couple and the younger couple, and much of the dialogue early in the movie foreshadows what happens in retrospect.

The only other worthwhile, meaningful subplot in this Paul Haggis-written movie (he wrote Crash) is the one between Chris and Arianna. They're married, and she can't keep herself from any opportunity to grate Chris' last nerve or to choke his ego to death.

I genuinely feel sorry for Affleck's character and appreciate greatly what he did. He left.

Audiences will be able to sympathize with Affleck's character primarily, I think, because he's good enough not to play along with Braff and his indiscretions. However, Affleck's performance itself was notable.

I'm not a big Braff fan, but I enjoyed "Garden State," and I loved this movie. I thought about it this morning, and I equate the final scene of "The Last Kiss" to the scene in Say Anything where Lloyd serenades Diane with Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes."

It was that good. The way the movie ended and worked itself out was smart, charming, desperate and melancholy all at the same time. In no way did I sympathize with Michael, but as a viewer, I was willing to accept whatever Jenna was willing to decide.

However, the movie wasn't perfect and suffered from a number of unnecessary scenes and, frankly, characters that I think were added primarily to endear the film to younger audiences.

Nonetheless, it's a movie that I'd not only watch again. I'd buy it.

Of course, Braff handled soundtrack duties, and the music was wonderful. First, is there any more beautiful song going right now than Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek"? Holy hell is that a gorgeous piece of music. Second, he used Turin Brakes' "Pain Killer" in the closing credits, which scores points with me considering how much I liked that tune.

Grade: A

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Now for a guest review from my buddy K, taken from his e-mail to me on Thursday:

"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada." It's a 2005 flick Directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones.

I have no clue how this movie was received by the public or the "expert," but I'm guessing that it was received rather poorly.

For my part, I enjoyed it, but it's one that I'd like to eventually watch again. However, when I say that I enjoyed it, I don't mean that I loved it. I don't mean that it was a great movie. I don't mean that it should have won any awards. I can only say that it was worth a watch for 1) the part of the country portrayed in the film and 2) how the true character that Jones portrayed was gradually revealed.

It's this latter, especially, that threw me and made me enjoy the movie even more by the end.

The film is set in a very troubled part of this country: the border region between Mexico and Texas. However, though the reality of life down there sets up the basic plot of the film, that's not the focus of the film. The focus is on people -- people on both sides of the border -- and their natures. Obviously, some are good, some are not. Some are honest and loyal, some are not. Some are decent, some are troubled.

The first third of the movie is very confusing, offering lots of very quick flashbacks mixed in with what's happening in real time ... but it's not obvious which is which. The catch to keeping up is simply this: Assume that everything you see is happening NOW, and go with what you know about the general plot of the movie, which is offered in the title of the film and which is reinforced with scene titles throughout the film). You'll start to recognize the flashbacks.

By the second "scene," there's really no difficulty in keeping up with what's going on, and the flashbacks are much more apparent.

This movie is a character study focusing primarily on the Jones character, but which exposes the viewer to a very wide range of character types, they decisions each makes about his or her own life, and the way each chooses to interact with the rest of the world.

Grade: B+