As stated in Part 1 (HERE), the worst of 2017 happened off
the screen, as some of Hollywood’s biggest names were revealed to be flat-out
evil men; committing atrocities against women and children for decades. But the
absolute best part is that the revelations did
finally happen; the bad guys have been flushed out and will continue to be
flushed out.
It was a grand year for women in film, as several of the top
grossing films of 2017 had female leads, and women who operate behind the
camera were noticed during Awards Season. The year was a major step forward,
and the trend is sure to continue.
On the screen, Disney had another one of their stellar
years; hitting pay-dirt with their re-adaptation of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and
two emotional wallops with their two Pixar offerings, CARS 3 and COCO. On the
battlefield of superheroes, Marvel served up a triple-cocktail of excellence
with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING, and THOR: RAGNAROK.
Rival studio DC Comics in the meantime blazed new trails with their magnificent
WONDER WOMAN.
Other films that this Blogger highly recommends are Greta Gerwig’s LADY BIRD, Ridley Scott’s ALL
THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, Jordan Peele’s GET OUT, Darren Aronofsky’s MOTHER!, Craig
Gillespie’s I, TONYA, Sofia Coppola’s THE BEGUILED, James Franco’s THE DISASTER
ARTIST, and Gary Oldman’s stunning performance in DARKEST HOUR.
Now, on to the ten best films of 2017.
10. LOGAN – The first X-MEN movie way back in 2000 can be
credited with getting the ball rolling on the current wave of superhero films,
and it took 17 years for the franchise to find a film with the maturity and
emotional power of any Oscar or arthouse film. Hugh Jackman, playing the
clawed, self-healing mutant for perhaps the final time, plays the once-mighty
Wolverine as a broken and aging character, in exile and ridden with guilt. It
was a sobering thing to see, and a far cry from the typical cartoon-like movies
we get from comic book adaptions; our heroes do grow old, which is new
territory for the genre. Director James
Mangold delivered a film with a tremendous sense of closure, topped off with an
amazing closing shot.
9. STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI – An aging and broken hero in
exile is also the basis for the 8th entry in the central STAR WARS
saga, as writer and director Rian Johnson makes the bold move to tear down the
iconic Luke Skywalker (wonderfully reprised by Mark Hamill), and give him the
mightiest weight any Jedi has to carry; the last of his kind with the
responsibility to pass on what he’s learned. Where the preceding film, THE
FORCE AWAKENS, played it safe, THE LAST JEDI threw out the playbook and dug in
deep, offering a startling, and welcome self-reflection at the way we perceive
failure, legends, and heroes…all while keeping true to the values established
in the first STAR WARS 40 years ago, capped by a closing shot decades in the
making. The decisions made here may have been divisive among fans, but it
ultimately proved one thing; after all this time, STAR WARS is still full of
surprises.
8. BLADE RUNNER 2049 – Speaking of surprising sequels to a
decades-old film, Denis Villeneuve delivers a sequel which is far superior to
the original, cult-favorite BLADE RUNNER from 1982. Picking right up in the
futuristic world where artificial humans are manufactured and hunted, 2049 is visually
stunning, thoughtful and engaging, trance-like and meaningful. Harrison Ford
steps right back into the role he created 30 years ago, and the film has
excellent performances from Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto, Robin Wright, Dave
Bautista, and Ana de Armas.
7. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI – A wonky third
act does not stop this film from being the acting powerhouse of the year, with
tremendous performances from Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sam
Rockwell. Director Martin McDonagh’s tale of tragedy and loss was a snapshot of
small town America, while making a strong statement on race, family, and coping
with loss.
6. THE SHAPE OF WATER – It was an excellent year for sci-fi
and fantasy, and director Guillermo del Toro’s take on the old Beauty and the Beast fairy tale was the
capper. Set in the 1950’s, del Toro takes us to a secret government facility
where a mute janitor (Sally Hawkins) connects with a captured mysterious sea
creature. It’s a tale of two misfits literally from different worlds who find
common ground, and despite the odd circumstances their love doesn’t seem that
far-fetched. The film has a dream-like trance effect to it, and the great
Michael Shannon turns in one of the best bad-guy performances of the year.
5. THE POST – Done in the spirit of the classic newspaper
film ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, famed director Steven Spielberg brings us the
all-important, and very relevant story about the publishing of The Pentagon Papers, which exposed over
30 years of lies about Vietnam by the U.S. government. Spielberg draws many
on-the-nose parallels between the Nixon Administration and what’s happening in
today’s White House, and while that may seem like low hanging fruit, it works
and it works well. Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep are both tremendous, and THE POST
easily belongs on the top shelf of important journalism films; it’s all about
telling the truth.
4. WIND RIVER – Taylor Sheridan beefs up his strong resume,
which already includes SICARIO (2015), and HELL OR HIGH WATER (2016). Jeremy
Renner plays a hunter of predators on an Indian Reservation who assists a young
FBI Agent, played by Elizabeth Olsen, in a murder investigation. What could be
a simple and clichéd procedural turns into a twisting and turning stunner,
while reminding us of the continuing, modern struggles of the American Indian.
3. PHANTOM THREAD – The last time writer and director Paul
Thomas Anderson collaborated with the great Daniel Day-Lewis, we got the
magnificent THERE WILL BE BLOOD in 2007. Ten years later, they get together
again, and deliver an elegant, layered, and unique look at love. Taking place
in the 1950’s high-end world of dressmaking, Anderson and Day-Lewis paint the
life of a famed dressmaker as one of strict routine, only to be upset when a
new lover (wonderfully played by Vicky Krieps) enters the picture. Shot and
edited beautifully, PHANTOM THREAD takes the elements of love and relationships
into shocking directions, while throwing in one of the most hair-raising,
frightening scenes in all of 2017 cinema. This is the product of two masters at
work.
2. A GHOST STORY – On paper, the concept seemed ridiculous;
take your lead actor (Casey Affleck), throw a sheet over him for 90% of his
screentime, and strip away almost all the dialogue. In lesser hands, it would
be a failure, but writer and director David Lowery turns it into a masterpiece
of love, loss, and the staggering concept of just how enormous time can be. Affleck plays a ghost who
is not ready to move on, due to his un-ending love for his wife (Rooney Mara).
Time goes by in a blink for the film, but slowly for him,
and the decades that pass on-screen boggles the mind. This is a simple, yet
grand idea on what happens in the afterlife, and more importantly, what happens
when we’re here.
1. DUNKIRK – This Blogger and his girlfriend had the
opportunity to view Christopher Nolan’s WWII epic in the glorious 70mm format
this year, and it made for one of the most memorable and jaw-dropping cinematic
experiences for us both. DUNKIRK, which tells the story of the difficult
evacuation of over 300,000 Allied troops who were pinned down with nowhere to
go, was definitely made for the big (and biggest) screens possible with its
large canvas spanning the enormity of land, sea, and air battles. But beyond that,
Nolan finds and re-invents an old cinematic language of impressionistic sights
and sound; ditching the clichéd usage of bravado speeches, planting flags, and
taking that last hill. The film is fully immersive as it drops us right into
the battles taking place on three different fronts, and it makes for an
unforgettable and harrowing experience. Nolan’s fascination with the concept of
time takes what could have been a simple A to Z tale into a thinking-man’s war
picture, and the editing, sound design, and commitment to practical effects and
old-fashioned filmmaking is most-impressive. No other film in 2017 was as
stunning, or found that rare balance of making old-school, classic cinema feel
like new; and that is the best of all worlds.
The Best Films of
2017
1.
DUNKIRK
2.
A GHOST STORY
3.
PHANTOM THREAD
4.
WIND RIVER
5.
THE POST
6.
THE SHAPE OF WATER
7.
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
8.
BLADE RUNNER 2049
9.
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
10.
LOGAN
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