Much to my chagrin, the majority of the movies I saw this year weren't even released in 2007 -- but hey, that's what happens when you're a father of two, right? Right. Here are the new releases that made me least regret making a point of seeing them:

Michael Clayton
Clooney and Tony Gilroy, stroked by the benevolent hand of producer Sydney Pollack, manage to make high-stakes legal shenanigans sexy. This is a role that Paul Newman would have knocked out of the park 20 years ago, but since Newman's being stubborn and refusing to make movies, Clooney will do in a pinch.

Juno
Ellen Page's turn in Hard Candy made me want to fall out of my chair and crawl home, and the secret of Jennifer Garner's appeal still eludes me; for that matter, I think I might be getting a little tired of Michael Cera's hey-what's-a-hairbrush shtick. I also have my doubts about Diablo Cody. There's no doubting the smart laughs (and big ol' heart) in this script, though.

Once
It's got its problems, sure, but if you love music, this is the '07 release you need to see (and soundtrack you need to own).

No Country for Old Men
Who knew Prince Valiant could be such a terrifying badass? Even Javier Bardem's character's name is scary. Chigurh? That sounds like something that could eat Cthulhu. But I digress. A lot of critics thought the Coens lost their way for awhile; I was one of the few who actually enjoyed The Ladykillers, but I have to admit, No Country for Old Men makes it look like Plan 9 from Outer Space. A lithe, ferocious beast of a movie. Don't forget to read the book.

Knocked Up
If you've ever been in a delivery room, you likely felt pangs of recognition while watching Katherine Heigl give birth in this movie's final act. See, this is what the Farrellys forgot: It isn't that people crave raunch, necessarily -- it's that they like being treated like adults. In PG-13 hands, Knocked Up would have been barely worth mentioning; here, it was one of the year's best, sweetest comedies.

The Bourne Ultimatum
It's nothing you want to see if you're prone to motion sickness, but Matt Damon? Yeah, he's an action hero.

Gone Baby Gone
All right, all right, all right. Ben, I forgive you for Pearl Harbor, Daredevil, and every other offaltastic piece of dreck you've made in the last ten years. Mystic River will probably still be the first movie people mention when they talk about great Dennis Lehane adaptations, but it shouldn't be -- Gone Baby Gone is better.

Rescue Dawn
Far be it from me to tell Werner Herzog what to do, but a terrific subtitle for this film would have been How to Stop Hating Steve Zahn in 126 Minutes or Less.

Eastern Promises
It isn't as, um, easily accessible as 2005's A History of Violence, but Viggo Mortensen and David Cronenberg sure do bring out the best in each other, don't they?

Superbad
Did it live up to all the pre-release hype? Surely not, but as teen comedies go, you couldn't do much better than Superbad this year. Michael Cera plays the straight man like a young Bob Newhart, and Jonah Hill is a force of nature. And then, of course, there's McLovin. It ain't Fast Times at Ridgemont High, but then, what is?