The year in arts and movies

From left, George Clooney, Tommy Lee Jones, and Sanjaya Malakar

In a year of fragmentation, no easy fix

This was the year we all came to terms with the quagmire. And yearned for someone to fix it. George Clooney (above left) in "Michael Clayton" and Tommy Lee Jones in "No Country for Old Men" both played characters trying to clean up ugly situations. Meanwhile, audiences ate up wholesome fare like "American Idol," featuring Sanjaya Malakar.
2007 in the news
Van Halen

Hub goes Hollywood, theaters face changes

We had budget cuts and high-profile exits, a city shut down by a cartoon marketing campaign, and movie stars seemingly everywhere. And was that really David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen together onstage?

Movies

Amid societal unease, onscreen blood was abundant and tidy endings were rare
Wesley Morris

Wesley Morris's top 15 films of 2007

What made this fim critic's list? "Zodiac," "Eastern Promises," and "Grindhouse," to name a few. Find out why Morris chose these 15 films.
Ty Burr

Ty Burr's top 10 films of 2007

"No Country for Old Men." "Ratatouille." "Michael Clayton." "I'm Not There." Learn how this film critic ranked his top picks of the year.
The Globe's favorite movie moments from 2007
Movies 2007

Winning moments and great losses

The pleasure we take in movies is rarely in the movie as a whole but in moments within a movie. Several Globe writers and editors recall their favorite movie moments from the year.

Television

'Mad Money'

Surprises from cable's far corners

Before the writers' strike, 2007 was shaping up as a year of excellent scripted TV, if mostly cruising on fuel from previous years. At any given moment, you could put together a week containing four or five really good, well-written hours of drama and comedy.
Media
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of News Corp, addresses a crowded Wall Street Journal newsroom

Old and new clash in a struggle for dominance

How do we capture the future? That's what the traditional media seemed to be asking in 2007: how best to capitalize on the Internet's spirit, capture its ad revenue, attract an audience that has come to expect things fast, loud, and free.

Music

Classical
Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela at Symphony Hall

Hunger for opera, Venezuelan heat

Boston's classical music scene this year was buzzing with near-constant activity, home-grown and imported, just about everywhere you looked. Pictured, Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra wore the colors of Venezuela's flag during encores at Symphony Hall.
Pop
Miley Cyrus

Flagging disc sales, tour business send industry spinning

It's official: Nobody, from the mighty executive to the humble songwriter to the savviest analyst, has a clue what's going on in the music industry. But not everyone had a bad year. Miley Cyrus (left) took Hannah Montana on the road for one of the strongest tours of 2007.

Theater/Arts

Dance
'Looky' at the ICA

The right moves in a cold artistic climate

The year in dance had a distinct Odette/Odile cast to it - the dual good/bad role at the heart of the most popular of classical ballets, "Swan Lake." But there was also a cold, dark side to the year, with midsize local troupes not so much drowning as frantically treading, well, air. Pictured, the Mark Morris Dance Company performed "Looky" at the Institute of Contemporary Art.
Visual Art
Hopper painting

An ugly dispute, and lonely beauty from Hopper

It's been a fractious, newsy, exciting year for art, packed with mysteries to scrutinize and uncover and topped with one messy, pitiful dispute.
Theater
Cynthia Strickland as Lane and Barbara Meek as Ana, in The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl

A scene in the middle of transition

It's always a slightly odd exercise to talk about "the year in theater" from January to December, because theater seasons don't follow that calendar. But it seems particularly odd in 2007, which from start to finish has felt like a time of transition in Boston theater.
Architecture
Stata Center at MIT

Showy buildings go up, while MIT sues designer of its own

Architecture continued to be a hot topic in 2007. By hot I mean it's on the front burner culturally. We notice it, we talk about it, we love it or, very often, we hate it. We may even travel to see it. (If so, we become "architourists.") We demand that it be better.

Video

Boston.com section front player with three thumbnails below.

More features

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise
Over and out

Ring out the old

As the new year approaches, we asked our decidedly unscientific panel what they were "so over."
Top Cds of 2007
Best of 2007

Critics' top CD picks

From pop to world music, find out which CDs Globe critics chose as their favorites.

The year in celebrity news

Jamie Lynn Spears
Photos

Most shocking stories

We polled Boston.com readers on the 20 most shocking stories for 2007. Can you guess which story is number one?
Paris Hilton(left) and Anna Nicole Smith
Photos

Top stories of 2007

We've rounded up the most talked about scandals, meltdowns, and everything else that made the news this year.

Community

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Ty BurrTalk movies
Film critic Ty Burr on new releases and more.

Things to do

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Games and more

Snowplow game

Plow Boston

While in the snow, snag peppermints and gifts along the way.
Daily horoscopes

What's your sign?

Find out what the stars have in store for you today.
Comics

Comics

Are you a Doonesbury fan? Never miss Garfield? Stop here.
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