At first, I wasn't going to do a top ten-movie list of 2017, since I spent the second half of the year digging into the past and missing a lot of important movie releases. I can usually get a fair deal of Award contenders out of the way at the Stockholm International Film Festival in November, which is always nice since most big Oscar-movies save their release here for Awards-season, as to have a stronger opening.
However, due to my surgical wound not having healed, and the festival opening literally the day after I started chemo, it became an impossibility for me to attend it. Which means that movies such as Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water and a bunch of other movies I was looking forward to can’t make the list. I usually try to avoid movies that had a wide release in their home market the previous year, even if they had a Swedish release in 2017, but few years will see as many potentially great movies off the docket. It also means that a lot of movies that came out around this year’s Oscars, such as Moonlight (which would probably be number one if it was eligible), La La Land, Hidden Figures and I Am Not Your Negro are not going to appear on this list. However, I decided to compensate by writing another entry dedicated to movies that I was introduced to this year that I just feel like recommending. Movies that became highlights of an otherwise miserable year. This will be posted at a future date.
Oh, and also, the reason why the list is 15 movies instead of ten is that I had already started writing this entry, then finding an opportunity to see a few extra movies that I felt needed to be on the list. And instead of wasting my writing I decided to give a few extra movies some love instead! However, before we get into the good, I want to acknowledge the bad by crowning the “most disappointing” and “worst movie I happened to see”. With that in mind, let’s get started.
Most Disappointing
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
(Dir: Matthew Vaughn, 141 mins.)
The last movie I saw before
my hiatus due to surgery and chemo, and what a way to take a 2 ½ month break
on! I loved the original Kingsman, and have as of writing it watched it at
least upward of twenty times (it used to be one of my go-to study-movies in
Korea), so the prospect of seeing what more awaited Eggsy and Roxy as actual
Kingsman agents was an exciting one.
Literally everything about this sequel takes it in the wrong direction. Characters are killed off without reason or purpose, others are brought back no only without reason beyond fan service, but in ways so ludicrous they actually weaken the very concept of dying within the franchise in ways so awful you actually stop taking death seriously.
The plot is dumb, the pacing bloated and despite the amount of new characters in the film, portrayed by actors like Jeff Bridges, Halley Berry and Channing Tatum, they end up having virtually nothing to do in favor of a returning villain I doubt anyone ever wanted to see again, along with a main villain played by Julianne Moore, who is wasted both in concept and in acting ability due to a story that gives her nothing to do.
I actually turned to my friend during the third act and asked him “why are they doing this?” as in reference to the filmmakers seemingly actively trying to murder all the potential this franchise still possessed.
The Golden Circle actually manages to make me like the first movie less, and if that isn’t disappointing, I don’t know what is.
Literally everything about this sequel takes it in the wrong direction. Characters are killed off without reason or purpose, others are brought back no only without reason beyond fan service, but in ways so ludicrous they actually weaken the very concept of dying within the franchise in ways so awful you actually stop taking death seriously.
The plot is dumb, the pacing bloated and despite the amount of new characters in the film, portrayed by actors like Jeff Bridges, Halley Berry and Channing Tatum, they end up having virtually nothing to do in favor of a returning villain I doubt anyone ever wanted to see again, along with a main villain played by Julianne Moore, who is wasted both in concept and in acting ability due to a story that gives her nothing to do.
I actually turned to my friend during the third act and asked him “why are they doing this?” as in reference to the filmmakers seemingly actively trying to murder all the potential this franchise still possessed.
The Golden Circle actually manages to make me like the first movie less, and if that isn’t disappointing, I don’t know what is.
Worst Movie That I Saw
Resident Evil: The Final
Chapter (Dir: Paul W.S. Anderson, 106 mins.)
An awful ending to an awful
series that I for some reason have seen all but the first entry to in the
theater. It is baffling how despite every entry of this franchise being written
by the same man, it seems that every single one of them past the second one
retcons the ending of the previous entry, as if Anderson is so devoid of
intelligence, he can’t figure out that if the studio has greenlit four of these
atrocities that maybe they’ll allow him to make a fifth one, and that he should
possibly try and come up with an ending that he can see himself expanding upon
if said sequel gets made.
This movie is no exception. It retcons, revisits old location (that look basically nothing like they did in previous films), brings back characters, kills off new characters without as much as giving them a single scene for us to get to know them first, and violates the viewer’s eyes with incoherent, headache-inducing editing.
The only good things about this movie is that it does actually sort of tie some aspects together better than I expected, mostly because I expected nothing, and that it is finally over. These movies are no more, and hopefully whatever reboot rises from their ashes, glances at the games and says “I want to be more like you”.
This movie is no exception. It retcons, revisits old location (that look basically nothing like they did in previous films), brings back characters, kills off new characters without as much as giving them a single scene for us to get to know them first, and violates the viewer’s eyes with incoherent, headache-inducing editing.
The only good things about this movie is that it does actually sort of tie some aspects together better than I expected, mostly because I expected nothing, and that it is finally over. These movies are no more, and hopefully whatever reboot rises from their ashes, glances at the games and says “I want to be more like you”.
My Top 15 Movies of 2017
15. Wonder Woman (Dir: Patty
Jenkins, 141 mins.)
It is unacceptable that it took us 15 years from the birth of the comic book movie boom with Spider-Man (X-Men sort of started it in 200, but it was Spider-Man that truly started it) to finally give the biggest female superhero on the face of the planet her own movie. On top of the time it took, I was near certain that I would loathe this movie, since it grew out of Warner Bros. continuous attempts to make a cinematic universe stick. However, once the day came to see it I was pleasantly surprised that not only was it leagues above the putrid garbage that is Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice or Suicide Squad, but it was a genuinely good, fun and heartfelt interpretation of Wonder Woman’s first time on Earth.
Gal Gadot proved me wrong once and for all, that she can indeed wield the Lasso of Truth, and whilst the movie has been held up higher than it should by many, it is a good comic book movie that does for Wonder Woman what the first Captain America movie did for that character.
On top of that, the movie actually made me start picking up Wonder Woman’s ongoing comic book, which has gotten me further into comic books again, and that is something that deserves to be recognized.
14. Okja (Dir: Bong Joon-ho,
120 mins.)
Bong Joon-ho is one of my
favorite directors working today. His movie The Host was one of the first
Korean movies I ever saw, and has not made a single bad movie to date. With his
last movie Snowpiercer, he proved that he was able to make English language
films without losing his unique voice, unlike most other Asian directors who
have tried to extend their lens to Hollywood, and whilst his follow-up Okja
ends up toward the bottom of his filmography, it is still a good film with
plenty of moments and performances that make it an enjoyable watch.
The movie centers around Mija, a Korean farmgirl who lives with her grandfather on a country mountainside. When an international mega corporation develops a new breed of “super pig”, they are given one of them to raise and soon the pig, named Okja is as integral a part of the family as Mija or her grandfather. However, one day the company comes calling, as the super pig program is about to be unveiled to the public and the production about to go into full swing. With a world standing in between them, Mija must fight to get Okja back, no matter what, or who gets in the way.
With a cast that includes the like of Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Lily Collins and Steven Yuen, Okja is exciting, funny and surprisingly emotional, and is funded by Netflix so that’s where you’ll find it.
The movie centers around Mija, a Korean farmgirl who lives with her grandfather on a country mountainside. When an international mega corporation develops a new breed of “super pig”, they are given one of them to raise and soon the pig, named Okja is as integral a part of the family as Mija or her grandfather. However, one day the company comes calling, as the super pig program is about to be unveiled to the public and the production about to go into full swing. With a world standing in between them, Mija must fight to get Okja back, no matter what, or who gets in the way.
With a cast that includes the like of Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Lily Collins and Steven Yuen, Okja is exciting, funny and surprisingly emotional, and is funded by Netflix so that’s where you’ll find it.
13. The Villainess (Dir: Jung
Byung-gil, 129 mins.)
I heard a lot about this
Korean action-thriller before finally being able to see it. In fact, not being
able to go to the film festival this year, of all the movies I was saddened to
the most not being able to see was this one. Luckily for me, a copy of it fell
into my mail slot the day of the festival’s opening and I was able to see it.
The movie tells the story of Sook-hee (Kim Ok-bin), a woman forced into the life of a secret government assassin after an attempted revenge plot against the men who murdered her lover goes wrong. When Sook-hee turns out to be pregnant, however, she finds herself sandwiched between emotionally cold life of an assassin, and the warm, loving world of motherhood.
The Villainess is stylish, fun, creative and well-shot, which only potential weakness is that its plot is melodramatic in ways that those not accustomed to may find off-putting, but if you are a fan of Asian cinema or open-minded, it is a real special experience.
The movie tells the story of Sook-hee (Kim Ok-bin), a woman forced into the life of a secret government assassin after an attempted revenge plot against the men who murdered her lover goes wrong. When Sook-hee turns out to be pregnant, however, she finds herself sandwiched between emotionally cold life of an assassin, and the warm, loving world of motherhood.
The Villainess is stylish, fun, creative and well-shot, which only potential weakness is that its plot is melodramatic in ways that those not accustomed to may find off-putting, but if you are a fan of Asian cinema or open-minded, it is a real special experience.
12. John Wick: Chapter 2 (Dir: Chad Stahelski, 122 mins.)
The first John Wick was a real surprise, and was in my
opinion, the movie the first Taken should have been. A hardcore action film
with white-knuckle choreography and a gritty, yet engaging plot. It proved that
Keanu Reeves still has plenty to offer, and let us peek into a world of
assassins that hinted at a lore and code of conduct that was genuinely
intriguing.
So along comes Chapter 2, which picks up just days after the first film and John finds himself forced back into the life he has fought to renounce as an old debt comes back to haunt him. John Wick Chapter 2 does what any sequel should set out to do. It furthers John’s personal story, while giving us more understanding of his past as well as elaborating on how this world and its characters work. The action scenes continue to be intense, mostly well-shot and fun, as well. If anything about the movie is worth critiquing, it is that John himself does have a little too much of a “main character shield” (meaning that since he’s the main character he is out of serious harm’s way) and that some of the shootouts last just a little too long. Except for these points, if you liked the first John Wick, you most certainly will like this follow-up, which did well enough to spawn a third movie, which is currently being developed.
So along comes Chapter 2, which picks up just days after the first film and John finds himself forced back into the life he has fought to renounce as an old debt comes back to haunt him. John Wick Chapter 2 does what any sequel should set out to do. It furthers John’s personal story, while giving us more understanding of his past as well as elaborating on how this world and its characters work. The action scenes continue to be intense, mostly well-shot and fun, as well. If anything about the movie is worth critiquing, it is that John himself does have a little too much of a “main character shield” (meaning that since he’s the main character he is out of serious harm’s way) and that some of the shootouts last just a little too long. Except for these points, if you liked the first John Wick, you most certainly will like this follow-up, which did well enough to spawn a third movie, which is currently being developed.
11. The Big Sick (Dir: Michael Showalter, 117 mins.)
Horror movies and romantic comedies have very few things in
common, but I maintain that one of the few things is that only a few good of
each genre come out per year. I traditionally only find one good romantic
comedy, and this year’s entry is a good one indeed.
Kumail Nanjiani stars as himself in this comedic retelling of how he in his early days as a struggling comedian, doing standup shows in-between Uber-fares, whilst dreaming of making it big and getting to do a one-man show based on his childhood in Pakistan. One day, after a show he meets Emily and a complicated relationship starts to form. Especially because Kumail’s family is dead-set on arranging a marriage to a Pakistani girl, and make it clear that under no circumstances will a relationship with a white, American girl be accepted.
When Emily ends up falling ill, he soon finds himself having to answer some pretty serious questions and having to deal with a pair of would-be-in-laws.
I should probably admit that I went to see this movie mere days after finding out I had cancer, which may have had some level of impact on my investment in this movie, especially when it comes to the hospital scenes in the second half of the film, but despite this I am sure that The Big Sick is a fun, engaging and genuine film, that clearly benefits from its based-on-real-events story.
Kumail Nanjiani stars as himself in this comedic retelling of how he in his early days as a struggling comedian, doing standup shows in-between Uber-fares, whilst dreaming of making it big and getting to do a one-man show based on his childhood in Pakistan. One day, after a show he meets Emily and a complicated relationship starts to form. Especially because Kumail’s family is dead-set on arranging a marriage to a Pakistani girl, and make it clear that under no circumstances will a relationship with a white, American girl be accepted.
When Emily ends up falling ill, he soon finds himself having to answer some pretty serious questions and having to deal with a pair of would-be-in-laws.
I should probably admit that I went to see this movie mere days after finding out I had cancer, which may have had some level of impact on my investment in this movie, especially when it comes to the hospital scenes in the second half of the film, but despite this I am sure that The Big Sick is a fun, engaging and genuine film, that clearly benefits from its based-on-real-events story.
10. Split (Dir: M. Night Shyamalan, 117 mins.)
M. Night Shyamalan made a good movie again. Need I say more?
It doesn’t matter, because I will. Casey (played by the great Anya Taylor-Joy) is
the awkward girl at school, always alone, quiet and uninvited. However, when
she, for once, is invited to fellow classmate Claire’s (Haley Lu Richardson)
birthday party, she along with the birthday girl and fellow classmate Marcia
(Jessica Sula) find themselves drugged, abducted and locked up in a bunker by a
mysterious man (James McAvoy), who seems to have multiple personalities living
within him.
It soon becomes clear that the clock is ticking and the girls are going to have to figure out how to escape before it’s too late.
Split benefits from lowered ambition by M. Night Shyamalan, who here takes a more basic approach to his story and characters. Casey is a likeable lead, who uses intelligence and composure under pressure to adapt to the situations the man keeping them locked up puts her in. On top of this, James McAvoy is truly excellent as the man, being able to switch between menacing, funny and even somewhat sympathetic with effectiveness that few actors can.
All I can hope is that this film’s sequel, which is already filmed, continues down the same path of quality and that this is more than just a flash in the pan for Shyamalan.
It soon becomes clear that the clock is ticking and the girls are going to have to figure out how to escape before it’s too late.
Split benefits from lowered ambition by M. Night Shyamalan, who here takes a more basic approach to his story and characters. Casey is a likeable lead, who uses intelligence and composure under pressure to adapt to the situations the man keeping them locked up puts her in. On top of this, James McAvoy is truly excellent as the man, being able to switch between menacing, funny and even somewhat sympathetic with effectiveness that few actors can.
All I can hope is that this film’s sequel, which is already filmed, continues down the same path of quality and that this is more than just a flash in the pan for Shyamalan.
9. Lego Batman (Dir: Chris McKay, 104 mins.)
A spinoff to a movie that never should have been good to
begin with. How could that possibly be worth watching? Well, it may not be as
finetuned as 2014’s The Lego Movie, but it is as surprising. In this film we
once again make the acquaintance of Will Arnett’s Batman, an egotistical
man-child who spends his nights fighting crime and basking in his own glory.
All seems fine until he, by accident, adopts Dick Grayson (Michael Cera) at the
same time as Gotham gets a new police chief and Joker, in an attempt to make
Batman realize how much he needs him, ends all crime in Gotham.
What follows is a ridiculously funny tribute to Batman’s history that I have seen four times so far and it keeps making me laugh. It never slips over into parody, and no matter how much it makes fun of the Dark Knight’s legacy, it never becomes disrespectful and in fact, in my opinion, becomes the best Batman movie we have seen since The Dark Knight, and that means something.
What follows is a ridiculously funny tribute to Batman’s history that I have seen four times so far and it keeps making me laugh. It never slips over into parody, and no matter how much it makes fun of the Dark Knight’s legacy, it never becomes disrespectful and in fact, in my opinion, becomes the best Batman movie we have seen since The Dark Knight, and that means something.
8. Dunkirk (Dir: Christopher Nolan, 106 mins.)
I have to admit, I am not a Nolan-fanboy. I like the man’s
work, but both The Dark Knight Rises and especially Interstellar are movies
that have leveled my expectations of his movies moving forward. So, when it was
announced that he would be making a World War II film, I shrugged and went
about my day, knowing I would obviously see it, but probably not reflect on it
beyond that. Thankfully, this is my favorite Nolan film since The Dark Knight,
and most of the reason behind that is, much like M. Night Shyamalan’s Split,
that it has a lowered scope. There is no advanced theoretical science or
immense plot twist, but instead just a really well told story separated into
three different segments: soldiers on the beaches of Dunkirk, civilians in
Dorset setting out to collect the soldiers and pilots above it all.
We cut between the three as the tension, violence and hopelessness rises.
Well-performed, shot, edited and directed, on paper it isn’t surprising, since the same could be said about any Nolan-production, but what sets it apart is the simplicity and the length, which is a comfortable hour-forty-five. Meaning you don’t have to set an entire afternoon aside to enjoy this film.
We cut between the three as the tension, violence and hopelessness rises.
Well-performed, shot, edited and directed, on paper it isn’t surprising, since the same could be said about any Nolan-production, but what sets it apart is the simplicity and the length, which is a comfortable hour-forty-five. Meaning you don’t have to set an entire afternoon aside to enjoy this film.
7. Blade Runner 2049 (Dir: Denis Villeneuve, 163
mins.)
In an era where we get reboots, remakes and late sequels to
classic films, I have been skeptical of Blade Runner 2049 ever since it was
announced. I love the original film, but have reservations concerning certain
things director Ridley Scott has stated about the nature of certain elements of
the film I feel best left unexplored and even more importantly; unanswered.
However, when it was announced that the sequel was being handled by
star-director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Incendies, Sicario, Arrival), my
spirits lifted.
As things would have it, this film came out a week after my surgery, and as of writing this I wasn’t able to get out to see it until a few days ago, but the wait was worth it, because Blade Runner 2049 is the rare film that manages to take its predecessor and pick up 35 years later without losing the soul, intelligence or cohesion of what the original was.
We follow Ryan Gosling’s K, a Replicant Blade Runner tasked with tracking down a threat to the human dominance of the planet, and the further he goes, the deeper a hole he seems to dig for himself in this gorgeously designed neo noir, filled with great performances (an elderly Harrison Ford for once seems to actually care about his performance), music and intrigue. In fact, the film is so interesting, it easily warrants its long runtime and engages so thoroughly that the 163 minutes might as well be a standard two-hour fare. The fact that this movie failed miserably at the box office is downright criminal.
As things would have it, this film came out a week after my surgery, and as of writing this I wasn’t able to get out to see it until a few days ago, but the wait was worth it, because Blade Runner 2049 is the rare film that manages to take its predecessor and pick up 35 years later without losing the soul, intelligence or cohesion of what the original was.
We follow Ryan Gosling’s K, a Replicant Blade Runner tasked with tracking down a threat to the human dominance of the planet, and the further he goes, the deeper a hole he seems to dig for himself in this gorgeously designed neo noir, filled with great performances (an elderly Harrison Ford for once seems to actually care about his performance), music and intrigue. In fact, the film is so interesting, it easily warrants its long runtime and engages so thoroughly that the 163 minutes might as well be a standard two-hour fare. The fact that this movie failed miserably at the box office is downright criminal.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (Dir: James Gunn, 137
mins.)
Guardians of the Galaxy was a movie that grew on me the more
times I saw it, and the further from the zeitgeist it got. It is a fun,
heartwarming film about family and togetherness born in loneliness. Its plot
was nothing special, but it compensated for it with delightful characters and
humor, along with great visuals and a world that expanded the Marvel Universe
significantly.
So, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that the same can be said about the sequel. Volume 2, once again centers on our heroes Peter Quill, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Groot and Drax the Destroyer as they find themselves battling armies, monsters and space pirates, all while Peter finally gets to meet his long absent father.
It is hard to truly emphasize just how much of this film’s appeal comes from its cast of characters, who you grow to feel for, and even when someone does or says something you disagree with, the characters are three-dimensional enough that you can see why they did it. On top of our gang of misfits we also get more of Nebula and Yondu, along with a new addition in the form of Pom Klementieff’s adorably naïve Mantis.
A joy to behold, I only hope James Gunn can wrap up his trilogy as well as he has started and continued it. However, before we get answers to that question, there is a huge war on the horizon…
So, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that the same can be said about the sequel. Volume 2, once again centers on our heroes Peter Quill, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Groot and Drax the Destroyer as they find themselves battling armies, monsters and space pirates, all while Peter finally gets to meet his long absent father.
It is hard to truly emphasize just how much of this film’s appeal comes from its cast of characters, who you grow to feel for, and even when someone does or says something you disagree with, the characters are three-dimensional enough that you can see why they did it. On top of our gang of misfits we also get more of Nebula and Yondu, along with a new addition in the form of Pom Klementieff’s adorably naïve Mantis.
A joy to behold, I only hope James Gunn can wrap up his trilogy as well as he has started and continued it. However, before we get answers to that question, there is a huge war on the horizon…
5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (Dir: Martin
McDonagh, 115 mins.)
On paper a movie about a woman who, fed up with the stalled
investigation into the rape/murder of her daughter, decides to rent three
billboards outside of her small hometown, sounds like a very bleak and
heart-wrenching affair. To a certain extent it is, also, but what is so
surprising and fantastic about Martin McDonagh’s latest film is just how much
humor is injected into this story. Tragedy and comedy co-exist in this film,
which throws both at the viewer as if it is a yo-yo hurled by the screenwriter.
You’ll find yourself laughing and tearing up in equal measure and one of the
best things about the film is not just how the script allows the fantastic cast
led by Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell to really show how
good they are, but how it also doesn’t subscribe to villainization. The
characters have different viewpoints, and you won’t agree with them all, but you
see where they are coming from and why they feel the way they feel, which is
something far too few movies choose to do.
Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri is the kind of movie I wish we would see more often, but also kind of hope we don’t, because it would make the few we get feel far less special.
Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri is the kind of movie I wish we would see more often, but also kind of hope we don’t, because it would make the few we get feel far less special.
4. Baby Driver (Dir: Edgar Wright, 113 mins.)
Like Bong Joon-ho, Edgar Wright is one of those directors
who’s work I am guaranteed to see. The kind of creators that I don’t just
admire, but who’s next movie I am eagerly anticipating before details are even announced.
So, with this in mind it probably isn’t a surprise that Baby Driver is near the top of my list. Because on top of being a movie made by a reliable filmmaker, it also centers on a character who uses music to drown out his tinnitus, and anyone who knows me knows that I am always listening to music to drown out the constant ringing in my head.
Baby Driver is a modern day car-movie that pays tribute to everything from Bullitt to Walter Hill’s classic The Driver (the same movie Drive was cribbed from), taking the best parts of the era where such films thrived and injecting it with modern aesthetics and camerawork. However, what sets Baby Driver apart from those films more than anything is the fact that Baby’s addiction to music means that much like a Tarantino-movie Wright uses the licensed soundtrack, which features everything from Beck to T-Rex to Barry White to sculpt an experience that is more musical than most actual musicals. Cars swerve to guitar strings, bullets impact to beat drops and footsteps land with drumbeats in a movie that, much like Wright’s previous North American film Scott Pilgrim VS. The World, revels in style over substance.
Not the deepest of experiences, but with performances from the likes of Ansel Elgort, Lily James, John Hamm, Jamie Foxx and the last Kevin Spacey performance I was able to fully enjoy, it is the best type of genre movie, and one of my absolute favorites of the year.
So, with this in mind it probably isn’t a surprise that Baby Driver is near the top of my list. Because on top of being a movie made by a reliable filmmaker, it also centers on a character who uses music to drown out his tinnitus, and anyone who knows me knows that I am always listening to music to drown out the constant ringing in my head.
Baby Driver is a modern day car-movie that pays tribute to everything from Bullitt to Walter Hill’s classic The Driver (the same movie Drive was cribbed from), taking the best parts of the era where such films thrived and injecting it with modern aesthetics and camerawork. However, what sets Baby Driver apart from those films more than anything is the fact that Baby’s addiction to music means that much like a Tarantino-movie Wright uses the licensed soundtrack, which features everything from Beck to T-Rex to Barry White to sculpt an experience that is more musical than most actual musicals. Cars swerve to guitar strings, bullets impact to beat drops and footsteps land with drumbeats in a movie that, much like Wright’s previous North American film Scott Pilgrim VS. The World, revels in style over substance.
Not the deepest of experiences, but with performances from the likes of Ansel Elgort, Lily James, John Hamm, Jamie Foxx and the last Kevin Spacey performance I was able to fully enjoy, it is the best type of genre movie, and one of my absolute favorites of the year.
3. Get Out (Dir: Jordan Peele, 103 mins.)
White people am I right? I seriously did not see this one
coming. Comedian Jordan Peele, or comedy duo Key & Peele-fame apparently
spent his summer vacation 2016 filming this movie, which delves into basic
human trauma, prejudice and fear in ways that most horror movies could only
dream of doing.
Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris, a twenty-something professional photographer who is driving up with his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams of Girls-fame), to meet her parents over the weekend. Chris has reservations over the idea, considering that he is apparently Rose’s first black boyfriend and she hasn’t told her family that.
Once at the house, awkward moments and weird, creepy things begin to happen, and soon Chris doesn’t know what is real or what is false, as well as who he can trust. Or is it all in his head?
Jordan Peele blends humor with fear here in ways that I haven’t seen tackled in a long time (if ever, to be honest) and once the credits rolled for this movie I knew I would be returning to it, and returned I have.
Get Out is the type of movie that isn’t just fun to watch, it is fun to revisit and introduce other people to. Unfortunately, I can’t say much more about this film, since the very nature of what makes it so great is everything that shouldn’t be told in advance, but rather experienced. So, watch it yourself, because it is absolutely worth it.
Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris, a twenty-something professional photographer who is driving up with his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams of Girls-fame), to meet her parents over the weekend. Chris has reservations over the idea, considering that he is apparently Rose’s first black boyfriend and she hasn’t told her family that.
Once at the house, awkward moments and weird, creepy things begin to happen, and soon Chris doesn’t know what is real or what is false, as well as who he can trust. Or is it all in his head?
Jordan Peele blends humor with fear here in ways that I haven’t seen tackled in a long time (if ever, to be honest) and once the credits rolled for this movie I knew I would be returning to it, and returned I have.
Get Out is the type of movie that isn’t just fun to watch, it is fun to revisit and introduce other people to. Unfortunately, I can’t say much more about this film, since the very nature of what makes it so great is everything that shouldn’t be told in advance, but rather experienced. So, watch it yourself, because it is absolutely worth it.
2. A Silent Voice (Dir: Naoko Yamada, 130 mins.)
I have to admit; this movie is technically a 2016 release. However, since it was only released in
Japan in 2016 and I really want to highlight it, I am going to cheat with this
one.
Shoya Ishida is a late-teen in Japan, who at the story’s beginning is putting his affairs in order. He has grown tired of the isolation and bullying he is experiencing in school and has decided to end his life. However, before he can do so, he wishes to find Shoko, a girl he used to go to school with, and apologize for the way he tormented her during their time knowing each other.
Once the two are reunited, however, something begins to happen, and they find their lives more intertwined than either of them ever could have anticipated. Can the past be forgotten? And can friendship, or even love, blossom in soil fertilized by tragedy and tears?
A Silent Voice struck me extremely hard, because as a victim of bullying myself, it is always a powerful experience to see bullying portrayed with layers, which it definitely is here. Shoya may only be able to see what he did was wrong through the lens of someone who has himself been put through it, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t matter as much as his attempts to make it right with Shoko.
The movie is beautifully animated, scored and acted by its cast, and in a year where the international release of Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name dominated the anime discussion, A Silent Voice flew under many people’s radar, which is really sad. And despite of what it may sound like, you don’t need to have a relationship with severe bullying, or be a fan of anime to appreciate and enjoy A Silent Voice. Its beauty transcends its genre, and I hope more people give it a chance.
Shoya Ishida is a late-teen in Japan, who at the story’s beginning is putting his affairs in order. He has grown tired of the isolation and bullying he is experiencing in school and has decided to end his life. However, before he can do so, he wishes to find Shoko, a girl he used to go to school with, and apologize for the way he tormented her during their time knowing each other.
Once the two are reunited, however, something begins to happen, and they find their lives more intertwined than either of them ever could have anticipated. Can the past be forgotten? And can friendship, or even love, blossom in soil fertilized by tragedy and tears?
A Silent Voice struck me extremely hard, because as a victim of bullying myself, it is always a powerful experience to see bullying portrayed with layers, which it definitely is here. Shoya may only be able to see what he did was wrong through the lens of someone who has himself been put through it, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t matter as much as his attempts to make it right with Shoko.
The movie is beautifully animated, scored and acted by its cast, and in a year where the international release of Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name dominated the anime discussion, A Silent Voice flew under many people’s radar, which is really sad. And despite of what it may sound like, you don’t need to have a relationship with severe bullying, or be a fan of anime to appreciate and enjoy A Silent Voice. Its beauty transcends its genre, and I hope more people give it a chance.
1. War for the Planet of the Apes (Dir: Matt Reeves, 140
mins.)
I still remember the day Rise of the Planet of the Apes’
reviews started to appear. A reboot I had written off as a guaranteed watering
down of a franchise I love, it soon dawned on me when all the reviews I read
were positive that there was hope, and I went to see it twice in the theater.
That is how much I liked it.
Then came the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. A film that somehow took the first movie’s formula, refined it and made a truly dark, serious and intelligent film about the conflict between human and apes, and was better for it. Now all that remained was to see if returning director Matt Reeves could stick the landing to this series, taking the character of Caesar, whom we had met as a baby and give us a satisfying and logical conclusion to what we had seen so far. To say that I was worried, yet excited would be an understatement.
My worry was unfounded. Because War for the Planet of the Apes is a triumph in every way. The already mind-blowing special effects are somehow even better, creating a cast of apes so realistic that if you were to take it back in time and show it to the cast and crew of the 1969 original, they would assume that we one day would have developed the technology to train apes to act, shoot weapons, ride horses and speak.
On top of this, Reeves and his crew have enough confidence in their product to allow long periods of time to pass with nearly all dialogue being performed using sign language along with visual storytelling in a way that makes this already believable dystopia feel even more real.
Andy Serkis and his fellow ape performers are accompanied by a menacing Woody Harrelson, who plays a Kurtz-esque colonel out to exterminate the apes for good, and newcomer Amiah Miller as the mute little girl Nova, who joins Caesar, Maurice and company on their journey of revenge.
War for the Planet of the Apes is a triumph, that earns it top spot not just by being a fantastic, emotional journey, but also by concluding what has become one of the best trilogies ever made within the Hollywood Studio system, and I can’t recommend it, or it’s previous two entries, enough.
Then came the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. A film that somehow took the first movie’s formula, refined it and made a truly dark, serious and intelligent film about the conflict between human and apes, and was better for it. Now all that remained was to see if returning director Matt Reeves could stick the landing to this series, taking the character of Caesar, whom we had met as a baby and give us a satisfying and logical conclusion to what we had seen so far. To say that I was worried, yet excited would be an understatement.
My worry was unfounded. Because War for the Planet of the Apes is a triumph in every way. The already mind-blowing special effects are somehow even better, creating a cast of apes so realistic that if you were to take it back in time and show it to the cast and crew of the 1969 original, they would assume that we one day would have developed the technology to train apes to act, shoot weapons, ride horses and speak.
On top of this, Reeves and his crew have enough confidence in their product to allow long periods of time to pass with nearly all dialogue being performed using sign language along with visual storytelling in a way that makes this already believable dystopia feel even more real.
Andy Serkis and his fellow ape performers are accompanied by a menacing Woody Harrelson, who plays a Kurtz-esque colonel out to exterminate the apes for good, and newcomer Amiah Miller as the mute little girl Nova, who joins Caesar, Maurice and company on their journey of revenge.
War for the Planet of the Apes is a triumph, that earns it top spot not just by being a fantastic, emotional journey, but also by concluding what has become one of the best trilogies ever made within the Hollywood Studio system, and I can’t recommend it, or it’s previous two entries, enough.
Well, that's my list. Hopefully I get a chance to make one next year as well. Here's to a year full of writing, filmmaking and good movies!
