Here's a link to the the 2017 10 to 6.
My sister predicted, pretty much to a T, what my top movies of the year were going to be -- even pinpointing what movie exactly would be number three. So this one's for Izmeister.
5. Blade Runner 2049
My sister predicted, pretty much to a T, what my top movies of the year were going to be -- even pinpointing what movie exactly would be number three. So this one's for Izmeister.
5. Blade Runner 2049
This movie felt like a gift. How could we know that a sequel, 20 years later, would bring so many ideas (including Harrison Ford's acting ability) to nebulous fruition? Blade Runner 2049 may move at a glacial pace for many, but its glacial possibility comes in the wake of the altering impact it has on its cinematic scenery. Deakins' cinematography deluges us in impure rain and chokes us in orange desert dust. But it's Villeneuve's confidence behind the lens, the assuredness of letting the story be that leads us in the odyssey of real boys, what it means to be human, and what true subjugation means. Joi's role in blade runner K's life is the perfect package of that contradiction -- selflessness, the ability to feel, whether it's real or not, and what it all means. And if she is indeed just a product of her creator, K, then perhaps that humanity (artificial or not) is the part of himself that he was able to share with her.
Villeneuve's sequel does everything it should -- honoring the old, while avoiding hackneyed ideas by exploring newer nuanced ones. It never assures us what the answers are, but invites us into its thrilling, living labyrinth.
4. The Shape of Water
Villeneuve's sequel does everything it should -- honoring the old, while avoiding hackneyed ideas by exploring newer nuanced ones. It never assures us what the answers are, but invites us into its thrilling, living labyrinth.
4. The Shape of Water
What a lovely lovely movie. Beautiful detailed scenery (Elisa's wallpaper has fish scales!) and color tones that are just as poetic as they are on the nose. It's a story that Guillermo del Toro said saved his life, and it's not hard to see why such a wonderful gem of a movie does. It's another movie of his that's about a strange monster and a "princess without a voice", but it's much more than that -- it's a story about the outsiders of society, and the strength of love. Sally Hawkins is brave and marvelous, and although Frances McDormand's talent is undeniable, I do wish that Hawkins could get something for her indelible role as the mute janitor.
The music is as sweepingly romantic as the narrative, and the way that the light plays on the ceiling of Elisa's apartment makes it look as if she's living underwater as well. Del Toro is always so good at creating worlds we both want to be in -- with its plush red theater seats and camaraderie and magical wonder -- and that we are afraid of -- with its monsters of men and red scares and bigotry. But that is like life in general, I suppose, and kudos for him for always finding the magic in it...or understanding that the basic emotions like true love are in and of themselves a sort of magic.
3. Get Out
The music is as sweepingly romantic as the narrative, and the way that the light plays on the ceiling of Elisa's apartment makes it look as if she's living underwater as well. Del Toro is always so good at creating worlds we both want to be in -- with its plush red theater seats and camaraderie and magical wonder -- and that we are afraid of -- with its monsters of men and red scares and bigotry. But that is like life in general, I suppose, and kudos for him for always finding the magic in it...or understanding that the basic emotions like true love are in and of themselves a sort of magic.
3. Get Out
Jordan Peele's directorial debut is as funny as it is horrifying, and the horror comes in several different layers. He shows a pinpoint accuracy for timing -- something that is crucial in both comedies and horrors. But it's the uncanny writing that really gets me. It's clever, auspicious, and really frightening. When Daniel Kaluuya's character Chris slides into the Sunken Place, Peele means for it to represent the African American experience: they're unheard, they have been taken advantage of, and they have no power.
It's strange that such a horrifying movie has also united audiences so much. Going to see Get Out in the theaters was one of my most enjoyable outings at the movies this year: there were collective gasps, cheers, and spasms of laughter.
Get Out plays out in so many ways and it's a masterclass in each one. It can get its audience to jump at a simple cut of strings or it can cause us to question the motivations behind our behaviors. But beyond that, it achieves what great art should do -- it allows us, even if only briefly and incompletely, to live in the experience of someone else. As audience members, we become strangers to our own lives, and that's perhaps the best thing Peele achieves here.
2. Call Me By your Name
It's strange that such a horrifying movie has also united audiences so much. Going to see Get Out in the theaters was one of my most enjoyable outings at the movies this year: there were collective gasps, cheers, and spasms of laughter.
Get Out plays out in so many ways and it's a masterclass in each one. It can get its audience to jump at a simple cut of strings or it can cause us to question the motivations behind our behaviors. But beyond that, it achieves what great art should do -- it allows us, even if only briefly and incompletely, to live in the experience of someone else. As audience members, we become strangers to our own lives, and that's perhaps the best thing Peele achieves here.
2. Call Me By your Name
I challenge you to find a 2017 movie that makes you tangibly feel more than Call Me By Your Name. It's there in the sun-drenched Italian summer days, the cool pavement beneath bare feet, and the ooze of an egg yolk that crackles open with the rap of a spoon. But it's also there in the tension between Elio (Timothee Chalamet) and Oliver (Armie Hammer).
And despite all those lovely images you can practically touch and taste, this movie is so much more than that. It's a coming of age where youth is opened to the possibility of life, and our feelings are cherished. Michael Stuhlbarg's monologue at the end has to be one of the most profound and touching scenes of the year. It's a film about both the fleeting and immortal grace that touches our lives if we're lucky enough.
Call Me By Your Name has all the languor of summer, begging us to savor it -- not only because of its beauty but because like a summer romance, it has a time limit. All set to either dreamy Ravel or dreamy Sufjan Stevens, it's pretty close to perfection.
1. The Florida Project
And despite all those lovely images you can practically touch and taste, this movie is so much more than that. It's a coming of age where youth is opened to the possibility of life, and our feelings are cherished. Michael Stuhlbarg's monologue at the end has to be one of the most profound and touching scenes of the year. It's a film about both the fleeting and immortal grace that touches our lives if we're lucky enough.
Call Me By Your Name has all the languor of summer, begging us to savor it -- not only because of its beauty but because like a summer romance, it has a time limit. All set to either dreamy Ravel or dreamy Sufjan Stevens, it's pretty close to perfection.
1. The Florida Project
Six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Kimberley Prince) runs amok with her friends amongst the Florida motels they live in, and for the most part, it's their world. There's a sense of wonder and havoc like a modern version of Little Rascals and it's sometimes jarring when we hear such old words coming from them, like when Moonee is squishing her face against a glass door to get a better look at a woman, saying "I can always tell when adults are about to cry." Willem Dafoe plays the motel manager, who looks over them with a slightly exasperated but a tender air. He tolerates their antics good-naturedly, and he looks out for them whether it's letting them play hide and seek in his office or having to chase off an older man that's lurking around the kids suspiciously. But despite his paternal manner, there's a sense of loss too, because he can't shield them forever. Sooner or later, the other shoe will drop, like this film's conclusion to a series of bathtub playtime shots, and its inevitability is the tragedy.
Moonee is warm, loving, and wise beyond her years. She shows her best friend a hidden place and they perch on top of a gnarled tree, which she calls her favorite because it's "tipped over and still growing". Her life is a fairytale to her as she and her friends beg ice cream off strangers (to cure their "asthma"), set fires, and watch the Disney World fireworks from afar. And through it all, her mother indisputably loves her unconditionally. Unapologetic and fierce Halley (Bree Vinaite) struggles to make ends meet, but never struggles to shower love on her daughter. When they're cleaning their room and Moonee moves to scrub her crayoned name off a wall, Halley stops her, affirming that that can stay because her mark is important.
The Florida Project is a compassionate film that doesn't patronize or sentimentalize its characters. It's a beautifully devastating movie that makes you love its characters even as you feel pain for them. Sean Baker created a movie that uplifts just as much as it makes you cry bitter tears at the impossibility of it all.
As always, I love to hear thoughts or other favorites. 2017 was such a good movie, I had far too many that got pushed off the top ten list as a result. Here's to hoping that 2018 is just as rich.
Moonee is warm, loving, and wise beyond her years. She shows her best friend a hidden place and they perch on top of a gnarled tree, which she calls her favorite because it's "tipped over and still growing". Her life is a fairytale to her as she and her friends beg ice cream off strangers (to cure their "asthma"), set fires, and watch the Disney World fireworks from afar. And through it all, her mother indisputably loves her unconditionally. Unapologetic and fierce Halley (Bree Vinaite) struggles to make ends meet, but never struggles to shower love on her daughter. When they're cleaning their room and Moonee moves to scrub her crayoned name off a wall, Halley stops her, affirming that that can stay because her mark is important.
The Florida Project is a compassionate film that doesn't patronize or sentimentalize its characters. It's a beautifully devastating movie that makes you love its characters even as you feel pain for them. Sean Baker created a movie that uplifts just as much as it makes you cry bitter tears at the impossibility of it all.
As always, I love to hear thoughts or other favorites. 2017 was such a good movie, I had far too many that got pushed off the top ten list as a result. Here's to hoping that 2018 is just as rich.
