Skip to main content

Best Movies of 2017

For me, the most interesting movies of 2017 were fairly subversive critiques which still somehow hold out a sliver of hope against the darkness of our current world. I am an optimist, but I am also a realist. I think these five movies reflect that very well, in spite of their fantastical qualities.

1. mother! Darren Aronofsky has crafted the most shocking movie I’ve seen in years. It’s weird, heavily symbolic and deeply allegorical, a stark rebuke of civilization and mankind’s seeming inability to avoid repeating bad behavior. I found it to be absolutely compelling viewing, fascinating, oppressive, brutal, and dark as pitch. This is the movie that hit my buttons the strongest this year.

2. Blade Runner 2049 Denis Villeneuve clearly loves the original Blade Runner and has directed a beautiful sequel that outdoes its predecessor. I love the first movie, so watching the sequel was a suspenseful experience, waiting for the filmmakers to fuck up. They didn’t. In my opinion, they surpassed what came before and delivered something not only visually astounding but also an intelligent story with some genuine surprises. I was intrigued, amazed, thrilled and moved by this film. The final scene had me in tears.

3. Get Out Jordan Peele directs a sly, intelligent and very effective social satire/commentary dressed up as a horror film. It’s very funny and equally creepy, playing on racial tensions in an original way and all of the actors are superb. There are moments of laughter and moments of tense suspense, a balance difficult to strike which the movie ably manages.

4. Okja Bong Joon Ho has always been an interesting filmmaker for me, with movies that have wild tonal shifts while still feeling genuine. This film is a brilliant take-down of the corporate food industry and social justice warriors alike with some hilarious moments to counterbalance the serious darkness at its core.


5. Wonder Woman Patty Jenkins brings to cinematic life the greatest female superhero and the results are mixed, mostly due to a not-so-great script that is imbued with sparkle and life by its two wonderfully cast leads. Tonally and structurally, the film feels a lot like Richard Donner’s Superman, which was also great until the ludicrous ending. It lands on my list of the best of the year despite its shortcomings because it is charming, fun and proves that the genre isn’t just for boys. I think it may be the most socially relevant movie of the year, too, in some ways a perfect companion piece to mother! as both deal with the role of women in society, though in radically different ways.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Retro Review - Paris, Texas (1984)

As a preteen I was obsessed with ALIEN and always took note of everyone involved, including the actors. Harry Dean Stanton’s most oft-mentioned film credits were always either ALIEN or Paris, Texas , so when he died last year I made a point of finally hunting down the latter which had been on my radar as long as my obsession with the former. I knew very little about the film, so when the opening credits said “written by Sam Shepard” I immediately became more interested. Then “directed by Wim Wenders” came up on screen and I was even more interested. I was pretty confident I was going to have a very good film experience. I was wrong only in that it exceeded my expectations. Paris, Texas is, in my opinion, beautiful, authentic, heart-felt, compassionate, moving and very mature: a great movie, in other words. The movie opens with Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) walking aimlessly through the deserts of Texas, apparently in some kind of mute daze. A local doctor finds him and a bus...
Post a Comment
Read more

Film Review - A Quiet Place

John Krasinski directs and stars with his wife Emily Blunt in this exceptional horror movie about a family trying to survive against predatory monsters who hunt by sound. The film is a terrific example of visual storytelling as the dialogue is suppressed to a minimum by the danger it represents to the survivors. It is also one of the most effective and high-tension suspense movies I’ve ever seen, with more intelligence and emotional power than are typical of the genre. The story begins several months after some sort of invasion by ill-defined, poorly understood but immensely superior predators which have effectively wiped out the human race. Those who have managed to survive have had to adapt to a virtually silent mode of living, walking barefoot everywhere, for example, or communicating by sign language. The eldest daughter, played by Millicent Simmonds, is indeed deaf herself, and the film uses its sound design very effectively to convey point of view of characters according to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Film Review - Tomb Raider

Alicia Vikander is the best and possibly only reason to see this movie. I’m not expecting Shakespeare from a film based on a video game, but I am expecting more action than dialogue. I liked the action sequences alright, but I don’t think there were enough of them, and the stuff between them I felt was kind of boring. Still, I did like seeing Alicia Vikander running and jumping and doing action-stuff, so the movie wasn’t a complete loss. I just wouldn’t recommend it. The film sets out to be an origin story for Lara Croft and a search for her lost father which is bound up in a lame Raiders of the Lost Ark –type race for a powerful magical maguffin. I really don’t mind the predictability of the plot, and there is an argument to be made that these kinds of movies are all about delivering what the audience expects, but I don’t want to put up with long, melodramatic scenes or boring expository speeches. I want to see Lara Croft raiding tombs. Alicia Vikander does a superb job wit...
Post a Comment
Read more