In our last installment, I talked about how 2017 was, in a very pronounced way, the Year of the Woman, but that was hardly the only instance of people standing up for themselves. In addition, there was also the Black Lives Matter movement, the oft-misunderstood collective meant to shine a light on racial injustice that was sadly high-jacked by the alt-right morons as being "unpatriotic" and "un-American."
Unfortunately, this stance was sadly taken up by our embarrassment-in-chief, most notably when he announced how there were "bad" people on "both sides" during the stand-off in Charlottesville against white supremacists- last I checked only one side suffered casualties- and took it one step further when he denounced black football players taking a knee during the National Anthem.
In fact, those football players, who make a mint for their oft-white sponsors and coaches, were protesting the mistreatment of blacks by the police and other authority figures, something which has been going on for far too long. They weren't disrespecting the flag or the country- they were demanding to be treated with respect themselves. Can't say I blame them.
Once again, the movies reflected this unfortunate reality by taking a look back at our past (Detroit, Mudbound), while pointing out that the more things change the more they stay the same with more modern offerings, including one of the entries on this particular list.
On the plus side, this year has already seen a record-breaking display of Black Power in its finest, undiluted form in Black Panther, a superhero movie that shows that African-Americans can be a force to be reckoned with at the box office as well.
Not to mention that black people in general can be worldwide, given the film's considerable clout overseas as well, as well as its diverse cast- something truly worth celebrating. Here's hoping that is something that continues throughout the year, showing that all races and cultures have something to offer, if only we let them.
10. Lady Macbeth
I'm not a huge fan of costume dramas- most of them put me right to sleep, quite frankly. Unless they include genre elements like horror (i.e. Hammer and AIP) or action (Excalibur, Flesh + Blood), then I don't tend to bother. This one was brought to my attention by writer/director John Waters, one of my all-time favorite filmmakers, who included it in his own Top Movies of 2017, and I'm glad I sought it out.
The film revolves around Katherine- played by star-in-the-making Florence Pugh (who can currently be seen in the Liam Neeson action vehicle The Commuter)- who is sold by her father into marriage to a sexually-dysfunctional man with a domineering father, both of whom abuse her. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for us, Katherine is no shrinking violet, to say the least.
In no time, she has entered into a blatant affair with the stable-boy, and isn't too shy about it with the staff, making no attempt to hide it from them. Inevitably, it is brought to the attention of her husband and father-in-law, and things go from there, but, boy, do they not go in the direction you expect. (Note the title, those of you familiar with Shakespeare.)
Pugh's character is truly a force to be reckoned with, and though she admittedly takes things a step too far by anyone's standards, there is no denying that Pugh is riveting in the role and that the film lands firmly within Year of the Woman territory, warts and all. Sometimes, after all, you have to over-correct to right all the wrongdoings, unfortunately. While Katherine may be an example of when that goes horribly awry, it certainly makes for an excellent movie.
This may not admittedly be for everyone, and it does start out a bit on the slow side, but the pay-off is definitely worth it, and you can see why Waters would be a fan. The cast is uniformly excellent, and for a low-budget feature, it looks great, with excellent cinematography and costuming- decidedly important factors if you're going to do a costume drama, even a left-of-center one like this film. Check it out if you like your period pieces on the twisted side.
9. The Post
There was a time when director Steven Spielberg could seemingly do no wrong, but, as with many directors, somewhere along the way, he lost it, but every now and then he knocks one out of the park. Nowadays, I think a lot of it has to do with how engaged with the material he is, and The Post clearly struck a chord with him, and watching the end result, one can see why.
Not only is the story here as timely as ever, deftly reflecting the world in which we are now living under this particular administration, but you can feel Spielberg firing on all cylinders, which, in turn, is reflected in his game cast, who rise to the occasion with across-the-board great performances, even on the fringes. (Bonus points for slyly including some great Girl Power moments with Meryl Streep, who can drive such things home like no other.)
You know a director commands respect when even the bit parts are filled by name character actors- and they manage to give a solid performance in spite of it. Hell, I even found the person carrying the box with the copies of the Pentagon Papers compelling, lol. Spielberg is on top of his game here, to be sure, keeping things moving along at a quick clip, and telling the story in such a way that anyone can follow along, even if you know nothing of the era or the real-life occurrences.
Not that it matters that it's set in the Watergate era- hell, we might as well be in Watergate 2.0 right now, or as John Oliver dubbed it, "Stupid Watergate." What goes on in this film may well be Ground Zero for what's happening now, with only big difference: back then, people still mostly trusted the government and the press. This film shows the beginning of the end of all that, and the repercussions of it can still be felt to this day.
The film also shows how important it is that we preserve that- sometimes that system of checks and balances, which were put into place for a reason, are all we have and all that's keeping our country from falling into complete anarchy and chaos.
Of course, there are those who would love nothing more than to see that happen, but if you like that sort of thing so much, go and live in a place like Afghanistan or Iraq and come back and tell me different then. (Our nation's great soldiers can certainly tell you a thing or two about it.)
Some things are worth fighting for, and if it sometimes seems difficult, well, whoever said it was going to be easy? (I cringe every time I hear you-know-who say something like: "No one knew it was going to be so hard." Apparently, everyone but you, that is.)
It also helps to have smart people on the case, and thankfully, then, as now, we still have a few people that matter that actually want to fight for our country rather than letting our enemies drive a stake in between us all, laughing all the while they do it.
(I've said it before and I'll say it again- Russia is NOT our friend- not sure when Republicans forgot that, but Reagan is spinning in his grave at the way things are being handled right about now- there I was thinking our President was supposed to protect us against our enemies, not help them out!)
But I digress. The Post couldn't be timelier, and if it occasionally takes a few liberties with things here and there for the sake of dramatic license, as some have pointed out, at least it's not all "fake news." This happened, and this time around, those responsible could get away with it, if we're not careful. The Post serves as a reminder not to let that happen.
8. Wonder Woman
Speaking of Girl Power, if ever there was a moment in time that should be crystalized, it's that moment I was in the theater with a sizable female audience for this sort of thing- which is to say, a superhero movie- and for once, I heard women cheering out and applauding for what they were seeing, not men.
Finally, at long last, the greatest female superheroine had her moment in the sun, and women could not have embraced it more- after all, it was the Year of the Woman, and a year like that needs its (YAAAS) Queen.
Some grumbled at the casting of the Israeli Gal Gadot as this distinctly American heroine, but, lest we forget, they did the same about Heath Ledger as The Joker and plenty more where that came from besides. Turns out that Hollywood, then as now, knew what they were doing.
Gadot supremely nails the role, and then some, bringing humor, strength and real presence to a role that could have easily gone sideways if a guy was behind the camera.
Thankfully, we had Patty Jenkins in the director's chair, and boy, did she bring the fire. Was there a fiercer Girl Power moment in cinema this year- maybe even ever- than the Battle at Themyscira? An all-female battle-line of warriors, taking down anyone and everyone in their path, in beautifully choreographed balletic motion? Yes, please. I'll have more of that.
Some also grumbled about a lack of a worthy villain, or that the end was weak, but if you can't get behind Nazis (okay, technically just the Germans, this being WWI, but you know what I mean) as the bad guys or a traitor working with them against us- well, maybe you're on the wrong side, if you know what I mean. (Though I imagine I scared off those types early on with my comments by now, lol.)
Also, it's worth noting that the main villain was, after all (spoiler), a God- Ares, to be more specific, the God of War, and I might add, Diana's half-brother- which means that Wonder Woman defeated both a God and her own flesh-and-blood in the end. What more do you want?
I imagine it was also kind of oddly freeing to women to have the man (Chris Pine) be more or less reduced to the sidekick role here, though I can also see where some men would find that sort of emasculating. Men with no backbone, that is. There's no shame in a strong woman, and certainly no shame in supporting one. (And might I add, little girls- and more than a few older ones- need strong female superhero role models, too.)
Indeed, the only way forward, given all that's going on, is for men to HELP the women standing up for their rights by backing them up, not bitching about how they're going about it. If it hadn't been necessary to go to such lengths in the first place, maybe things wouldn't be as bad as they are.
Besides, if you didn't do anything yourselves, what exactly are you worried about? Only weak men are threatened by strong women. Strong men stand up for their mothers and sisters, they don't get in their way.
All of that said, ultimately this was just an entertaining movie. If it had sucked, well, people wouldn't have gone on about it like they did. I mean, after all the hype, the female Ghostbusters that some guys were so worked up about "ruining their childhood" (man, if that's all it takes, you've got bigger issues) didn't do all that well because it just wasn't that good. Wonder Woman is, and if there's room for improvement, well, that's what sequels are for.
7. Get Out
Another crowd-pleaser of the highest order, this was kind of the African-American Wonder Woman of the year before Black Panther came along. In that, it was a great roller-coaster ride of a movie that delivered the goods to such an extent that it also had people cheering in their seats, and not even in a nasty, race-baiting way, either.
While race was certainly at the heart of the horror here, if you were paying attention, it wasn't about racial hatred, but rather racial jealousy. After all (spoiler alert), the villains here weren't looking to take out the black man and woman, they were looking to actually become them. But at what cost?
Get Out is basically about the loss of soul and the horror of having that threatened. It's more or less Rosemary's Baby-meets-The Stepford Wives. Interestingly, both of those films are about women having their bodies co-opted by outside forces, many of which are (white) men, which is something that obviously still resonates to this day, given that the more things that change, the more they stay the same- just take a look at all the white faces in Congress, presuming to pass judgment on what women can or "should" do with their bodies.
Writer/Director Jordan Peele deftly transplants essentially that same idea into the tale at hand, doing so with a great sense of humor (as one would expect from one of the comedy masterminds behind Key & Peele) but also genuine smarts. This is the kind of horror film that only comes around once in a blue moon- the kind that people end up writing dissertations on in college, the type that gets taught in Film School classes. That's quite an achievement for a directorial debut.
That it also received multiple awards nominations, including Best Picture at the Oscars, among others, on top of worldwide box office success (a remarkable $255 million on a $4 million-dollar budget) is an achievement in and of itself. That it's a lot of fun besides is a testament to the writing of the film, also by Peele.
I just loved this movie. I can't say that it was necessarily scary, per se, but I was having so much fun with it I didn't really care, and the level of audience participation was something to behold. Not since the hey-day of slasher movies have a seen such a crowd reaction as the one I witnessed for this one, and I just loved it.
Just as importantly, it wasn't a nasty sort of crowd participation, but an all-in-good-fun one. Most of the people I watched it with were rooting for Allison Williams as much as our hero, played by the excellent, Oscar-nominated Daniel Kaluuya- until, of course, things took a turn. Then we were all uniformly on the same side, and it was pretty exhilarating experience, I must say.
This and Wonder Woman were almost single-handedly arguments for the benefits of still going out to go to the movies instead of staying home. Those who missed seeing them in theaters really missed out, let me tell you. Either way, Get Out is a smart, thrilling exercise in knowing one's material and knowing exactly how to deliver the goods. Peele's love of the genre shines through like a beacon, and if you're a die-hard horror fan like I am, that absolutely does make a difference.
Us horror fans could use more like him, let me tell you. Fortunately, Peele is staying within this wheelhouse for the foreseeable future, with the upcoming HBO series Lovecraft Country, and I, for one, can't wait. Get Out is horror at its finest, most entertaining form, and I can't recommend it more for that reason, even for non-fans, and those films don’t come along that often.
6. Lady Bird
Okay, confession time. I just adore writer/director Greta Gerwig, and long before her more recent success. From the moment I saw her chomping down on a slice of pizza in the indie horror film House of the Devil, I was like: who IS this girl, and how did she become so awesome? I've followed her career ever since, checking out all of her quirky indie rom-coms and dramatic comedies and I've only become a bigger fan with each passing year.
Remarkably, the rest of the world actually caught on with this film, which is sort of like what happens when your favorite unsung underground indie band hits the big time out of nowhere. Part of me is like- hey that was mine! The other part is like- Welcome to the party! What took you so long?
Thankfully, the pettier side of me tends to take a backseat to the other, more rational side, so I can't begin to say how thrilled I am that Lady Bird is such a huge success.
To make matters even more impressive, Gerwig just happened to pick Saoirse Ronan to star in her semi-autobiographical tale of a Sacramento girl coming-of-age in most hilarious fashion, and anyone who knows me knows that girl is kind of an Achilles' Heel for me. The minute she opens her mouth and speaks in her native Irish accent, I am such a goner.
Of course, she does no such thing here, playing an American and all, but the fact that she can slide in and out of other accents with such apparent ease only adds to the appeal. She's quirky, to be sure- so is Gerwig, after all- but that's part of why I love her, and why she's so perfect to play Gerwig's on-screen stand-in.
Factor in an excellent supporting cast, which includes erstwhile Roseanne sister Laurie Metcalf, in the middle of a total career resurgence, well-deserved; playwright/character actor Tracy Letts (also having a banner year); and current IT-boy Timothée Chalamet (see also Call Me by Your Name), among others, including a winning turn by Beanie Feldstein (Neighbors 2), and you have the recipe for greatness, even if I can't quite believe how popular this has become, to the point of garnering a slew of awards love, including a rare directing nom for a woman in Gerwig, and the third for the super-talented Ronan.
It's well-deserved, to be sure, and honestly, given the embarrassment of riches at the movies this past year, I'm not quite sure who to root for at this point. Whatever happens, you won't find me complaining if this one cleans up, come Oscar time, that's for sure. If you like tongue-firmly-in-cheek coming-of-age comedy-dramas and you haven't seen this- what are you waiting for?
Well, that about does it for today's portion of the list. Join me tomorrow for the final installment, the big Top Five Movies of the Year and thanks for reading!
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