Ratatouille

Rotten Tomatoes have published their Mid-Year Report, which features a list of the best and worst reviewed movies of the first six months of 2007. You can see the top ten of each below.

Knocked Up PosterSicko PosterOnce Poster

ZodiacHot Fuzz

Best Reviewed Movies

1. “Ratatouille”
2. “Away From Her”
3. “Once”
4. “Knocked Up”
5. “Hot Fuzz”
6. “Sicko”
7. “The Host”
8. “Zodiac”
9. “Waitress”
10. “The Lookout”

Worst Reviewed Movies

1. “Because I Said So”
2. “The Number 23″
3. “Premonition”
4. “The Reaping”
5. “Norbit”
6. “Perfect Stranger”
7. “Happily N’Ever After”
8. “Are We Done Yet? ”
9. “Code Name: The Cleaner”
10. “Hannibal Rising”

Becuase I Said SoThe Number 23 PosterHannibal Rising

Not many surprises to be found. Ratatouille has wrestled the best reviewed wide release of 2007 title away from Knocked Up, which is still holding strong at #4.One unusual observation is that the best movies list features a lot of comedy/romantic comedy films (Ratatouille, Once, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, Waitress). In the past usually dramatic indie flicks have dominated the list. I’m also glad to see Zodiac as I’ve fielded negative comments about the film from most people I have spoken with. David Fincher’s film is one of my favorites of the year thus far.

Because I Said So and The Number 23 are the film’s I’ve least enjoyed this year so far. So I feel a little vindicated seeing them rank at the top of the worst reviewed films list. I am actually surprised to see Hannibal Rising make the worst list at #10. I didn’t enjoy the film, but at the same time, I didn’t hate it either. I wonder if there is a huge backlash on the film purely based on it’s comparison against Silence of the Lambs?

  • PeteC
    How on earth did 300 miss out on top 10 listing? It wasn't released untill 2007, advanced screenings were held in 2006.

    How on earth does knocked up get into the top 10, it is a terrible romance-comedy, a genre which typifies terrible movies...

    Have people seriously got that little culture left?
  • Heh, are you serious.

    300 is anything but a historical piece, its got barely any storyline and all the main protagonist does for the largest part of the movie is yell out really loudly.

    How on earth would 300 get into the top 10 listing, have people really got that little taste left.
  • Weston
    What? No "The Last Mimzy" on the best list? I loved it.
  • Corey
    I don't see Transformers on the best list either.

    Well, at least I liked it!
  • Joshua
    @Phil

    300 is an historical movie, it is fundementally based on a very real historical event, albeit one told through a graphic novel medium. Exaggerated, with artistic license. I wouldn't imagine there were many witty lines in the real battles.

    Regardless of your grappling with the semantics of 'historic movie'.

    300 was a stylish movie with a very real and powerful storyline, so blunt and apparent that you seemed to miss it. Aesthetically powerful, gripping the audience and including them in the struggle.

    While you might not have liked the story, or the premise, the direction or casting, you cannot deny it was a well done movie.
  • asjkdhfkdsf
    "you cannot deny it was a well done movie."

    must disagree. if you bought into the 300 hype, i feel sorry for you. frank miller is nothing special of a writer.
  • Oh come on, did was this not available when putting this together?
    http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10007597-licens...
  • jeremy clinton for teh meh
    the 300 well done, sucked hard
  • Joseph
    I want to know how 300 didn't make it into the Worst 10 movies - OF ALL TIME. A good story? You gotta be kidding?
  • The HTML Mentor
    Hello there dear Authors.

    In todays class of HTML we are reviewing this new and not feature of the web: LINKS.

    Links have plenty of usages, such as; linking to other fucking pages. Also, you dont get pissed of readers that has too copy and paste movies to imdb.com to find the entire info about them.

    Technical implementation: name of movie
    Now, thats todays class, class. Now please continue writing stories like any good monkey.
  • Paul
    Worst movie 2007/ever is Material Girls starring the Duff sisters, still haven't forgiven the girl who took me to that pile of rotting waste.

    In regards to all the 300 comments, it was all style no substance, the graphic novel was better although Gerard Butler was good, roll on Escape From N.Y. remake.
  • Pete
    I think you nerds should all shut up about 300. Can't you keep your stupid opinions to yourselves. Obviously you have nothing better to do than attack a writer and his work. Let me see any of you do better than that.
  • Ryan
    Wow Pete, you really have something for the 300 don't you. I have a little secret to tell you: The comment section is ALL ABOUT OPINION.
  • Tracy
    If you want a good historical fiction of the Battle of Thermopylae then read the
    book, "Gates of Fire" by Stephen Pressfield. That book gives the substance to
    300's style. The movie was great to look at but not to actually watch and
    become immersed in. Plot is obvious in this movie but character development
    is seriously lacking. Not the worst but definitely not the best IMHO.
  • ilovehaters
    lol, 300 was entertaining, but far from a good movie unless your limited experience and vision brings you to loving that kind of stuff. 300 fans loved transformers too I'm sure.
  • OB'sFW
    I'm surprised that pirates wasn't on either of the lists!
  • Oh but 2007 isn't over yet, and I'm curious to find where Harry Potter ends up (if it does), on those lists. I think pirates wasn't on there because it wasn't mind blowing and it wasn't terrible. Kind of like Harry Potter.
  • Jeff Nyman
    Does anyone else find it amusing that there's so much vitriolic about what should and shouldn't be on a given list? I mean, is it really that much to get worked up about?

    Some people liked "300", others didn't. That same logic applies to just about every film. The brunt of what Rotten Tomatoes speaks to is the critics who write the reviews that they post on their site. So the "best reviewed" and "worst reviewed" doesn't equate to the "best" or "worst" film since that's ultimately up to the viewing public to decide for themselves.

    All of which means, to me, this is hardly an issue to get worked up over. Such a list might be representative of something; it might not. What might be interested is to tally up best and worst reviewed and see how they did relative to each other in terms of box office revenue. For example, consider "Sicko." On the best reviewed list, but it's hardly doing what you would call stellar box office, even by the standards of Moore's last film.
  • Some Random Guy
    I found 300 to be extremely boring with the narrative and the lack of real characters, climax, and storyline. Gerard Butler was good, but I thought the music, script, and directing could have used a lot more work than they put into the special effects. I really cared very little about any of the characters and didn't really care when the son got decapitated, although I slightly cared when the father went berserk. The action was alright, but it was just a bunch of scenes where Spartans cut off limbs effortlessly - I can't even remember them that well. On the other hand, I can remember lots of scenes in Gladiator (and the last time I watched it was probably 2 years ago).

    300 is one of those movies you watch once and never watch again.


    The only thing that really matters about these lists is if you agree or not. Then it makes it a lot easier to make a decision about seeing a movie if you have the same tastes as Rotten Tomatoes.
  • I... Liked 300 a lot. Everyone i saw it with agreed that it was probably one of the better movies released this year. Yes, we also thought transformers was awesome.

    Reasons we liked 300? It had a great score, a video game like feel to it, and it's unrivaled in sheer raw energy and brutality (not to be confused with gore). It in my mind accomplished exactly what it wanted to - created a super stylized revisioning of the Spartans that actually stood there and did exactly what the movie portrayed. Stood against impossible odds against an army of hundreds of thousands of warriors. Not everyone's bag, since most net-nerds are of the impression that it has to be the most artistic / enigmatic film in the world to make a top 10 list. Not everything has to be An American Beauty in order to be a good film.

    Anyways, personally I'm super stoked that Hot Fuzz made the list. They deserve way more recognition they they usually get outside the UK. Also, while I enjoyed Ratatouille, it definitely is not in my mind the number 1 of any list. It was enjoyable.
  • Best:1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,2 Spider-Man 3,3 Rattatoiulle.Worst:1 Black Sheep,2 300,3 Norbit.
  • ravi k
    gates of fire wasnt historically correct in the complete sense. i loved the book, the "recreation" of the battle scenes etc, which are just based out of knowledge, however some of the realities of the spartan culture. ideas such as training naked, wife-swapping, homo-sexuality especially important in the mentor and the ward relationship, the extent of their exploitation and cruelty to their slaves etc were all dealt away with conveniently to give the book a readable, "tasteful", Spartans as altruistic too good heroes that works in our modern day opinion of what a thrilling novel on a spectacular event should be.

    otherwise the book is quite brilliant in its depiction of the spartan values, norms and life in peaceful as well as warring times.
  • Pablo
    I mean..i enjoyed the reaping.. and I also liked Premonition..

    I could think of REALLY! horrible movies for the worst list.


    Blades of Glory. (Didnt even bother watching..) For sure..

    Lol. P.s 300 was Kinda bad.. It was boring.. and fake.. and no story.. And thats about it.
  • weslink
    Hmm, coming from a literary and argumentative standpoint, 300 was very well done. yeah, it was mostly style; however, take the time to listen to some of the speeches, in this last spring semester I had my argumentation class debate for two weeks on the effectiveness of Leonidus' words, and subsequent actions. To those of you who like it, I'm right along with you, and those of you who don't, I live in America where it is just fine for you to hate something and for me to tell you to go enjoy your simpson movie.
  • poopface
    For people like pablo who are saying that 300 was too fake, you apparently don't understand that the movie was taken from a graphic novel, and many aspects of the film are meant to be beyond belief. If you have seen Sin City, you should understand that Frank Miller makes a different type of film than other directors, and what makes a movie good or bad has nothing to do with how realistic it is. Also, I find it hard to believe that Knocked Up has been reviewed so well; I think that next to Transformers, it is the worst movie I've seen this year, and that is coming from someone who was a big fan of 40 year old virgin. It was predominately a chick flick, and I laughed maybe twice the whole movie. Back to Transformers: some of the worst acting I have ever seen...ever. I had no problem with the effects, but I had a tough time not walking out of that one.
  • blah
    blah. your all poopys with no taste. POOPYS I TELL YA!
  • Peter
    to Dylan, how could you possibly put Black Sheep on the worst list. It's a classic.
  • josh r
    How could u miss out on such fantastic movies as Last King of Scotland and Pans Labyrinth?? My top 10 best would have to be
    1. Pans Labyrinth
    2. Last King of Scotland
    3. Superbad
    4. Knocked Up
    5. Hot Fuzz
    6. Sicko
    7. Zodiac
    8. Letters from Iwo Jimba
    9. The Simpsons Movie
    10. Bourne Ultimatum
  • Lee-Birmingham
    Has anyone seen Shooter? That is a quality movie, Another of my favourites this year is Bourne Ultimatum I think it is well underated.
    Superbad has to be the most overated movie to me it was total crap.
  • john
    every movie try to depict one thing or another. i "real" movie thatsn't neccessarily means its nice. i loved spider-man3, 300, lord of the rings, transformers,sin city, even need for speed:tokyo drift, for different reasons that i loved other movies. For example the above movies are so different from 'little miss sunshine', but i liked that one too.
  • jkjkjkj
    in 300 men run in speedos
    it gives people speedo nightmares
  • Daisy
    I think that "The Last King of Scotland" belongs on the list of best movies. However, the "Best Movies", according to Rotton Tomatoes, seem to be the most "Popular Movies", which can sometimes - but not always - include the "Best Movies".

    Glad to see "Once" on the list, since I loved it!
  • 1234567890
    here is the true list of good movies
    1.300
    2.bourne ultimatum
    3.spider man 3
    4.harry potter
    5.transformers
    6.pirates of the caribbean
    7.die hard 4
    8.fantastic 4
    9.oceans 13
    10Ratatouille
  • King of Dimashq
    300 is bogus propaganda released at a most convenient time. I object to this movie that drives the youth of America to despise Persians and chomp at the bit to see them get their heads and limbs chopped off. Depicting Persians as a bunch of freakish half man half beast monsters as the glorious Westerners slaughter their heathen asses. Nice. Lets get more and more negative depictions of the Middle Eastern animals. You do realize that the drums of war are now being beaten to fight against the "greatest threat to Western Civilization" Persia, or rather Iran. Movies like 300 for all their pathetic propaganda are just feeding the fodder lines so young kids can go experience the 'glamor' of war and decimate some "Iranian beasts" with an M-16.

    How many movies, in the history of cinema, can you recall that depicted Arabs, Muslims, or MIddle Easterners in general, in a positive light, or hell, even in a neutral light? Not many. 300 is just part of this trend.
  • Niko
    What's about Knocked Up? It is a waste of time.. terrible, terrible
  • Daisy
    King of Dimashq,

    Stop whining and take it up with Herodotus. Better yet, why not take it up with the little Iranian tyrant, Ahmidinijad? Gee, where are the Spartans when one needs them?

    You ask, " How many movies, in the history of cinema, can you recall that depicted Arabs, Muslims, or MIddle Easterners in general, in a positive light, or hell, even in a neutral light? Not many."

    Um. Not many? Why do you suppose that could be? Could it be that when Arabs, Muslims or Middle Easterners are not entering into a blood feud with each other, it's only because they are already in one - or - ready to plan a new feud? This sort of life-style doesn't leave a lot of time for creative endeavors, to put it mildly. Why on earth would anyone in their right minds applaud this sort of never-ending infighting? You should feel lucky even to have mention as the villain because in the final analysis, your story is boring.

    Grow up. Arabs, Muslims, or MIddle Easterners need to begin to emphasize literacy, for only one thing, and once the teaming masses of the Islamic world can read, then maybe you'll figure out how to make your own movies (martyrdom films don't count) and then you can get to be the good guys in your movies - which actually might be entertaining for a change.

    This is how life works in the real world.
  • jai srivastava
    I want the movie Om Shanti Om at this website now at 5:28P.M 43 SECONDS
  • Best of 2007
    Broken English
    Knocked Up
    King of Kong
    Darjeeling Limited
    Michael Clayton
    Till The Devil Knows You're Dead
    I'm Not There
    Diving Bell and the Butterfly
    Gone Baby Gone
    Juno
    Once
    Waitress
  • Dr Jones
    Oh Daisy, I almost feel sorry for you, but your intelligence makes your ignorance inexcusable:

    "This is how life works in the real world." You got a lesson about how things work in the real world? Really? Your whole world view is shaped by your thorough brainwashing since birth, all your years living behind the electronic curtain have made you mistake American cutlure for the real world. It ain't, but I have no illusions on your blindness to this, you cannot see what you cannot see.

    I don't mind seeing viewpoints that are terribly skewed by swallowing lies a thousand times, by the media's mostly shaping your mind, but to give a lesson on what life is "in the real world" was just too pathetic for me to let it pass. Grow up? Too late, you'll never find the way to examine your own point of view, you'll always be stuck in the brain of some know-it-all white American.
  • King of Dimashq
    Daisy,

    No, sorry, I'm not one of these dirty heathen Allah worshipers as you might characterize them, and as you seem to assume I am. Rather I am blond-haired, blue eyed American. You'll just have to forgive me if I received an education and had the opportunity to travel outside of the United States in my lifetime. Therefore I tend be less jingoistic when it comes to current affairs.

    I might ask you, have you ever had the opportunity to really meet and interact with an Arab or Muslim? If you had, you'd have likely found them to be some of the kindest most generous people you'll ever meet. But the only thing you see here is the ones behaving like animals. But hell, war makes people do all sorts of messed up things as we've seen from both Arabs and American soldiers in Iraq these days.

    In any case, if you knew anything about politics or history, you'd know that infighting and hatred (to this degree) is a relatively new phenomenon in the Mid East largely due to European Colonization (not too over simplify things, but I don't want to write a thesis) as well as further incursions into their lands (Israeli and now American).

    Furthermore, your claim about literacy is completely idiotic... The Arabs have long emphasized literacy, because they believe the Qur'an to be the written word of God. They emphasized literacy long before Martin Luther and Gutenberg were around. Oh, and nearly the entire Greco-Roman corpus of knowledge was preserved only by means of Muslim scholars in the Middle East, while the churches of Europe were burning all non-religious books. So basically our knowledge of the battle depicted in 300 is due to these dumb, infighting, inbred, illiterate, animalistic heathens.

    I still maintain that 300 is crap movie
  • Zaheer
    300 is by far the best movie in 2007. i'll also say the best movie of all time.. it has a lot of emotion and a superb history. if someone didn't like 300 then he has no taste thats for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Max
    Top Ten of 07:

    Eastern Promises
    No Country For Old Men
    Hot Fuzz
    Superbad
    King of Kong
    Bourne Ultimatum
    Darjeeling Limited
    The Host
    Ratatouille
    Lars and the Real Girl

    There's still a bunch I haven't seen yet though.

    I was very disappointed by all the summer blockbusters. While I get how people liked 300 and even Spiderman 3 or Transformers. I can't understand how ANYONE loved the third Pirates movie. If anyone can explain, I would like to know. That movie made me want to gouge out my brain with an ice pick and I loved the first two.
  • JWilk
    300 was good and probably makes my top ten but is definately not the best of 2007. In response to Max I thought Pirates three was arguably the best of the series. Will actually became a charachter not some hopeless hero he was in the first two. The plot returned to the complicated art of bacstabbing so loved in Curse of the Black Pearl. I really hope they continue the series.

    I am shocked I Am Legend is not on anyone's lists. I loved that movie. National Treaure 2 was also good. Not as good as the original but close enough to be in my top ten. Also happy to see Zodiac get its props. I felt it was underated.

    And can someone tell me why Shrek 3 was not on the worst list.
  • Premonition certainly doesn't merit being one of the worst. The ending was hugely disappointing, and the storyline had much better potential, but it didn't merit being one of the Worst.

    I wish movies like "Enchanted" would warrant higher ratings and approval. We need more movies like that, ones that the entire family can enjoy together.

    And what possible redeeming value does "300" offer other than to satisfy a viewer's bloodlust for high body counts and quality kills?
  • Spartan
    All of you high minded, well educated people go brake your spine bending over trying to blow yourself.
  • Spartan: The correct spelling is 'break' not brake. Evenyone is entitled to their own opinions. None of us possess the same tastes in movie viewing. So there is no need to resort to junior high antics. Unless, of course, you ARE in junior high?
  • Rick Cain
    Geez, if anything is an indicator of whats wrong with America, its the obsession with the movie 300.

    I watched it on Blu-Ray with 1000 watt home theatre. The verdict - SUCKED. Sucked so hard I had to hold on to my chair to avoid getting inhaled into the tv screen.
    Naked man, sweat, grotesque monsters, blood, slow mo violence, terrible acting, bizarre sets, and kabuki monsters with samurai swords doth not make a good movie make.

    Some of the best movie jewels are small cheaply made independent films, not the 100 million dollar hollywood equivalents of Halliburton cold war projects.
  • gamed
    This whole list is a joke. I actually enjoyed Hannibal rising and Ratatouille is number 1? Go shoot yourself...
  • Megan
    I love Norbit. Its so adorable and funny.
    (:
  • Well, at least I liked it!
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